Acer Iconia Tab A500 [Review]

Pros:

High performance Tegra 2 processor
Speedy interface
Has a USB port

Cons:

Mediocre camera and video quality
Dissappointing battery life
Uses micro HDMI port, doesnt include cable.
Almost as pricey as the iPad 2

The Bottom Line

Best to wait for a better tablet to come along.

FULL REVIEW

The Acer Iconia Tab A500 is one of a bunch of new tablets launched – others include a Windows 7 tablet (W500) and a smaller 7-inch tablet (A100). The A500 meanwhile, doesn't break too many conventions. It is all-screen in front – no buttons, just a fairly visible 2MP front facing camera. Around the back is the 5MP rear camera with single LED flash surrounded by an attractive brushed aluminium panel.

Unfortunately, the device has a lot of visible seams and a fair bit of plastic along the sides. Suffice to say, build quality is nowhere near iPad standards. At 10.1 inches of screen (larger than the iPad's 9.7-inches ) and 730 grams (a fair bit heavier than the iPad's 600 grams) you can imagine the size, and portability is obviously affected. In other words, if you thought the iPad was large, you'd better stay away.

Along the edges you'll see a plasticky volume rocker and orientation lock switch. Android 3.0 (aka Honeycomb) is a welcome addition – the first version of Android specifically made for tablets. The interface has been completely changed around – the lock screen is different, the notification area is at the lower edge of the screen instead of on top. The downside with Android 3.0 is that not all apps may work as intended.

The performance from the Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and 1GB RAM is clearly evident, as HD videos play with ease, games run smoothly and the Android 3.0 interface with 3D elements chugs along without fuss. A great addition is the full size USB port – plug in a USB keyboard or a USB pen drive and it just works (although we couldn't get 64GB drives to work).

There are other quirks too – Acer's pre-loaded software is atrocious - a video player that doesn't work, an audio player that takes 8 seconds to switch to the next track, a couple of game demos that need large downloads before they can work and an eBook reader with a non-existent book store.

Thankfully the Android Market is better than ever on Android 3.0, with far easier app discovery – and a huge selection of multimedia apps, productivity apps, eBook readers, file managers and games you need are free. Apart from the decent specs, the A500 seems like an exercise in mediocrity: ho-hum camera and video quality, a screen that has a high resolution but not too much depth, a battery life that's fits somewhere between ordinary and acceptable and a somewhat disappointing out-of-the box experience. While a micro HDMI port is welcome, we saw no reason as to why Acer couldn't include the more common mini HDMI.

Besides, they haven't included a micro HDMI cable in the box, so good luck finding one. At a price of 27,990, the 16GB Wi-Fi only A500 is priced at Rs 2,000 less than the equivalent Apple iPad 2. But is this much of a price difference enough to attract buyers? Android loyalists might agree, but a wait-and-watch approach might be more prudent, as better Android 3.0 tablets are just around the corner (namely, Samsung's Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1).

Posted in: Tech Info