Asus new Transformer pad sells for $120 less than the Transfomer Prime (top). Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

The Asus Transformer Prime is one of the best Android tablets around. We gave it a lofty 8-out-of-10 verdict in our official review, and for good reason: It features almost everything you’d want from a modern, Android-powered tablet.

Besides running Google’s most advanced Android OS version, the Transformer Prime packs in a crisp display, solid camera, and speed a-plenty thanks to a quad-core CPU and 1GB of RAM. It even pairs up with a clever keyboard docking system that delivers notebook-like data input, and extra battery life.

But high-end tablets also demand high-end prices: The Transformer Prime starts at an iPad-matching $500. And that’s still a bit more than many want to pay for a device that functions somewhere between a smartphone and a notebook.

So, with a thriftier buyer in mind, Asus is rolling out the new Transformer Pad, which will sell for $380 with 16GB of storage, or $400 with 32GB, when it hits retailers this week.

There are only a few obvious differences between the Transformer Pad and Transformer Prime, but one of them is key, and may be enough to compel serious gadget enthusiasts to spend an extra $120 on the fancier tablet.

First, the Transformer Pad’s materials aren’t as refined. Where the Transformer Prime features a brushed aluminum chassis, the Pad goes down-market with a hard plastic back panel. The plastic looks good and feels durable, but doesn’t do much to save any weight. Indeed, the new tablet is both heavier and thicker than its predessecor, coming in at 0.38-inches thick and 1.39 pounds versus the Prime’s 0.32-inch thickness and 1.29-pound weight.

The Asus Transformer Prime (top), with a aluminum back, and the Transformer Pad, with a plastic back. Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

I prefer the overall tactile feel of the Prime over the Pad, but the cheaper tablet wasn’t uncomfortable to use during my brief testing, by any means.

The Transformer Pad, like the Transformer Prime, has an 8-megapixel rear camera, but forgoes the Prime’s rear LED flash. Both tablets run on Nvidia’s 1.4GHz, quad-core Tegra 3 processor and 1GB of RAM, a combination that smoothly handles games, apps, web browsing and plenty of multitasking.

Another plus: Both tablets run Google’s Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system with minimal interface changes. We wouldn’t even go so far as to call Asus’ changes an OS re-skinning. They’re merely small cosmetic changes to various menus.

But there is a major downside to the Transformer Pad, and it’s an important one: The display can’t compete with the screen in the Transformer Prime.

The Prime is covered in Corning Gorilla Glass, and renders deep blacks and fantastic detail via a 1280×800 resolution (which is pretty much the standard resolution for 10-inch Android tablets). Among current Android tablets, the Prime offers one of the better-looking displays available.

The Transformer Pad, meanwhile, eschews Gorilla Glass for what Asus spokesman Gary Key described as a “standard Soda Lime Glass panel where the chemically strengthened layer depth is improved compared to older generations.” Comparing the two tablets side by side, the Pad’s image quality clearly falls short of the Prime’s. Both tablets bear a 1280×800 resolution, but the Pad doesn’t offer the color saturation or the contrast range of the Prime.

Like the Transformer Prime, the Transformer Pad pairs up with a $150 docking station accessory that features a full keyboard and trackpad to simulate a notebook-like experience. We’ll save our opinions on the dock for our full review.

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