Tablet Expert Review: Acer Iconia Tab A500, Android Tablet Wars

The Android tablet wars are starting to heat up, and Acer offers entered the actual fray with its Iconia Tab A500. Priced at $449--$50 lower than the ipad 2--this slickly created 10.1-inch Honeycomb standing includes a brushed-metal style and a full-size Universal serial bus interface, in addition Nvidia's effective Tegra 2 processor. But could this particular tablet stand out inside a area that is currently crowded along with devices showing the same Os as well as specifications?

Within the competition to change your own laptop computer - and maybe even your Television - Android 3.0 tablets like the Motorola Xoom tend to be ganging up on the Apple ipad 2 through sheer quantity. We completely thrilled over the Asus Eee Pad Transformer, for example. Now it's time for that Acer Iconia Tab A500's day time in the sun.

In many ways, this really is by pointing out operating system, so we will acknowledge that the variations between the three primary Android 3.0 tab tend to be marginal from best. You have to select your own Os toxin sensibly - the actual ipad 2 is much better with regard to music, movies as well as video games, and it has better quality apps and much more of these.

Meanwhile, the actual BlackBerry PlayBook is more safe compared to competitors, has real multi-tasking and even a far more fluid user interface for determining your apps (im or her, all four of these).

Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets are perhaps much more open up than possibly the actual ipad 2 or the PlayBook. The app approval procedure is simpler, as well as html coding is less restrictive, utilizing Google SDK.

What exactly will which means for that Acer Iconia Tab A500? Primarily, the decision comes down to the look and handling of the device. The Iconia Tab A500 uses exactly the same Nvidia Tegra 2 1GHz dual-core processor chip because the Motorola Xoom, both of them weigh exactly 730g and have the 10.1-inch touch screen. Other great tales: both devices possess 32GB associated with internal memory, 1GB associated with Memory and support microSD credit cards as much as 64GB.

However, the real difference is that the Acer Iconia Tab A500 seems bulkier. That is one good thing for individuals who tend to misuse their own devices mercilessly, because the Iconia Tab A500 comes with an aluminium back again along with a more durable, stockier footprint. Inside a side-by-side assessment, the Motorola Xoom appears a lot more like an ipad 2 and also the Iconia Tab A500 fits in better with a recent harvest of Home windows 7 tablets, such as the rather disappointing Acer Iconia Tab W500.

The actual Iconia Tab A500 not just seems bulkier, it is bigger. The device steps 260 x 177 x Thirteen.3mm, which is considerably wider than the Motorola Xoom, considering both devices have a similar size display.


The Acer Iconia Tab A500 also has a dedicated HDMI-out interface with regard to playing 1080p video in your HD TV, such as the Motorola Xoom. What is really missing is really a choice of abnormally remarkable specs - the actual Asus Eee Pad Transformer morphs right into a real laptop; the actual The brand new htc Leaflet has a helpful add-on interface component.

The Acer Iconia Tab A500 also has the front-facing 2MP camera along with a facing to the rear 5MP cam. Within the container, Acer features a charger as well as USB cable television, but absolutely no earbuds, case or even remain.

The actual Iconia Tab A500 does provide one User interface add-on for categorising apps. For example, games are divided to their own display. It features a limited attractiveness, however at least there's something new available. One other slight differentiator: the actual Iconia Tab A500 features a handful of extra applications and games at night norm.

From £450 for Wi-Fi just or £530 for Wi-Fi as well as 3rd generation, the Acer Iconia is a locks cheaper compared to Motorola Xoom however more than the actual Asus Eee Pad Transformer. There will, nevertheless, be considered a 16GB edition rising within mid-june for £380 which could be a more appealing choice.

So does the Acer Iconia Tab A500 truly drop in the centre? Does it rank presents itself the actual tab or nearer to the underside?

