Asus Transformer 3 Pro T303UA review – a beefed up alternative for the Microsoft Surface Pros
90 Comments
Ewan
September 21, 2016 at 10:20 pm
I was looking forward to Asus Transformer 3 Pro as an own of a owner of an Android, Tegra 4 powered Transformer 701. And also as a possible replacement for my Dell Venue 11 Pro 7130 — Intel Core i5 4300Y, Intel HD Graphics 4200; which by the way, I temperature dethrottled (changed the grub line values in BIOS) and undervolted. Absolutely transforming (no pun intended) the performance to the point where I questioned why Dell crippled this model in the first place?
But in the end, your review of the Iris 540 Dell XPS 13 swung me in the direction of purchasing a 512GB SSD, 16GB memory Iris 540 XPS 13 instead — also the price was right.
But battery life may still be an issue, which is why I’ll still be holding holding on to my Venue 11. 😉
Well, there’s a compromise to be made on ultraportables, either go with a powerful processor and high-res screen and sacrifice battery life, or the other way around. And keep in mind the battery on the XPS is much bigger than the one on the T303.
The truth is I was expecting battery life to be short, and I can’t see how anyone else would hope otherwise, given the specs.
Hi Andrei,
thanks for taking the time to write this review. I received my unit two weeks ago, but I had to exchange it due to the fact that when the device was moved around (even just slightly), the fan produced a very loud buzzing/grinding sound. I received my second unit last week, and the same issue persists. I’d like to ask if you had the same problem with your review unit?
Well, I actually did, but I didn’t mention it in the article because I thought it was a culprit with my pre-release sample and wouldn’t be relevant for final units. I’ll add the info now, that you’re mentioning the same happens on retail versions.
I see, good to know that I wasn’t the only one. Anyway, I just received another unit and this one doesn’t exhibit any of the strange noises found in the previous units. The keyboard cover included is also much better than my previous units. According to the label at the back, all of the units I’ve had( including the latest one) were produced in August, but my latest unit has a slightly different Serial #. It’s running fine at the moment and I hope it stays this way. Cheers.
Hi Derick, Nice to know there's a fix for this issue. I received my unit a few days ago with this annoying noise when moving the tablet around (I'm deeply disappointed, after 3 month of waiting for the device). It seems to be a manufacturing issue – in this case, I'm going to send my unit back hoping the replacement doesn't come with this annoying fan issue.
Derick
February 10, 2017 at 8:38 am
Hi Silvan,
unfortunately my unit started having the same problem AGAIN. Took it back to ASUS who fixed it within a week. It's fine now, but I don't really have any faith in the device anymore. Pen also goes berserk while the device is charging, I've tried it in many different places so I don't think it's a problem with my electricity.
vicko
January 26, 2017 at 2:04 am
I brought a unit and found the cooling fan is really noisy. Replacement of another unit got the same problem. It appears ASUS is still having some deficiency in the design to avoid the noise.
Ewan
September 22, 2016 at 5:22 am
The Asus Transformer Tf701 has poor speakers too by the way — meagre ones mounted at the back. On the other hand, the speakers on the Dell Venue 11 Pro are excellent mounted, as they are, high up. Also, the top mounted fan vents, as a happy coincidence, sort of act like bass ports.
The XPS 13 speakers seem to of a good quality as well, in not as good as the the Venue 11’s.
It might sound like a dumb question, but what ever happened to idea of the second, keyboard mounted battery as in my Venue 11? I often go a whole night with the keyboard battery completely drained and main battery in the tablet still at over three quarters remaining.
well, I think it ads up weight and people go with such a device for portability. You Venue Pro 11 is singnificantly bulkier and heavier than something like this one or the Surface, with the Folio, right?
Personally, I wouldn’t go for one of those if interested in this kind of form factor. I like the idea of having a kickstand on the tablet, so I can use the slate on its own for watching videos, as well as having a keyboard folio to attach when required. A keyboard dock + battery could be a good addition as well, for those interested, as Dell offers for instance for the XPS 12.,
Okay that sort clarifies things, but it would still be nice to have the option of an extended battery life. I forgot to mention there was a Dell ‘Slim’ keyboard option available too, without the extra battery, but to be honest it didn’t look like it would be very nice to type on — it was cheaper though.
Ha, so Dell did make a successor to the Venue 11 in the XPS 12?
Looks great, I love the back-lit keyboard and the speakers are great too apparently. Not so keen on the ‘laughable lapability’ according to Tech Radar’s review though.
It’s funny I always thought Venue 11’s 10.8″ screen was great, but of course the XPS 13’s QHD+ screen is a mind blowing experience in comparison.
Thanks again for the great review.
Worth adding that the XPS 12 scores poor reviews with buyers though. I never tested it and didn’t look much into it either, but it’s something to keep in mind.
Great review. Sucks that everything wasn’t as they had promoted. What really annoys me is that they didn’t even send you their pen to review along with it. They should know that the SP make for a good alternative to wacom and that people would want to know how Asus stack up. Given everything in this review, no pen, and the stupid barrage of advertisements yet no release date is making me extremely wary of the product which sucks cause I was all for it not that long ago.
I don’t see why how you got to this conclusion. For me, this sample was mostly what I expected and I think it has was it needs to be at least an alternative for the SP4, if not a better option.
I got the Dell Active Stylus for my Venue 11 Pro. I really should learn to make more use of it.
The SP4 is available with Iris graphics too, although I don’t no whether or not it runs into temperature throttling issues like my XPS 13 does?
Another thing to note is that the SP4 and Transformer 3 have squarer screens, which definitely have their advantages. However, for movies and YouTube content my Venue 11 and XPS 13’s 16×9 screens are better IMO.
I have 2 Questions:
1.- Is it possible to tear it open and change the SSD?
2.- Can Ubuntu (or another Live Linux Distribution) run on the Transformer 3?
I talked about that in the article… It is possible to pry open, albeit it’s not a simple task and I haven’t done it. The SSD should be upgradeable from what I can tell, but again, didn’t get inside so I’m not 100% positive on that.
Interesting, I won’t mention which windows two in one tablet I own for fear of sounding like a stuck record, but it features a pop off back with easy access to the SSD, battery and WiFi module.
I’m betting we will never see that feature again!
A warning to potential SP4 buyers: while better than its predecessor, which could not be opened without cracking the screen, opening up the SP4 does require a heat gun, opening tools, and a lot of patience. There are plenty of ways things could go wrong.
Well my tablet is not quit ‘rugged’, however Dell did sell a protective shell cover that works once only, from personal experience — it saved my tablet after falling out of my locker, but broke apart (on one of the corners) on impact.
Thanks for the very detailed review! I pre-ordered it at a trade show 3 weeks back without a demo unit to try out. I was kinda desperate as my Dell XPS 13 hails from 2009, and has been acting up for more than a year now.
Hopefully the delay in delivery goes into tackling some of the issues mentioned in your review, as there’s no consumer protection to speak of whatsoever here in Singapore, and refunds or exchange is neigh impossible.
I’ve 2 questions:
1) One of the main reasons I’ve waited so long before replacing my workhorse was to wait for the USB-C. I’ve heard heating issues related to this. Did you find any issues during charging or when using it to power another device, especially when connecting multiple devices through an adapter/dock?
2) I seem to see a dark bluish hue to the Titanium grey units in some youtube videos, and in your pictures. Would you say that’s an accurate rendition or a trick of the light? It looks much nicer than plain grey.
1. I didn’t look specifically into this, but I didn’t notice the cable getting hotter than normal.
2. I’d say it’s some sort of dark gray to me eyes, but I’m not the most color savvy person out there :P
My unit finally arrived! It’s gorgeous! Feels really premium. The grey is actually lighter than what I expected, but I dig it!
I haven’t heard the fan so far, but I’ve yet to use it in a really quiet place, or push it much.
The volume is loud enough for me. I’m finding it bright at half brightness, but I’ll test this under the sun later.
Once I get more heavy duty programs installed, I’ll find out if there’s any throttling.
My office iMac is only a year old, but my last laptop was a Dell XPS from 2009, so maybe my expectations aren’t quite up to date, haha.
