Lower-End Asus Tablet Shows Up in Benchmarks; Could be Rumored $99 Nexus or Other

[dgstorm]

A new lower-end Asus tablet with the ASUS ME172V model name just showed up in some GLbench results, and it could be the oft-rumored $99 dollar Nexus tablet. Of course, considering we have already seen a new refresh for the Nexus 7 tablets, this could also simply be a new budget-friendly Android tablet directly from Asus that will undercut the Nexus 7. What is most intriguing about this mystery device is it's specs. They are slightly reduced, yet similar to the Nexus 7. Here's what we could get from the benchmarks:

• 400MHz Mali GPU
• 1GHz CPU core (amount unknown)
• 7-Inch display with screen resolution of 1024×600 pixels
• Includes a microSD Card slot

That last feature heavily suggests the tablet is purely an Asus branded product, and will not be a Nexus device. This is because Google seems to want to pigeon-hole owners into using Google Cloud for all of their storage needs. More than likely this is a Nexus-like non-Nexus device from Asus. It would be intriguing if it still came at that $99 dollar price point.

Source: SlashGear

 

[Dave12308]

I get the feeling that if there indeed IS a low-end Nexus 7, it will be the 8GB model re launched. It wouldn't make sense to brand a device with different specs a "Nexus 7", as it would complicate the platform.

As for this thing, I have a very dumb question. How on earth are these specs "slightly reduced, yet similar to the Nexus 7"? The only thing SIMILAR is the form factor. This sounds more like a cheap Rockchip based tablet made for the Asian market to me (which just happens to be made by Asus).

 

[Tillmorn]

The only part of this that stood out to me is: MicroSD card slot. If this is indeed supposed to be a "cheaper" Nexus, I'd be rather annoyed that ASUS managed to include it this time a round. However, as dgstorm pointed out, the inclusion makes me think this device won't fall under the Nexus branding as they seem to have axed any thoughts of including expandable memory in the form of MicroSD. And honestly, I wouldn't give up the Nexus 7 simply for expandable memory.