Asus me173x, a cheap $150 Android tablet is just too impressive it its era

Written by B Johnson December 09, 2013
Asus me173x
Asus used to be really productive when it comes to making Android tablets. One of its tablets that I found really impressive was Asus me173x. Well, that's mostly because this tablet used to be really cheap back then but it brought many great things to the table.
Around the high-end tablet market, Asus tablets may not be as popular as iPad or Samsung GALAXY tablets. However, in mid-range market, Asus has such a massive success in this area.

Yup, that’s true, Asus may not have the same kind of popularity and especially ground-breaking sales just like the iPad or Samsung GALAXY tablets in high-end tablet market.

But in affordable tablet market, Asus can still have something to brag about against its rivals.
Asus me173x

As we all know already, Google Nexus 7 is one of Asus successful tablets that still have such a huge impact in global tablet market.

Google Nexus 7 may be a Google-branded tablet, which is fully designed by no other than Google itself.

However, Asus is actually the one that manufactures this device, while Google is in charge on the design and software.

And as a result, this tablet now becomes one of the most popular 7-inch tablets in the world, making it on par with the other top shelve flagship tablets like iPad, iPad mini, Kindle Fire HDX or Samsung GALAXY Note 8.

But Google Nexus 7 is not the only tablet that Asus utilizes as the tool to grow its presence in global tablet market.

This company actually still has a wide range of other great tablets that no doubt are equal to other top selling tablets out there.

Asus me173x is one of them.

The reason why i really want to bring up this tablet as my next review is because i’m really blown away with the whole thing about this tablet, like its camera, display, performance and pretty much everything, except its gaming performance (but we’ll get more on that later).

I’m just really impressed to see how this $150 tablet can deliver some awesome things to users, which is rare to find on today’s cheap tablets.

Okay then guys, if you’re interested to know more about why i’m really impressed with this cheap $150 tablet, then here you go, my personal review of Asus me173x.

Introduction

Asus Memo Pad series has a wide range of tablets from low-to-mid-range that surprisingly good in overall quality.

Asus me173x is the first one that i’m really interested to bring up to the table.

Design

Asus me173xWhen it comes to design, this is probably one of the most interesting parts from this tablet.

From the front side, as we can see, it kind of reminds me with the design of the first-gen Google Nexus 7.

I don’t know about you guys here – but i think from the bezels, the round edges, the chrome trimming around the side, even the back cover, kind of resemble with the design of Google Nexus 7 (2012).

It’s obvious that Asus me173x takes some design cues from its old brother.

So if you’re looking for a tablet that looks similar with the first-gen Google Nexus 7, but has some important features that can’t be found on Google’s tablet, Asus me173x is definitely a pretty good choice.

It does have some awesome features like microSD card slot, HDMI port and 5MP camera, which Google Nexus 7 don’t (even until now, except the 5MP camera of course).

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  • No SIM
  • Released July 2013
  • 7.0 inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 800 x 1280 pixels (~216 ppi pixel density)
  • Quad-core Mediatek MT8125 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7 CPU
  • PowerVR SGX544 GPU
  • 1 GB RAM
  • Android OS, v4.2 (Jelly Bean), upgradable to v4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
  • microSD card slot for up to 32 GB
  • Internal 16 GB
  • 5 MP rear-facing camera with autofocus
  • 1.2 MP front-facing camera
  • No GPRS
  • No EDGE
  • Wi-Fi 802.11
  • No Radio
  • GPS
  • Java MIDP emulator
  • Bluetooth
  • USB
  • Non-removable Li-Po battery

However, despite being a cheap budget tablet, it doesn’t mean that the quality of this tablet will be inferior or even suck than other tablets in its class.

As a matter of fact, Asus me173x surprisingly is a really good tablet though.

Even CNET and other tech review sites like PhoneArena are really impressed with the whole thing about this tablet.

It has a great 720p display, pretty great hardware, fluid performance, cool design, strong battery life, and the most importantly, it amazingly has a really good quality camera, whereas it’s only a 5MP camera.

It may not have the same premium feel just like iPad nor the same powerful hardware just like Google Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire 7 HDX.

But damn, at only $150, you can get a beautiful tablet that impressively brings some important things that cannot be found on Google and Amazon’s tablets, like microSD card slot, HDMI port, great 5MP camera and many more.

Screen

It’s good to see that Asus me173x already comes with 720p display on its 7-inch screen.

It may not be mind blowing like the display of the current-gen Google Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire 7 HDX that already adopt 1920x1200 pixel resolution, which cost only $229, but still, at just $150, having a 720p display tablet is already great enough for a cheap tablet like this one.

As a matter of fact, in its class, the 720p display of Asus me173x is still on par with other competing tablets in the price range of around $150, like HP Slate 7 Plus, Kindle Fire 7 HD, the first-gen Google Nexus 7 or even the $199 tablets like Tegra Note, HP Slate 7 Extreme or Samsung GALAXY Tab 3.

