I just got my Transformer Prime in the mail. Here are my first impressions.
The Transformer Prime is the first device to ship with Nvidia’s Tegra 3 SoC. Nvidia was the first to ship a dual core ARM SoC and they’re the first again with a quad core.
Despite the quad core SoC, the Prime is very thin and sleek - there’s nothing clunky about it.
Besides the quad core SoC you get Android 3.2 (4.0 update is coming soon), 1280x800 10.1” display, 1GB RAM, 32GB storage, BT, WiFi (2.4Ghz only), micro HDMI and a micro SDHC support.
The screen looks fantastic with very pleasing color and great viewing angles. It’s really, really bright. There’s even a outdoor setting which turns the brightness up to an 11. While I don’t have a Galaxy Tab 10.1 around to compare, the Prime’s display is as good as I remember the Tab’s PLS display being.
I’m not a fan of the screen’s 10.1” size and 1280x800 resolution. I find it too wide to use in landscape mode and a little too tall in portrait. Really, I think it’s a numbers game. People will think they’re getting more over the iPad because you’re getting a 10.1” vs 9.7” display even though they have different aspect ratios.
Unfortunately, I never reviewed the original Transformer and only used one for a short time so I can’t comment too much one the differences between it and the Prime.
The Prime is thinner than the Motorola Xoom but it has a much bigger footprint.
Compared to the iPad 2 they're about the same thickness and height but the Prime is wider.
If you were to blind fold me and hand me the Prime and the Galaxy Tab 10.1. I’d have a hard time telling them apart. They’re both about the same size. The Prime looks like it has a slightly bigger footprint while it feels like it’s about the same thickness.
Despite the thinness the Prime feels pretty solid. It doesn’t flex when you twist it. The back actually feels slightly more solid than the Galaxy Tab 10.1’s.
I was a little disappointed that the Prime only has a single speaker. Then again, so does the iPad 2. It sounds decent with adequate volume.
It’s a pretty tactile device. The back is aluminum with a very interesting pattern on it. The front is glass so it feels very strong.
3.5mm headphone jack
volume buttons, micro HDMI, micro SDHC slot.
The Prime has a proprietary charging/USB connector.
The rear facing camera has a resolution of 8 megapixels. I haven’t used it that much but so far it looks pretty average. I’ll update this when I’ve used it more. Video actually looks pretty good. It’s smooth and focuses well as long as you don’t get too close.
Honeycomb’s default keyboard is pretty terrible so I’m glad that Asus replaced it with their own.
I like how Asus allows you to toggle wireless settings when you tap the bottom right. You can take screenshots by pressing and holding the multitask button. I’m also very happy with you can close programs by pressing the ‘x’ next to them when you press the multitask button.
While the video player wasn’t able to playback my 720p mkv and avi Divx files I was a little surprised that it could handle 1080p mts files from my camcorder.
Asus includes some extra programs include @eVibe Music (web radio), App Backup, App Locker, Glowball, MyCloud, MyLibrary, MyNet, Polaris Office, Riptide GP Demo, Skifta, Sound Recorder, SuperNote, TegraZone Games, WebStorage and Zinio.
App Backup allows you to backup programs or just program data on your device. That’s useful in case you need to hard reset your device and don’t want to lose your progress in Angry Birds.
With App Locker you can make it so you have to enter a password before you can launch a program. It’s useful if you let other people use your tablet but don’t want them snooping around.
You get 8GB of storage for free using MyCloud.
SuperNote allows you to use you take notes with text, hand writing, pictures, video and voice recordings.
Both MyNet and Skifta are DLNA prgoram which allow you to view media from the Prime on other devices.
There’s 32GB of storage of which 27.6GB is available. Storage speed is pretty good. I transferred a 392MB video file to and from the Prime’s built in storage and observed speeds of 13.2MB/s and 18.8MB/s.
