- Focuses on entertainment; productivity needs separate keyboard and pen.
Asus Pad Review: Asus’s latest tablet costs Rs 45,990. Yes, that’s almost Rs 46,000. At this price, you aren’t buying a tablet because you “need something to watch Netflix on.” You are buying one because you’ve decided your phone is too small, your laptop is too cumbersome, and somehow the gap between the two deserves its own device. The Asus Pad is very much designed for that gap.
It comes with a 12.2-inch 2.8K dual-layer OLED display, a 144Hz refresh rate, MediaTek’s Dimensity 8300 processor, 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM, a 9,000mAh battery and quad speakers with Dolby Atmos. It is also just 6.5mm thick and weighs 523 grams. On paper, Asus appears to have thrown almost every premium tablet specification it could find into one very thin slab.
As with our other tech reviews, we fired up ABP Live’s resident AI spec-sheet enthusiast, GennieGPT, to take a look.
You already know how this works. Gennie has never spent three hours watching a tablet while lying horizontally on a sofa. She has never tried holding a 12.2-inch device above her face and subsequently questioned every decision that led her there. She has never edited a document on Android and discovered that the keyboard has developed a personal vendetta against punctuation. But give her a specification sheet? She’s unstoppable. Let’s see if I can humble her a bit.
ALSO READ: Asus Zenbook S14 Review: Thin Enough To Disappear, Powerful Enough To Be Noticed
Asus Pad Review: Quick Pointers
What Works:
- 12.2-inch 2.8K dual-layer OLED display is the star of the show
- 144Hz refresh rate makes everything feel wonderfully smooth
- Dimensity 8300 delivers plenty of performance
- 9,000mAh battery is exactly what a large tablet needs
- 45W charging gets to 50% in 30 minutes
- Quad speakers with Dolby Atmos are excellent for entertainment
What Doesn’t:
- Cameras are functional, but nothing special
- Keyboard and stylus are optional extras
- 128GB feels a little tight at this price
- Android still isn’t perfect when it comes to tablet apps
- The price puts the Asus Pad into premium territory
That Display Is Doing A Lot Of Heavy Lifting
✨ GennieGPT: 12.2-inch 2.8K dual-layer OLED! 144Hz! 100% DCI-P3! 2,000 nits peak brightness! This isn’t a tablet. This is basically a portable cinema!
Shayak: The portable cinema comparison is slightly dramatic, but this is actually where Gennie has a point.
The Asus Pad’s 12.2-inch 2.8K OLED display is the reason I’d want this tablet in the first place. The 2800 x 1840 resolution is sharp, OLED gives you the deep blacks and contrast you’d expect, and the 3:2 aspect ratio makes the screen particularly interesting for reading and productivity as well as watching content.
The dual-layer OLED technology is also worth paying attention to. Asus claims it delivers higher brightness, better efficiency and improved panel longevity compared with conventional OLED implementations.
And then there’s the 144Hz refresh rate. Yes, 144Hz on a tablet is slightly ridiculous. No, I’m not complaining.
Scrolling through websites, moving around the interface and navigating supported games all feel extremely fluid. It’s one of those specifications that sounds like marketing nonsense until you go back to a slower display and suddenly everything looks like it’s moving through molasses.
The panel also covers 100 per cent of the DCI-P3 colour gamut, while Asus says it can reach up to 2,000 nits peak brightness. The important word there is ‘peak’.
You’re not going to sit outdoors with the entire display permanently blasting away at 2,000 nits. But the high peak brightness does help with visibility in bright environments, and the display remains extremely good for movies, games and general use.
The TÜV Rheinland certifications for low flicker and low blue light are also welcome. Because if you’re going to spend hours staring at a tablet, you might as well make those hours slightly kinder to your eyes.
144Hz Is Lovely. But Let’s Not Pretend You Need It
✨ GennieGPT: 144Hz! That means 144 frames every second! Your eyes will experience REAL LIFE in Ultra HD!
Shayak: Your eyes are going to experience real life regardless. That’s generally how eyes work. But yes, the 144Hz panel is noticeably smooth. The more interesting thing is how Asus has balanced it with a large OLED screen. On a smartphone, 144Hz can feel like a luxury. On a 12.2-inch tablet, where you’re constantly scrolling through documents, web pages and long feeds, the fluidity is much more obvious.
I wouldn’t buy the Asus Pad because it has 144Hz. I would absolutely enjoy the fact that it has 144Hz after buying it. There’s a difference.