Touchpad is nice, but I haven’t typed on a keyboard with such a large touchpad before, and there’s been quite a few accidental cursor flying off incidents even as I typed this.
So far, I’m happy :-)
Glad you like it and thanks for the feedback. Please let us know if you have any more to add once you use it for a bit, that’s going to help others for sure.
Nepenthes
October 28, 2016 at 6:49 am
Here's after a week of use:
1) Touchpad. Multitouch gestures are wonderful – when they work. Over the last two days – was it something I installed? Or a Windows update? – very often, multi-touch would just completely fail. The touchpad still works, as I can move the cursor around, but no 2-finger scroll and all that. Bummer. Can't live without the scroll. Detaching and reattaching the keyboard works, but this shouldn't be happening. Thought it might be a power saving issue, but happens even when I'm connected to the power socket.
2) Keyboard. Generally lovely. But typing on a table when it's tilted up, you feel the whole keyboard is bouncing ever so slightly. Super easy to attach and detach. When using in tablet mode, I like to attach the keyboard the other way so that the keys are facing the back of the tablet, and my hand is holding the felt bottom of the keyboard. More comfortable grip.
3) The fan. Oh yeah, it's making itself heard. Top left corner. Haven't screeched yet, but oh mine. And I was just web browsing. Too many pages in Chrome maybe?
4) The pen. Really not fantastic. Was trying to figure out how to configure the buttons, as they didn't seem to be doing anything. Asus chatline had no idea. Finally they emailed me this: asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1016345/
Why this setting is only found under Tablet PC but not under Pen settings is beyond me. Windows 10 just has too many layers of the old and the new that's not integrating well. Can't quite tell whether it's schizophrenic or split personality disorder, but they definitely need to get it treated soon.
Totally not feeling the 1024 levels of pressure. Not sure if there's some other hidden setting or special drivers needed.
asus.com/Notebooks-Accessory/Asus-Pen/
Says it's a rechargeable battery. It isn't.
Back to the buttons – no real options of reconfiguring – only work when the pen tip is touching the screen.
So, yes, there are issues. But I still love it. Hope the dock comes on the market soon, and works.
Kaby Lake is not a major update over Skylake, So the T303UAK is probably going to run a little cooler and perhaps more efficient in daily use, but I don’t see how it would address the potential issues the tablet faces under load, given it runs at higher frequencies, especially on the Cere i7 options.
Also, do you have a source on the T303UAK model? I’m seeing a drivers page on Asuss’s website, but that’s about it.
Oh, I mean T303UA(K), with a Thunderbolt III, supports 4K@60Hz output, but which makes the tablet a better choice, at least for me. (ASUS customer service told me UX390UA doesn’t support DisplayPort over USB-C; so I think it only support 4K@30Hz.),
Kabylake supports hardware-decoding HEVC 10bits, and HEVC Main10 is supposed to be the default encoding format for high-end 4K video. Therefore, I want a Kabylake ultrabook with 4K@60Hz output but without a discrete GPU.
By the way, would you make a review of ASUS T305CA later?
When do you expect a US release? I am looking to replace my Surface Pro 3 with this unit. Also planning to use the DP port with ASUS’s ROG XG Station 2 as my “portable” VR rig.
Should be available soon, it’s going to be released in my country in the next week so I’d expect it should reach the States in the first part of October as well. I don’t have any inside info though, so that’s just my estimation.
” Its Thunderbolt™ 3 interface offers unbelievably fast 40Gbps data transfers via the USB-C port” . From here: asus.com/2-in-1-PCs/ASUS-Transformer-3-T305CA/Features/ . Besides that, the slate comes with a Thunderbolt 3 management app :) I don’t have any Thunderbolt 3 peripherals though, so I couldn’t actually test the speeds per se.
I haven’t, because I actually don’t have a powerful enough power bank. But I don’t see why this wouldn’t charge from something that can deliver 2 Amps. It’s not going to charge as fast as when plugged in, but it should charge. The question is whether a power bank can provide enough juice to charge it while in use or just when shut off.
I’m going to get a proper power bank for my future tests, so I can better look into this.
Yeah, well, that’s not something I actually tested since I don’t have a 2 Amps power bank and didn’t thought about trying with a 1 amp one. I’m just assuming it should charge, since many other devices that charge via USB-C can juice up from power banks.
Daniel
December 8, 2016 at 10:11 am
I tried this option using an Anker PowerCore+20100mAh with USB-C..It doesn't work..When I asked Anker support line, they confirmed that they product is not compatible with the T303UA for charging.. Somehow the tablet is not recognizing the 5V/2Amps output of the power bank..
Thanks, I'll add this to the right section and sry for the confusion created.
Maks
October 4, 2016 at 10:43 am
There are quite some reasons why it would not work :) Most of these devices charge with like 19 volts. Almost all powerbanks can only deliver 5v with 2amps.
You don’t need to have a powerbank to try charging it with 5v/2amp. You could also use an normal usb charger like you probably have for your phones. Would be really nice if you could try charging it with an usual phone charger. If this works it also should work with most powerbanks :)
Right, you’re probably right, some sort of converter might be needed, I didn’t actually think of that. I don’t have the sample anymore, but I’ll look into it and get back in a few days.
Still, I’m reading about the Anker PowerCore+ 20100 for example being able to charge a Macbook through a 5V/3 amps port, and the Macbook normally gets a 2A @ 14.5V charger. It does so slower, up to 15W according to this post that seems legit: jeffri.me/2016/07/power-bank-for-12-macbook-anker-powercore-20100-casual-review/, so it takes longer and it might not even charge it under load. Hence my assumption other USB-C devices could charge through a 5V port, just slowly.
There’s also this clip: youtube.com/watch?v=z12UC_bdZ6Y , on the Macbook.
Ewan
October 4, 2016 at 9:57 pm
Yes, disappointingly my XPS 13 (Iris 540 model) appears not to charge through Thunderbolt 3 either. The provided charger is a DELL 45W 19.5V 2.31A AC Adapter Charger.
However my powerbank CAN charge my Dell Venue 11 Pro (Intel Core i5 i5-4300Y) which uses a DELL 24W AC Power Adaptor Battery Charger – Output 19.5V 1.2A / 5V 2.0A.
It is in my locker at work so I cannot try it out on my new purchase XPS 13.
I believe it is this model though: kogan.com/au/buy/kogan-universal-20000mah-power-bank-laptops-tablets-phones/
But the XPS 13 is not supposed to charge via Thunderbolt 3 as far as I know, it charges through the dedicated DC-IN port. The Transformer, Macbook and others on the other hand are designed to charge via this port.
Edit: Scrap this, I was wrong, the XPS can charge via TB3 with the right charger. See this: reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/3rrs8x/usb_typec_charging_xps_13_9350/
Yes, but it seems like an odd omission. Oh well, I could invest in a Dell docking station (D3100), which is probably Dell’s intention for customers to do in the first place, or just another power cable.
Their OE docking station solution is on the pricey side though.
‘Innergie Universal Laptop Adapter
Though the XPS 13 comes with a proprietary Dell power adapter that plugs into a special port on the left side, it can also charge over its USB Type-C port. That means you can use any USB Type-C charger that’s capable of delivering at least 45 watts of power, and you can share that charger with other laptops, tablets and phones that support Type-C charging. This is one of the first laptop-capable USB Type-C chargers on the market, making it invaluable for people who want to carry many devices but only one power brick.’
Thank you for clarifying this. Sorry to say, but it seems Dell is being deliberately evasive, imo, probably to increase sales of their own brand docking station (D3100) which has the proprietary Dell power adaptor output.
Maybe. My question is, why would you want an USB-C charger when you already have a charger that is included? Just to have something universal for multiple devices? And even that might not be the cause since some devices would require ~20ish V and other 5V.
I would like to be able to use one of these new USB Type-C to USB 3.0 Gigabit HDMI Type-C Chargers, i.e.