Acer Iconia Tab A500: Features



The Acer Iconia Tab A500 has a less appealing, more traditional style compared to Motorola Xoom, that is all-black with a energy switch about the back again. With the Iconia Tab A500, the actual control keys are a little bit harder to locate. It's easy to overlook (or even get all turned close to within alignment) as well as fumble for that energy key, which is about the remaining. The actual earphone jack port as well as HDMI port are also on the remaining. There's a docking port underneath too.

About the right, there is a USB interface (presumably a vestige of the W500 design) that only caused a typical computer keyboard, not really a mouse. You may also fasten a USB keydrive in to the interface, however the Iconia Tab A500 just lets you access documents utilizing a file supervisor, not directly.

There's also a regular microUSB port and also the charge interface. On the top, there are two volume control control keys along with a display locking mechanism switch. You'll also find the protected interface for that microSD slot, which Acer states is going to be used for including a good LTE card at some point.

The actual 1280 x 800 TFT display about the Acer Iconia Tab A500 measures 10.1 in ., like the Motorola Xoom, and it is bright as well as clear. The actual screen isn't a weak point however is not a differentiator either. In a side-by-side comparison towards the Apple ipad 2, using the brightness with regard to each devices switched completely upward, the actual ipad 2 appeared better and easier to see from the side angle. When compared to Xoom, the Iconia Tab A500's screen appeared extremely similar.

Some of the equipment differentiators about the Acer Iconia Tab A500 is probably not obvious in the beginning. Like the Motorola Xoom and also the Apple ipad 2, the actual loudspeakers with regard to actively playing film audio as well as music are just typical - about what you may anticipate on an entry-level netbook.

There is very little largemouth bass response however average clearness. Yet, Acer added a small fine-tune: the actual Iconia Tab A500 uses Dolby Cellular technology which do appear to result in the film Reasonable Online game sound a little more life-like - you actually listen to a few shuffling ft or even history sound more distinctly.

Some graphically-rich sites for example GamesRadar.org as well as CNN.com pulled up the hair faster on the Iconia Tab A500 compared to Motorola Xoom, even over the exact same Wi-Fi link, even though oddly, the Google Planet application ran a hair faster on the Xoom.

Acer features a content sharing system called Obvious.fi that is essentially the low-cost method to build a entertainment buffering network. This is a good thing, since the Iconia Tab A500 does not provide any way to purchase or rent movies from the gadget (Motorola recently additional this capability to the actual Xoom).

Clear.fi functions such as Windows Connect for the reason that you can set up a media server as well as stream music, movies and pictures towards the gadget. At a time of Hulu, Youtube . com, as well as applications for example Cinemax Use the US, the idea of a media host seems a little repetitive - we'd choose a minimum of an option for buffering popular videos on the internet directly to these devices.

Acer Iconia Tab A500: Interface, market and apps



Acer is at least trying to up the ante with some UI customisations on the Iconia Tab A500. Overall, the Android 3.0 interface is extremely easy to use and understand – as we covered in our Android 3.0 review.

Fingers swipes and presses on the Acer Iconia Tab A500 screen registered accurately – we only had a few minor issues with the on-screen keyboard not registering a click or two.

With the Iconia Tab A500, there's no sense that Acer radically improved the basic Android 3.0 experience (like HTC did on the Flyer), but then again Honeycomb is already quite useful.

Market and apps

Another differentiator with the Acer Iconia Tab A500 is that there are a handful of bundled apps. Acer and other computer makers do the same thing with laptops – sometimes, the bundled apps are noteworthy and add value, but sometimes they add clutter. Here, the apps are valuable.



There's the full version of Let's Golf, a fun and cartoonish golfing simulator. Acer also includes a trial for the game Hero of Sparta, a hack-and-slash adventure game. We also tested Need for Speed: Shift on the Iconia Tab A500 and every one of these games ran smoothly without any choppiness.

Acer includes a very odd reader app called LumiRead, in addition to the one Google provides, called Books. LumiRead only seems to work in Germany, and there was no way to access the store.

