ASUS Vivotab Note 8 Review

Posted on 16 February 2014, Last updated on 19 February 2014 by Steve Paine

Performance

The performance advantages with the latest Baytrail-T platform over the previous Clovertrail-generation tablets really show up in Web browsing. SSD speeds appear to be improved over the last generation too and as the graphics is in a different league to the PowerVR architechture found on Clovertrail (it’s now based on Intel’s HD3000 architecture) the whole platform moves beyond that which might be referred to as ‘just-enough.’ Light dekstop usage is nearly ‘transparent’ in terms of comparison with a hard-drive based consumer laptop.

The ASUS Vivotab Note 8 uses the Z3740 CPU at 1.33Ghz (not the D version which has less memory bandwidth.)

Disk Speed

In our SSD test we turned off Bitlocker encryption and ran CrystalDiskMark.

While the sequential Read speed looks great it’s completely offset by the 3MB/s 4K block write speeds which we find somewhat poor. On the right you can see the CDM result from the Toshiba Encore WT8, with encryption turned on. That 13MB/s 4K write speed on the WT8 is good.

SD Card Speed

SD card speed obviously depends on what SD card you insert into the device. SDHC and SDXC are supported. In a test on a 32GB SDHC Class 10 card ( Sandisk Ultra) we saw 22MB/s sequential read, 9MB/s sequential write and a max 0.9MB/s 4K write speed. On a 64GB SDXC UHS-1 card (Sandisk Ultra) we saw a max 23MB/s sequential read, 10.33 sequential write and a 1.6MB/s 4K Write speed – not much better than the SDHC card.

Cinebench

The CPU performance in the Cinebench test is about 50% of that which we see on current Ultrabooks but way ahead of last years Windows/Intel tablet platform and very close to some of the ‘low TDP’ Intel Core processors of last year.

Cinebench 11.5 CPU: 1.25

The OpenGL result of 6.14 matches the other Baytrail-T tablets and 2-in-1’s. As a reference point, current Ultrabooks are scoring around 20 on this test and that still doesn’t still don’t equate to barrier-free gaming. Some games will work but you’ll need to choose carefully.

Cinebench OpenGL: 6.14

PCMark 07

Our PCMark 07 test uses the basic suite of tests that include video decoding, disk speed, browsing speed, CPU speed and graphics speed. The test is a good indication of how good a device might be in general office-like scenarios. The score of 2557 is slightly above the other Baytrail-T devices we’ve tested and close to the hard-disk based Dell Inspiron 15Z and Ivy-Bridge based Lenovo Yoga 11S. This level of office performance is impressive for such a small PC.

ASUS Vivotab Note 8 PC Mark 07 score: 2557

3DMark 06

We haven’t tested using the gaming-focused 3DMark06 but you should expect scores around 1500 based on other Baytrail-T platforms we’ve tested. Variance amoung these devices is minimal for this test.

Peacekeeper

Peacekeeper (by Futuremark) is a useful online test to note if you’re interested in working within a browser. In our test theASUS Vivotab Note 8 returned a score of 1101 which is in-line with other Baytrail-T tablets and 2-in-1’s. The graph below shows some comparisons with other Baytrail devices and laptops we’ve tested across our sites.

Click to enlarge

Handbrake (Video Conversion with Quick Sync Support)

In an Intel-Quick-sync video conversion using a Handbrake 6013 nightly build (with Intel Quick Sync support) converting from 50fps, 30Mbps fullHD video down to 720p a conversion rate of 117 FPS was returned. This is impressive and certainly good enough for some basic video conversions and even some Pro-sumer video editing. A demo of video editing using PowerDirector on Baytrail-T is available here.

Note: We’re seeing a big variance in the Handbrake scores with Baytrail-T tablets and with the high data-rates being handled in this test (estimated 70Mbps disk read and concurrent 30 Mbps disk write in this case) there could be a dependency on disk speeds. This test uses the Intel Quick-Sync hardware on the GPU so graphics driver differences may also affect the result.

Specifications, Images, links, videos, comments and more information can always be found through our database on the ASUS Vivotab Note 8 information page

Battery Life

With a 15.8Wh battery inside the ASUS Vivotab Note 8 has the smallest battery of all the current 8-inch Windows 8 tablets. One can not expect this to beat the Toshiba Encore WT8 which has a 19.5Wh battery (25% bigger)

The powercfg batteryreport initial figures show a range of 5hrs 36minues to 7hrs 6 minutes of general WiFi-on screen-on usage over days that included multiple Connected Standby sessions. (I.e. never shut down.) The average reported is over 6hrs.