8Ware USB-C to USB 3.0 with Gigabit Ethernet, USB-C and HDMI port hub. The USB3.0 port allows you to connect a USB device or another hub to the host computer, the USB-C female port can charge for the host computer and supply power for the hub simultaneously, the Gigabit Ethernet port allows the host computer to get access to the network and the HDMI port (DP Altmode) allows you to connect an HDMI monitor so that you can watch videos or slideshows together on a big screen. It can work on Macbook or Google new Chromebook Pixel and other USB-C supported devices.
I just got my T303ua, Core i7 and have a bad day.
I drop my tab accidentally and broke the usbc connecter of the psu.
Then I find a Xpower 30w wall plug with USBC PD3.1 support 20v 1a output, but It doesn’t charge my t303ua.
If ther are no PSU available to buy, I wasted my very expensive tab with a stupid mistake.
With USB-C, the way we are choosing our power bricks and power bank as to change. In a nutshell, wattage is not relevant anymore, we need to pay attention to the voltage and current.
As said above, the power brick of the TP3 is ratted for 20V and 2.25A so the tablet requires at least 45W.
For more details, you can read this article that resume very well all the challenges. pcworld.com/article/3017182/hardware/usb-c-charging-universal-or-bust-we-plug-in-every-device-we-have-to-chase-the-dream.html
I am not an Asus expert and I am waiting to read more reviews on the TP3 before ordering it but some OEM like HP like to add an other trick into the mix. As described on the link above, they do not allow the device to be charged by a thrid party charger.
Back to the power bank, we need a power bank able to deviler 45W on 20V. As of today, the only one I have found it the asus zenpower max.
Hi Andrei and all,
What's the final word on charging with a battery bank on TB3? This is crucial for me, portability is what will make me buy this 2-in-1 and charging on the go while driving between two meetings will make this happen.
Thanks
Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to further look into this and I just can't tell if it will work or not without actually trying. Perhaps some of the other owners can pitch in on this matter?
Nepenthes
November 1, 2016 at 3:22 am
I can confirm that this doesn't work. xiaomi-mi.com/powerbanks/xiaomi-mi-power-bank-pro-10000mah-black/
It goes up to 12V. I don't have anything at a higher voltage on hand.
avijit jha
October 12, 2016 at 6:39 am
The asus transformer pro 3 was advertised as having a brighter screen than surface pro and 4 times louder speakers.
the Transformer 3 and Transformer 3 pro were supposed to have the same screen, at 450nits, but the 3 pro has only got 280nits (300 advertised), the 450nits is on the Transformer 3's product page
costco sells this in the USA. please avoid at all cost…
the one sold at costco comes with a shitty generic ssd.
SK Hynix SC300 (OEM) 512GB M.2-2280 SATA III SSD
HFS512G39MND-3510A
they included the sata3 technology vs the higher end mvne pcie ssd. these two versions have 3x difference in read and write speed. pick your poison, i bought one and may be returning it very soon. it’s discounted for a reason.
You can check the drive by right clicking on C drive and go to properties. Go to hardware and you can see it. You can run crystaldisk program to check the read and write speeds. All costco version uses generic ssd with slow read and write speeds.
what do you consider "slow" on the read/write speeds? Looking to purchase one of these from Costco tomorrow and want to be sure I am getting the right product. It is on sale for $1299, regularly $1499, looks to be the same unit as on ASUS's website, but I'm just not sure. I just want to know it is going to be the same unit as on the website, it DOES have the same model number after all???
Stoffel
October 23, 2016 at 9:55 am
Hello,
thanks for the good Preview :)
The description from Asus says, that a fingerprint reader is installed too, is that right?
Awful awful machine! It has to be the buggiest, most frustrating piece of technology I've ever bought. The screen freezes, apps continually crash, the programs take up a full screen so you cannot access the buttons to close or minimize the program. I spent hours trying to a relatively simple job and finally gave up and went to my desktop computer to do the job in a few simple minutes.
I bought this machine to replace my old Ipad 2 in order to do work in the field rather than coming home to an evening of work. The sales person convinced me that the Transformer would leave the Ipad Pro for dead. I now realise that I appear to have totally wasted my money as the machine fails to perform at home under basic conditions let alone in the field where it will be required most.
Bottom line, I will be going out today to by the replacement Ipad Pro and asking if I can return the Asus Transformer and receive a refund. Not holding my breath there though.
Recommendation; Do not buy this piece of equipment. If you need a tablet stay with the tried and tested ones i.e IPad, Samsung etc. If you need a device to provide windows capability in the field then use a laptop. Comes down to the right tool for the job and quite simply the Asus Transformer 3 Pro running Windows 10 is not a good option.
Mike, this thing can do what a regular laptop does, just different. You might have run into a faulty unit, but just to make sure, did you didn't get rid of the bloatware or wait for Windows to perform all its updates? Also, I don't exactly understand what you mean by this: "the programs take up a full screen so you cannot access the buttons to close or minimize the program", but I'd reckon you're allowing it to switch to Tablet mode automatically when disconnecting the keyboard? You can opt to remain in desktop mode all the time.
I agree the Windows experience on a tablet isn't as smooth as on an iPad or an Android device. Yet imo multitasking is superior on such a device and you're also able to run the specialized software that can't run on those platforms.
My T303UA's keyboard isn't great. Every once in a while (frequent enough) a letter keeps typing. I don't think it's a stuck key — just keeps that letter going for some other reason. And, more problematic, the trackpad skips a lot, especially when I'm trying to hold onto something with the left-click.
I got mine at Costco and am willing to trade to the other version if it makes a difference.
But, does it get better or is there always something with this thing? I don't have the fan problem, but have read about that in other reviews. And, I'm concerned about trying again and just getting another bum keyboard or something else. Maybe I should just move on? Any insight?
Quality control seems to be an issue with this product, as with many other Asus devices. I didn't run into such issues with the keyboard, but of course there's no guarantee you're not going to get another faulty unit if you exchange yours. Or there might be something else not working properly. If it's easy and doesn't cost you anything, you could ask for exchanges until you get something that works right. That if you really want this form factor, since there are little to no alternatives, except for the Surface Pro 4.
Thank you, Andrei. The thing has such promise. With the Thunderbolt 3 interface, the GPU dock could be so incredible, leaving this the king of portability. Personally, I really like the feel of the keyboard (when it works – I've now read other reviews that also call the trackpad into question). And, the ability to easily pull the keyboard off for tablet mode is so simple and enjoyable. But, alas, I think v1 isn't right for me. I'm probably going to go for an ultrabook 2-in-1 with Thunderbolt 3, like the Spectre 360. Maybe in a few years, they will have figured this out…
Yeah, speaking as someone who's had two in 3 weeks that have had the same keyboard fault Jeff is talking about, I'm seriously considering returning mine tomorrow, and paying the difference on a Surface Pro 4 with the same specs…
The fault may be a little worse than Jeff has realised as well. I have mine set to turn the touchpad off if I hook a mouse up, and even if I don't have a mouse, I manually disable it if I'm going to be typing for a long period of time. Here's the problem… Every time the a key gets stuck, it actually looks like the keyboard is rebooting (backlights go out for a few seconds, then it comes back on and I can type something to stop the stuck key from spamming whatever I was typing). What I found is that it also a) turns my touchpad back on, no matter if I've manually disabled it using fn + f9, or if I've got a mouse attached, AND it disables the f9 hotkey to turn the touchpad off. All the other hotkeys work, just that one in particular that stops. Undocking the tablet then docking again fixes it… right up until the next time it happens.
It's a massive pain in the rear, and like I said, I've gone two for two of them having the issue so far. First one did it occasionally from the start, two weeks later started doing it every 10 minutes. Replacement one didn't do it for nearly a week, then started last night doing it every half hour or so. So there's no guarantee that you've got a working model, even if it doesn't do it at first.
My touchpad has gone royally erratic to the point of being unuseable. Each time, I have to disconnect and reconnect the keyboard – used to work every time, but no longer. Less success with disabling and enabling the touchpad using Fn f9. Wonder if this has anything to do with the thermal throttling, seems worse when the fan's up…
Nepenthes
November 29, 2016 at 1:52 am
Another terrible irksome thing I've noticed is that very often, my T303UA gets really hot while in the bag, losing half the battery or more. What exactly triggers this I'm not sure. I suspect that the keyboard contacts are unstable, triggering the device to try to wake up. I've got face recognition log in enabled. Will disable that for a while, and see whether that helps.