So with that being said, then a 720p display on a $150 tablet can still be considered as today’s standards in low-end tablet market, right?

For your information, CNET and some other tech review sites across the internet are really impressed with display quality of Asus me173x.

Most of them really like how the colors on the 720p screen of this tablet are really popping up and look really awesome than other affordable budget 7-inch tablets out there on the market.

User Interface

As an Asus tablet, no doubt that Asus me173x will come with Asus’ own version of Android OS out of the box.

The good thing is, as we can see on many of Asus tablets, their User Interface is not a huge departure from the stock Android OS, unlike Samsung GALAXY or Sony Xperia tablets that have some different looking Android OS with their own custom skins, widgets and pre-loaded apps that for sure will inundate the memory of these devices, thus decreasing the whole performance and experience of these tablets.

Luckily, the UI of Asus me173x will not be like that.

It may have some great features and standard additions here and there found on the software, like multi-window apps (where you can multitask more than 1 app at once on the same screen, like calculator, video player, etc), new icons or new wallpapers.

However, the UI of Asus me173x will not be as heavier as Samsung GALAXY or Sony Xperia tablets.

And this is great because Asus me173x comes with some limitations, especially in terms of hardware specs.

And it would be a horrible decision if Asus decided to put some heavy stuff on this tablet.

So i think it’s great to see that the UI of this tablet will not far different than the stock UI of standard Android OS, found on tablets like Tegra Note 7 or Google Nexus 7.

Performance

When talking about its performance, there are the good and bad things on this tablet. Let me first with the good thing, okay? First of all, Asus me173x comes with a quad-core Mediatek Cortex-A7 CPU clocked at 1.2GHz, 1GB of RAM and PowerVR SX544 GPU.

These specs can be considered as good, especially for a $150 tablet. No argue to that.

With this type of specs, this tablet no doubt is able to deliver fast and smooth performance to the users.

However, the bad thing is, in the real implementation, when faced with much heavier tasks at once, the whole performance of Asus me173x will not be that faster and smoother as it’s expected, compared to other $150 tablets on the market to date, like Kindle Fire HD or HP Slate 7 Plus.
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It may have a quad-core processor and the same PowerVR SGX544 GPU found also on older-gen iPhone 4, plus 1GB of RAM.

But in many occasions, this tablet will start becoming laggy everytime users multitask some heavy apps at the same time.

The most noticeable decrease of performance on this tablet can be seen when you use this tablet to play some graphically demanding games, which i’m going to talk later after this.

The good news is, i believe this issue can be solved by Asus with the future updates from this manufacturer.

Besides, in the normal use, this tablet is actually a really good tablet with a pretty great performance, especially for a $150 tablet.

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As mentioned above, when it comes to gaming performance, Asus me173x may not be the best gaming tablet on the market right now.

On paper, it may have some pretty good specs sheet, like a quad-core Meditek processor, 1GB of RAM and PowerVR SGX544. However, in reality, there are some weaknesses found on this type of specs.



Asus me173x may have a 4-core CPU, which is today’s standards of tablet. However, the CPU found inside the Asus me173x is made by MediaTek.

I know - this specialized chip manufacturer has some really great processors going on around the market right now, like its most-recent real octa-core CPU for flagship devices.

And i believe these flagship chipsets from Mediatek are able to deliver a super fast and smooth performance to any devices that use them.

However, this contradicts with the cheap homemade processors from MediaTek.

According to most tech review sites out there on internet, cheap MediaTek processors are not that great compared to other low-cost chipsets from other companies like Qualcomm or NVIDIA, say, Snapdragon 400 or Tegra 4 respectively.

Cheap processors from MediaTek may not be that horrible, but still, in terms of performance, they are not on par with other low-cost contenders like Tegra 4 or Snapdragon 400, which can found on many cheap budget tablets or smartphones.

So with that being said, then the gaming performance of Asus me173x is not as great as other affordable tablets like Tegra Note 7, HP Slate 7 Extreme or HP Slate 7 Plus.

The good news is, Asus me173x is still capable to run many graphics intense games like Dead Trigger 1, Asphalt 7: Heat, Real Racing 3 or GTA Vice City.

However, as for the Real Racing 3 and GTA Vice City, i’ve already seen these game run really laggy on Asus Memo Pad 7 HD, especially GTA Vice City.

So if you want to play these heavy games on this Asus tablet, it’s well recommended to set the games in medium or even low graphics setting in order to play them smoothly.

It's also worth mentioning that this tablet is also able to run much newer games like Asphalt 8: Airborne or Need for Speed: Most Wanted, but the problem is, they run really laggy, even at the low graphics setting.

So if you’re a tablet gamer and intends to use this tablet as a gaming device, then i suggest you to stay away from Asus me173x because this tablet will struggle to run the newest games that are gonna launch next year, like Modern Combat 5, N.O.V.A 4 or maybe Dead Trigger 3, even at low graphics setting.