For multimedia apps, Acer includes a photo browsing tool, a media player called NemoPlayer, another music player and one for playing internet radio stations. These apps wouldn't jump into the rankings in the Apple Store but here, on a device with precious-view third-party apps available for tablets, they add value.

One of the stand-out apps is called SocialJogger. This tool links you into your Facebook and Twitter accounts to view photos, post a status update and check your profile. You can also see an aggregated listing of links other people have shared through their profiles.

The Android Market has improved since we first tested the Motorola Xoom. We recently found another batch of good, download-worthy apps including Google Earth, FlightTrack and a few new games. See TechRadar's Top 30 best Android 3.0 apps article for more great apps.

Of course, you can also install any of the Android smartphone apps, which run in a smaller screen.

That said, there are still not enough Android 3.0 apps to challenge Apple. There are roughly 50-60 apps that make use of the larger screen real estate on the Acer Iconia Tab A500. Still, the Android Market does make it easy to search for apps, download and install them. You can also search for apps and install them directly to the device using your computer by going to the Android Market online.

Acer Iconia Tab A500: Screen

The Acer Iconia Tab A500 uses a fairly typical 10.1-inch touchscreen that looks bright and clear. The initial reaction to the screen might not be "wow, that's amazingly bright". However, it mostly functions as you'd expect and doesn't lessen or improve the Android 3.0 experience compared to the Asus Eee Pad Transformer or Motorola Xoom.

Also like the Xoom, the Iconia Tab A500 screen tends to get grime-covered after several hours of usage. The iPad 2 uses a similar grime-reducing coating as the iPhone 4 and tends to look less smudged. It's not such a serious problem on the Iconia Tab A500 that the device becomes unusable, however.

We were unable to test it in time, but there's a dock available for the Acer Iconia Tab A500, which costs £60. The dock charges the Acer Iconia Tab A500 and has an external 3.5mm port for connecting speakers. There's also a remote for advancing through music tracks or to the next scene in a movie. As an add-on, the docking station is a good way to view videos or photo galleries on the screen while the tablet charges.

Another important note about the Iconia Tab A500 screen is that it tends to represent colours a hair better than the Motorola Xoom. In several tests with the built-in camera, shots looked more accurate to the physical object. For example, the dark burgundy of a photo frame looked more realistic on the Acer Iconia Tab A500.

The BlackBerry PlayBook revealed some shortcomings on Android 3.0 devices, namely that you can use the side bezel on that tablet to control parts of the interface. Until Apple leads the industry again with a full side-to-side display (presumably on the iPhone 5), the bezel on most tablets is just there for looks. On the Acer Iconia Tab A500 it's slightly wider, but that makes the device a bit easier to grasp.

One other gripe: in some lighting conditions, the Iconia Tab A500 shows a slight dot pattern on the screen. This wasn't an issue in everyday use, though, and might only be noticeable in bright sunlight.

Speaking of sunny days, the Iconia Tab A500 also has a surprisingly glare-prone screen. In one test with the built-in rear-facing camera, the glare was so harsh we couldn't even see the screen to take a photo.

Acer Iconia Tab A500: Usability
An additional issue with the Iconia Tab A500 is it feels bulky. Some users might find which appealing - a little weight means you will be less likely to drop these devices. If you do, it might endure the actual drop. However, both the Apple ipad 2 as well as Motorola Xoom experienced svelter in the hand and much more portable. This is just about all belief: the actual Xoom and Iconia Tab A500 consider the identical, with similar screen size, however the Iconia Tab A500 includes a broader impact.

1 emphasize in using the actual Acer Iconia Tab A500 is the web browser. Such as the Xoom, websites pull-up rapidly as well as run within Adobe Expensive 10.1 without any issues. Most sites work properly, but Hulu, for some reason, nevertheless views Android 3.0 tablets because smartphones so blocks access as well as exhibits an error information.