Hello,
i tested the Transformer 3 pro too (about a week- i7-6500U,16GB Ram, 512GB SSD)
First, i have to say, this is a beautiful convertible. But there are many little points to get little negative.
for Example:
:the battery life- in balanced mode (40% brightness, wifi on) about 4,5 -5 hours :(
:top – right corner on display- when it is black (in a movie)there is a little bit couding
:the fan is loud when use some programs ( massive surfing / video ) and some the fan gets loud for 1 sec, then 1 sec off, 1sec on…
…Asus whats wrong?! …(in battery mode, i drop the cpu max to 2GHz, than it would be better)
:sometimes the T3P get hot on backside
:the big point for me…i missed the 512GB NVMe SSD….my T3P had only a normal Sata3 :(
I brought it in Germany for 1600€, and that is not what Asus said in there advertising ! :(
I tested the Thunderbolt 3 port with my Acer graphics dock-
that worked great and played with these config Battlefield 4 on full hd on 24" with about 60fps.
On internal display Battlefield there are only 20-28fps (i think because the 3:2 display (no native BF4 3:2)
It's sitting on my desk, screen off, connected to power, all programs closed. And the fan starts blasting ever so often. Not at its loudest, just louder than everyone else.
First of all, this is an amazing 2 in 1 and has a LOT of potential. yet I've encountered many issue with this T3P like CPU throttling like hell. IDK what process windows 10 use the CPU until the fan start to blast like crazy in idle (I've clean install the Windows). and yeah it's pretty hot at the back side of this T3P.
The keyboard folio is good tho. Haven't experience a key stuck, but the trackpad is buggy (cursor can go randomly anywhere). I got a mouse so I disable the trackpad from F9. It's a bit of waste since the trackpad itself has a glass coating? idk but it feels nice.
BTW this is a temporary solution that I found for this T3P regarding thermal throttling in CPU.
Apparently it's not just our T3P that have this unreasonable thermal throttling (since I monitor it, CPU temp is at 30-40% yet it throttle to 400Mhz), the S4Pro (and maybe other Skylake Proc?) have this issue too. The temporary fix is to use ThrottleStop (a program yes) and uncheck the BD_PROCHOT (every single time you startup Windows, I use Task Scheduler for it).
Shortstory BD_PROCHOT (Bi-Directional Processor Hot) is monitoring all temp in your machine (not just CPU) and this makes problem because it'll trigger the throttling even though the CPU is chill, and guess what you get the 400Mhz speed. Anyway this solve my throttling problem since throttling was my T3P biggest issue. Hope it can help you guys who have this problem too.
Hi
I had the I7 + 16gb + 512ssd from amazon but returned it, because there was a problem with speaker (sometimes the sound output was out one right or left channel). I dont know if this was a driver or hardware problem. The problem disappeared when rebooting the tablet/ or switching it off. Moreover, the touchpad behaved sometimes strangely : if i kept a finger on the touchpad, the mouse cursor was very unstable and jumped somewhere on the screen from initial position. I had to disconnect keyboard and reconnect it to tablet, so the mouse was back to normal. I had the latest drivers from asus website… Now there is a sale on amazon for 1399 €, it's a pretty big deal but I hesitate to buy a surface pro 4 instead. The battery life is much better on surface too. What would you chose between both, or wait for lenovo miix 720 maybe?
Has anyone managed to find the actual keyboards and colour variants to purchase?
I'm having a real hard time trying to find the taupe/gold coloured keyboard to match the gold back on my new unit! It shipped automatically with a black keyboard, and I wanted to have the option of changing the colour.
Asus told me that I would have to go through an independent parts retailer, as they do not supply the open market. Would be easier if they just sold the keyboards and other devices (such as dock and speaker) they display on their website, Instead of this silly treasure hunt I'm on, for a keyboard I'm not even sure exists anymore.
Maybe the Surface Pro 4 wins this round, for customisability.
I just saw some at an ASUS store in Singapore a few days ago, SGD169 if I remember correctly (~USD120). Can't remember which colours were available though.
My current keyboard has started behaving somewhat after I threw it on the floor and a corner broke. But the touchpad is still shit erratic. It's got touchscreen, touchpad and a pen, but I ended up using a logitech mouse most of the time – just to keep my blood pressure manageable.
If you get an external GPU and enclosure like the core could you please test what the Transformer does in benchmark CUDA tests against a score of a desktop pc with an equalisation GPU card and CPU please…
If I try to describe this product : it crap !
Because a noisy fan on it can make you Extremely angry!
I pass it to the warranty and they just reinstall windows !!!
now I put it away for save my mind from annoying noise
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Ewan
September 21, 2016 at 10:20 pm
I was looking forward to Asus Transformer 3 Pro as an own of a owner of an Android, Tegra 4 powered Transformer 701. And also as a possible replacement for my Dell Venue 11 Pro 7130 — Intel Core i5 4300Y, Intel HD Graphics 4200; which by the way, I temperature dethrottled (changed the grub line values in BIOS) and undervolted. Absolutely transforming (no pun intended) the performance to the point where I questioned why Dell crippled this model in the first place?
But in the end, your review of the Iris 540 Dell XPS 13 swung me in the direction of purchasing a 512GB SSD, 16GB memory Iris 540 XPS 13 instead — also the price was right.
But battery life may still be an issue, which is why I’ll still be holding holding on to my Venue 11. 😉
Andrei Girbea
September 22, 2016 at 4:24 am
Well, there’s a compromise to be made on ultraportables, either go with a powerful processor and high-res screen and sacrifice battery life, or the other way around. And keep in mind the battery on the XPS is much bigger than the one on the T303.
The truth is I was expecting battery life to be short, and I can’t see how anyone else would hope otherwise, given the specs.
Derick
September 21, 2016 at 11:08 pm
Hi Andrei,
thanks for taking the time to write this review. I received my unit two weeks ago, but I had to exchange it due to the fact that when the device was moved around (even just slightly), the fan produced a very loud buzzing/grinding sound. I received my second unit last week, and the same issue persists. I’d like to ask if you had the same problem with your review unit?
Andrei Girbea
September 22, 2016 at 4:26 am
Well, I actually did, but I didn’t mention it in the article because I thought it was a culprit with my pre-release sample and wouldn’t be relevant for final units. I’ll add the info now, that you’re mentioning the same happens on retail versions.
Derick
September 26, 2016 at 1:28 am
I see, good to know that I wasn’t the only one. Anyway, I just received another unit and this one doesn’t exhibit any of the strange noises found in the previous units. The keyboard cover included is also much better than my previous units. According to the label at the back, all of the units I’ve had( including the latest one) were produced in August, but my latest unit has a slightly different Serial #. It’s running fine at the moment and I hope it stays this way. Cheers.
Silvan
January 2, 2017 at 1:31 pm
Hi Derick, Nice to know there's a fix for this issue. I received my unit a few days ago with this annoying noise when moving the tablet around (I'm deeply disappointed, after 3 month of waiting for the device). It seems to be a manufacturing issue – in this case, I'm going to send my unit back hoping the replacement doesn't come with this annoying fan issue.
Derick
February 10, 2017 at 8:38 am
Hi Silvan,
unfortunately my unit started having the same problem AGAIN. Took it back to ASUS who fixed it within a week. It's fine now, but I don't really have any faith in the device anymore. Pen also goes berserk while the device is charging, I've tried it in many different places so I don't think it's a problem with my electricity.
vicko
January 26, 2017 at 2:04 am
I brought a unit and found the cooling fan is really noisy. Replacement of another unit got the same problem. It appears ASUS is still having some deficiency in the design to avoid the noise.
Ewan
September 22, 2016 at 5:22 am
The Asus Transformer Tf701 has poor speakers too by the way — meagre ones mounted at the back. On the other hand, the speakers on the Dell Venue 11 Pro are excellent mounted, as they are, high up. Also, the top mounted fan vents, as a happy coincidence, sort of act like bass ports.
The XPS 13 speakers seem to of a good quality as well, in not as good as the the Venue 11’s.
