Asus tf300t, a decent tablet for playing games or watching Netflix

Written by B Johnson January 04, 2014
Asus tf300t
If you're looking for an old-gen tablet but still performs great for playing games, then Asus tf300t can be a great choice for you. It's mostly because it's running on Tegra 3 processor, which is MADE for gaming. Here's why you should get this tablet at cheap.
Hi guys, welcome back!!

In the past few days, to be exact, from last year (more precisely, in December), i’ve been showing you guys some of the Asus tablets under the flag Asus Transformer series that i believe can be good quality tablets for you, especially for gaming.

However, from all of those Asus Transformer tablets, not all of them are so powerful in performance, especially for playing the latest and the most graphically demanding games across the Google Play Store.

Asus tf300t

Some of them are great and powerful in terms of performance, but i think there is only a few tablets that can be considered as great and top notch gaming tablets, like Asus Transformer Pad TF701T with Tegra 4 and other Asus Transformer tablets with Tegra 3 processor.

Today, i have another Asus Transformer tablet that i think, can be worth recommending to you guys here.

This one is Asus tf300t or popularly known as Asus Transformer Pad TF300T.

The good news is, this tablet is powered by no other than Tegra 3 processor, which is one of the best mobile processors out there, if not the best, for playing tablet games.

Asus tf300t is no different. This Asus tablet is powered by Tegra 3 and this is why i believe this tablet can be a good quality gaming tablet.

Well, if you’re interested to know more about this tablet, especially its gaming performance, then here you go my personal review of Asus tf300t.

But as usual, let me give you first the brief introduction of this tablet.

Introduction

Most of Asus Transformer tablets usually have great build quality and the most importantly, powerful internal hardware specs.

That’s not weird because Asus designs these tablets specifically as productivity tablets and aims at power users who demand some professional looking tablets to accommodate and support their daily tasks, like for writing papers, editing Word or computation documents or just simple writing contents.

Asus tf300t is no different.

This tablet is designed by the manufacturer solely as a productivity tablet for those semi-PRO users.

Just like any other Asus Transformer tablets out there, Asus tf300t offers users some great productivity-related features that just can’t be found on any other regular normal Android tablets, even the iPad.

What makes this tablet so even great is definitely its keyboard dock, which gives users a full-fledged QWERTY keyboard with all of the most important keys found on normal laptops.

However, given that Asus tf300t is not a full-fledged laptop tablet, then you cannot expect to see some full-fledged features found on any Windows laptops out there, just like what Microsoft Surface and other Windows 8 tablets are offering to users.

So with that being said, then Asus tf300t can be considered as the simplified version of productivity tablet.

But this tablet is still good quality tablet though and is still worth recommending for power users and even professional employees who demand a solid productivity tablet that is also great as media-consumption device.

In terms of design, Asus tf300t is not a huge departure from other Asus Transformer tablets out there.

The design of the tablet itself, either on the front side and back side, also looks a bit identical with other Asus Transformer tablets.

The bezels around the screen look a bit huge but frankly, the rounded shape on the corners of the tablet is not fully rounded, so it doesn’t make the tablet look chubby just like Samsung Google Nexus 10, which looks really bulky and chubby, thanks to its huge bezels and chubby rounded corners.

Asus tf300t

Asus tf300t

Meanwhile, the keyboard dock of this tablet looks kind of similar with other keyboard docks from Asus Transformer series.

It has all the important keys on any full-fledged laptop keyboard, which is great, and the best thing about it is that, this keyboard dock is really thin, and this is awesome because it won’t make the tablet feel bulky and thick when merged together with the keyboard dock.

So Asus tf300t can be a perfect on-the-go device that doesn’t really add up the weight of your bag every time you carry it outside your house.

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  • No SIM
  • Released April 2012
  • Optional mobile dock with standard QWERTY keyboard and trackpad
  • 10.1 inch IPS LCD, capacitive touchscreen, 1280 x 800 pixels (~149 ppi pixel density)
  • ASUS Waveshare UI
  • Android OS, v4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, upgradable to v4.2 Jelly Bean
  • Nvidia Tegra 3 T30L Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9 CPU
  • 1 GB RAM
  • microSD Card slot, up to 32 GB
  • 16/32 GB Internal storage
  • 8 MP rear-facing Camera, 3264x2448 pixels,
  • 1.2 MP front-facing Camera
  • No GPRS
  • No EDGE
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
  • Bluetooth
  • USB
  • ULP GeForce GPU
  • No Radio
  • GPS
  • Java
  • HDMI port
  • Non-removable 22 Wh Li-Po battery
I’m really glad to see this tablet is packing some powerful hardware specs on it and only uses a 720p display, which means the performance of this tablet will be smooth and fast, plus the battery life could last much much longer, thanks to its medium resolution screen.

