Asus ZenPad 3S 10 (Z500M) Announced - 5.8 mm Thick 9.7" Tablet

Asus announced the 9.7-inch Asus ZenPad 3S 10 (Z500M) in Taiwan today. Asus ZenPad 3S 10 was first teased/announced by Asus June 28 after we leaked the tablet the week before. Asus believes it will able to launch this new tablet August, in select markets.

The launch price in Taiwan will be the equivalent of $372 USD, but $299 in the US:
https://www.amazon.com/Zenpad-Z500M-C1-GR-9-7-Inch-Tablet-Titanium/

And this new 9.7-inch Android 6.0 tablet is looking very attractive. At first it was rumored to be just 5.32 mm thick at the thinnest, making it the worlds thinnest tablet computer, but then it was stated at the unveiling that it is 5.8 mm thick, which is very thin, but still makes it beaten by the 5.6 mm thick Samsung Galaxy Tab S2. What is 5.32 mm in thickness is the bezel between the display and the tablet edges. It is also very light, at a mere 430 grams, but still not as light as the 389 grams of the Tab S2.

(UPDATED: Asus ZenPad 3S 10 Taking Pre-Orders)

The hardware specs are good too, with this 9.7-inch tablet featuring a 2048 x 1536 resolution display, 4GB of RAM, and a hexa-core (1.7 GHz quad-core + 2.1 GHz dual-core) MediaTek MT8176V processor, and a 650 MHz IMG GX6250 graphics processor, with 32GB/64GB of storage options and 128GB microSD card support. Also included are 5GB of free Asus cloud storage.

Asus ZenPad 3S 10 also has special tablet features like 2x five magnet speakers with 7.1-channel surround sound, DTS HD Premium audio and Sonic Master technology, as well as a fingerprint reader in the home button which can recognise 5 fingers. The screen has Asus True2Life technology and supports Asus Active Pen digitizer. It has an elegant finish and comes in black/grey or white/silver.

The Asus ZenPad 3S 10 battery life is 10 hours long from the 5900 mAh 22Wh battery, and it has a 5MP front camera, and a 8MP rear camera both of which support Full HD 1080p video recording.

It has full range dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi support, Bluetooth 4.2 +EDR +A2DP, and a micro-USB Type-C (port USB2.0/power delivery), with support for QC 3.0 charging. Sensors also includes gravity, g-sensor, e-compass, gyro, light sensor, hall sensor, GPS, and GLONASS.

We will update once the Asus ZenPad 3S 10 becomes available for order, and we know the final price in the US.

The main competitor to this tablet is the new Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7, with an octa-core processor, Android 6.0 Marshmallow, same 2048 x 1536 resolution but with an even better Super AMOLED display, and same fingerprint reader.

Jim Miller

Jim's passion for Apple products ignited in 2007 when Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone. This was a canon event in his life. Noticing a lack of iPad-focused content that is easy to understand even for “tech-noob”, he decided to create Tabletmonkeys in 2011.

Jim continues to share his expertise and passion for tablets, helping his audience as much as he can with his motto “One Swipe at a Time!”