Final Words & Conclusion

Tablet reviews are a relatively new thing here on Guru3D.com, and really... they are hard to test objectively as they really are touch and feel devices. We however can say though that the ASUS Transformer Prime is exquisite in many ways. Obviously the Tegra 3 SoC is a perfect companion for the tablet, offering leading performance, great graphics versus a battery lifetime that is notable.

So the Tegra 3 heart of the product is just excellent really, and Android 4.0 ICS seems to be the perfect companion for it.

On battery lifetime, we assume you'll leave the product on balanced mode and with this configuration you can certainly expect a good 5-6 hours of lifetime out of it. Once you dock it to the keyboard you get another 5 hours easily.

That keyboard...  you know, once you attach it the product starts to feel like a netbook again. And with an operating system so optimized for touch based control, you'll (well, we did) quickly dismount it again.

So the keyboard definitely is not a necessity for me personally. I can imagine though that if you need to be a little more productive with this device, like typing a lot of emails, then that's where the extra money will pay off. But as weird as it might sound, I'd be careful in considering the keyboard dock as a tablet is not (well not for me) about productivity.

Important to note, WIFI wise we did not have any issues. In fact, it had a great range in our signal cluttered office, we easily got a 25 meter range out of it through concrete walls. The GPS module is a different story though, we could not get a fix inside the building even close to a window. Outside it will take a minute before enough satellites are detected and for the GPS to fix. Once a fix is established, from there onwards it becomes really fast. So that GPS receiver is 'okay'.

For a near perfect product we do have a couple of remarks, the speaker is located a little strangely, and it's just one speaker. Stereo would have had my preference. The second remark would be the location of the power on button, it is a little hard to reach and it's just small really. Okay, I agree it is nitpicking at best.

Features wise you can't be anything short of impressed. The IPS screen is fantastic, dual cameras, support for large SD storage, mini-HDMI (our kit did not have a cable included though), then the keyboard dock with added battery, the aluminum design, the Tegra 3 chipset and so on...

Overall the Prime is just a very impressive product really. Fast, great screen, nice functionality and with a dock you can extend battery lifetime. Currently the Eee Pad Transformer Prime 32GB with docking keyboard sells at EUR 599 and the Eee Pad Transformer 64Gb without docking keyboard also retails for EUR 599.

Whether or not a tablet is worth that kind of money I'll gladly leave to you to decide. Hardware wise though, Tegra 3 in combo with ICS for the Eee Pad Transformer Prime is by all means impressive and forms a match made in heaven, definitely the leading tablet anno Q1 2012.

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