I believe the story would be different if Asus tf300t was sporting an HD 1920x1200 or even a full HD 2560x1600 pixel screen, i bet the performance will not be fast and smooth, plus it could drain the battery life much faster compared to when it uses a 720p display.

Anyway, Asus tf300t comes with a 10.1-inch display sporting the resolution of 1280x800 pixels, a quad-core Tegra 3 processor clocked at 1.2GHz per core, 1GB of RAM, 12-core of GeForce ULP GPU, 8MP rear-facing camera, 1.2MP front-facing snapper and some other standard features.

The good news is, this tablet is packed with a microSD card slot for up to 32GB, in case you’re running out of memory from your 16/32GB of internal storage.

Unfortunately, this model doesn’t support a cellular connectivity, so you can only count on the WiFi if you want to connect to the internet world.

Screen

Asus tf300t was released back then in April 2012.

So that means, the 1280x800 pixel display on this tablet can still be considered as pretty good even until this year because most of today’s tablets, especially the mid-end ones, are still sporting that same 720p display, like Tegra Note, HP Slate 7 Extreme and Kindle Fire HD.

However, when compared with other 10.1-inch rivals around the market, then the display of Asus tf300t definitely doesn’t stack up against other tablets like iPad Air, Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1, Sony Xperia Z Tablet or even 7-inch tablets like Google Nexus 7 (2013 edition) and Kindle Fire 7 HDX, which both are sporting a 1920x1200 pixel display.

However, given that Asus tf300t is a 2012’s tablet, then its 720p display is still acceptable for some users.

Besides, by using this medium resolution 720p display, the performance of this tablet will be fast and smooth because Tegra 3 processor inside this tablet is only tasked to deliver its power on 720p display, which is not that heavy compared to 1080p display that definitely will drain the battery life much faster and make the tablet run laggy and slow.

For watching movies, the 720p display on this tablet may not be as sharper as any other 1080p tablets out there, especially given that this tablet is using a 10.1-inch display, which is too huge for 720p resolution.

But still, the overall quality of the screen when watching HD movies is still good though, if not great.

Reading books or magazines, and browsing the web are also still pretty satisfying for many users, although the zoom in/out gesture will always need to be implemented if users can't read the text or see the images from normal view.

But overall, 720p resolution on 10.1-inch screen is still considered as good, if not great.

User Interface

When it comes to the User Interface or UI of this tablet, Asus tf300t offers some wide variety of productivity-related features to accommodate users every time they want to merge the tablet with the keyboard dock.

Things like Office docs, computation or Word editing apps are definitely offered on this device out of the box.

Asus tf300t can be a great productivity tablet, but you can’t expect this tablet to have all the features of your laptop.

Besides, if you’re looking for a more serious tablet with full-fledged features like Windows laptop, then you should definitely pick up Microsoft Surface or any other Windows 8 tablets, instead of this Asus tf300t.

But still, this tablet is still a good quality productivity tablet, especially thanks to its keyboard dock.

Performance

I’m glad to see this tablet use Tegra 3 processor and 720p display because this is a perfect match for a great quality tablet.

With Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM and 12-core GeForce GPU, Asus tf300t will run perfectly smooth and fast, especially thanks to its medium resolution 720p screen that obviously doesn’t ask too much from the hardware.

The Tegra 3 processor inside this tablet is clocked at 1.2GHz per core, meaning that in default, this tablet doesn’t require that much of power from the chipset in order to deliver a smooth and fast performance to the tablet.

So heavy intense tasks like watching HD movies or tv shows, browsing the web or playing games, all can run in buttery smooth performance, thanks to its beast processor and medium quality 720p display.

I think the performance of Asus tf300t will be similar with the performance of 2012’s Google Nexus 7, which is already a fast performing tablet.

They both are sporting the same exact Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM, 12-core GeForce GPU and the same 720p display.

Playing games will also be really smooth, especially when running older games like Asphalt 7: Heat, Modern Combat 4, GTA Vice City or Dead Trigger.

As for Dead Trigger, i think this game will look insanely good on Asus tf300t because this game has been well-optimized for Tegra device on Tegra Zone.

So you’ll get more graphics, particles and more visual effects than any other non-Tegra devices out there.

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As mentioned above, with Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM and 12-core GeForce ULP GPU found inside this tablet means that Asus tf300t can be a really great tablet for playing games.

Similar just like 2012 model of Google Nexus 7, Asus tf300t is also capable to run any games on Google Play Store, even the most graphics intense ones, like Asphalt 7: Heat, Horn (which is a great RPG game on mobile platform), Need for Speed Most Wanted, Dead Trigger 1, GTA Vice City, Modern Combat 4 and all of older games released in 2012.