One of the Prime’s trump cards is it’s keyboard docking station. Besides the keyboard it also has a battery and USB port. Personally I’m skeptical about how useful an accessory like this is but it is nice to have if you travel really light.
So the hardware is pretty solid. Here’s how it performs:
SunSpider:
I tested the browser using SunSpider. SunSpider is a javascript benchmark. It’s designed for webkit browser but is able to run on pretty much any browser. Since it runs on any browser it’s useful for comparing devices across different platforms. Lower numbers are better.
The Prime scored 1684.4 which is the best I have ever recorded on any non Intel powered device.
Transformer Prime 1684.4
Galaxy Nexus 1951.3
Apple iPad 2 2030.3
Motorola Xoom 2146.7
Apple iPhone 4s 2222.8
Blackberry Playbook 2314.8
LG Optimus LTE 2361.2
Vellamo:
I tested the browser further using Vellamo. Vellamo is a more well rounded benchmark but it’s Android only so you can only use it to compare with other Android devices. Unfortunately the Prime’s wouldn’t run the first 2 Vellamo tests while the 3rd test score was extremely low so it’s not really worth comparing the overall score. Instead I’ll break the test down a little and compare it with the LG Optimus LTE, Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Motorola Xoom. The LG and Samsung score extremely high while the Xoom runs a Tegra 2 SoC.
See The Sun Canvas
Asus Transformer Prime NA
Galaxy Nexus 56.24
LG Optimus LTE 67.83
Motorola Xoom 63.49
Deep Sea Canvas
Asus Transformer Prime NA
Galaxy Nexus 56.24
LG Optimus LTE 119.04
Motorola Xoom 64.83
Aquarium Canvas
Asus Transformer Prime 2.5
Galaxy Nexus 52
LG Optimus LTE 137.15
Motorola Xoom 23.87
Pixel Blender
Asus Transformer Prime 82.25
Galaxy Nexus 55.91
LG Optimus LTE 121.66
Motorola Xoom 42.41
Surf Wax Binder
Asus Transformer Prime 206.4
Galaxy Nexus 248.92
LG Optimus LTE 129.87
Motorola Xoom 114.03
V8 Benchmark
Asus Transformer Prime 163.43
Galaxy Nexus 159.86
LG Optimus LTE 112.37
Motorola Xoom 105.69
Ocean Flinger
Asus Transformer Prime 100.45
Galaxy Nexus 96.13
LG Optimus LTE 94.39
Motorola Xoom 95.63
Image Flinger
Asus Transformer Prime 100.79
Galaxy Nexus NA
LG Optimus LTE 96.77
Motorola Xoom 95.85
Text Flinger
Asus Transformer Prime 100.62
Galaxy Nexus NA
LG Optimus LTE 93.77
Motorola Xoom 96.25
Network Loader
Asus Transformer Prime 86.48
Galaxy Nexus 88.34
LG Optimus LTE 82.32
Motorola Xoom 101.93
Linpack:
Linpack measures a processor’s floating poinit performance. People use it because it’s simple and it runs on virtually any platform. The Prime managed to score 116.866 in Linpack which is also the highest I have ever observed.
Asus Transformer Prime 116.866
Galaxy S II 92.674
LG Optimus LTE 80.127
Galaxy Nexus 80.818
Basemark:
Basemark was a bit of a disappointment. I only managed to get 13.44fps in ‘stretch to fit’ mode. On the bright side the Prime scored almost 3x higher than the Xoom which runs a Tegra 2 processor (13.44fps vs 4.42).
Asus Transformer Prime 13.44
Motorola Xoom 4.42
GL Benchmark:
GL benchmark scores were much better. I observed 5162 (45.7fps) in the Egypt standard test. Compare this to the Galaxy Nexus’ 2722 and 24.1fps (similar resolution, newer version of Android), LG Optimus LTE (similar resolution, older version of Android) 2212 and 19.6fps and the Motorola Xoom (same res display, similar version of Android) 1515 and 13.4fps.