However, if you’re not a hardcore tablet gamer, and you just want to use this tablet as a device to watch HD movies, listen to music, read books or magazines, browse the web or play some older heavy games, then Asus me173x is definitely a great choice for a $150 tablet.

Camera

It’s amazing to see that the 5MP camera on Asus me173x is able to take some decent photos and videos.

What really makes it amazing is the price of this tablet, which is only $150, and it’s capable to take some great quality shots with that 5MP camera.

According to some users of this tablet, not to mention some tech review sites, the photo quality taken with Asus me173x’s 5MP camera is surprisingly good, despite its insanely cheap $150 price tag.

Amazingly, the photo quality of Asus me173x is much better than the photo quality of 2nd-gen Google Nexus 7, whereas they both have the same 5MP cameras.

Battery Life

There is no information concerning the battery capacity found inside this tablet.

However, given that Asus has been known as one of many great tablet manufacturers out there, then the battery life of Asus me173x will not be disappointing for sure.

So if you intend to use this tablet solely for playing some heavy games in the row or watching HD movies in marathon, you can expect to see this tablet last around 5 to 7 hours in heavy usage.

However, for some mixed usage, like for watching movies, reading books/magazines, listening to music, browsing the web and playing games combined in normal non-hardcore usage, then the battery life will likely stay much longer than 15 hours.

This is pretty good for a tablet though, given that it only costs $150, so you get what you pay for.

User Opinions

The first time i saw this tablet, i was really impressed a lot.

First of all, i love how Asus decides to price this tablet at just $150, which is insanely cheap for a quad-core tablet like this one.

The fact that Asus me173x comes with specs like a 7-inch 720p display, a quad-core Mediatek CPU, 1GB of RAM, PowerVR SGX544 GPU, microSD card slot and some other features, really make this it a worth buying tablet in that $150 price range.

No doubt that Asus me173x will be great for many things, like watching movies (especially watching movies!), reading books, browsing the web and listening to music.

Not to mention, with the hardware specs aforementioned above, then i believe Asus me173x can play many heavy games in buttery smooth performance, given that it is a quad-core tablet.

As a matter of fact, i’ve already seen this tablet capable to run heavy games like Dead Trigger 1, Real Racing 3 some other older games smoothly with no lag and in high graphics setting.

So with that being said, then Asus me173x could also be a pretty great gaming tablet, if not great.

Unfortunately, i’ve also seen this tablet really struggle to run some newer games like Asphalt 8: Airborne and GTA Vice City, and they don’t even run in full graphics setting.

So if you’re a big fan of tablet games and always want to be able to play the latest games on Google Play Store in smooth performance and in full graphics, i recommend you to switch your target to other tablets.

For alternatives, of course, in that $150 price range, you can buy either the first-gen Google Nexus 7, HP Slate 7 Plus (with Tegra 3) or Kindle Fire HD.

But i heard that many users of the first-gen Google Nexus 7 experienced that after several months of using this tablet, this tablet became laggy compared to the first time they got it.

Many believe that the flash storage of this tablet is the one to blame.

But i think, this problem has been addressed by Google on the second-gen Google Nexus 7 (2013 edition).

So the choices now are between HP Slate 7 Plus (with Tegra 3) or Kindle Fire 7 HD.

HP Slate 7 Plus comes with a 7-inch 720p display, quad-core Tegra 3 processor, accompanied with 1GB of RAM and 12-core of GeForce GPU, microSD card slot and many more.

With all of these goodies, no doubt that HP Slate 7 Plus is a much better option for gaming than Asus me173x, although the screen will not be as great as the screen of Asus tablet.

But still, they both are sporting the same 720p displays, right?

Meanwhile, there is also Amazon Kindle Fire 7 HD, released a year ago.

This tablet comes with a 7-inch 720p display, a dual-core TI OMAP Cortex-A9 processor, 1GB of RAM and PowerVR SGX540 GPU.

When it comes to specs, Amazon may not be as great as Asus me173x, given that its CPU and GPU are slightly lower then the ones found on Asus me173x.

However, unlike Asus tablet, Kindle Fire HD has an Amazon app store, which provides all the apps that are well-optimized specificaly for this tablet.

So with that being said, then as the owner of Kindle Fire HD, you’ll get much bigger chance to play many latest games that will launch this year or next year, which will definitely be well-optimized for Kindle Fire HD tablet.

So newer games like Asphalt 8: Airborne or GTA San Andreas will likely be compatible for this tablet.

So yeah, these 2 tablets are the tablets that i believe will be good alternatives for Asus me173x, especially if you’re looking for a $150 tablet that is able to play the latest games without any problem.

However, if you’re not a tablet gamer and you only want to buy a $150 tablet just for watching movies, listening to music, reading books, browsing the web and playing some older heavy games, then Asus me173x is definitely a great choice for you.

In fact, it is a much better option than Kindle Fire HD.

Disclaimer: Hi guys, bear in mind that this is not some in-depth review. This is Read more...
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