Comparing The Asus Transformer Infinity With The New iPad

Asus Transformer Pad Infinity 700

(Image Credit: http://gforgamescom)

It appears that the new iPad of Apple may see some serious competition in terms of features with the upcoming Asus Transformer Infinity.

Although a good number of apps are still designed for use on the high-resolution display of the new iPad, the Asus Transformer Infinity will give it a run for its money when it comes to the features offered into the market. Despite the upcoming release of the Google Nexus 7 tablet with the latest version of the Android OS, the Asus Transformer Infinity is still considered as the best when it comes to competing with the Apple tablet.

Although the Retina Display of the new iPad has a higher resolution of 2048 by 1536 compared to the Asus Transformer Infinity, which features a 1920 by 1200 resolution, the high brightness value of the Asus tablet is more suited for outdoor use. Its quality is also close to that of the new iPad including the contrast and color reproduction. The viewing angles of the new iPad and the Asus Transformer Infinity are also similar to each other.

The details shown on the displays of the two devices are similar to each other. As more manufacturers offer devices with high resolution displays, better display optimization for the apps will soon dictate which tablet is better than the rest. In this regard Apple is still dominating the market since it has numerous apps that are optimized for the new iPad.

The most significant visual distinction between the new iPad and the Asus Transformer Infinity is the aspect ratio. The Apple device has an aspect ratio of 4:3, in comparison the Asus Transformer Infinity comes with an aspect ratio of 16:10. The ratio for the iPad is suitable when the device is used in portrait mode while the aspect ratio of the Asus tablet is more appropriate for use in landscape mode.

Both the new iPad and the Asus Transformer Infinity come with an aluminum chassis although the Asus tablet features a plastic panel at the back that covers the GPS and Wi-Fi antennas of the device. This was done to minimize the interference that was noted in the Asus Transformer Prime.

The front glass panel of the Asus Transformer Infinity will feature Gorilla Glass protective and has a black bezel. In comparison the iPad does not feature the Gorilla Glass protection although it has a hardened glass for the display. The Asus Transformer Infinity is also slightly slimmer compared to the new iPad although it may not be easily noted by the users.

In terms of ports and connection, the new iPad features a proprietary connector where a number of accessories can be accommodated including an SD memory card reader, USB, and HDMI port. In comparison the Asus Transformer Infinity comes with a micro-HDMI and microSD memory card slot. In addition to this, the keyboard dock is also available as an option to users of the Asus Transformer Infinity. The keyboard dock does not only offer a QWERTY keyboard, it also offers a trackpad, an extra battery and a number of additional ports. Both devices also feature a 3.5mm audio jack.

Both the Asus Transformer Infinity as well as the new iPad feature Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity options. In addition to these connectivity options, the new iPad also offers 4G LTE connectivity as an option for users although this option will reportedly become available for the Asus Transformer Infinity. The Wi-Fi reception of the Asus tablet is also reportedly better due to the presence of two antennas. The latest tablet offering of Asus will also come with GPS even as the iPad will depend on the cellular network positioning.

The Asus Transformer Infinity will have a 1.6GHz Tegra 3 quad-core processor as compared to the 1GHz A5X dual-core processor of the iPad.

The battery life of the new iPad and the Asus Transformer Infinity appear to be similar at around ten hours for video playback as well as around eight hours of browsing. However the keyboard dock of the Asus Transformer Infinity gives it an additional five hours of battery life although it gives additional bulk to the device.

In terms of the operating system used by the two devices, the iOS has more applications that are optimally-designed for use on tablets with bigger screens and the iOS is considered smoother compared to the Android that is used on the Asus Transformer Infinity. 

The price of the Asus Transformer Infinity is quite competitive at $499 and $599 for the 32GB and 64GB models respectively. In comparison, the new iPad has a pricing of $499, $599, and $699 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB Wi-Fi only models. An additional $130 will be added for each of the models to get the 4G LTE models of the new iPad.

The better software ecosystem for the new iPad gives it an edge over the Asus Transformer Infinity which is one of the reasons why the Apple tablet has dominated the tablet market. However the Asus Transformer Infinity offers a number of hardware features that makes it a good choice for users who may want to purchase their first tablet but with the fact that the performance of the Android OS remains unpolished might give consumers something to think about.

In the end if the Android ecosystem will become at par with the iOS ecosystem, the AsusTransformer Infinity will likely offer the iPad of Apple will be facing its best competition so far in the tablet market.