Asus Transformer Book T100 Chi

This is the part of any convertible tablet that can really make or break everything. Asus ventured on a different route with this keyboard dock than with in the TP300LA and T100 previously reviewed by us.
The Mobile Dock sports a dark blue metallic finish on the top of the keyboard that matches that of the tablet’s rear, in materials and feel. The keyboard definitely is compact and can make touch typing an ordeal if you’re not used to the size, especially when it comes to the half width right shift key. On the plus side, they keys have a surprisingly responsive feel to them and rebound quickly.
The bottom of the dock goes a much different route, opting for a matte blue on plastic with four rubber feet. There isn’t really anything else going on down there.

Looking at the top left of the dock we find a power switch, Bluetooth LED, and power LED. This is where the T100 Chi strays from its predecessors. Instead of a physical connection between the tablet and dock, the two are configured out of the box to automatically pair to each other over Bluetooth. We’re glad to say that this pairing happens fairly quickly initially on boot. However, the keyboard does turn itself off after only a few minutes of inactivity, requiring a few seconds of wait for everything to connect.

The trackpad is a very simple single part, once again matching to the colour of the tablet itself. The left and right click are crisp, but the trackpad leaves much to be desired otherwise. Sadly our review unit exhibits a small dead spot right in the middle that causes the cursor to slow down dramatically when passing it.

This hinge should look familiar to anyone who has looked at a Transformer Book before. The main difference is that the only thing “locking” the tablet to it is a magnet. Previously, Asus had the two posts physically lock into the tablet when docked which lead to a solid unit that felt almost as if it was one piece. On the other hand, the magnetic lock is much less so. The tablet has about half an inch of play when pushing and pulling on the top, leading to a potentially wobbly screen while not resting on a hard flat surface. We have also managed to pop the tablet off of the dock whilst trying to open it.

While feeling much more polished and refined in terms of materials, this iteration of the keyboard dock feels like an overall step back, especially without the full-sized USB port found on other models.