Asus Transformer Pad TF300 review

The Asus Transformer Pad TF300 is a decent, reasonably priced, quad-core tablet that's only real shortcoming is that it doesn't live up to the high standards set by its predecessor, the Transformer Prime.

Design and build
The Asus Transformer Pad TF300 sits in the middle bracket of Asus' tablet price range, retailing for around £400.

The tablet's price is reflected in its build quality, with the TF300 being made of plastic as opposed to metal. This means that the device doesn't feel very sturdy, even when compared to much cheaper tablets like the Huawei Mediapad 7in or Motorola Xoom 2.

The device is fairly large, measuring in at 263x181x9.9mm and weighing 635g. This, combined with the device's grooved plastic back, means that the TF300 can on occasion feel uncomfortable in hand.

The TF300's screen is also slightly less impressive than those seen on other Asus tablets. The TF300 packs a 10in screen, that while running at the same 1,280x800 pixels resolution as the Prime, is dimmer. This is because the Prime houses a Super IPS+ display, while the TF300 only boasts a regular IPS component.

For users this means that the TF300 is more difficult to use in sunlit conditions and doesn't have as wide viewing angles.

The screen is still reasonable for indoor everyday user, with the colours remaining fairly vibrant and there are no significant issues with its contrast ratio.

One area Asus has not cut down on for the TF300 is ports, with the tablet featuring micro-HDMI input and microSD slots. The inclusion of the two mean that you can actually plug the TF300 into an external monitor or display and can upgrade its storage past its standard 16GB and 32GB options.