Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v, a nice tablet only if you're a toddler

Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v does have something to offer here, especially if you're looking for a cheap tablet to purchase. It has Mali 400 GPU, which is pretty great for playing light gaming and a bunch of other stuff.

Hi guys, glad to see you again here!

In the past few weeks, i’ve been really impressed and a LOT by many Asus Memo Pad tablets, from a cheapo $150 Asus Memo Pad 7HD (which is one of my favorite 7-inch low-end tablets), Asus Memo Pad 10 FHD and other awesome tablets under this same series.

And as mentioned above, my favorite so far is definitely Asus Memo Pad 7HD.


Besides Asus Memo Pad 7 HD, today, i also have another tablet under the same flag Asus Memo Pad series, which i believe can also be a good choice of tablet in the low-end tablet market.

This one is Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v, a cheap Android tablet with some pretty good quality specs on it, of course in its class of low-end cheap tablet market.

Well, if you’re interested to know more about this tablet, then here you go, enjoy my personal view about Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v.

But as usual, before reading this personal review, please allow me to give you the brief introduction of this tablet.



Unlike Asus Transformer tablets that are made for some power productive and professional users, this Asus Memo Pad series, on the other hand, is targeting some casual users who’re only looking for media-consumption tablets without the need of keyboard dock and some productivity-related features.

Now we have this Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v, a cheap Android tablet (based on its specs) that made its first debut at the beginning of 2013.

However, unlike other Asus Memo Pad tablets that i’ve been reviewing on this website in the past few weeks, apparently, Asus Memo Pad ME172V is not gonna be the tablet that will make me amazed.

I know - on any tablet, there will be pros and cons.

However, for this tablet, i think i’m gonna tell you everything about this tablet, especially the things that really disappoint me a lot.


In terms of design, this tablet looks really identical with many Asus 7-inch tablets out there on the market. In fact, this tablet looks similar with the design of Google Nexus 7 (2012), it also looks similar with Asus Memo Pad 7HD, which is not surprising given that these tablets are made by no other than Asus.

The overall design of Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v looks good, but not as great as other 7-inch rivals, say, Tegra Note 7 that has its distinctive design materials on the front side (which reminds me with the design of HTC One) or LG G Pad 8.3, which, in my opinion, has one of the best premium designs on the tablet market to date, after the iPad Air. So there is nothing to write home about on the design of this tablet.

It looks really generic just like other Asus tablets. But overall, this tablet looks pretty good for a 7-inch tablet.

On the back side, this tablet is designed with the rubberized finish all over the place.

As you can see, there are some rubber patterns on the back of this tablet, which kind of reminds me with the same exact rubberized finish on the back of Google Nexus 7 (2012).

I believe this tablet takes a lot of design cues from Google Nexus 7, which was released around 5 to 7 months before this Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v made its debut in January 2013.

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• No SIM
• Released January 2013,
• 7.0 inch LED-backlit LCD, capacitive touchscreen, 600 x 1024 pixels, (~170 ppi pixel density)
• Android OS, v4.1 Jelly Bean
• 1 GHz VIA WM8950 CPU
• Mali-400 GPU
• 1 GB RAM
• microSD card slot for up to 32 GB
• 8/16 GB Internal storage
• 1 MP Camera
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• No GPRS
• No EDGE
• No Bluetooth
• No Radio
• No GPS
• No Java
• USB
• Non-removable Li-Po 4270 mAh battery (16 Wh)
• Up to 7 h (multimedia)

Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v comes with a bunch of specs that are considered as low end, especially for today’s standards of tablet market.

Well, this is actually the sector that i’m really disappointed a lot by this tablet.

I mean, the specs like a 7-inch 1024x600 pixel display, 1GHz single-core VIA WM8950 processor, 1GB of RAM, Mali-400 and 1MP of camera are just not acceptable for today’s standards, whereas this tablet launched in January 2013, which was last year.

What makes it even worse is that, the first-gen Google Nexus 7 made its first debut in the middle of 2012, which was 6 months BEFORE the release of Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v.

Compared to Google’s first-gen tablet, this Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v is just not on par in many ways, especially in term of specs.

Google Nexus 7 comes with 1280x800 pixel display, a quad-core Tegra 3, 1GB of RAM, 12-core of GPU and its performance is just blazing fast, even until today.

On the other hand, with the specs like a single-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, Mali-400 GPU, 1MP and much lower 1024x600 pixel display, then this Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v is just way behind competition, even for last year’s standard.

And for this year’s standards, this tablet is just unacceptable anymore for today’s tablet market.

