laptop Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi review,netbook

Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi: design

In fact, the T300 exudes the kind of luxurious, high-end charm that we’d expect from a device a good deal more expensive than its £800 price tag. The 12.5in tablet and keyboard dock make for a handsome couple: they’re both hewn from solid chunks of aerospace-grade aluminium, finished in a deep metallic blue, and the brushed metal is framed by bevelled edges skirting neatly around the edges. The matching metal-clad stylus looks the part, too.

Meanwhile, the presence of Intel’s low-power Core M processor has allowed Asus to pare the size and weight right down. The tablet is 1.2mm thinner than the Surface Pro 3, at 7.9mm, and it comes in 80g lighter at 720g.

In fact, the only physical disappointment is that the T300 is a rather weighty affair once you factor in the keyboard dock. The pair tips the scales at 1.43kg and measure a rather less-than-svelte 18.6mm thick – several members of the PC Pro team remarked at how heavy the Asus felt given its size.

Still, there are plenty of plus points. The weight in the base counterbalances the tablet to stop it toppling backwards, a common complaint with tablet-based hybrids. And while the screen doesn’t tilt back as far as a traditional laptop, it folds back far enough to prove usable – and most importantly, stable – on a lap. Factor in a comfy, spacious keyboard that is genuinely pleasant to type upon, and a touchpad that works reasonably well, and you have a hybrid that is genuinely usable as a laptop.

Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi: keyboard and ergonomics

Asus has made some significant tweaks to the Transformer Book formula for the T300. First among these is the keyboard, which is now held in place by a strip of super-strong magnets, and connected via Bluetooth rather than a physical connection.

The keyboard needs to be charged separately to the tablet via its micro-USB connection, but thankfully this shouldn’t be a regular occurrence: after a full charge, the keyboard lasted well over a week during our testing. Another plus point is that the Bluetooth connection allows the keyboard to function even when it’s not directly connected – hook up the tablet to a monitor or TV, or just prop it up nearby, and you can control it remotely from several metres away. 

We were initially more than a little concerned about the lack of any physical latch to hold the tablet and keyboard together, but our concerns were misplaced: no matter how violently we shook the tablet, the magnets held firm. And as a happy side effect, the magnets also serve to clamp the metal stylus firmly to the hinge area – we don’t think Asus’ engineers intended this, but it works well nonetheless.

Connectivity is an area where Asus has had to compromise. There’s a microSD slot and a headset jack, as well as 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4, but the tablet’s slender edges leave no room for full-sized ports. Instead, Asus has resorted to micro-HDMI plus a single micro-USB 3 port, and supplies an adapter in the box to expand the latter to two full-sized USB 3 ports. It’s clunky, and the micro-USB 3 connection doesn’t deliver much in the way of power: our USB 3 thumbdrive operated normally, but we had to dig out a USB 2 OTG cable to get a portable USB 3 hard disk to function.

Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi: display quality

The T300’s display is astonishingly good. A 2,560 x, 1,440 resolution stretches across the 12.5in panel, and it delivers a sterling performance. Brightness tops out at a creditable 372cd/m2, contrast hits an exemplary 1,243:1 and the panel dredges up an impressive 98% of the sRGB colour gamut.

Colour accuracy is one area where the Asus drops behind the Microsoft Surface Pro 3, with an average Delta E of 2.66 to the Surface Pro 3’s 1.77. However, this is due to the Asus’ ability to produce a wider range of colours – while accuracy is nigh-on perfect across most of the spectrum, the wider gamut of the Asus’ display causes reds and purples to look too intense and oversaturated; not a huge flaw by any means.

Backlighting could be improved a touch, though. Like the Surface Pro 3, the Asus' edge-lit LED backlight tends to create a noticeable rim of brightness around the display's edges. It's something we could put up with, but perfectionists should take note.  

We found the touchscreen to be superbly responsive in our time with the T300, reacting deftly to every prod and gesture, and the pressure-sensitive inking with the bundled stylus works beautifully, too. Perhaps our only issue with the screen is the 16:9 display ratio: in portrait orientation, this makes for a rather narrow, cramped page; a problem that Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3 avoids by dint of its 3:2 display ratio.