523 Grams Is The Number I Actually Care About
✨ GennieGPT: Only 523 grams! And just 6.5mm thin! Asus has achieved maximum portability! This is practically weightless!
Shayak: ‘Practically weightless’ is what happens when you have never carried a tablet. The Asus Pad isn’t small. It’s a 12.2-inch tablet. But for something this large, 523 grams is impressively light.
At 6.5mm, it’s also remarkably thin considering what’s packed inside. There’s a 9,000mAh battery, a full-sized OLED display, quad speakers and a reasonably powerful processor in here. That combination makes a difference in everyday use.
You can hold it for a while without your wrists immediately filing a complaint. It slips into a backpack without taking up the sort of space you’d expect from a 12-inch device, and the included protective case gives it some much-needed practicality.
The 3:2 aspect ratio also helps when you’re reading or working. It’s not quite as wide and cinematic as some conventional tablets, but the extra vertical space is useful for documents, websites and multitasking.
Of course, if you’re planning to watch widescreen movies, you’ll still have black bars.
The Dimensity 8300 Is Doing The Sensible Thing
✨ GennieGPT: MediaTek Dimensity 8300! Eight cores! Up to 3.35GHz! 8GB LPDDR5X! This tablet can run every app simultaneously!
Shayak: Please stop trying to run 47 apps simultaneously. That’s not productivity. That’s a cry for help. The Dimensity 8300 is a very capable processor for a tablet in this segment. It gives the Asus Pad enough performance for everyday multitasking, demanding applications and gaming without making the device feel like it is constantly trying to catch its breath.
The 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 3.1 storage also make for a fast combination. Apps open quickly, switching between them is smooth, and general navigation doesn’t leave you staring at loading animations.
It’s also a sensible chip for this particular device because Asus isn’t trying to turn the Pad into some bizarre desktop-replacement monster. This is an entertainment-first tablet that can also handle serious work. And that distinction matters.
If you want to play demanding games, the Dimensity 8300 has the muscle. But the 144Hz display shouldn’t trick you into thinking this is a dedicated gaming machine. You’re still playing Android games on a tablet. A very good Android tablet, admittedly.
9,000mAh Is Exactly What A Tablet Needs
✨ GennieGPT: 9,000mAh! That’s enormous! Two days! Three days! Maybe Asus has invented infinite battery!
Shayak: Finally, a feature where your enthusiasm is almost justified. A large tablet should have a large battery. There’s no clever way around that. The Asus Pad packs a 9,000mAh battery, and that’s a welcome number when you’re dealing with a 12.2-inch high-resolution OLED display.
Asus also pairs it with 45W fast charging and claims the tablet can reach 50 per cent in 30 minutes. That’s particularly useful with a tablet because you don’t necessarily charge it every night like a phone. You might leave it on a desk for a few days, pick it up before a flight or a long journey, and realise you have 18 per cent battery left.
Being able to plug it in for half an hour and get back to a much healthier battery level is exactly the kind of convenience I want. The 9,000mAh cell also means the Asus Pad feels much more like a device you can actually take away from a charger for an entire day, rather than a giant screen permanently tethered to a wall.
The Speakers Might Be The Second-Best Thing Here
✨ GennieGPT: Quad speakers! Dolby Atmos! 360° Cinematic Sound! This tablet is literally a movie theatre!
Shayak: You really like replacing entire industries with tablets. But this is another area where Asus has done the right thing. The quad-speaker setup gets loud, has enough separation to make movies and games enjoyable, and Dolby Atmos adds a wider, more immersive presentation.
And this matters more on a tablet than it might on a phone. The entire point of a 12.2-inch display is that you’re probably going to sit back and consume content on it. If you pair a gorgeous OLED screen with terrible speakers, you’ve essentially built a cinema where everyone forgot to install the audio system.
Thankfully, that isn’t the case here. The Asus Pad is genuinely enjoyable for watching movies, YouTube videos and streaming shows without immediately reaching for headphones.
The Cameras Are Here. That’s About It.
✨ GennieGPT: 13MP rear camera! 5MP front camera! Capture your memories in stunning detail! The tablet can be your photography companion!
Shayak: The Asus Pad has a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera. The rear camera is perfectly capable of handling documents, quick photographs and the occasional situation where your phone isn’t available. The front camera is more important because this is the one you’ll actually use for video calls and meetings. Face unlock is also supported.
But nobody should buy this tablet for photography. And I’m actually glad Asus hasn’t tried to sell it as one.
