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Asus' Eee Pad Transformer Prime is, at the
time of writing, the most powerful tablet on the planet. It's beyond fast and
offers virtually every function that a user could demand from an ultra mobile
device.
This week's pretender to the Transformer
Prime's crown is Lenovo's IdeaPad S2, an Android powered tablet that promises to
offer all of the company's computing knowledge in a very small, slick package.
But will it be enough to wrest the mantel from the mighty Prime? Let's find
out.
Power
Asus' Eee Pad Transformer Prime is a
beast. It packs a quad-core CPU, clocked at 1.3GHz, a ULP GeForce GPU, which is
a dab hand at running all the latest top-end gaming titles, and 1GB RAM.
The tablet comes in both 32GB and 64GB
models and supports Micro SD cards up to 32GB in capacity.
Anything missing that the average user
might want? No, we didn't think so.
Lenovo's IdeaPad S2 is powered by a
dual-core Snapdragon CPU clocked at 1.5GHz and offers an Adreno 225 GPU, which
is more than capable enough to keep up with anything it's competitor offers.
The device is fitted with 1GB RAM too, so
it will multi-task with the best of them and will ship in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB
models, giving users a much broader range of choice, though the device will
offer support for MicroSD if you run out of space on your SSD.
It's a close run thing, but Lenovo's
IdeaPad just can't face down the immensely powerful quad-core architecture on
offer in the Asus, which hands the device this round.
Winner - Asus Eee Pad Transformer
Prime
Display
The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime boasts
a 10.1-inch Super IPS+ LCD screen which is very responsive, and offers beautiful
visuals and viewing angles.
The display operates at a resolution of
1280x800 pixels and has a pixel density of 149PPI, which seems to be the average
for devices of this size.
The Lenovo IdeaPad S2 offers an
LED-backlit 10.1-inch IPS screen, operating at 1280 x 800 too, and also matches
the Transformer Prime in pixel density, at 149PPI.
Visuals look bright and sharp on the
device, and it seems to share the pleasing viewing angles of its contemporary
too, which is no mean feat.
Winner - Draw
Camera
Lenovo's IdeaPad S2 features an
8-megapixel primary camera with autofocus and LED flash and also has a
1.3-megapixel secondary snapper for video calling.
We can't comment on the performance at
this stage, but we would expect the device to hold its own.
The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime has an
excellent 8-megapixel primary camera, which is bolstered by an LED flash,
autofocus and geo-tagging. It also shoots video in 1080P.
The Transformer Prime also features a
secondary 1.2-megapixel camera for video conferencing.
The Prime performs well in the
photographic stakes, with both the primary and secondary sensors doing a more
than adequate job and in the right light we found images to be more than good
enough to print.
Winner - Asus Eee Pad Transformer
Prime
Software
Both tablets run on Google's Android
OS.
The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime
operates on version 3.2 of the platform, otherwise known as Honeycomb, though
Asus have confirmed that the device will be upgradeable to version 4.0, AKA Ice
Cream Sandwich.
Lenovo's IdeaPad S2 ships with Ice Cream
Sandwich however, and the device is the better for it.
The newest version of the hugely popular
OS features plenty of tweaks, upgrades and improvements, including a spiffy new
font, new widgets and a re-designed UI and updated core applications.
That said, Honeycomb isn't a million miles
behind, and of course with both flavours of OS you get access to the 400,000-odd
applications in the Android Market, which will allow you to do as much or as
little as you like with your device.
Both devices also offer custom UI
overlays, with the IdeaPad S2 running Lenovo's 'Mondrian' user interface while
the Transformer Prime has Asus' WaveShare UI.
Both pieces of software offer the usual
custom widgets, social networking functionality and visual tweaks, but we're of
the belief that the proprietary nature of the 'improvements' detracts from the
Android experience, so we weren't overly impressed with either.
Winner - Lenovo IdeaPad S2
Features
The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime comes
equipped with Polaris Office Editor out of the box and also offers micro HDMI
support, which will allow you to view your pictures and videos on your
big-screen, and support for the usual audio and video formats (sadly no native
DivX support though).
Sound quality on the tablet is good, but
the inclusion of SRS enhancement improves output on the whole.
The Transformer Prime will give you up to
12 hours usage on a single charge.
The Lenovo IdeaPad S2 features
Kernel-level security, which aims to keep your personal data safe from the
phishermen, hackers and email spoofers of this world and also offers an SDHC
reader and up to 20 hours battery life when used with the optional keyboard
dock.
Without the dock you can expect to get up
to 12 hours from the device.
Winner - Draw
Asus' all-singing, all-dancing Eee Pad
Transformer Prime has done it again! But this time the margin was much
smaller.
Lenovo's IdeaPad S2 is shaping up to be a
great piece of kit, with a great deal of potential, but it just wasn't enough to
get one over on the mighty Transformer Prime on the day.
Pricing will be pivotal in the success of
the IdeaPad S2, and we'd be keen to see it tagged with a nice, aggressive RRP to
give it a chance against Asus' baby.
Until that day comes though it's a second
place finish and the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime juggernaut rumbles on.
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