Tech Specs

Also Known As...

Hardware

Display

Software

Processor

GPU

Memory

Storage

Connectivity

Front Camera

Rear Camera

Ports

Sensors

Battery

• 7.0

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  Reviewed by leem01 (Currently owns)

  December 31, 2011 02:21 pm

  The Acer Iconia Tab A500 is a very sturdy device with a powerhouse of a machine now running Android 3.2 (after upgrade) with an update to Ice Cream Sandwich arriving mid-January. The display is well lit and the battery life is great however one must be down for the other to be up (full brightness = not so good battery). The only downside to the design is its weight. Whether this is because of its dual core 1Ghz processor or its DOLBY surround sound (blowing the iPad's speakers out the water) or a combination of both means that this wouldn't replace your current smartphone as your everyday take-it-around gadget. In my browser tests, there were mixed results, most of the time depending on whether programs were running in the background. While this isn't as fast as the Transformer Prime (ASUS), it will do for day to day use with a day's worth of battery. However while this may not seem as good as the Xyboard, it does come with an attractive price point. Coming in around $/£299, it is definitely something you could pick up if you are on a budget. Whether you should wait for the A700 or this depends on whether you NEED the extra speed (for business or a replacement to a laptop (something I wouldn't recommend, partially just due to heftiness and Android 3.0 software)) or whether a dual-core device will cut it for you. For its superb sound, quality, brightness and battery life. I'm giving the Acer Iconia Tab A500 a 7.

  The Breakdown

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  • Design 7
  • Display 8
  • Camera(s) 6
  • Speakers 8
  • Performance 7
  • Software 9
  • Battery life 7
  • Ecosystem 5
  • Dock 8

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• 6.0

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  Reviewed by sooper_verge12 (Previously owned)

  December 20, 2011 09:21 am

  In between owning a Motorola Xoom and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, I owned the Acer Iconia Tab. I should probably qualify that as "briefly" owned because I could not get rid of it fast enough. From the pictures, you would think that the design would be great. Brushed aluminum casing, brilliant display, ports, etc. However, the devil is in the details. The tablet is bracketed by plastic end pieces, which means the junction between the glass and plastic and the glass and metal are met with gaps. Those gaps are lint magnets. The junction between the plastic and the metal were also not perfect, resulting in sharp metal edges that, if caught right, could lead to a nasty scratch. It never seemed that the plastic pieces were assembled with care, as they creaked and squeaked under the weight of holding the tablet. From a design perspective, it was clearly a "you get what you paid for," as the Iconia Tab was the cheapest supported Android tablet on the market at $399.

  I said that the display was brilliant, but in every day use, it was completely inaccurate. True, it was bright and the colors were saturated, but off-angle viewing was poor and the colors tended towards the yellow. The one thing it had going for it was that it was very responsive, more so than the Xoom's display. Cameras were nothing to write home about and the speakers were also curiously rear-facing and not overly loud. The Iconia entered the market sporting the Tegra 2 chip as well, but the system was overwhelmed (or should I say, underwhelmed) by the OS. It didn't help that the Iconia was last to get the update to 3.1 that brought some much needed performance boosts. Battery life on the Iconia was poor, barely getting through a day before having to put it on the charger.

  At the end of the day, the poor build quality, the lack of video codecs, and lagging updates were too much for me to keep the device. Even at $399, it never felt like it was deserved of that price tag. I hung to it for about a month before I returned it. I had to convince myself to hang on to it for a month just to give it a fighting chance, but it never redeemed itself. This is a poor, poor device.

  The Breakdown

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  • Design 5
  • Display 7
  • Camera(s) 6
  • Speakers 6
  • Performance 6
  • Software 7
  • Battery life 5
  • Ecosystem 8

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