Asus is preparing to launch a new low-cost Android tablet with an Intel Atom Z3745 Bay Trail processor. It’s called the Asus MeMO Pad ME176C, and detailed about the new tablet started to pop up in April.
Now the folks at German site Mobile Geeks have obtained pictures, detailed specs, and benchmark results (thanks to Ukrainan site ITC.ua) for the upcoming tablet. The only thing we don’t know for certain is when it will launch… but the MeMO Pad ME176C is expected to sell for as little as $149 when it does hit the streets.
Here’s what we can expect from the next low-cost 7 inch Android tablet from Asus. It’ll have a 1.33 GHz Intel Atom quad-core processor, a 1280 x 800 pixel IPS display with wide viewing angles, 1GB of RAM, and either 8GB or 16GB of storage, depending on the model. It’ll also have a microSDXC card slot for folks that want to add extra storage space.
The tablet has a 5MP rear camera and a 2MP front-facing camera, supports 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS. It has a 3910mAh, 15 Whr battery and should get up to 10 hours of battery life. It runs Android 4.4 KitKat software with the Asus ZenUI user interface, much like the software that comes on the latest smartphones from Asus.
The Asus MeMO Pad ME176C should weigh about 10.4 ounces and measure less than 0.4 inches thick.
Wondering how the Atom Z3745 chip stacks up against the latest ARM-based processors? Benchmark results are a bit varied, but generally it looks like you can expect performance somewhere in the Samsung Galaxy S4 to LG G2 range, which means that while the tablet isn’t exactly the fastest device money can buy, you get a fair amount of bang for your buck with this $149 device.
I wonder how long software support will last. I know Intel has been working with Google to make their SoCs work with Android for a while now but I still wonder if OEMs will actually provide official updates after a year to two. I’m not into the whole rooting and bootloader unlocking so I’d like know how long any Android device is likely to get official updates.
I guess I’ll find out in a couple of years for this ASUS tablet. What’s ASUS’ track record in general when it comes to updating their Android devices for any architecture?
What about estimated or TESTED time for the BATTERY LIFE?
As Brad stated…
Why such low end panels? Would be nice to see it with HD panels even for 199. I think Intel cant handle HD resolution as well as ARM. Only a suspicion since most reasonably priced Intel tablets all have lower resolution LCD or LED panels. And no dual band Wifi. Do they have a 199 version ?
No, Bay Trail can support up to 2560×1600 resolution… The panel choices are just based on practicality and costs…
For the Windows 8 devices, the desktop still is hard to use on small screens with high resolution… especially, if you have to use it with only a touch screen and no WACOM digitizer pen… Most models released so far are for budget offerings as well, thus few push the higher specs it can support…
While most of these Android devices are intended as even lower entry level offerings… Even limiting how much RAM they offer for example… as this Asus model is only being offered with 1GB of RAM…
Asus does release multiple models, though, to fit different price ranges and we’ll likely see a higher spec model released soon enough…
Any idea how the x86 chips fare with ART?
Should be fine, Google officially supports Intel SoCs and let’s Intel based devices get the latest version releases… while ART is still a work in progress right now though… So no rush…