The great thing about this tablet is that Asus tf300t is a Tegra-powered device, and that means, as the owner of this tablet, you’ll be able to gain access to Tegra Zone through the Tegra Zone app on this tablet, which has plenty of games that are well-optimized for Tegra devices only, including this Asus tf300t.

However, for the latest games like Asphalt 8: Airborne, GTA San Andreas or Dead Trigger 2, i don’t think this tablet is capable to play these games smoothly and in full graphics.

I’ve actually already seen this tablet run Asphalt 8: Airborne, but it runs really laggy and slow even in medium graphics setting.

Meanwhile, GTA San Andreas is a heavy game with huge maps and i’ve also seen many devices, even the high end ones like Google Nexus 7 2013 edition (Snapdragon S4 Pro), Moto G (Snapdragon 400) and even Samsung GALAXY Note 3 really struggle when playing this in full graphics.

So with that being said, then it’s not that hard to predict that Asus tf300t will struggle even more when running these heavy games, even in low graphics setting.



Camera

Even though most of users usually don’t use the rear-facing camera on their 10-inch tablets, but it’s still good to see that Asus tf300t has that snapper on the back.

What makes it even better is that, its camera sensor is 8MP, which means the photos and videos taken with this tablet will not suck, if not great.

As a matter of fact, Asus already proves that its cheap $150 tablet Asus Memo Pad 7 HD, which only uses 5MP camera, is capable to take great shots with that camera, according to many video reviews from CNET and PhoneArena.

So that means, the 8MP camera of Asus tf300t is more than capable to take great photos and videos, or much even better than the photos and videos taken with the 5MP camera of Asus Memo Pad 7 HD, which is already great.

Battery Life

Asus tf300t is powered by a 22Wh battery.

And given that this tablet is designed as a productivity tablet by Asus, then you can expect to see this tablet last in one solid day if you intend to use it even for some heavy tasks, of course in non-crazy normal usage.

However, if you’re gonna use this tablet for doing heavy intense tasks without resting the screen, like playing games in the row (given that this tablet is great for playing games) or watching movies in marathon, then these activities will drain the battery life much even faster.

But the good news is, Asus tf300t is only packing a 720p display, so that means this tablet is only tasked to deliver the power of its hardware in medium resolution display.

So you can expect this tablet to last around 5 to 9 hours in heavy intense usage.

User Opinions

So to sum this up, just like any other Asus Transformer tablets that i’ve been reviewing on this website, i think Asus tf300t is still a worth recommending tablet for all of you guys here, especially if you’re looking for a solid productivity tablet with a good gaming performance.

The things that i really need to highlight from this tablet are:
  • its hardware (Tegra 3, 1GB of RAM and 12-core GPU),
  • 720p display (which is good),
  • its keyboard dock (my favorite),
  • its 8MP camera (which is really impressive for a productivity tablet),
  • its design (which looks professional and elegant),
  • its features,
  • its performance
  • and its gaming capability.
With all of these goodies found on Asus tf300t, then without a doubt this tablet is a good quality tablet, especially in productivity tablet category.

This tablet may not have that high resolution 1080p display just like any other rivals on the market, nor it doesn’t have the most powerful CPU and GPU compared to Google Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire 7 HDX.

However, with Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM and 12-core GPU, this tablet is more than capable to handle most of games across the Google Play Store or Tegra Zone, of course the older ones that were released in 2012.

As for other latest games like Asphalt 8: Airborne, GTA San Andreas and Dead Trigger, don’t expect this tablet to be able to run these games in buttery smooth performance or in full graphics, because it can’t.

So overall, as a 2012 released tablet, no doubt that Asus Transformer Pad TF300T is a good quality tablet back then.

It has the best performance, good display, great 8MP camera, professional looking design, awesome keyboard dock with full-fledged QWERTY keyboard, productivity-related features and good gaming capability, if not great.

So you’ll make no mistake when getting this tablet, especially when it’s cheaper than any other keyboard-supported Android tablets out there.

However, if you demand more from a productivity tablet, with much powerful hardware and display plus great gaming performance than this Asus tf300t, then i strongly recommend you to get Asus Transformer Pad TF701T with Tegra 4 instead.
  • It has much higher 2560x1600 pixel display or 2.5K display,
  • much powerful hardware specs (Tegra 4, 2GB of RAM and 72-core GeForce ULP GPU),
  • much better software and features,
  • more elegant design,
  • a better keyboard dock
  • and more powerful gaming capability which enables you to play any latest games like Asphalt 8: Airborne, GTA San Andreas, Dead Trigger 2, Real Racing 3 and GT Racing 2, all in full graphics.

Asus Transformer Pad TF701T with Tegra 4 is definitely more expensive than Asus tf300t.

That’s for sure.

However, with much higher price tag, you’ll get way more powerful specs and better performance than Asus tf300t.

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