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The Asus ZenPad 10 Z300M is a typical budget tablet. It's affordable, it has a 10.1-inch screen and specs that are good enough to ensure day-to-day performance is solid.
However, the slate treads water in the same way budget models have done for years, with a low-resolution display that appears pixelated from the sort of distances at which we normally use tablets.
Who's this for?
The ZenPad 10 Z300M is clearly designed for those on a tight budget, but who want a big screen and potentially also a keyboard, for maximum productivity.
But the slate tries to do too much for too little, and would have made more sense with a smaller screen or a sharper one - even if that meant the price went up a bit.
Should you buy it?
The Z300M plods along well enough, and offers better value than a rival Samsung slate, but this feels like a tablet designed for clueless high street shoppers.
Those in the know would do better to spend just a little more for much greater returns.
Competition
The ZenPad Z300M hasn't been released in a vacuum, and even at the low end of the market there are a number of alternatives available.
Asus ZenPad S 8.0
The Asus ZenPad S 8.0 has been around for a little while now, but is similar to the ZenPad 10 Z300M other than that it is an 8-inch tablet rather than a 10-incher, and that it has some much higher-end specs.
The ZenPad S 8.0's screen is the important improvement, with a 2048 x 1536 resolution providing the pin-sharp look the ZenPad 10 Z300M sorely lacks. If you want a tablet to devour video and read articles, the experience on the ZenPad S 8.0 is much glossier, and these days you can find it for a similar price if you shop around.
Apple iPad Mini 2
Apple's cheap iPad is another golden oldie. Again, it's smaller, and more expensive to boot, but doesn't feel low-end like the plastic ZenPad 10 Z300M.
If you don't mind buying a refurbished unit rather than a new tablet, you can bridge most of the cost gap between the two devices. Screen resolution on the iPad Mini 2 is much higher as well, with none of the obvious pixelation seen in the cheaper ZenPad model.
Samsung Galaxy Tab E
The Samsung alternative to the Asus ZenPad 10 Z300M is the Galaxy Tab E. They're similar in specs, the big difference is that while the ZenPad has a 10.1-inch screen, the Galaxy Tab E has a 9.6-inch display, designed to be held in portrait aspect rather than landscape.
Samsung's slate also has less storage (8GB) and a much weaker CPU, so there is a price to pay for that Samsung name, as usual. Both tablets suffer from the low screen resolution issue, but given how weak the Galaxy Tab E's CPU is, we'd consider the Asus a safer bet.
First reviewed: September 2016
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