Asus is the brand behind Google’s Nexus 7, the most impressive 7 inch tablets of the moment.
Asus is also the brand behind the Memo Pad ME172V we’re reviewing here, or the MemoPad 7 as it might be called on some markets.
Shortly, the MemoPad is a cheaper and striped down version of the Nexus 7. Asus replaced the finishing, the processor and the screen, ending up with a tablet that’s going to be available internationally for around $150/150 euros, which is at least 25% cheaper than the Nexus 7.
Is it any good though? Well, that you’ll find out from this post and the video reviews and comparisons included below.
Asus MemoPad Video Review
Let’s start with the video review.
I’m not going to get into many details. You saw from the clip that the MemoPad 7 is able to handle your average tasks, like watching movies, listening to music, playing some light games, browsing, reading and so on. But you’ll have to be extremely patient with it, especially when loading large websites, games and other more complex apps, or when multitasking between apps. That’s strike one.
Strike two is the screen, which is quite poor, but I can’t say it’s worse than what you get on other similar tabs.
And luckily there’s no strike 3 that would have ended the game. But there are a couple of balls, to keep our baseball analogy: the sturdy body available in several different colors, the ports, the fact that it runs Android 4.1 JellyBean and the price.
So is the MemoPad a good buy? Frankly, I’d rather add $50 on top and buy the Nexus 7, as you’ll be able to see from the clips below, that’s a far better tablet, with faster hardware and an IPS screen.
Asus MemoPad vs Nexus 7 comparison
And there are other alternatives for the MemoPad available on the market right now. I’ve compared it with the popular Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 2.0, and you can see the video comparison below.
I wish I could have compared it with the Acer Iconia B1 as well, an even cheaper 7 inch tablet that comes with slightly faster hardware. I just couldn’t find one over here for a comparison. Maybe in the near future.
Anyway, to wrap things up, the Asus MemoPad 7 is a decent tablet for its price range and target customers, but it’s not the best cheap tablet on the market. Asus plans to push it to emerging countries in Asia, Africa and Estern Europe, thus you might not be able to get it in the US or the rich part of Europe. But that’s OK, you’ve got the Nexus 7 there if you want something affordable.
The MemoPad is meant for those of you who can’t afford to pay more than $150 or even less for a tablet, but still want an usable device with modern software. If that’s the case though, the non-branded Chinese tabs selling for around $100, or the Acer Iconia B1 I mentioned above, can be good alternatives to the MemoPad. Better or not? That’s for each of you to decide.