It might sound like a dumb question, but what ever happened to idea of the second, keyboard mounted battery as in my Venue 11? I often go a whole night with the keyboard battery completely drained and main battery in the tablet still at over three quarters remaining.
Andrei Girbea
September 22, 2016 at 8:10 am
well, I think it ads up weight and people go with such a device for portability. You Venue Pro 11 is singnificantly bulkier and heavier than something like this one or the Surface, with the Folio, right?
Personally, I wouldn’t go for one of those if interested in this kind of form factor. I like the idea of having a kickstand on the tablet, so I can use the slate on its own for watching videos, as well as having a keyboard folio to attach when required. A keyboard dock + battery could be a good addition as well, for those interested, as Dell offers for instance for the XPS 12.,
Ewan
September 22, 2016 at 9:47 am
Okay that sort clarifies things, but it would still be nice to have the option of an extended battery life. I forgot to mention there was a Dell ‘Slim’ keyboard option available too, without the extra battery, but to be honest it didn’t look like it would be very nice to type on — it was cheaper though.
Ha, so Dell did make a successor to the Venue 11 in the XPS 12?
Looks great, I love the back-lit keyboard and the speakers are great too apparently. Not so keen on the ‘laughable lapability’ according to Tech Radar’s review though.
It’s funny I always thought Venue 11’s 10.8″ screen was great, but of course the XPS 13’s QHD+ screen is a mind blowing experience in comparison.
Thanks again for the great review.
Andrei Girbea
September 22, 2016 at 10:51 am
Worth adding that the XPS 12 scores poor reviews with buyers though. I never tested it and didn’t look much into it either, but it’s something to keep in mind.
TamaskanLEM
September 24, 2016 at 8:03 pm
Great review. Sucks that everything wasn’t as they had promoted. What really annoys me is that they didn’t even send you their pen to review along with it. They should know that the SP make for a good alternative to wacom and that people would want to know how Asus stack up. Given everything in this review, no pen, and the stupid barrage of advertisements yet no release date is making me extremely wary of the product which sucks cause I was all for it not that long ago.
Andrei Girbea
September 25, 2016 at 7:40 am
I don’t see why how you got to this conclusion. For me, this sample was mostly what I expected and I think it has was it needs to be at least an alternative for the SP4, if not a better option.
Chris
September 25, 2016 at 5:55 pm
Any idea on the US release for this?
Andrei Girbea
September 26, 2016 at 3:43 am
No official details, but I’ hoping for early to Mid October.
Ewan
September 26, 2016 at 12:36 am
I got the Dell Active Stylus for my Venue 11 Pro. I really should learn to make more use of it.
The SP4 is available with Iris graphics too, although I don’t no whether or not it runs into temperature throttling issues like my XPS 13 does?
Another thing to note is that the SP4 and Transformer 3 have squarer screens, which definitely have their advantages. However, for movies and YouTube content my Venue 11 and XPS 13’s 16×9 screens are better IMO.
Jon
September 27, 2016 at 2:06 am
N-Trig… Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!
I can’t stand the SP4 because of NTRIG!!
Johann
September 27, 2016 at 8:59 am
I have 2 Questions:
1.- Is it possible to tear it open and change the SSD?
2.- Can Ubuntu (or another Live Linux Distribution) run on the Transformer 3?
Thanks in advance
Johann
Andrei Girbea
September 27, 2016 at 9:23 am
I talked about that in the article… It is possible to pry open, albeit it’s not a simple task and I haven’t done it. The SSD should be upgradeable from what I can tell, but again, didn’t get inside so I’m not 100% positive on that.
Ewan
September 27, 2016 at 7:31 pm
Interesting, I won’t mention which windows two in one tablet I own for fear of sounding like a stuck record, but it features a pop off back with easy access to the SSD, battery and WiFi module.
I’m betting we will never see that feature again!
A warning to potential SP4 buyers: while better than its predecessor, which could not be opened without cracking the screen, opening up the SP4 does require a heat gun, opening tools, and a lot of patience. There are plenty of ways things could go wrong.
Andrei Girbea
September 28, 2016 at 3:59 am
Not in commercial units, which tend to be thinner and thinner.
Ewan
September 30, 2016 at 4:41 am
Well my tablet is not quit ‘rugged’, however Dell did sell a protective shell cover that works once only, from personal experience — it saved my tablet after falling out of my locker, but broke apart (on one of the corners) on impact.
dellstore.cz/upload/prod/70000/460-bbfd_4.jpg
Nepenthes
September 28, 2016 at 5:26 am
Thanks for the very detailed review! I pre-ordered it at a trade show 3 weeks back without a demo unit to try out. I was kinda desperate as my Dell XPS 13 hails from 2009, and has been acting up for more than a year now.
Hopefully the delay in delivery goes into tackling some of the issues mentioned in your review, as there’s no consumer protection to speak of whatsoever here in Singapore, and refunds or exchange is neigh impossible.
I’ve 2 questions:
1) One of the main reasons I’ve waited so long before replacing my workhorse was to wait for the USB-C. I’ve heard heating issues related to this. Did you find any issues during charging or when using it to power another device, especially when connecting multiple devices through an adapter/dock?
2) I seem to see a dark bluish hue to the Titanium grey units in some youtube videos, and in your pictures. Would you say that’s an accurate rendition or a trick of the light? It looks much nicer than plain grey.
Andrei Girbea
September 28, 2016 at 9:08 am
1. I didn’t look specifically into this, but I didn’t notice the cable getting hotter than normal.
2. I’d say it’s some sort of dark gray to me eyes, but I’m not the most color savvy person out there :P
Nepenthes
October 19, 2016 at 11:45 am
My unit finally arrived! It’s gorgeous! Feels really premium. The grey is actually lighter than what I expected, but I dig it!
I haven’t heard the fan so far, but I’ve yet to use it in a really quiet place, or push it much.
The volume is loud enough for me. I’m finding it bright at half brightness, but I’ll test this under the sun later.
Once I get more heavy duty programs installed, I’ll find out if there’s any throttling.
My office iMac is only a year old, but my last laptop was a Dell XPS from 2009, so maybe my expectations aren’t quite up to date, haha.
Touchpad is nice, but I haven’t typed on a keyboard with such a large touchpad before, and there’s been quite a few accidental cursor flying off incidents even as I typed this.
So far, I’m happy :-)
Andrei Girbea
October 20, 2016 at 5:18 am
Glad you like it and thanks for the feedback. Please let us know if you have any more to add once you use it for a bit, that’s going to help others for sure.
Nepenthes
October 28, 2016 at 6:49 am
Here's after a week of use:
1) Touchpad. Multitouch gestures are wonderful – when they work. Over the last two days – was it something I installed? Or a Windows update? – very often, multi-touch would just completely fail. The touchpad still works, as I can move the cursor around, but no 2-finger scroll and all that. Bummer. Can't live without the scroll. Detaching and reattaching the keyboard works, but this shouldn't be happening. Thought it might be a power saving issue, but happens even when I'm connected to the power socket.
2) Keyboard. Generally lovely. But typing on a table when it's tilted up, you feel the whole keyboard is bouncing ever so slightly. Super easy to attach and detach. When using in tablet mode, I like to attach the keyboard the other way so that the keys are facing the back of the tablet, and my hand is holding the felt bottom of the keyboard. More comfortable grip.
3) The fan. Oh yeah, it's making itself heard. Top left corner. Haven't screeched yet, but oh mine. And I was just web browsing. Too many pages in Chrome maybe?
4) The pen. Really not fantastic. Was trying to figure out how to configure the buttons, as they didn't seem to be doing anything. Asus chatline had no idea. Finally they emailed me this: asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1016345/
Why this setting is only found under Tablet PC but not under Pen settings is beyond me. Windows 10 just has too many layers of the old and the new that's not integrating well. Can't quite tell whether it's schizophrenic or split personality disorder, but they definitely need to get it treated soon.
Totally not feeling the 1024 levels of pressure. Not sure if there's some other hidden setting or special drivers needed.
asus.com/Notebooks-Accessory/Asus-Pen/
Says it's a rechargeable battery. It isn't.
