We know Asus makes the Nexus 7 for Google, a tablet that goes for only $199 for the base model. The Nexus 7 is quite impressive for the price, selling millions since launch, so it’s not surprising that Asus just announced a cheaper 7-inch Android tablet.
The Asus MeMo Pad is a $149 Android tablet. That’s cheap for a tablet that comes from a big brand like Asus. There are cheaper tablets in the market but most of them come from shady brands with equally shady quality. The MeMo Pad is at least from a known brand with a good track record.
Having said that, the MeMo Pad is cheaper than the Nexus 7 by $50 but Asus compromised quite a lot to reach the $149 price point. The MeMo Pad has a 7-inch, 1024 x 600 resolution display, a VIA WM8950 SoC with 1GHz Cortex A9 CPU, a Mali-400 GPU, 1GB of RAM and 8 internal memory. Thankfully, the MeMo pad features a microSD card slot so at least that’s something better than the Nexus 7. There’s a 16GB variant in case you need a larger built-in storage. As to software, the MeMo Pad runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
Don’t expect a rear camera from a $149 tablet. The MeMo Pad has a 1-megapixel front-facing camera, though, so at least you can do video calls on this tablet. As to battery life, expect something similar to the Nexus 7 as they use the same battery.
The design of the Asus MeMo Pad is quite similar to the Nexus 7. I can see a textured finish on the back which I expect to be made of the same faux leather material as the one used on the Nexus 7. The MeMo Pad is said to be a bit thicker and a bit heavier, though.
The MeMo Pad will be available in multiple colors and will be released in select markets starting this January. Hopefully, that already includes the Philippines.