Want a sleek Android Marshmallow tablet for $250? Asus and Verizon may be able to help

By Williams Pelegrin Updated June 21, 2016

Verizon’s lineup of tablets already includes everything from iPads to Samsung Galaxy tablets, and now the Asus ZenPad Z8 joins the gang. It’s ready to go on sale very soon through the mobile network’s stores and online, and there’s the option of buying it outright for $250, or signing up for a 24-month contract to spread out the cost and enjoy a 4G LTE data connection.

Asus makes good looking tablets, and the ZenPad Z8 is no exception. The body is sleek and slim, while a minimalistic shell keeps it looking modern. It’s just over 7mm thick and weighs 320 grams, which is a little thicker and heavier than an iPad Mini 4, which has the same 7.9-inch size screen.

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The Zenpad Z8 also shares a 2,048 x 1,536 resolution display, making the panel as sharp as Apple’s smallest tablet. Asus says it has added its VisualMaster screen tech to increase the sharpness, clarity, and contrast, to really make the display shine. Inside the quad-core Intel Atom processor found in the previous ZenPad S 8.0 has been swapped for a hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 processor. In other words, while you should not expect to do masses of heavy gaming, the processor should be more than good enough for everyday tasks.

Elsewhere, the Zenpad Z8 sports 2GB RAM, as well as 16GB of storage, and a MicroSD card slot to add another chunk. The main camera lens on the rear of the tablet has 8 megapixels, and around front, there is a basic 2-megapixel lens for video calls. Asus has added a USB Type-C port to charge up the 4800mAh battery, dual stereo speakers with DTS-HD, plus there’s 4G LTE connectivity, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. The Zenpad Z8 runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box, with Asus’ own ZenUI on top.

Verizon will sell the ZenPad Z8 from June 23 for $250, or around $11 per month if you sign up for a two-year contract.

Williams Pelegrin

Former Contributor

Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…

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