For the original German review, see here.

In the recent past, tablets from Asus rather belonged to the plethora of mid-range models. The Taiwanese did not introduce a high-end tablet for a while. This changed with the IFA 2015. In Berlin, Asus presented its new ZenPad family, which also includes our current test model, for the first time. The ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA is the current spearhead in Asus' tablet portfolio. However, the Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact, one of the biggest rivals of the Asus ZenPad S 8.0. Zen, is still the slimmest tablet of its size. The latest tablet model from Asus wants to be a high-end model. This means powerful hardware, many features, decent cameras and a bright, contrast-rich, high-end display. A glance at the specs reveals that our test model can meet most of these requirements. At least it comes with a powerful Intel Atom processor with four cores and 2.33 GHz Turbo clock, a PowerVR G6430 GPU and, as already mentioned, 4 GB RAM. The display is based on IPS technology and features the Retina resolution known from Apple. Regarding cameras and many features, Asus did the job properly, too, and it incorporated modern components. In addition, an active input pen called the Z Stylus is available for the ZenPad S for 35 Euros (~$39).

The Asus ZenPad S 8.0 belongs to the few tablets with an aspect ratio of 4:3. Thus, the Apple iPad Mini 3 with almost identical display key figures belongs to the biggest competitors. In addition, the ZenPad competes with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4.

The Asus ZenPad S 8.0 will likely be available in several variants. Our test model with a storage capacity of 64 GB for an RRP of 350 Euros (~$397) might be the second most expensive model after the identically big LTE model. In addition, Asus has announced models with 16 and 32 GB storage. Up to now, the official prices have only been partly known. For example, Asus priced the smallest model without LTE at about 270 Euros (~$306). This is a fair price, since the storage capacity can be expanded by up to 128 GB regardless of the internal storage capacity. However, the color choice is very limited with black or white.