BACK-TO-BACK FLIGHT RESULTS: Nexus 7 LTE vs Asus ZenPad S 8.0 (Z580C)
I finally had the chance to run back-to-back flights, comparing the Nexus 7 LTE against the recently-released Asus ZenPad S 8.0 (note: this is the Z580C, not the soon-to-be-released Z580CA), and the results were interesting. Having finally received a third battery, I decided to use the first battery to “warm” the drone up, as well as to satisfy my curiosity in a couple areas (speed, and distance). Being that I live in the south SF Bay Area, I decided to test in South San Jose…partially because the “no-fly” zone extends too far north, due to the San Jose airport, and partially because I know there’s a lot of air-signal interference. I figured, if it can fly a considerable distance with this much radio interference, once I get it to a signal-free area, it will, in all likelihood, travel much further.
I started the first flight (using the ZenPad S 8.0) by ascending to 121 meters (just under the 400 foot ceiling, at 396.982 feet) at a fairly brisk pace. I then aimed it in the direction I felt would give it the longest line-of-sight path, and blasted it forward at full speed. With a reasonable wind blowing (the problem with Bay Area wind is that it’s constantly changing direction), it topped out at just under 30mph…not bad, in my estimate, and for which I’m guessing it would go faster if there was no wind. As for distance, I was just about to break 5,600 feet (1.06 miles) when I lost signal. If it can make it to 5,600 feet in a radio-infested area like San Jose, I can only wonder how far it can go in a radio-free (or, at least, seriously radio-diminished) area.
Now for the part everyone has been waiting for…Rocky vs Bullwinkle…oops, Rocky vs Apollo Creed…oops, Nexus 7 LTE vs Asus ZenPad S 8.0 (Z580C).
For flight/battery #1, using the Nexus 7 LTE, I started by ascending to 200 feet, followed by purposely “wobbling” the right stick as much as possible. While the image (meaning the horizon, etc) being received remained as stable as possible, I can’t say the same for the image quality. There was, almost immediately, moderate pixilation in the areas where the props appeared. Increasing the height to 350 feet, as well as moving the P3P to a distance of 500 feet, I performed the same “wobble” test. This time, the pixilation increased. I performed the “wobble” test one final time, this time at a distance of 2,000 feet. Again, there was pixilation in the prop areas, but more severe than the previous tests. At this point, I repeated the “speed/distance test” portion of my first flight, although, this time around, I wasn’t moving the P3P as fast, nor was I interested in actual distance achieved…I was keeping an eye on the video quality, as viewed from the tablet. Multiple times the images appearing on the N7 got distorted…sometimes with the entire screen becoming pixelated, albeit minor pixilation. Several times there were what I can only describe as multi-colored “bars” running across the screen, from left to right. During this flight, while the app, itself, didn’t crash, Google Play Services did crash. Overall, I can say that the new Go (2.0.0) app does run better than the previous 1.2.0 version, and the video image, as viewed from the N7, did appear more “fluid”. Feeling the tablet, while it wasn't hot enough to cook an egg, it was somewhat hot.
Next came flight/battery #2, using the Asus ZenPad S 8.0. Right from the beginning, things were better. Running through all the same tests, the ZenPad surpassed the N7 LTE in all the “wobble” tests. Does this mean that there was no pixilation? No. But, the pixilation was less than that viewed on the N7 LTE. In comparison, the 2,000 foot test with the ZenPad looked similar to the 500 foot test with the N7, and the 500 foot test with the ZenPad looked similar to the “200 feet straight above” test. As for the “200 feet straight above” test with the ZenPad, it was so minor, as to almost be unnoticeable. Moving on to the “speed/distance” portion of the test, there were a couple occurrences of the “multi-colored” bar, but they weren’t as severe, nor did they last as long. As for the ZenPad's temperature, while it wasn't cool, it was cooler than the N7 LTE. This is interesting for two reasons. First, considering it's running a considerably more powerful CPU/GPU, one might expect the ZenPad to have the higher temperature. The second reason is that, while the case of the N7 LTE is entirely plastic, the case of the ZenPad uses a decent amount of metal, thus another reason that it should be the warmer of the two. The fact that the ZenPad was the cooler of the two is just another reason why the ZenPad is the better tablet to use with the P3P.
Conclusion: First off, in regards to the multi-colored bars, as viewed during both tests, I can only assume these had nothing to do with the tablets, themselves, and was due to the speed the P3P was traveling, as well as the distance it was from the transmitter. On the other hand, in regards to the “wobble” tests, considering that the ZenPad had considerably better viewable video, I can only conclude that it IS due to the tablet. For those interested, I recommend getting the Asus ZenPad S 8.0, and using that as your controller tablet. Better yet, if you’re willing to spend an extra $100, and wait a little longer, instead of the currently-available $199 Z580C model, you should consider ordering the Z580CA model. While the Z580C has 2GB RAM, & 32GB storage capacity, the Z580CA comes with 4GB RAM, & 64GB of storage capacity. Of course, these aren’t the only benefits of the Z580CA, as there are a few additional plusses, such as a faster CPU, better main camera, etc. The point is, comparing the N7 LTE against the ZenPad S 8.0, whether you get the 4/32GB version @ $199, or the 4/64GB version @ $299, you will still have a considerably better tablet than the N7 LTE. As for someone else’s earlier comment about the nVidia Shield being “the best”…these two Asus ZenPad S 8.0 models will give it a run for its money…and, speaking of money, both ASUS ZenPads cost considerably less than the nVidia Shield.
Updated update: I forgot to mention that I also have on order (should be delivered by the end of this week) the DJI carbon fiber props. Once they've been received, I'll do a back-to-back comparison of these against the stock props, including (if I can figure out how to post them in here) video of both flights, flying the exact same paths, so that anyone interested in the carbon fiber props can see what, if any, difference they make.
