Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi Review

Asus unveiled its newest addition to the Transformer collection at CES in January, the Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi. Out there in 3 sizes, the new Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi Series contains a 2-in-1 removable laptop design.

The bigger brother of the Asus Transformer Book T100 Chi, the Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi has significantly improved hardware. Fairly than an Intel Atom CPU, we’ve the innovative Core M-5Y71 which is passively cooled. 2GB RAM is bumped up to 8GB, and Asus have additionally ditched the eMMC storage in favor of a proper SanDisk SSD.

Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi: Design

The Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi exudes the type of high-end charm that we would expect from a device a whole lot more expensive than the asking value. The 12.5-inch tablet and keyboard dock are a good-looking couple hot from chunks of aerospace grade aluminum and completed in a deep metallic blue, with the brushed metallic framed by beveled edges skirting neatly across the sides. The matching metal clad stylus appears the part, too.

Meanwhile, Asus choice of Intel low-power Core M processor has enabled it to pare down the dimensions and weight. The  Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi is 1.2mm thinner than the Microsoft Surface Pro 3, at 7.9 mm, and 80 g lighter at 720 g. Actually, the one physical disappointment is that the Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi is rather weighty when you factor within the keyboard dock.

Still, there are many plus points. The weight within the base counterbalances the tablet to stop it toppling backward, a common complaint with tablet based hybrids. And while the display screen does not tilt back as far as a traditional laptop, it folds back sufficient to show to be usable and stable on a lap. Factor in a comfortable, spacious keyboard that is nice to type on, and a touchpad that works nicely, and you’ve a hybrid that is genuinely usable as a laptop.

Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi: Display

Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi: Hardware

The Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi tablet portion is simply 7.6mm thick and it does not have any full-size USB ports, SD card slots or HDMI ports. Like Microsoft Surface Pro 3, all the Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi main components are crammed into the tablet area, together with its 12.5 inch, 2560 x 1440 pixel IPS display screen, Core M processor, 8GB RAM, and 128GB SSD. The Core M processor lets the Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi get rid of the fans (similar to Apple new MacBook) and offers it that tablet like profile. When connected to its Bluetooth keyboard, Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi remains to be only 16.5 mm thick though the combined 3.14 lbs of the 2 parts are extra laptop like than tablet-like.

Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi: Software

Asus includes a few extras on the Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi but for probably the most part, the system is fairly clean. A few of the pre-installed apps include Asus Smart Gesture, Foxit PhantomPDF, McAfee LiveSafe, McAfee SiteAdvisor, PixelMaster Video HDR, Asus WebStorage, WildTangent Games, and WinFlash. You will additionally find a trial version of Microsoft Office on the device.

Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi: Keyboard

For the Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi, Asus has made some significant tweaks to the Transformer Book method. 1st among these is the keyboard, which is now held in place by a strip of super strong magnets and linked via Bluetooth rather than a bodily connection.

Which means the keyboard must be charged individually to the tablet via its micro USB connection, but this should not be a daily occurrence  after a full charge, our keyboard lasted nicely over a week.

Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi: Touchpad

At least the Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi touchpad was surprisingly good its high responsiveness makes it one of many better touchpads we have seen on a removable hybrid.

Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi: Battery

Asus has needed to make some sacrifices with the intention to get the Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi looking this slim, and unfortunately, a kind of is the battery. In tests, the Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi managed to last a shade over 6 hours, which places it nicely behind what we would anticipate from a laptop is very disappointing for a PC designed for use this while out and about. Be ready for a terrible lot of socket-hunting.

Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi: Performance

The Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi is available in a number of different configuration at this worth, it comes with a 1.2GHz Intel Core-M processor, 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. The Core M processor obviously is not as fast as a Core-i5 or Core i7 processor, but it surely was beefy sufficient to deal with office work, primary image editing and heavy web searching with no noticeable slowdown.

Unfortunately, the Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi tends to warmth up noticeably during use, to the point where holding it turns into quite uncomfortable despite promises of advanced cooling technology from Asus. It is rather disappointing.

Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi: Specification

Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi: Verdict

The Asus Transformer Book T100 Chi is a superb choice if you are in search of a hybrid – it is got loads of energy and a very good display screen.

However, there are a few caveats: it is quite heavy and the battery life is not The Best I have ever seen.