Review: Asus Transformer Infinity (TF700T)

Overall, the updates have made the Prime an even better machine, several months after the release of that product. But while Asus has updated some things, not every upgrade has boosted the machine to levels of awesomeness.

Benchmarking shows the new high-speed 1.6GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 to be sometimes as powerful as the Transformer Prime TF201, and sometimes just a little slower, in fact.

From what we’re told, the higher resolution of the screen can stop the chip from performing at the fastest speed possible, with a result that brings it closer to what Asus released several months ago, rather than the top tiered tablet the Infinity is claimed to be.

Push the switch to detach the tablet section from the keyboard dock.

That’s not to say the Asus Transformer Infinity is slow, as that’s simply not the case, but it’s not the powerhouse Asus is claiming from it.

We did have some slow downs here and there when we were jumping between menus, taking screen shots,and even waiting for the web browser to let us scroll down webpages, but the performance wasn’t bad at all.

Android’s latest and greatest operating system is also missed out here, with Asus sticking with the still excellent and reasonably up-to-date version 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich. The latest OS, 4.1 or “Jelly Bean” should be along any time now, but as of publishing, was nowhere to be found.

Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" is very familiar here.

There’s also no 3G module on offer in the Transformer Infinity, at least not yet, and so it technically competes with the 64GB WiFi iPad, a tablet that carries a $759 charge in Australia. When you see the Infinity’s price, it’s a little bit of a shocker, with a $999 asking price for the tablet and keyboard dock.

At that price, you’re barely getting an improvement on the TF201 with it’s $899 recommended retail price from earlier in the year, a value that has dropped slightly and can now be found for between $600 and $800 on street pricing. With that in mind, that means you’re being asked to fork out an extra $200 for a screen that doesn’t make as significant a difference as you’d like to think.

Furthermore, with Ultrabooks available for under this and touch-enabled Ultrabooks on the way in the coming months, a $999 hybrid-tablet is a bit of a hard ask.

That's the Infinity there in the third position, not quite as fast as the Transformer Prime just above it and the HTC One X in the first position.

Conclusion

In making modest updates to the Transformer Prime, Asus has come up with a decent refresh, even if the price doesn’t necessarily make it the easy purchase that the Prime was before the new iPad came out.

If you’re in the market for a tablet with strong keyboard and battery, the Transformer Infinity is worth your attention, though keep in mind that there are a lot of products coming in the next couple of months, and that may not make this as strong a purchase.

Overall
Features
Value for money
Performance
Design
Reader Rating0 Votes
Solid build; One of the highest resolution tablet screens out there outside of the Apple camp; Super IPS+ screen makes it semi-usable outdoors in daylight; Great keyboard;
Glossy screen; Expensive; Doesn't feel as fast as it should;
3.7