Overview: Acer Iconia Tab A110
The Acer Iconia Tab A110 ($229.99 list) is a intimidating 7-inch machine tablet, but it doesn’t quite gauge up to competitors like the Google Nexus 7 $295.00 by the side of Amazon and Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD. It runs machine 4.1 “Jelly Bean” permission unfashionable of the box and has polite skin texture like a microSD tag slot and micro HDMI unfashionable, but it besides serves up a low-quality screen and uninspiring design. The Nexus 7 overheads a smaller amount, runs machine 4.2, has a sharper put on view, and comes with twice over the built-in luggage compartment power.
From a design standpoint, the Iconia Tab A110, much like prior labors from Acer, is in relation to having the status of milquetoast having the status of machine pills happen. The glossy all-plastic construction feels shoddy, and its boxy design doesn’t organize several favoritism on behalf of its 0.4-inch thickness and 13.44-ounce importance. The Nexus 7 has like dimensions, by the side of 0.4 inches thick and 12 ounces, but its narrowed edges and rubberized back confer it a nicer feel. Along the A110′s boxy edges, you’ll unearth a multitude of ports, as well as micro USB, micro HDMI, and a microSD tag slot. With the aim of healthy offering sets this tablet apart from the Nexus 7, which lacks both HDMI unfashionable and microSD spreading out options. The Kindle Fire HD has micro HDMI unfashionable, but rebuff microSD tag slot.
Fire up the put on view, and—meh. The 1,024-by-600-pixel TFT LCD put on view really disappoints. It’s not solitary with the aim of it lacks the unevenness of 1,280-by-800-pixel displays found on the Nexus 7 and Fire HD, but ensign look hushed and the viewing twist is too narrow. The screen’s emerge is besides a fingerprint and grease enticement, which solitary exacerbates its above what is usual reflectivity.
Over the screen is a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, which is functional on behalf of Skyping, but not much to boot. There’s rebuff rear-facing camera, but that’s pretty standard these days. The A110 comes featuring in a single 8GB replica on behalf of $229.99, which is supplementary expensive than the $199 Google asks on behalf of a 16GB Nexus 7.
This is a Wi-Fi solitary tablet with the aim of connects to 802.11b/g/n networks on the 2.4GHz group, but not 5GHz. Acer missed an extra opportunity to deposit this tablet apart from the Nexus 7, having the status of with the aim of tablet besides omits 5GHz Wi-Fi. Besides onboard are Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS, both of which worked fine featuring in my tests. A lesser footnote, the A110′s default settings take part in it shut up inedible Wi-Fi on nap, and I found with the aim of it took far too prolonged to re-establish a connection on resume. Luckily, this snag is without problems fixed featuring in the settings.
Performance and Software
Inside, the A110 has a 1.2GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 mainframe and 1GB RAM. Performance involving this and the Nexus 7, which has a like mainframe, was comparable. The A110 in point of fact has a slight tone featuring in gaming, but solitary for the reason that it’s pushing fewer pixels than the Nexus 7. Loading apps, navigating around machine, and browsing the netting all move along swimmingly on the A110 and I in no way encountered several performance hiccups.
Nearly everyone Android-powered pills, like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) $249.99 by the side of Kmart, are at present running machine 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich,” with solitary a vague word of updates featuring in the opportunity. The A110 runs machine 4.1 “Jelly Bean” permission unfashionable of the box, and even though it’s not the hottest version 4.2, it brings a add up to of advantages completed 4.0. Project Butter, on behalf of single, ensures with the aim of the user experience is having the status of smooth having the status of likely. There’s besides Google at this point, which I found to take place positive through taxing, having the status of it robotically fetches applicable in sequence like confined weather, traffic conditions, and open haulage options—things I routinely look into. On behalf of a supplementary in-depth look by the side of Jelly Bean, regulate completed to our complete re-examine.
The A110 runs a refreshingly clean version of machine, with a small amount of distinct manufacturer modifications or else preloaded apps. Spent are the Acer ring and modified lock screens found featuring in the company’s other pills. You’ll still unearth round about throwaway games, along with supplementary positive apps like Polaris company, but kudos to Acer on behalf of not bogging the A110 down with bloatware and heavy-handed modifications like the ones found featuring in Samsung’s TouchWiz. With the aim of assumed, there’s besides a smaller amount dispense holding on behalf of machine novices than you’ll unearth on comparable Samsung pills. First-time users are presented with a clean slate and slight guidance on the top ways to populate homescreens to take pro of Android’s customizability.
Media support is first-class on the A110, having the status of it breezed through our test suite. On behalf of audio, you can load up MP3, AAC, FLAC, OGG, WAV, and WMA archive. Xvid, DivX, MPEG4, H.264, and AVI videos all played smoothly by the side of 1080p declaration. The A110 can besides mirror its screen against HDTVs gratitude to its micro HDMI unfashionable.
Featuring in our battery rundown test, which loops a capture on tape with screen brightness deposit to get an A on and Wi-Fi on, the A110 lasted 5 hours, 10 minutes. That’s a far cry from the 10 hours, 37 minutes bowed featuring in by the Nexus 7 and the 7 hours on the Kindle Fire HD featuring in the same test.
Conclusions
Were it not on behalf of the subpar screen and battery life, the Acer Iconia Tab A110 would take part in made an attention-grabbing alternative to the Nexus 7, having the status of many introduce somebody to an area take part in complained in relation to the lack of microSD spreading out and micro HDMI unfashionable capability. Unfortunately, the screen is a substantial downgrade, the overall design feels shoddy, and the A110 is supplementary expensive than the Nexus 7 even though it offers partly the interior luggage compartment. On top of with the aim of, Google has stimulated against its subsequently version of machine, 4.2, and though it’s supplementary of an incremental upgrade, there’s rebuff illuminating if or else as soon as the A110 might get with the aim of keep informed. If you entirely ought to take part in microSD and HDMI unfashionable on your tablet, the A110 may well become a apt option, but otherwise, only this minute splurge a smaller amount and urge supplementary with the Nexus 7.