Back to the buttons – no real options of reconfiguring – only work when the pen tip is touching the screen.
So, yes, there are issues. But I still love it. Hope the dock comes on the market soon, and works.
Andrei Girbea
October 30, 2016 at 2:06 pm
Thanks for taking the time to post this, much appreciated.
TamaskanLEM
September 28, 2016 at 11:24 pm
Just out of curiosity, does it seem like this tablet could connect to the surface pro keyboard?
Andrei Girbea
September 29, 2016 at 5:36 am
The surface pro keyboard has different alignment pins from what I can tell, so I’m pretty sure the answer is no
Devin
September 29, 2016 at 8:00 am
There seems to be a Kabylake version, T303UAK.
It seems much better than UX390UA
However, I don’t think it would be released recently.
Andrei Girbea
September 29, 2016 at 8:12 am
Much better? Why?
Kaby Lake is not a major update over Skylake, So the T303UAK is probably going to run a little cooler and perhaps more efficient in daily use, but I don’t see how it would address the potential issues the tablet faces under load, given it runs at higher frequencies, especially on the Cere i7 options.
Also, do you have a source on the T303UAK model? I’m seeing a drivers page on Asuss’s website, but that’s about it.
Devin
September 29, 2016 at 11:03 am
Oh, I mean T303UA(K), with a Thunderbolt III, supports 4K@60Hz output, but which makes the tablet a better choice, at least for me. (ASUS customer service told me UX390UA doesn’t support DisplayPort over USB-C; so I think it only support 4K@30Hz.),
Kabylake supports hardware-decoding HEVC 10bits, and HEVC Main10 is supposed to be the default encoding format for high-end 4K video. Therefore, I want a Kabylake ultrabook with 4K@60Hz output but without a discrete GPU.
By the way, would you make a review of ASUS T305CA later?
Andrei Girbea
September 29, 2016 at 12:50 pm
Working on it right now. Haven’t tried 4K 60 Hz output on that one either though
Gabriel Nava
September 29, 2016 at 10:54 pm
good evening sir. where can I buy it in the US?
Johnny
September 30, 2016 at 2:28 pm
When do you expect a US release? I am looking to replace my Surface Pro 3 with this unit. Also planning to use the DP port with ASUS’s ROG XG Station 2 as my “portable” VR rig.
Andrei Girbea
September 30, 2016 at 2:34 pm
Should be available soon, it’s going to be released in my country in the next week so I’d expect it should reach the States in the first part of October as well. I don’t have any inside info though, so that’s just my estimation.
DavidG
October 3, 2016 at 7:35 am
Thanks for the review, however are you sure about that in the specs “1 x USB 3.1 Thunderbolt 3 gen1” ?
Asus official website mentions “any-way-up USB-C connector also supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 devices at speeds up to 10Gbps, 20 times faster than USB 2.0!”
Andrei Girbea
October 3, 2016 at 7:51 am
” Its Thunderbolt™ 3 interface offers unbelievably fast 40Gbps data transfers via the USB-C port” . From here: asus.com/2-in-1-PCs/ASUS-Transformer-3-T305CA/Features/ . Besides that, the slate comes with a Thunderbolt 3 management app :) I don’t have any Thunderbolt 3 peripherals though, so I couldn’t actually test the speeds per se.
Maks
October 4, 2016 at 4:27 am
“The USB-C plug also means you can hook it to a power bank if you need to re-juice it while on the road.”
Are you sure about this? I don’t think you will be able to charge this device with an usual power bank. Have you tried it?
Andrei Girbea
October 4, 2016 at 5:44 am
I haven’t, because I actually don’t have a powerful enough power bank. But I don’t see why this wouldn’t charge from something that can deliver 2 Amps. It’s not going to charge as fast as when plugged in, but it should charge. The question is whether a power bank can provide enough juice to charge it while in use or just when shut off.
I’m going to get a proper power bank for my future tests, so I can better look into this.
DavidG
October 4, 2016 at 5:46 am
Thanks a lot for your answer on my previous comment, I am also extremely interested in knowing if it can be charged via a PowerBank while on/off :)
Andrei Girbea
October 4, 2016 at 5:57 am
Yeah, well, that’s not something I actually tested since I don’t have a 2 Amps power bank and didn’t thought about trying with a 1 amp one. I’m just assuming it should charge, since many other devices that charge via USB-C can juice up from power banks.
Daniel
December 8, 2016 at 10:11 am
I tried this option using an Anker PowerCore+20100mAh with USB-C..It doesn't work..When I asked Anker support line, they confirmed that they product is not compatible with the T303UA for charging.. Somehow the tablet is not recognizing the 5V/2Amps output of the power bank..
Andrei Girbea
December 8, 2016 at 10:31 am
Thanks, I'll add this to the right section and sry for the confusion created.
Maks
October 4, 2016 at 10:43 am
There are quite some reasons why it would not work :) Most of these devices charge with like 19 volts. Almost all powerbanks can only deliver 5v with 2amps.
You don’t need to have a powerbank to try charging it with 5v/2amp. You could also use an normal usb charger like you probably have for your phones. Would be really nice if you could try charging it with an usual phone charger. If this works it also should work with most powerbanks :)
Andrei Girbea
October 4, 2016 at 11:20 am
Right, you’re probably right, some sort of converter might be needed, I didn’t actually think of that. I don’t have the sample anymore, but I’ll look into it and get back in a few days.
Still, I’m reading about the Anker PowerCore+ 20100 for example being able to charge a Macbook through a 5V/3 amps port, and the Macbook normally gets a 2A @ 14.5V charger. It does so slower, up to 15W according to this post that seems legit: jeffri.me/2016/07/power-bank-for-12-macbook-anker-powercore-20100-casual-review/, so it takes longer and it might not even charge it under load. Hence my assumption other USB-C devices could charge through a 5V port, just slowly.
There’s also this clip: youtube.com/watch?v=z12UC_bdZ6Y , on the Macbook.
Ewan
October 4, 2016 at 9:57 pm
Yes, disappointingly my XPS 13 (Iris 540 model) appears not to charge through Thunderbolt 3 either. The provided charger is a DELL 45W 19.5V 2.31A AC Adapter Charger.
However my powerbank CAN charge my Dell Venue 11 Pro (Intel Core i5 i5-4300Y) which uses a DELL 24W AC Power Adaptor Battery Charger – Output 19.5V 1.2A / 5V 2.0A.
It is in my locker at work so I cannot try it out on my new purchase XPS 13.
I believe it is this model though: kogan.com/au/buy/kogan-universal-20000mah-power-bank-laptops-tablets-phones/
Andrei Girbea
October 5, 2016 at 11:01 am
But the XPS 13 is not supposed to charge via Thunderbolt 3 as far as I know, it charges through the dedicated DC-IN port. The Transformer, Macbook and others on the other hand are designed to charge via this port.
Edit: Scrap this, I was wrong, the XPS can charge via TB3 with the right charger. See this: reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/3rrs8x/usb_typec_charging_xps_13_9350/
Raul
December 30, 2016 at 12:52 pm
The dell xps 13 (9350) does charge via usb c! I use a ravpower 26800 with PD.
ravpower.com/26800mah-Type-C-external-battery-charger-black.html
Ewan
October 5, 2016 at 9:30 pm
Yes, but it seems like an odd omission. Oh well, I could invest in a Dell docking station (D3100), which is probably Dell’s intention for customers to do in the first place, or just another power cable.
Their OE docking station solution is on the pricey side though.
Ewan
October 6, 2016 at 2:19 am
Huh, or can it?
According to laptopmag.com:
‘Innergie Universal Laptop Adapter
Though the XPS 13 comes with a proprietary Dell power adapter that plugs into a special port on the left side, it can also charge over its USB Type-C port. That means you can use any USB Type-C charger that’s capable of delivering at least 45 watts of power, and you can share that charger with other laptops, tablets and phones that support Type-C charging. This is one of the first laptop-capable USB Type-C chargers on the market, making it invaluable for people who want to carry many devices but only one power brick.’
laptopmag.com/articles/dell-xps-13-best-accessories
Andrei Girbea
October 6, 2016 at 4:16 am
Hah, yeah, I was wrong, sorry. Looks like the XPS actually supports charging via USB-C with the right charger.
