Asus Releases ZenPad Flagship With USB Type-C And A Few Modifications

At Computex, Asus displayed its upcoming Zenpad tablets, showing off an array of new features. At the time, those devices were still under development, but the specs have now been finalized, pricing has been set, and you can purchase the flagship ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA now.

Many of the aspects of the Zenpad remain unchanged from what we were shown at Computex. The core hardware, including the Intel Atom Z3580 CPU, the Imagination PowerVR G6430, and the 4 GB of RAM remain. Asus brought a few minor changes to the system, though, such as moving to a 15.2 WHr battery as opposed to a 15 WHr battery as previously stated, netting a minor increase in battery life. The software also saw a change, as the final version got the ZenUI.

The cameras on the devices are what see the majority of changes. Previously, Asus stated that it would have a 5MP front camera and 8MP rear camera. The company opted to downgrade these cameras to 2MP front and 5MP rear cameras. Reducing the quality of the cameras doesn't help improve any aspect of the tablet, so these were likely cost cutting measures.

To help compensate for this feature reduction, Asus included its Tru2Life+ technology. This technology analyzes images before they are displayed and attempts to improve them by adjusting the contrast and sharpness. Although your pictures will still be a lower resolution than the other cameras were capable of capturing, this technology should help to compensate for the change.

Probably the most notable feature of the Zenpad S 8.0 Z580CA, though, is the inclusion of a USB Type-C port (although we're not certain if it has the slower 5 Gbps speed or if it has the 10 Gbps provided by USB 3.1 v2.)

The Zenpad S 8.0 Z580CA is available now from various retailers with an MSRP of $299.

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