Asus shows first tablet with Intel Rockchip socket

The Zenpad S 8.0 from Asus is the first tablet from that manufacturer with a soc that stems from the collaboration of Intel and Rockchip. A more expensive version of the tablet has a USB-C connection. Earlier, the Finnish Nokia already came with a tablet that has a USB-C connection.

Just like last year’s Nokia N1, the Zenpad S 8.0 is a tablet with a screen diagonal of around 8 “with a resolution of 2048×1536 pixels. The screen has an aspect ratio of 4:3.

The Asus tablet is 20.3×13.4cm in size and 6.7mm thick, making it a relatively thin tablet. It runs on an Intel Moorefield Z3580-soc with four Silvermont processor cores at 2.3GHz and a PowerVR G6430 GPU from Imagination. The same soc is in the previously announced Zenfone 2 smartphone from Asus.

In addition to the Zenpad S 8.0, Asus comes with a cheaper variant, the Zenpad 8.0. It has an x3-C3230RK soc from Intel and Rockchip, making it the first tablet to use a soc resulting from the collaboration between Intel and Rockchip, Anandtech reports. The four Silvermont cores run at a maximum of 1.2GHz, while a Mali450MP4 GPU takes care of the graphics.

The Zenpad 8.0 has a 1280×800 display, with a 15:9 aspect ratio. As a result, it is also longer and less wide than the S 8.0, with 20.9×12.3cm and a thickness of 8.5mm. Asus has exchanged usb-c for the more classic micro-usb for the cheap version, while the tablet appears in versions with only WiFi and with WiFi and 4G. Both tablets will receive a pressure-sensitive stylus, which customers can purchase as an option.

Asus has also made a number of covers for the tablets. There is a Power Cover with built-in battery for extra battery life and another cover has built-in speakers for 5.1 surround sound. It is still unclear when the tablets will be released and how much they should cost.