This should be helpful reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/3rrs8x/usb_typec_charging_xps_13_9350/ and the official specs also mention:
1 Thunderbolt™ 3 Supports:
Power In / Charging
PowerShare
Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps
Bi-Directional)
My bad.
Ewan
October 6, 2016 at 6:49 am
Thank you for clarifying this. Sorry to say, but it seems Dell is being deliberately evasive, imo, probably to increase sales of their own brand docking station (D3100) which has the proprietary Dell power adaptor output.
Andrei Girbea
October 6, 2016 at 10:34 am
Maybe. My question is, why would you want an USB-C charger when you already have a charger that is included? Just to have something universal for multiple devices? And even that might not be the cause since some devices would require ~20ish V and other 5V.
Ewan
October 6, 2016 at 7:09 pm
I would like to be able to use one of these new USB Type-C to USB 3.0 Gigabit HDMI Type-C Chargers, i.e.
8Ware USB-C to USB 3.0 with Gigabit Ethernet, USB-C and HDMI port hub. The USB3.0 port allows you to connect a USB device or another hub to the host computer, the USB-C female port can charge for the host computer and supply power for the hub simultaneously, the Gigabit Ethernet port allows the host computer to get access to the network and the HDMI port (DP Altmode) allows you to connect an HDMI monitor so that you can watch videos or slideshows together on a big screen. It can work on Macbook or Google new Chromebook Pixel and other USB-C supported devices.
http://www.anyware.com.au/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/d/s/dsc_4021_2.jpg
Zephyr lyh
October 9, 2016 at 9:27 am
I just got my T303ua, Core i7 and have a bad day.
I drop my tab accidentally and broke the usbc connecter of the psu.
Then I find a Xpower 30w wall plug with USBC PD3.1 support 20v 1a output, but It doesn’t charge my t303ua.
If ther are no PSU available to buy, I wasted my very expensive tab with a stupid mistake.
Ewan
October 9, 2016 at 10:37 am
ebay.com.au/itm/272141469834?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Al_Fonce
October 10, 2016 at 11:26 am
With USB-C, the way we are choosing our power bricks and power bank as to change. In a nutshell, wattage is not relevant anymore, we need to pay attention to the voltage and current.
As said above, the power brick of the TP3 is ratted for 20V and 2.25A so the tablet requires at least 45W.
For more details, you can read this article that resume very well all the challenges. pcworld.com/article/3017182/hardware/usb-c-charging-universal-or-bust-we-plug-in-every-device-we-have-to-chase-the-dream.html
I am not an Asus expert and I am waiting to read more reviews on the TP3 before ordering it but some OEM like HP like to add an other trick into the mix. As described on the link above, they do not allow the device to be charged by a thrid party charger.
Back to the power bank, we need a power bank able to deviler 45W on 20V. As of today, the only one I have found it the asus zenpower max.
Hope it helps
Andrei Girbea
October 10, 2016 at 11:43 am
Hi, thanks for this, I’ll look into that Zenpower max
Adel
October 30, 2016 at 1:07 am
Hi Andrei and all,
What's the final word on charging with a battery bank on TB3? This is crucial for me, portability is what will make me buy this 2-in-1 and charging on the go while driving between two meetings will make this happen.
Thanks
Andrei Girbea
October 30, 2016 at 2:15 pm
Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to further look into this and I just can't tell if it will work or not without actually trying. Perhaps some of the other owners can pitch in on this matter?
Nepenthes
November 1, 2016 at 3:22 am
I can confirm that this doesn't work. xiaomi-mi.com/powerbanks/xiaomi-mi-power-bank-pro-10000mah-black/
It goes up to 12V. I don't have anything at a higher voltage on hand.
avijit jha
October 12, 2016 at 6:39 am
The asus transformer pro 3 was advertised as having a brighter screen than surface pro and 4 times louder speakers.
Andrei Girbea
October 12, 2016 at 1:33 pm
Do you have a link on the “brighter screen than the surface pro” part?
Michael Flatman
March 1, 2017 at 9:28 am
the Transformer 3 and Transformer 3 pro were supposed to have the same screen, at 450nits, but the 3 pro has only got 280nits (300 advertised), the 450nits is on the Transformer 3's product page
m3tpe
October 19, 2016 at 4:15 pm
costco sells this in the USA. please avoid at all cost…
the one sold at costco comes with a shitty generic ssd.
SK Hynix SC300 (OEM) 512GB M.2-2280 SATA III SSD
HFS512G39MND-3510A
they included the sata3 technology vs the higher end mvne pcie ssd. these two versions have 3x difference in read and write speed. pick your poison, i bought one and may be returning it very soon. it’s discounted for a reason.
TamaskanLEM
October 23, 2016 at 5:15 pm
How do you check for that? I got mine from costco as well and I want to make sure everything checks out.
m3tpe
October 26, 2016 at 4:59 pm
You can check the drive by right clicking on C drive and go to properties. Go to hardware and you can see it. You can run crystaldisk program to check the read and write speeds. All costco version uses generic ssd with slow read and write speeds.
dmash
November 10, 2016 at 6:21 am
what do you consider "slow" on the read/write speeds? Looking to purchase one of these from Costco tomorrow and want to be sure I am getting the right product. It is on sale for $1299, regularly $1499, looks to be the same unit as on ASUS's website, but I'm just not sure. I just want to know it is going to be the same unit as on the website, it DOES have the same model number after all???
Stoffel
October 23, 2016 at 9:55 am
Hello,
thanks for the good Preview :)
The description from Asus says, that a fingerprint reader is installed too, is that right?
Andrei Girbea
October 23, 2016 at 3:12 pm
Not on the T303UA as far as I know. The T305CA gets a fingerprint reader integrated in the power buton.
Stoffel
October 23, 2016 at 5:47 pm
ah damn, thx for the info. i through it was a fingerprintreader on t303ua too
Mike
November 19, 2016 at 11:08 pm
Awful awful machine! It has to be the buggiest, most frustrating piece of technology I've ever bought. The screen freezes, apps continually crash, the programs take up a full screen so you cannot access the buttons to close or minimize the program. I spent hours trying to a relatively simple job and finally gave up and went to my desktop computer to do the job in a few simple minutes.
I bought this machine to replace my old Ipad 2 in order to do work in the field rather than coming home to an evening of work. The sales person convinced me that the Transformer would leave the Ipad Pro for dead. I now realise that I appear to have totally wasted my money as the machine fails to perform at home under basic conditions let alone in the field where it will be required most.
Bottom line, I will be going out today to by the replacement Ipad Pro and asking if I can return the Asus Transformer and receive a refund. Not holding my breath there though.
Recommendation; Do not buy this piece of equipment. If you need a tablet stay with the tried and tested ones i.e IPad, Samsung etc. If you need a device to provide windows capability in the field then use a laptop. Comes down to the right tool for the job and quite simply the Asus Transformer 3 Pro running Windows 10 is not a good option.
Andrei Girbea
November 21, 2016 at 11:13 am
Mike, this thing can do what a regular laptop does, just different. You might have run into a faulty unit, but just to make sure, did you didn't get rid of the bloatware or wait for Windows to perform all its updates? Also, I don't exactly understand what you mean by this: "the programs take up a full screen so you cannot access the buttons to close or minimize the program", but I'd reckon you're allowing it to switch to Tablet mode automatically when disconnecting the keyboard? You can opt to remain in desktop mode all the time.
I agree the Windows experience on a tablet isn't as smooth as on an iPad or an Android device. Yet imo multitasking is superior on such a device and you're also able to run the specialized software that can't run on those platforms.
Jeff Burkland
November 21, 2016 at 1:00 am
My T303UA's keyboard isn't great. Every once in a while (frequent enough) a letter keeps typing. I don't think it's a stuck key — just keeps that letter going for some other reason. And, more problematic, the trackpad skips a lot, especially when I'm trying to hold onto something with the left-click.
I got mine at Costco and am willing to trade to the other version if it makes a difference.