Tablets are already awkward enough to photograph with. Walking around holding a 12.2-inch slab in front of your face to capture a sunset is not the lifestyle revolution I was promised.
The Tablet Can Be A Laptop. Sort Of.
✨ GennieGPT: Asus Pen 2.0! Bluetooth keyboard! GlideX! Four case modes! Productivity unlocked! This is basically a laptop!
Shayak: This is where tablet marketing starts getting interesting. The Asus Pad can certainly be used for productivity. The 3:2 display is useful for documents, the processor is powerful enough for everyday work, and Bluetooth keyboard support means you can turn it into a more conventional typing machine.
The Asus Pen 2.0 support also opens up handwriting, sketching and annotation. But there is an important catch. The stylus is sold separately. So is the keyboard.
The protective case does come in the box, and it supports four stand modes, which I found much more useful than I initially expected. You can prop the tablet up for watching content, working or simply browsing without having to hold the thing constantly. It also helps that the case looks gorgeous in typical Asus minimalistic style. And I love it!
Asus’ GlideX ecosystem is another interesting addition. It lets the tablet interact with PCs, Macs, iPhones and Android devices for things such as cross-screen workflows and content sharing. If you already use Asus hardware, this becomes particularly compelling.
But no, It still isn’t a laptop. Not yet, at least. Android has come a long way as a productivity platform, but there are still occasions when you reach the limits of what a tablet can comfortably replace.
1TB Of microSD Storage? Now We’re Talking
✨ GennieGPT: 256GB internal storage and up to 1TB microSD expansion! That’s 1.256TB! You could store EVERYTHING!
Shayak: Please don’t add storage capacities together like you’re doing mathematics with Monopoly money. The Asus Pad comes in 128GB and 256GB variants, both using UFS 3.1 storage. There’s also microSD support for cards up to 1TB.
And this is genuinely useful. Tablets are increasingly used for downloading movies, storing games, keeping large documents and carrying around offline content. Having the option to expand storage means you don’t have to obsess over every gigabyte.
But there’s still a pricing question here. The 8GB + 128GB model costs Rs 45,990, while the 8GB + 256GB version costs Rs 49,990. I’d pick the 256GB model. An additional Rs 4,000 for double the internal storage makes much more sense than saving that money now and spending your life deleting downloads later.
Asus Pad Review: Final Verdict
There is something very appealing about a tablet that knows what it wants to be. The Asus Pad doesn’t need to convince me that it’s a laptop. It doesn’t need to pretend the 13MP camera will replace my phone. And it certainly doesn’t need to tell me that 144Hz will somehow improve my quality of life.
It is a big, beautiful entertainment tablet that happens to be capable of doing a fair amount of work.
The 12.2-inch 2.8K dual-layer OLED display is the star. It’s sharp, vibrant, smooth and bright, and the 3:2 aspect ratio gives it an unusual amount of versatility. The Dimensity 8300 provides plenty of performance, while 8GB LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 3.1 storage keep everything feeling suitably quick.
Then there are the things that make a large tablet actually pleasant to use: the 523-gram weight, 6.5mm body, 9,000mAh battery, 45W charging and excellent quad speakers. Those are the bits that matter after the specifications stop looking exciting.
But we have to talk about the price. At Rs 45,990, the Asus Pad isn’t a casual tablet purchase anymore. You’re spending serious money, and that makes the optional keyboard and stylus slightly harder to ignore. The 128GB base storage also feels less generous than it should at this price.
The software is another consideration. Android 16 is perfectly capable, but the tablet app ecosystem still has moments where you can tell developers haven’t quite decided what they want Android tablets to be.
None of that changes the fact that the Asus Pad is a very good piece of hardware. It reminds me of a really good living-room TV. You don’t buy it because you absolutely need it. You buy it because once you have it, watching a movie on your phone suddenly feels a little pathetic.
And that’s the Asus Pad’s biggest strength. It makes a tablet feel desirable again.
Should You Buy Asus Pad?
- Yes, if you want a premium Android tablet primarily for movies, streaming, gaming, reading and general entertainment. The OLED display and speakers alone make a very strong case.
- Maybe, if you want to use it as a laptop replacement. The performance, 3:2 display, keyboard support, Pen support and GlideX features make it capable, but you’ll need to spend extra on accessories.
- No, if you’re looking for the best possible value or primarily care about cameras. At nearly Rs 46,000, the Asus Pad needs to be something you genuinely want rather than something you merely need.
