Acer is the latest manufacturer to gatecrash the Nvidia Tegra 3 party, with a tablet that it teased way back in January at CES – the Acer Iconia Tab A510 – now finally ready to hit the shops.
Looking a lot like its predecessor, the Acer Iconia Tab A500, but with the quad-core grunt that Nvidia's Tegra 3 system-on-a-chip provides, the Acer Iconia Tab A510 is a tablet that will hit the upper echelons of the tablet hierarchy.
The Acer Iconia Tab A510 is ready to do battle with the likes of the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Transformer Pad 300 and, dare we say it, the new iPad as well.
But Acer's new toy has a trump card over its main rivals – it's lowly price-tag.
While you'd need to splash out almost £480 to pick up a 32GB third-generation iPad, or a penny-shy of £500 for Asus' flagship tab – you won't need to spend more than £350 to take an Acer Iconia Tab A510 home.
It's even £50 cheaper than Asus' budget Tegra 3 option – the Transformer Pad 300 (although you don't get the 300's keyboard dock).
Priced up at £349, the A510 is a 10.1-inch tablet boasting the same resolution as the A500, the Transformer Prime and the Transformer Pad 300 - an HD-tastic 1280 x 800.
Running the latest version of Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich, the Acer Iconia A510 is actually the official tablet of the 2012 Olympic Games. At least, the special edition one is.
Our review sample sadly lacked the famous Olympic rings on the back, but this is the only discernible difference between the two.
Tablet design is difficult, we get that - it's hard to be original.
But that still doesn't make it cool for manufacturers to churn out the same design over and over again.
We wouldn't accept that with smartphones so there's no reason we should with tablets.
But that's exactly what Acer has done with the Iconia Tab A510.
To say it looks a lot like its older brother – the Iconia Tab A500 – would be an understatement.
Sure, it's lost the brushed aluminium back and the silver trim, opting instead for a rubberised, dimpled, matte backing.
And while this feels more comfortable to hold for long periods of time, it's not original either – it's very similar to what we saw on the Iconia Tab A200.
It would be easier to forgive Acer for its predictive tablet composition if it had set new benchmarks for svelteness and slenderness.
Unfortunately it hasn't, with the A510 weighing a fairly chunky 680g and measuring a hefty 10.92mm at its thickest point.
All negativity aside, though, and despite the slight, added bulk, the Acer Iconia Tab A510 isn't a bad-looking device and we had no issues in holding and using it for long periods of time.
We just wish the design was a bit more unique - but perhaps with the price-point as it is, we're being a bit harsh.
The top and bottom edges are nicely curved with the matte finish and the two side edges feature an attractive silver trim.
Up top you'll find the reassuringly sturdy volume rocker and lock switch, which is prime position for your right thumb if you're operating the A510 in portrait mode.
There's also a light sensor for the auto-brightness option – which we always prefer to switch off.
Down south there's a Micro-USB port and a hard-reset button.
The A510 lacks the full-sized USB of the A500 but there is an adaptor supplied in the box and we had no issue getting it to recognise our USB drives.
On the left-hand side you'll find a 3.5mm headphone jack as well as the power button, and on the opposite edge there's only a Micro HDMI port on show.
Hidden behind an awkwardly large flap, you'll find space to pop in a SIM card (on the 3G version) or a microSD card.
The 10.1-inch display is of the TFT variety, a technology that lacks the wow factor of the Asus Transformer Prime's Super IPS+ panel, and doesn't come close to the ridiculously startling Retina Display on Apple's new iPad.
However, we keep coming back to the price and at less than £350, an HD display - even one lacking IPS technology - is not to be shunned.
It may be a bit overly-glossy with quite a bad glare-reaction to bright light, and the colours may appear a little faded and washed out but, overall, viewing is a pleasant experience on the A510, with decent angles and bright images.
As mentioned, the action is all powered by a quad-core 1.3GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, which is backed up by 1GB of RAM, and there's a healthy 32GB of on-board storage for all your digital files.
This can be increased up to 32GB more by making use of the microSD expansion option.
Acer is promising 12 hours of video playback from its impressive 9,800mAh battery.
Full Spesification's For Acer Iconia Tab A510
| GENERAL | 2G Network | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 |
|---|---|---|
| 3G Network | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 | |
| SIM | Mini-SIM | |
| Announced | 2012, February | |
| Status | Available. Released 2012, August |
| BODY | Dimensions | 260 x 175 x 11 mm (10.24 x 6.89 x 0.43 in) |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 777 g (1.71 lb) |
| DISPLAY | Type | TFT capacitive touchscreen, 256K colors |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 1280 x 800 pixels, 10.1 inches (~149 ppi pixel density) | |
| Multitouch | Yes |
| SOUND | Alert types | Yes |
|---|---|---|
| Loudspeaker | Yes, with stereo speakers | |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes | |
| - Dolby Mobile sound enhancement |
| MEMORY | Card slot | microSD, up to 32 GB |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | 16/32 GB, 1 GB RAM |
| DATA | GPRS | Yes |
|---|---|---|
| EDGE | Yes | |
| Speed | HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps | |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot | |
| Bluetooth | Yes, v2.1 with A2DP, EDR | |
| USB | Yes, microUSB v2.0 |
| CAMERA | Primary | 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Geo-tagging | |
| Video | Yes, 720p | |
| Secondary | Yes, 1 MP |
| FEATURES | OS | Android OS, v4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | Nvidia Tegra 3 | |
| CPU | Quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A9 | |
| GPU | ULP GeForce | |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass | |
| Messaging | SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM | |
| Browser | HTML, Adobe Flash | |
| Radio | No | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS support | |
| Java | Yes, via Java MIDP emulator | |
| Colors | Black, Silver | |
| - HDMI port - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - SNS integration - Google Search, Maps, Gmail - YouTube, Google Talk, Picasa - MP3/WAV/WMA/eAAC+ player - MP4/H.264/H.263 player - Organizer - Document viewer - Predictive text input |
| BATTERY | Non-removable Li-Po 9800 mAh battery (36 Wh) | |
|---|---|---|
| Stand-by | ||
| Talk time | Up to 15 h |
| MISC | Price group |  |
|---|
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