But, does it get better or is there always something with this thing? I don't have the fan problem, but have read about that in other reviews. And, I'm concerned about trying again and just getting another bum keyboard or something else. Maybe I should just move on? Any insight?
Andrei Girbea
November 21, 2016 at 11:16 am
Quality control seems to be an issue with this product, as with many other Asus devices. I didn't run into such issues with the keyboard, but of course there's no guarantee you're not going to get another faulty unit if you exchange yours. Or there might be something else not working properly. If it's easy and doesn't cost you anything, you could ask for exchanges until you get something that works right. That if you really want this form factor, since there are little to no alternatives, except for the Surface Pro 4.
Jeff Burkland
November 21, 2016 at 12:05 pm
Thank you, Andrei. The thing has such promise. With the Thunderbolt 3 interface, the GPU dock could be so incredible, leaving this the king of portability. Personally, I really like the feel of the keyboard (when it works – I've now read other reviews that also call the trackpad into question). And, the ability to easily pull the keyboard off for tablet mode is so simple and enjoyable. But, alas, I think v1 isn't right for me. I'm probably going to go for an ultrabook 2-in-1 with Thunderbolt 3, like the Spectre 360. Maybe in a few years, they will have figured this out…
Keegan
December 1, 2016 at 7:24 am
Yeah, speaking as someone who's had two in 3 weeks that have had the same keyboard fault Jeff is talking about, I'm seriously considering returning mine tomorrow, and paying the difference on a Surface Pro 4 with the same specs…
The fault may be a little worse than Jeff has realised as well. I have mine set to turn the touchpad off if I hook a mouse up, and even if I don't have a mouse, I manually disable it if I'm going to be typing for a long period of time. Here's the problem… Every time the a key gets stuck, it actually looks like the keyboard is rebooting (backlights go out for a few seconds, then it comes back on and I can type something to stop the stuck key from spamming whatever I was typing). What I found is that it also a) turns my touchpad back on, no matter if I've manually disabled it using fn + f9, or if I've got a mouse attached, AND it disables the f9 hotkey to turn the touchpad off. All the other hotkeys work, just that one in particular that stops. Undocking the tablet then docking again fixes it… right up until the next time it happens.
It's a massive pain in the rear, and like I said, I've gone two for two of them having the issue so far. First one did it occasionally from the start, two weeks later started doing it every 10 minutes. Replacement one didn't do it for nearly a week, then started last night doing it every half hour or so. So there's no guarantee that you've got a working model, even if it doesn't do it at first.
Nepenthes
February 15, 2017 at 4:54 am
My touchpad has gone royally erratic to the point of being unuseable. Each time, I have to disconnect and reconnect the keyboard – used to work every time, but no longer. Less success with disabling and enabling the touchpad using Fn f9. Wonder if this has anything to do with the thermal throttling, seems worse when the fan's up…
Nepenthes
November 29, 2016 at 1:52 am
Another terrible irksome thing I've noticed is that very often, my T303UA gets really hot while in the bag, losing half the battery or more. What exactly triggers this I'm not sure. I suspect that the keyboard contacts are unstable, triggering the device to try to wake up. I've got face recognition log in enabled. Will disable that for a while, and see whether that helps.
Stoffel
December 1, 2016 at 9:59 am
Hello,
i tested the Transformer 3 pro too (about a week- i7-6500U,16GB Ram, 512GB SSD)
First, i have to say, this is a beautiful convertible. But there are many little points to get little negative.
for Example:
:the battery life- in balanced mode (40% brightness, wifi on) about 4,5 -5 hours :(
:top – right corner on display- when it is black (in a movie)there is a little bit couding
:the fan is loud when use some programs ( massive surfing / video ) and some the fan gets loud for 1 sec, then 1 sec off, 1sec on…
…Asus whats wrong?! …(in battery mode, i drop the cpu max to 2GHz, than it would be better)
:sometimes the T3P get hot on backside
:the big point for me…i missed the 512GB NVMe SSD….my T3P had only a normal Sata3 :(
I brought it in Germany for 1600€, and that is not what Asus said in there advertising ! :(
I tested the Thunderbolt 3 port with my Acer graphics dock-
that worked great and played with these config Battlefield 4 on full hd on 24" with about 60fps.
On internal display Battlefield there are only 20-28fps (i think because the 3:2 display (no native BF4 3:2)
Does someone had the same points and the bad SSD?
Nepenthes
December 6, 2016 at 6:08 am
It's sitting on my desk, screen off, connected to power, all programs closed. And the fan starts blasting ever so often. Not at its loudest, just louder than everyone else.
SquaDrive
January 4, 2017 at 11:35 pm
First of all, this is an amazing 2 in 1 and has a LOT of potential. yet I've encountered many issue with this T3P like CPU throttling like hell. IDK what process windows 10 use the CPU until the fan start to blast like crazy in idle (I've clean install the Windows). and yeah it's pretty hot at the back side of this T3P.
The keyboard folio is good tho. Haven't experience a key stuck, but the trackpad is buggy (cursor can go randomly anywhere). I got a mouse so I disable the trackpad from F9. It's a bit of waste since the trackpad itself has a glass coating? idk but it feels nice.
BTW this is a temporary solution that I found for this T3P regarding thermal throttling in CPU.
Apparently it's not just our T3P that have this unreasonable thermal throttling (since I monitor it, CPU temp is at 30-40% yet it throttle to 400Mhz), the S4Pro (and maybe other Skylake Proc?) have this issue too. The temporary fix is to use ThrottleStop (a program yes) and uncheck the BD_PROCHOT (every single time you startup Windows, I use Task Scheduler for it).
Shortstory BD_PROCHOT (Bi-Directional Processor Hot) is monitoring all temp in your machine (not just CPU) and this makes problem because it'll trigger the throttling even though the CPU is chill, and guess what you get the 400Mhz speed. Anyway this solve my throttling problem since throttling was my T3P biggest issue. Hope it can help you guys who have this problem too.
Odonto
January 12, 2017 at 3:33 pm
Hi
I had the I7 + 16gb + 512ssd from amazon but returned it, because there was a problem with speaker (sometimes the sound output was out one right or left channel). I dont know if this was a driver or hardware problem. The problem disappeared when rebooting the tablet/ or switching it off. Moreover, the touchpad behaved sometimes strangely : if i kept a finger on the touchpad, the mouse cursor was very unstable and jumped somewhere on the screen from initial position. I had to disconnect keyboard and reconnect it to tablet, so the mouse was back to normal. I had the latest drivers from asus website… Now there is a sale on amazon for 1399 €, it's a pretty big deal but I hesitate to buy a surface pro 4 instead. The battery life is much better on surface too. What would you chose between both, or wait for lenovo miix 720 maybe?
Scott
May 16, 2017 at 11:37 am
Has anyone managed to find the actual keyboards and colour variants to purchase?
I'm having a real hard time trying to find the taupe/gold coloured keyboard to match the gold back on my new unit! It shipped automatically with a black keyboard, and I wanted to have the option of changing the colour.
Asus told me that I would have to go through an independent parts retailer, as they do not supply the open market. Would be easier if they just sold the keyboards and other devices (such as dock and speaker) they display on their website, Instead of this silly treasure hunt I'm on, for a keyboard I'm not even sure exists anymore.
Maybe the Surface Pro 4 wins this round, for customisability.
Nepenthes
May 17, 2017 at 5:29 am
I just saw some at an ASUS store in Singapore a few days ago, SGD169 if I remember correctly (~USD120). Can't remember which colours were available though.
My current keyboard has started behaving somewhat after I threw it on the floor and a corner broke. But the touchpad is still shit erratic. It's got touchscreen, touchpad and a pen, but I ended up using a logitech mouse most of the time – just to keep my blood pressure manageable.
JB
May 24, 2017 at 8:47 pm
If you get an external GPU and enclosure like the core could you please test what the Transformer does in benchmark CUDA tests against a score of a desktop pc with an equalisation GPU card and CPU please…
vahid
November 14, 2020 at 11:24 pm
If I try to describe this product : it crap !
Because a noisy fan on it can make you Extremely angry!
I pass it to the warranty and they just reinstall windows !!!
now I put it away for save my mind from annoying noise