Asus Transformer Prime 5162
Galaxy Nexus 2722
LT Optimus LTE 2212
Motorola Xoom 1515
I did notice some rendering abnormalities when I ran GL Benchmark but I notice this on a wide variety for SoC’s.
The Egypt offscreen test renders at the same resolution regardless of the device’s screen. This allows us to compare performance regardless of the screen resolution plus it’s also available on both iOS and Android. The iOS version doesn’t show fps so I’m only listing the actual score.
Apple iPhone 4s 8242
Asus Transformer Prime 6721
Apple iPad 2 5674
Samsung Galaxy S II 3799
Motorola Xoom 2169
I’m at a loss of words on why the iPhone 4s scored this much higher than the Transformer Prime and the iPad 2. My iPad 2 is still running iOS 4.5 so maybe iOS 5 brings some optimizations.
Antutu:
Antutu is an all around benchmark that tests various aspects of a device including the RAM, CPU performance, 2D and 3D graphics and system I/O.
RAM
Asus Transformer Prime 2168
LG Optimus LTE 1357
Samsung Galaxy Nexus 1032
Samsung Galaxy S II 839
CPU Integer
Asus Transformer Prime 3701
LG Optimus LTE 2048
Samsung Galaxy Nexus 1679
Samsung Galaxy S II 1603
CPU floating-point
Asus Transformer Prime 2752
LG Optimus LTE 864
Samsung Galaxy Nexus 1289
Samsung Galaxy S II 1242
2D graphics
Asus Transformer Prime 285
LG Optimus LTE 293
Samsung Galaxy Nexus 287
Samsung Galaxy S II 297
3D Graphics
Asus Transformer Prime 1196
LG Optimus LTE 1247
Samsung Galaxy Nexus 1226
Samsung Galaxy S II 1241
Database IO
Asus TransformerPrime 320
LG Optimus LTE 420
Samsung Galaxy Nexus 330
Samsung Galaxy S II 380
SD card write
Asus Transformer Prime 130
LG Optimus LTE 109
Samsung Galaxy Nexus 90
Samsung Galaxy S II 60
SD card read
Asus Transformer Prime 191
LG Optimus LTE 144
Samsung Galaxy Nexus 192
Samsung Galaxy S II 195
The Transformer absolutely destroys the competition when it comes to the RAM and CPU tests.
To test battery life I used a 7hr long 720x480 mp4 file. I charged the Prime up and I played it back at maximum brightness and at the normal performance setting until the Prime shut off. I only had time to run this test once so I’ll be updating this result in a few days after I’ve gotten a few more runs. I should point out that while the Prime was able to complete the test it wasn’t able to render my video properly while the Motorola Xoom (same version of Android) was.
Battery Test:
Asus Transformer Prime 6:00
Motorola Xoom 5:01
While I have only run this test on the Xoom and the Transformer Prime I was pretty impressed the Prime’s battery life.
There are actually 3 power modes. Eco, Balanced and Normal. I didn’t try Eco but according to my benchmarks Balanced yields about 10% less performance. I’ll have to do a few more battery tests to determine what effect it has on on run time. It will be interesting to see how the display’s outdoor brightness settings impacts battery life.
Benchmarks are great but you’re probably wondering whether you’ll notice the extra performance in real world usage. For me the first thing I noticed is that scrolling between the home screens is no longer a slide show like it is on the Motorola Xoom. Head-to-head the browser is a little faster but I’m not sure you’d notice the difference if they weren’t side-by-side. It could be that browser in Honeycomb doesn’t take advantage of the extra processing cores.
For now, the Transformer Prime is easily the fastest Tablet or Smartphone I have ever tested. What’s amazing is that you don’t have to make any form-factor sacrifices to get all this performance. Should you run out and buy one? I’m not sure about that. First, off I’d wait for an Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade as Honeycomb’s UI is a mild disaster. More importantly, tablet makers will be lowering their margins on Tablets since the Amazon Fire has lit the fuse on a price war. $499 is reasonable for a 2011 Tablet (which the Prime is) but in 2012 it’s probably best to wait and see if you can save a few bucks.
