Asus ZenPad S 8.0 review

A potent mix of high-res screen and speedy performance

Asus ZenPad S 8.0

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Although you're unlikely to want to use the Asus ZenPad S 8.0 as your primary photographic device, the opportunity to take a quick snap is afforded by the 8MP rear-facing camera, while the 5MP front-facing snapper is ideal for video calling, and boasts higher resolution than the unit on the Sony Xperia Tablet Compact.

Neither camera has a flash, so you won't be taking many night-time selfies, but images shot in daylight are more than passable for social media. There's a hint of digital noise, and images look a little smeared up-close, but this is nothing out of the ordinary at this price point.

Autofocus and face recognition are included, as is a low light mode which reduces pictures to just 2MP but aims to compensate for the lack of flash; the results aren't that great though, with a lot of noise caused by the hiked-up ISO level.

A variety of edits and effects can be applied to photos. You can soften skin and brighten eyes in addition to adjusting settings such as contrast, shadows and saturation and hue, and you can crop, add fancy borders or apply funky filters as you wish.

Sample images

Asus ZenPad S 8.0 reviewAsus ZenPad S 8.0 reviewAsus ZenPad S 8.0 review

An outdoor shot taken in auto mode. Colours are well reproduced and the exposure is pretty good, although highlights on the dog's back are blown out.

Click here for the full-res image

Asus ZenPad S 8.0 review

'Depth of Field' mode is turned up to the max here to throw the background out of focus.

Click here for the full-res image

Asus ZenPad S 8.0 review

An indoors shot with HDR mode enabled. Close-ups images aren't pin sharp.

Click here for the full-res image

Asus ZenPad S 8.0 review

This selfie with 'Beauty' mode enabled looks soft, with unrealistic colours.

Click here for the full-res image