The ace Transformer Pad Infinity: infinity and beyond expensive

    ASUS ADDS FULL-HD TO ITS KEYBOARD-TOTING, QUADCORE TRANSFORMER TABLET TEMPLATE, BUT AT AN EYE-WATERING PRICE...
    THE SCREEN'S THE STAR: the Infinity’s crowning glory is a 10.1-inch, 1920*1200 pixel screen. At 224ppi it doesn't quite match the Retina Display, but hey — it still looks great to us...

    The ace Transformer Prime and even-better Nexus 7 have rolled off the Asus production line in the past six months, but that hasn't stopped the Taiwanese firm taking another pop at tablet perfection in the form of the Transformer Pad Infinity. Brandishing a full-HD display and Asus' familiar tablet/keyboard dock design — the typing sidekick is now included rather than an optional extra — it's another high-class contender, even if its near £600 price tag seems a tad excessive compared to the new breed of budget tabs.

    Going back to the original Transformer, Asus has always delivered clear, bright displays, but the Infinity's screen is something else. The first to host a 1920x1200, slightly­-better-than-HD screen, its brightness and sharpness are noticeable instantly, with the added clarity particularly helpful when reading text on the home screens and websites, though app icons are not optimised.

    It's video where the screen really delivers, though. A Super IPS+ mode allows for wider viewing angles — note: using this will drain your battery at a slightly faster rate. The 224ppi is some way off the new iPad's 264ppi, but it would take a keen eye to note a major difference in overall quality. This is definitely the best screen yet seen on an Android.

    For all the display's splendidness, overall multimedia experience is let down by poor audio performance. Despite the presence of Asus' SonicMaster tech, the sound distorts if you try to crank it up, and when held in landscape it's virtually impossible not to cover and muffle the single speaker.

    Fan of the Transformer Prime's aesthetic? You'll be chuffed to hear that Asus    

has blessed the Infinity with the same brushed metallic finish, matching the iPad for slickness. The 10.1-inch tab is also impeccably slim; measuring 8.5mm it's significantly more slender than the new iPad (9.4mm), although it loses that advantage when the keyboard dock is attached. It's a bit more portly than the Transformer Prime (8.3mm), but weighs a similarly baggable 598g.

    A power switch and volume rocker sit on top of the device in landscape mode, with microSD, USB and a combined headphone/mic socket on the left edge of the device and charging/ sync/keyboard-attaching port at the bottom. The Infinity's main attraction, that killer screen, is protected by toughened Gorilla Glass.

    The Transformer Prime was the first tablet to get an upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and it comes as no surprise that the Infinity is pre-loaded with it. Asus' custom settings add some slight variation to Google's vanilla OS, such as changing the way you can take screenshots.

    Tablet-optimised Android apps are beginning to appear on Google Play, but they are still few and far between. Asus attempts to push you to what it considers to be ideal content for the Infinity, including the @vibe Fun Center, an iTunes-like store where you can buy music, books and apps. Unfortunately, this not only has a horrible name, but also sports a dreadful interface, lacking the polish lavished on the hardware entirely. It's also worth noting that some of the allegedly "free" premium apps are actually just trial versions.

    Thankfully, there's no problem in the power department with the zippy Nvidia Tegra 3 quadcore processor running at 1.6GHz. An extra fifth core picks up the slack, performing less demanding tasks and allowing it to run as quickly and smoothly as the Transformer Prime and more so than the smaller Google Nexus 7. You can play graphically demanding games with barely any frame rate issues.

    Adding to the high-end feel, the Infinity wears an eight-megapixel camera on its rear. We're loath to advise people to use their tablets as cameras, but if that's your bag, the addition of autofocus, LED flash and a f2.2 aperture that allows extra light through the lens for clearer photographs make this probably the best snapper on a tablet to date.

    The 1080p full-HD video recording can also be rewarding in the right conditions, namely brightly lit locations — footage shot in more demanding environs can look washed out. There's also a front-facing cam with a two-meg sensor. HD video calling is its main benefit, but it also takes decent self-portraits.

    One of the key selling points of the Transformer series has been its superior battery life. From the cheaper Transformer 300 to the Transformer Prime, they've all rocked Connery-like longevity. The numbers are a bit down on the Infinity, though:14 hours when docked against the 18 hours of the Prime. We'll put that down to the new, higher resolution screen, which caused a similar battery life dip for the third-gen Apple iPad.

    With tablet and keyboard dock fully charged we managed three or four days general use. Remove the keyboard and you're looking at closer to seven hours, which is perfectly fine for most of us.

    The Infinity is a product of the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" design school, with many specs identical to the Prime, from the dock to the quadcore and storage options — 32GB or 64GB plus microSD, although, at least initially,

    only the 64GB model will be available over here. The battery life is also shorter, so the one trump card here is the beautiful full-HD screen. Is that enough to warrant a trade-up?

    When you're paying this kind of money it's easy to quibble about the lack of USB charging, the ropey speaker and the half-arsed proprietary apps. However, if you're after a tablet that offers laptop-I ike power, with excellent portability and specifications, the Infinity is worth your attention. It's basically an Asus Transformer Prime with a better screen, and there's nowt wrong with that.

{ SPECIFICATION }

OS  Android 4.0

PROCESSOR/RAM  1.6GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 quadcore / 1GB

SCREEN  10.1-inch,1920*1200

REAR CAM  64GB 8-meg / 1080p

FRONT CAM  2-meg / "HD"

CONNECTIONS  N Wi-Fi, micro HDMI, 3.5mm audio in / out. Via dock: USB, SD card

QUOTED BATTERY  8 hours / 14hours with dock
{ DETAILS }

1 MICRO HDMI

The Infinity can easily be hooked up to a compatible HD screen using this saucy micro HDMI port

2 KEYBOARD

The chiclet-style keyboard adds standard USB and SD slots, as well as boosting overall battery life

3 SCREEN

Scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass protects the 10.1-inch, full-HD screen, whilst also helping to keep the screen thickness down

4 FRONT-FACING CAMERA

This two-meg snapper is an improvement on the Prime's 1.2-meg one and also adds HD video calling

LOVE: Sharp, bright, full-HD screen. Well made keyboard dock. Good storage option
HATE: More expensive than the equivalent iPad. No USB charging. Optimised apps are lacking. Slightly reduced battery life