Pros:
Sleek
Light
Fast
great display
Cons:
high price
doesn’t play 720p mkv’s and divx avi files
a little too wide
Interestingly:
the fastest Android device I have ever tried
As for the 720p video, I read somewhere else that Tegra allows to read about anything (full HD, higher rate, etc.) but that you may need another soft then the default one. I don't know much about Android apps, but there supposed to be one in the Android Market that can read every possible format.
There's one thing that wasn't mentionned about the Prime, a very big plus if you ask me, which is the possibility to buy a physical keyboard dock, turning the tablet into some sort of netbook. Doing so also gives twice the battery power, for up to 18h of autonomy..! Personally, I'll buy one for that reason, instead of a MacBook Air (saving 400$).
Bell 05/2005-08/2006, Virgin Mobile Canada 08/2006-11/2009
Feedback Score
0
Have you tried a 3rd party video app such as QQPlayer? It plays SD DivX very nicely on my Nook Color, so I would imagine it blazes on the TP. It's advertised as able to handle the mkv container.
The GPS is a function no longer recognized as "working" on the Prime, by Asus itself. It's there, but the aluminium case (and possibly where the GPS was put in the hardware design) doesn't allow the GPS connection to be successful and strong all the time. As for last week's update, which contained something about the GPS, it was mainly to turn on by default a feature the allows the GPS to go get on the Internet the satellites location to fasten the GPS connection, when possible. So, basically, it's there, but won't work all the time, there seems to be not much that can be done, Asus will not longer advertise it and won't be able to help those not happy with that...
I just installed the Ice Cream Sandwich on my Transformer Prime. I decided to re-run some benchmarks. All tests are run in performance mode. Here are the results:
SunSpider
before 1684.4
after 2094.1
For some reason Sun Spider scores noticably lower. 2094.1 is still a good score (on part with an iPad 2) but disappointing when you consider it has a quad core processor and that it went from the fastest Android device I've tested to being just one of the leaders.
Basemark (stretch to fit)
before 13.44
after 14.64
Basemark (zoom to fit)
before 46.81
after 50.26
There's a nice ~8% increase in Basemark.
Vellamo
See The Sun Canvas
before NA
after 53.14
Deep Sea Canvas
before NA
after 97.7
Aquarium Canvas
before 2.48
after 32.29
Pixel Blender
before 82.25
after 323.33
Surf Wax Binder
before 206.4
after 262.1
Sun Spider
before 153.27
after 166.84
V8 Benchmark
before 163.43
after 155.85
Ocean Flinger
before 100.45
after 100.19
Image Flinger
before 100.79
after NA
Text Flinger
before 100.45
after NA
Interestingly the ICS Prime is able to complete the portions of the test that the Honeycomb prime wasn't and vice-versa. To be honest, the differences are in some of the tests are too big to explain away - particularly in the Aquarium Canvas and Pixel Blender tests.
Networking Loader
before 86.48
after 72.09
AnTuTu
RAM
before 2168
after 2195
CPU integer
before 3701
after 3617
CPU floating-point
before 2752
after 2813
2D graphics
before 285
after 296
3D graphics
before 1196
after 1192
Database IO
before 320
after 355
before 130
after 150
SD card write
before 130
after 150
SD card read
before 191
after 195
CPU frequency
before 1400
after 1600
While the RAM/CPU and graphics tests don't see much of a difference there's a noticeable difference in the Database IO and SD card tests. It's interesting that the CPU frequency now shows up as 1600Mhz.
GL Benchmark wouldn't run so I don't have any updated benchmarks.
I'm currently charging my prime and will rerun my battery benchmark overnight.
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