We also measured two usage scenarios:

Video playback (Windows 8 Video app, FullHD, 50fps, 30Mbps) with lounge-level lighting, 30% brightness, 30% volume, WiFi on used about 5% of battery in 19 minutes and was also measured using perfmon to have consumed 607mAH of battery capacity which is 1.8W per hour and will equate to 8.6hrs .

Continuous browser activity. (Peacekeeper web test) average 4.5W = 3hrs 20min total battery life.

Like all Baytrail tablets there’s a big dynamic range between idle and fully active. The Continuous browser activity test result is a heavy load test and we would expect normal screen-on life, which includes a lot of short-term idle time, to match the reported ‘powercfg’ results of 5hrs:30mins to 7hrs activity over a full days ‘always-on’ usage.

How to get a battery life report on Windows 8

Connected Standby battery life.

By using the Powercfg report it’s clear to see that connected standby power is working correctly. Our report is showing over 300hrs connected standby time (WiFi On) for a 100% battery discharge. Max: 331hrs, Minimum: 144hrs.

Battery Charging.

Battery charging is via MicroUSB port and a 2A charger. Charging rate over the 2A supply when in connected standby (screen off) is about 3hrs. ~~The Vivotab would not charge over any USB3.0 po0rts we tested, including one that should be able to deliver 2.1A.~~

Update: We have now seen charging via USB and are carrying out further tests. We will update with USB charge rates as soon as we can and will do tests with USB2,0 ports and external power packs.

Update 19.02.2014: We have had success charging from a 1.2A Nokia 5V microUSB charger. Overnight charge went to 100% but we can’t see exactly how long it took. (Test performed in Connected Standby.) We’ve also had success charging from a 1.2A Changers.com solar power pack.

Other notes

WiFi performance is reasonable to good. With 5Ghz, 2.4Ghz and dual-chanel support from the Broadcom module we were able to work 2 walls away form your usual hotspot without any problems. No dropouts occurred. In a side-by-side test with an Ultrabook that we would regard as having ‘good’ WiFi performance the ASUS Vivotab Note 8 kept up well.
There is no NFC
GPS hardware is included. (Broadcom GNSS module)
Speakers are well positioned for landscape use but quality is medium
No micro USB or Micro HDMI converter cables included. (we tested with a USB converter cable from an Acer W510)
MicroUSB port provices USB2.0 speeds only.
Microsoft Office Home and Student license included, but not tested.
Heat and Noise: This is a fanless tablet with SSD so there’s no noise at all. No heat was detected during the test period apart from some warmth when concurrently charging and testing.
32GB SSD usage is possible on the ASUS Vivotab Note 8 with care and by using a MicroSD card and the Windows 8.1 option to store all user files on that removable drive. Towards the end of our testing period, which included many downloads and installs, we had only 7GB free on the internal drive but by using the disk cleaning tools were able to free 1.2GB that was locked in temporary files. That option is tucked away in Windows 8 desktop tools and hopefully Microsoft will bring those tools to the Modern UI and simplify/automate some of those soon. For Windows 8 applications there is an option to view disk usage under the Modern UI control panel (under “Search and apps”)

Specifications, Images, links, videos, comments and more information can always be found through our database on the ASUS Vivotab Note 8 information page

Target customer

8-inch tablets are quite hard to place in the market given the underdeveloped Modern app. marketplace and the lightness of some 10-inch Windows 8 tablets but the ASUS Vivotab Note 8 could attract a significant number of users because of the pen. For customers looking for a reading and social networking device a 7-inch Android tablet is going to hit the mark better than the Vivotab but the ASUS Vivotab Note 8 is truly an Ultra Mobile PC and should appeal to everyone looking for PC flexibility that spans from desktop to mobile sketchbook.

Summary

The ASUS Vivotab Note 8 rises above other Windows 8.1, 8-inch tablets by offering a stowed digitizer pen that works well. It doesn’t have the best-in-class aesthetics and screen, audio or battery life and an HDMI port could have made it ‘the one’ for many more than it currently could be. Having said that though the ASUS Vivotab Note 8 is a really solid ultra-mobile PC with no issues to speak of. From education to creativity the digitizer layer is going to be the attractive part of this product and as the pen is stowed on board it makes the offering unique. There are enough apps in the market to make the device enjoyable as a consumption-only device and the pen helps with desktop usage. GPS is available, the rear camera is good and a sensible 32GB set-up means you might get away with a cheaper model. Although it’s impossible to say if this is ‘the best’ 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablet for you, it’s hard to believe that you’d swap it out for a close competitor once you have purchased it.