Acer Iconia Tab A700 review

Apple’s iPad blazed a trail with its high resolution Retina display, and now its Android rivals are attempting to follow suit. The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity 700 was the first to go Full HD, but Acer’s Iconia Tab A700 is hot on its heels – and unlike its wallet-busting rival, it costs a mere £363.

The Iconia Tab A700 stretches that resolution across a 10in display. Acer describes the display as “IPS quality” – it hasn’t been able to confirm exactly which panel technology is in use – but the results are stunning. The Iconia A700 has the wide viewing angles we’ve come to expect from tablets with IPS panels, and colours are bold and accurate throughout.

The native resolution is actually 1,920 x 1,200, which makes for a tightly-packed pixel density of 224ppi. That can’t quite match the 264ppi of the iPad, but gives crisp text and images, and pixels can barely be seen, even close-up. The maximum brightness of 333cd/m[sup]2[/sup] is perfectly acceptable for most situations, even if it’s some way behind the scorching Super IPS+ mode of the Asus.

At 11mm thick and 649g it’s a little bulkier than most top-end tablets, and the rear is constructed from plastic. Still, despite a little flex, the Acer feels solid and sturdy enough to last the course.

Acer has fitted the Iconia A700 with Nvidia’s Tegra 3 chipset, but it’s the T30S model running at 1.3GHz rather than the 1.4GHz T33 used in the Asus. The lower clock speed provides performance that’s respectable rather than outstanding: in Quadrant the Acer scored 3,284 to the Infinity’s 4,941, and it’s also a little slower than the Asus Transformer Pad 300, which scored 4,037.

The pattern was repeated in SunSpider: the Acer’s 2,794ms is nothing to be ashamed of, but it can’t match the 2,008ms of the Transformer Pad 300.

Despite this, the Acer was still reasonably slick to use. Android 4 runs smoothly, and we only noticed the occasional judder, with the worst of these occurring during intensive multitasking.

We experienced very minor stuttering in games, too, no doubt partially caused by the increased number of pixels on the screen. Still, gameplay was largely smooth, and it didn’t stop us enjoying Reckless Racing 2, SoulCraft THD and Zen Pinball THD. Our only concern regards the ability of the Acer to cope with more demanding titles in the future.

Acer’s own software is something of a mixed bag. Hit the unlock screen and you’re greeted by a quartet of shortcuts that give quick access to the Camera, Browser, Gallery and Search applications. Pressing the icons in the bottom-right corner of the unlock screen, meanwhile, brings up the quick settings options.

Other additions aren’t quite so welcome. Pressing the green circle in the centre of the navigation bar unveils a circular Acer widget that controls volume, gives access to settings, and houses a rotating selection of bookmarks. It’s a neat idea, but it’s not particularly well-implemented, with juddering evident when scrolling through bookmarks.

Battery life is the final part of the package, and here the Iconia drops a little behind the top runners. Our battery test loops a standard definition video until the battery expires, and the Acer lasted for 8hrs 35mins. Compare that to the Asus Transformers, which last over ten hours in the same test.

It’s a little behind its rivals when it comes to performance and battery life, but the Iconia Tab A700 is a cracking all-round package. The display is gorgeous, there’s enough power for games and apps, and it’s vastly cheaper than the only other Full HD tablet on the market, Asus’ Transformer Pad Infinity 700. For those after a premium experience without spending a fortune, the Acer Iconia Tab A700 is an affordable taste of Android tablet luxury.

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