The Acer Iconia Tab A500 has a few other minor issues. One is the energy cable television is actually abnormally brief, which means you can't charge this on a desk unless there is a power outlet within arm's achieve.

Life of the battery about the Acer Iconia Tab A500 is simply typical to have an Android device - regarding seven hrs in our common everyday-usage test. A few reviews show a battery life that's longer - up to 9 hrs - and much shorter - only 6 hours. The problem is the life of the battery is dependent significantly on how you consume press.

If you perform films and listen to music, you may expect the 6 hr utilization time. Should you switch off Bluetooth as well as Wi-Fi, connecting only as needed, make use of mainly gentle applications with regard to note-taking and business function, then you can expect a 9 hr life of the battery or maybe more. What we should found would be that the Iconia Tab A500 does not last as long as the Motorola Xoom or the Apple ipad 2 in everyday usage, and that we became irritated at needing to re-charge from midday.

Acer Iconia Tab A500: Media

The screen clarity on the Acer Iconia Tab A500 makes it a good choice for media, and the fact that this model came out well after the Motorola Xoom means that Acer benefits from a slightly more mature Android 3.0.1 operating system. Still, like the Xoom, movie playback is a bit laggy at times. When testing the film Fair Game, playback chugged along slightly during scenes shot over a skyline.

For music playback, there's a new player in town. The Music app now supports Google Music, and while some have called the cloud portal yet another Napster clone, it's perfectly suited to Android 3.0. Once you load all of your music on the service from the desktop, you can then play songs without having to download them on any Android device. (Google: give us local download from the site.)

Photo playback on the Iconia Tab A500 looks clear, and pictures flowed smoothly in slideshow mode, both from the gallery app and when using the built-in browser and viewing a Picasa photo album.

One of the most important things against the Acer Iconia Tab A500 is that there's no way to rent or purchase videos. When we reviewed the Motorola Xoom, we had the same fault, although some noted that you can consume media fairly easily through the browser. The problem is that, if you salivate over the latest blockbuster release every Tuesday, you're more interested in rentals that are reliable (and cheap).

The Motorola Xoom recently additional a brand new support with regard to leasing films, and also the Samsung tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1V give a similar function. All of us anticipate Acer to follow along with match as well, but for now you need to load your personal on the Iconia Tab A500.

The Clear.Fi service we mentioned does help you place upward a streaming system, however that doesn't assist in individuals situations where you're unplugged from everything as well as using on a coach someplace.

Acer Iconia Tab A500: Camera

The 5MP camera about the Acer Iconia Tab A500 is serviceable sufficient. It's not hard to use as well as button snaps obvious photos. One gripe is that there's a delay in between whenever you focus on a subject so when the actual picture really snaps - the main focus just functions whenever you launch the shutter. This isn't as annoying as the Rim PlayBook, making the chime just following the photo button snaps.

The camera app provides the typical functions for Android 3.0 - you can use a polarise setting making just about all photos appear monochrome.

One distinctive offering on the Iconia Tab A500 is that you can arranged the time-lapse for that video cam setting which makes your films look like they're deliberately stuttering. In our tests, these videos did not really function correct and merely had excessive stuttering during play. They're supposed to look like stop-motion movies in which the digital camera snaps a photograph at regular times.

With regard to video high quality, you are able to select up to 720p because the highest degree. Gleam poor environment for more compact files and a YouTube prepared video clip option. In 720p, videos appeared obvious however lacked a colour level we would anticipate for High definition videos. Additionally, on a single test machine - a Lenovo ThinkCentre Michael - the videos played with a few stuttering. As soon as prepared for that Web on Picasa, they looked sleek.

Acer plans to update the actual Iconia Tab A500 this season so that you can report as well as perform 1080p videos.

The actual Iconia Tab A500's front-facing digital camera, at 2MP, is actually less usable on this tablet, because there's no built-in video conferencing app like the ipad 2's The face-time. Instead, the only real application we found that even facilitates video talks is Adobe Link Cellular, however the app didn't understand the video digital camera about the Iconia Tab A500, which was additionally a issue on the BlackBerry PlayBook.