I know – the Mali-400 GPU on this tablet is good, especially for handling games, not to mention the chance to expand the storage with its microSD card slot for up to 32GB.

However, the rest of the specs on this tablet is just horrible at best.

It may run fluidly and fast, thanks to its low resolution display and 1GHz clock speed of its CPU, not to mention its 1GB of RAM, which is still good for today’s standards.

However, compared to other rivals on the market, like Tegra Note 7, HP Slate 7 Extreme, Kindle Fire 7 HDX, Google Nexus 7 (2013), or even the low-end models like Kindle Fire HD, HP Slate 7 Plus or the cheapo $150 Asus Memo Pad 7 HD, then this Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v is definitely the tablet that you want to avoid in mid-end tablet market.

So overall, this tablet brings nothing but disappointments to users.

If this tablet is priced equally with other mid-end tablets like Tegra Note 7, Google Nexus 7, Kindle Fire 7 HDX, Kindle Fire HD, HP Slate 7 Plus, HP Slate 7 Extreme or Asus Memo Pad 7HD, then i strongly suggest you to avoid Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v and instead, put your money on the aforementioned tablets above.

However, if you can get this tablet below $80, then yeah, this tablet can be considered as good purchase (haha :D).


Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v comes with a low resolution 7-inch 1024x600 pixel display, which is probably one of the lowest, if not the lowest, display resolution on 7-inch tablets.

Compared to other rivals, especially the nearest ones, in term of price range, like Asus Memo Pad 7HD, Tegra Note or Kindle Fire HD, then the display of Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v definitely doesn’t look as sharp and clear as other competitors.

As a result, every thing on the screen looks pixelated and blurry, especially when zoomed in to the maximum level of view.

The good thing is, this tablet is only sporting a 7-inch display, meaning that its low resolution display can still look good and sharp on this small 7-inch screen.

So every thing on the screen still looks pretty good, if not good.

Watching movies, reading books or magazines, browsing the web or playing games still look nice for users.

However, for doing things like reading books, magazines or browsing the web, you will always need to implement the zoom in/out especially when the text or images look tiny and blurry in normal view.

The experience of using this tablet definitely is not satisfying, but this low resolution display actually really helps a lot in making this tablet run smoother and fast given that the single-core 1GHz processor of this tablet is only tasked to deliver the power on the low resolution screen.

So playing games will also gain the benefits from this screen.

Games can run smoother and the most importantly in full graphics.


As a normal regular Android tablet, Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v comes pre-installed with the standard User Interface of stock Android OS, unlike Samsung GALAXY or Sony Xperia devices that have their heavy complicated UI with many bloatwares and pre-loaded apps.

Therefore, the performance of this tablet will be fast and smooth in daily tasks.

The good thing about Asus’ homemade UI on its Asus Memo Pad line is its features.

On this tablet, you will have some useful features from the multi-window apps, like calculator, movie player, music player, which you can float on the screen while doing some other tasks, like browsing the web or reading books.

And thanks to the 1GB of RAM on this tablet, the performance will be consistently fast and smooth even if you open many multi-window apps at the same time.


When it comes to performance, then i have nothing to write home about.

With 1GHz single-core CPU, 1GB of RAM and Mali-400 GPU, these specs leave a lot to be desired, especially when compared to other competitors in the nearest price range, like Tegra Note 7 or HP Slate 7 Extreme.

Both tablets are powered by NVIDIA’s homemade processor, Tegra 4, which is insanely powerful and insanely fast for a cheap $199 tablets like these ones.

In fact, this Tegra 4 is also the current top mobile processor on the market right now and on par with the high-end processors like Snapdragon 800, Snapdragon 600 or Apple’s A7 chip.

So with that being said, then it’s just hard to recommend Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v as a gaming tablet to you given that the other 7-inch tablets, even the cheap ones like Tegra Note and HP Slate 7 Extreme, are already using one of the most powerful mobile processors on the market to date.

The good thing is, Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v is not using a 720p display, only a low-resolution 1024x600 pixel display.

So the 1GHz single-core CPU, 1GB of RAM and Mali-400 GPU on this tablet are more than enough to power this tablet, even for doing some heavy tasks at once, like for browsing the web, reading books or magazines, watching HD movies or playing games.

Besides, the Mali-400 GPU on this tablet is actually a good GPU, if not great.

And with this GPU, you’ll be able to run many games, even some high-performing games on Google Play Store, which we’re about to find in just a second.

So overall, the performance of this tablet will definitely be pretty good for doing some daily tasks.

However, what always keeps bugging me with the specs of this tablet is that, compared to rivals, like Tegra Note or HP Slate 7 Extreme, which both are only priced at $199, then Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v is just WAY behind these 2 tablets, in terms of performance and gaming capability.

