Asus announced the MeMO Pad 10 ME103K as a cheap tablet with 10.1 inches of screen display. How will it fare against the Samsung Nexus 10 expected to receive Android 5.0 Lollipop this year?

Asus MeMO Pad 10 ME103K Announced

GizChina reported the announcement of Asus MeMO Pad 10 ME103K tablet that will be sold at $199 in the United States or 199 euro in Europe. It is classified as an entry-level tablet with 10.1-inch screen display, full HD resolution and more than 1,000 enhancements from the brand new Zen UI.

Asus also added the SonicMaster Technology audio engine feature on the MeMO Pad 10 to improve its stereo speakers. Here are the technical specifications buyers must know for the $199 price tag:

- Android KitKat OS

- IPS display technology for multiple viewing angles

- Anti-fingerprint coating

- Up to 10-finger multi-touch support

- 1.5 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 PRO processor

- 1 GB of RAM

- 8/16/32 GB internal storage

- 2 MP primary camera (5 MP on selected models)

- 0.3 MP secondary camera

- Up to 9.5 hours of battery life with 720p video looping at 100 nits of brightness.

Asus MeMO Pad 10 vs. Samsung Nexus 10

Samsung Nexus 10 is an old Nexus tablet co-developed by Google and Samsung that features Vanilla Android UI and has been included on the Android 5.0 Lollipop update before 2014 ends. Find out the comparison of usability between Asus MeMO Pad 10 and Samsung Nexus 10.

Apps And Services

Both tablets are supported by Google Play Store for free and paid apps. Asus installed Zen UI to provide an intelligent task scheduler, manage of social feeds and messages, PixelMaster technology for the camera app, ZenLink control, Open Cloud for multiple Asus devices and an open-source chat client.

Samsung Nexus 10 also can do some of these functionalities using default Google services such as Hangouts and Google Drive. However, the Nexus 10 must be upgraded to Android 5.0 in order to get an improved notifications centre for management of feeds and messages, Google Camera for camera modes and syncing of Android devices including wearables.

Performance And Speed

Asus MeMO Pad 10 has Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 PRO quad-core processors clocked at 1.5 GHz that is more advanced compared to the dual-core Exynos 5250 clocked at 1.7 GHz. But the MeMO Pad 10 features 1 GB less memory capacity compared with 2 GB boasted by Nexus 10. RAM measures the ability to handle multiple apps running on the background.

Multimedia: Music And Videos

For entertainment, both tablets support games from Google Play Store and video streaming from YouTube with 720p HD resolution. MeMO Pad 10 speakers boast the SonicMaster technology made by Asus, while Nexus 10 will need to wait for Android 5.0 for audio enhancements. In terms of gaming experience, Android 5.0 update will automatically deliver OpenGL ES 3.1 and Android extension pack to improve mobile graphics.

Storage Capacity

Asus offers more storage on MeMO Pad 10 compared on what users will get on Samsung Nexus 10. MeMO Pad 10 can increase storage capacity by up 64 GB using a microSD card and additional 5 GB permanent expansion via Asus web storage space. Nexus 10 does not support microSD card and can only be expanded via cloud storage support.

Battery Life

Asus promised up to nine and a half hours of battery life based on the measurement of 720p video looping with brightness at 100 nits, external microphone active, Wi-Fi on and Gmail logged in for updates. Samsung Nexus 10 has 9,000 mAh battery pack capable of sustaining at least nine hours of video playback and seven hours of web browsing, according to TechRadar.

Price

Asus will set the starting price of MeMO Pad 10 ME103K at $199 in exchange of decent hardware specs and exclusive services. In Amazon, Samsung Nexus 10 is priced at $380 with 16 GB internal storage and Wi-Fi connectivity only and all additional features from Android KitKat.