New ZenPad C 7.0 (Z171KG) sneaks onto Asus.com website

November 14, 2016 Categories: News, Z171KG, ZenPad C, ZenPad C 7.0 by 0 Comments

Talk about a stealth release! We had previously suggested there might be a new ZenPad C 7.0 model and now our prediction turned out to be official. Welcome to the budget ZenPad C 7.0 (Z171KL) tablet!

This is a tablet that can make phone calls and is very much like the 6.9-inch Zenfone Go phone which has recently been unveiled. If we look at the original ZenPad C 7.0, there are not a lot of advancements in terms of features or specs that make this model a big leap forward, but price is the key selling point.

The good news is that the new ZenPad C gets a higher resolution screen. The last generation model was actually terrific even regardless of the meager 1024 x 600 resolution. So this new model steps up with a 1280 x 800 screen which will make a big difference. Still 1 GB of RAM onboard and the processor is a Snapdragon quad-core which at this point is still unknown. The Z171KG comes with just 8GB of storage, but you can utilize the micro SD card slot for up to 128GB more storage. The battery is a 3480mAh which is about the same size as the Intel Atom powered ZenPad C 7.0 from last year but we expect the Snapdragon processor to provide a better battery life.

Price and release date are the big unknowns but don’t expect this in North America and expect the price to be very cheap in the markets that is becomes available.

More details to come, but for now here is an image gallery for you.

 

[source: Asus.com]

 

Asus adds product page for ZenPad 3S 10.0 LTE (Z500KL) – More Details

November 8, 2016 Categories: News, Z500KL, ZenPad 3S 10 LTE by 11 Comments

Up until today we only had a video with a few specs sprinkled in. Now we get the real deal and official Z500KL product page!

A few new details to share with you. First, the Z500KL comes only in a Slate Grey color. It weighs 490g which is heavier than the Z500M which weighs 430g. However the ZenPad 3S 10 LTE comes with a 7800mAh battery compared to the 5900mAh battery in the Z500M tablet. Storage is 32GB with 4GB RAM. Another value added feature is the Z Stylus compatibility.

Network Standard Specs:

4G：
FDD LTE 1 3 5 7 8 9 18 19 20 26 28
TDD LTE 38/41

3G :
UMTS :
850MHz(5)/850MHz(6)/900MHz(8)/2100MHz(1)

 

Image Gallery:

ZenPad tablets with Android 6.0 Marshmallow update

November 8, 2016 Categories: News, Software Updates by 23 Comments

In the recent past, Asus rolled out Android 6.0 Marshmallow to the ZenPad S 8.0 series of tablets. That was big news and a big relief to a lot of people. People want Android updates and people speak loud and clear about this.

Part of our goal has been to keep people in the loop. To keep people informed about updates to their ZenPads has been part of our mission. So we can accept the fact we haven’t kept up with all things ZenPad.

At this point in time we aren’t even sure if people realize that the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update has come to a number of ZenPad tablets. People have been critical of Asus for lack of Android updates, but perhaps some of that criticism is not entirely valid.

Android 6.0 Marshmallow update available for the following:

  • ZenPad S 8.0 (Z580CA/Z580C)
    • JP_V5.4.9.0 (2016/09/12)
    • WW_V5.4.3.0 (2016/09/12)
  • ZenPad 8.0 (Z380KL)
    • JP_V5.6.0 (2016/09/08)
    • WW_V5.4.2 (2016/05/26)
  • ZenPad 10 (Z300CL)
    • JP_V13.8.1.56 (2016/09/30)
    • WW_V13.8.1.56 (2016/09/19)
  • ZenPad 7.0 (Z370KL)
    • JP_13.6.2.27 (2016/08/18)
    • WW_13.6.2.24 (2016/08/18)

 

How To Update Your ZenPad With Android 6.0 Marshmallow:

These instructions can be used for this update regardless of your ZenPad model. The main point is that you will need to download the update manually. I recommend that you view our ZenPad S 8.0 Android 6.0 update page and read the comments from people who have done the update themselves. People helping one another!

Other key points include backing up your files and important documents and ensuring you have a full battery charge before starting the update. Asus says have at least 50% battery but we say make it 100%.

zenpad-android-6-0-software-updates

Asus unveils ZenPad 3S 10 LTE (Z500KL) – Details and Promo Video

November 6, 2016 Categories: News, Video, Z500KL, ZenPad 3S 10 LTE by 1 Comment

We had predicted the existence and release of a 4G LTE model of the ZenPad 3S 10 and it appears we were correct. Welcome to the Z500KL which is going to be known as the ZenPad 3S 10 LTE tablet. In case you are wondering, the Z500KL is largely like the Verizon exclusive ZenPad Z10.

First, we can’t speak to the release date, country availability or price. It’s too early at the time of writing to have those specifics. What we can look at though are some of the limited specs that we have seen mentioned in the first promo video.

First, the Z500KL comes with a Snapdragon 650 hexa-core processor (1.8GHz) which should mean an Adreno 510 GPU. This processor is the same as the ZenPad Z10.

Second, and this is going to shock you, is the 7800mAh battery that also has Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology. At first blush the 7800mAh battery seems like a typo, but it’s not.

In case you were wondering, the non LTE model of this tablet (Z500M) comes with a 5900mAh battery which is actually around the standard battery size for the 9.7-inch tablet sizes. With Asus putting a 7800mAh battery inside the Z500KL, it makes it a ZenPad Max in our eyes! This 7800mAh battery is also the same size battery that comes in the Verizon exclusive ZenPad Z10.

So a bigger battery means what to this thin tablet? Actually the thinness is unaffected by the bigger battery which is great news. It makes the Z500KL a bit heavier than the Z500M but with that boost of battery life we think most people will be happy with the trade-off. Do you agree?

If you’re wondering about Z Stylus pen compatibility, yes, the ZenPad 3S 10 is compatible with the Z Stylus.

Promo Video:

Image Gallery:

Asus North America releases promo video for Verizon ZenPad Z10 exclusive tablet

October 28, 2016 Categories: Video, Z10 by 0 Comments

With the surging popularity of the ZenPad 3S 10 (Z500M) you might also want to check out the 4G LTE version that is similar and exclusive to Verizon. The big differences is in the processor and RAM. The Z10 comes with a Snapdragon process rather than a MediaTek processor and the Z10 comes with 3GB of RAM in comparison to 4GB found in the Z500M model. The Z500M does have 64GB storage whereas the Z10 has 32GB storage and the Z10 does not have Z Stylus compatibility that we can see.

Certainly the Z10 offers a hard to beat price to specs to features in this size of tablet with 4G LTE connectivity.

 

Screenshots:

Software update 3.3.18.0 comes to ZenPad 3 8.0 (Z581KL)

October 23, 2016 Categories: Firmware Updates, Software Updates, Z581KL, ZenPad 3 8.0 by 0 Comments

We are hoping to keep on top of the various software (firmware) updates that roll out to the various ZenPad tablets throughout the year. When you get that OTA (over-the-air) update notification there can be some nice goodies to be excited about.

In this update dated October 21, 2016 for the ZenPad 3 8.0 (Z581KL) we can’t say there is anything overly exciting. However it does provide a Google security patch so that’s worth talking about for sure.

Version:

  • JP-3.3.18.0
  • WW-3.3.18.0

Here are the release notes:

  1. Update Google security patch
  2. Update APN list
  3. Update Setup Wizard

So that’s a fairly minimal update for now anyways. As the ZenPad 3 8.0 starts to roll out to more countries we expect to see some more significant software updates in the near future.

[source: Asus.com]

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