If you can snatch this tablet below $100, then you just made a good purchase.

However, if this tablet is priced in the low-to-mid-end markets around $100 to $199, then i strongly suggest you to pick up other tablets in that price range.

For me personally, in $100 - $199 tablet market, Asus Memo Pad ME172V is just definitely a BIG NO for me.

There are some better alternatives if you're willing to add more cash to your current budget.

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Despite having some low cheap hardware specs, it’s still good to see that this tablet is powered by the Mali-400 GPU.

The CPU of this tablet, however, which is 1GHz single-core CPU, is definitely not impressive. But the GPU can still be acceptable, even for today’s low-to-mid-end tablet market.

With the specs like 1GHz single-core CPU, 1GB of RAM and Mali-400 GPU, you’re able to play many games across the Google Play Store, even the high-performing ones, like 9mm (a Max Payne alike game), Asphalt 6: Adrenaline, ShadowGun, Fruit Ninja, Angry Birds, PES 2012, Modern Combat 1 and probably 2, Need for Speed Undercover and other older games released in 2012.

This is not surprising because besides Adreno GPU, Mali-400 GPU is actually the other favorite mobile GPU for game developers.

So there are many games that run great and smooth in full graphics on any Mali-400 tablets. And the 1GB of RAM inside this tablet also helps a lot in handling the heavy graphics intense games.

However, when faced with the latest games like GTA Vice City, GTA San Andreas, Asphalt 8: Airborne, Real Racing 3, Need for Speed Most Wanted or Dead Trigger 2, then this tablet will definitely suffer a lot in performance.

As a matter of fact, i do believe this tablet will not be able to run these games because these games are just too heavy to handle on Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v, in terms of graphics and visual effects.

So for gaming, this tablet may not deliver the best performance when playing the latest games released in 2013.

The best alternatives for this tablet are between Tegra Note, HP Slate 7 Extreme, Kindle Fire HD, Google Nexus 7, Kindle Fire 7 HDX or HP Slate 7 Plus.

However, if you’re really a big fan of tablet games and always want to be able to play the latest games on Google Play Store perfectly and smoothly in full graphics, then the best choices are between HP Slate 7 Extreme, Tegra Note, Google Nexus 7 (2013 edition) or Kindle Fire 7 HDX.

These tablets are currently priced around $199 to $229.

And if you only have $150 in your budget, you can pick up Asus Memo Pad 7 HD or Kindle Fire HD instead.


Unfortunately, on the camera sector, you’re out of luck because this tablet is not packing a rear-facing camera.

It only comes with a front-facing camera, which also is not that impressive given its 1MP sensor.

But it’s good though this tablet has that front-facing camera, enabling you to do some selfies or video calling in your spare time.

However, if you’re looking for the much better alternatives, you need to go for Tegra Note, HP Slate 7 Plus or HP Slate 7 Extreme, which both are sporting the same 5MP camera. And based on many video reviews, the 5MP camera on Tegra Note is impressive.


Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v comes with a 4270mAh power battery inside. This is actually not that good given that most of today’s tablets are using much higher capacity battery, around 5000mAh to 7000mAh power battery for 7-inch tablets.

So with this type of battery, you can’t expect to see this tablet last really long, especially for doing some heavy intense tasks, like watching movies in marathon or playing games in the row.

However, as stated by Asus, the battery life of this tablet could last around 7 hours for enjoying multimedia stuff, which is still considered as pretty good, if not good.


So in conclusion, i’m not really impressed with this tablet.

I don’t really like how this tablet is only packing some mediocre quality specs on it, like a single-core 1GHz CPU, low-resolution screen, 1MP front-facing camera sans the rear-facing camera, Mali-400 GPU and low capacity battery.

With all of these specs, this tablet may run smooth in daily use.

However, when faced with some heavy tasks at once, the performance of this tablet will definitely be buggy and stuttering, with some noticeable lags here and there, especially compared to other rivals that are already using some powerful specs.

If you’re only looking for a tablet under $100 for your kids, then Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v can be a pretty good choice.

However, if you’re looking for much better choices around $100 to $199 price range, with so much better and powerful specs, then i recommend you to get either Tegra Note, HP Slate 7 Extreme, HP Slate 7 Plus, Google Nexus 7 (2012 or 2013 editions), Kindle Fire HD or Kindle Fire 7 HDX.

These tablets are just way better than Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v in many ways.

From display, performance, experience, software, features, camera, design, battery life and the most importantly, gaming capability, that will instantly blow Asus Memo Pad 7 me172v out of the water.

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