Acer Iconia Tab A500: Benchmarks

How we test

TechRadar aims to produce the most helpful tablet reviews on the web, so that you are able to make a more informed buying decision.

Part of this testing process includes benchmarking. It's a good way of measuring the overall performance of a product's internal hardware components.

We use Antutu System Benchmark to test tablets. It's a comprehensive Android benchmarking app and produces consistent results.

Antutu measures an Android device's CPU performance, 2D and 3D graphics performance, memory speed and internal and external storage read/write speeds. It combines the results for each test and gives the device a final score.

We test each device three times and take an average.

Summary

Ultimately, the actual Acer Iconia Tab A500 fits in the middle of the pack. All of us were not that amazed with the The brand new htc Flyer, mostly because of it's expensive and also the proven fact that it does not use Android 3.0, so that a few apps don't format properly for that larger display. The actual Rim PlayBook includes a serious app issue.

Yet, because of the difficult choice between the Motorola Xoom and also the Acer Iconia Tab A500, the Xoom gets the slight advantage. 1 reason is that we prefer the more streamlined design. There is no reason for the actual Iconia Tab A500 to be a lot wider, although some customers will prefer the much more rugged style.

App choice on the Apple ipad 2 is far more sophisticated, and also the Apple tablet gets the edge in terms of multimedia play (especially on-device movie rentals), games as well as video clip talks. The PlayBook may be the goofy opposition, and that we believe in the actual Hewlett packard TouchPad will even go into the mix by having an option Os that gives Google something to consider.

The actual Acer Iconia Tab A500 does not improve Android 3.0, and also the categorisation system which places applications in buckets is not which book. We have to mention life of the battery - the Iconia Tab A500 simply didn't be as durable because the Xoom or even the ipad 2 within our tests, especially for movie play.

We loved

The Acer Iconia Tab A500 gets some extra credit score because of its much more tough style. The aluminium back can take a bit more abuse compared to plastic utilized on additional tablets. There is much more weight towards the device and it has a broader footprint so you can get a good grip on the tablet - we could see a cafe that wants to make use of a tablet for client purchases deciding on the Iconia Tab A500 within the Xoom since it is broader and more tough.

Operationally, the Iconia Tab A500 just experienced one or two minor bugs and some touchscreen problems, however these same issues also occur about the ipad 2. They don't dramatically modify daily utilization.

We resented

The actual bulky style is an obtained flavor about the Acer Iconia Tab A500. It's not for everyone - the actual tablet has a faint indication from the Home windows Tablet PC days, and that is not a good factor. In daily make use of, whenever we experienced the actual Motorola Xoom and the Acer Iconia Tab A500 seated side by side, we discovered that we reached for that Xoom more regularly just because we recognized it more portable, even though each tablets weigh exactly the same.

The actual Iconia Tab A500 had a couple of small bugs with a few apps, including Google Maps and Gmail. A tough reboot from the device resolved most of the minor bugs, though.

We additionally were unable to use the Iconia Tab A500 with an Apple company MacBook.

Other issues seem a lot more like minor irritations: the actual brief battery charger cable television, the actual weak pixel grid on the screen, the actual smaller compared to expected battery life. None of these tend to be major problems on your own, however they equal to a less than perfect experience when compared with an additional tablet, the actual Motorola Xoom, that has about the same specs.

Verdict

The actual Acer Iconia Tab A500 eventually defeat the actual Rim PlayBook, which continues to have a good app problem and it is smaller with regard to watching movies and photographs. The actual Motorola Xoom is really a locks much better due to the trendier style.

Overall, the Iconia Tab A500 is a very great tablet which falls out from the running rapidly compared to the Apple company ipad 2 using its boatload associated with apps, video clip chatting, games and exceptional media dealing with.

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