Acer Iconia Tab A700 Product Review
Following the success of ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity and the new iPad, Acer also pulled up its socks and brought Iconia Tab A700 from with a megaton of pixels. The 10 inch tablet is nearly identical to the existing Iconia Tab A510 but comes with a high definition 1920 x 1200 – pixel display. It comes with a price tag of $449 and is equipped with Nvidia Tegra 3 processor.
The tablet weighs around 1.45 pounds and is 10.2 x 6.9 x 0.43 inches thick and the A700 is a bit heavier than the ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity, which is only 1.3 pounds and 0.33 inches thick. Previously, tablet manufacturers used to justify the thickness of the tablet by including a full-size USB port, but the A700 just has a power/lock button and a headphone jack on the left side and a microHDMI port on its right side. At the bottom, there is a microSD card slot which is hidden by a smooth plastic cover.
Just like other tablets, the front is covered by the screen and a silky black bezel. However, the edges, sides and back are roofed with deep plastic silver that has a delicate soft touch finish which would be quite pleasant to hold.
The high resolution display is the main plus here, and it seems like 1,920-by-1,200 can become the new standard for 10-inch Android tablets. The display can be fairly comparable with the Infinity TF700 to some extent, but the ultra-bright Super display of Asus goes beyond the limits of high quality display. One thing is worth mentioning here; the A700 does not have a Super IPS mode, because of which the tablet’s brightness is merely 309 lux.
A700 comes with Dolby Mobile 3 technology and the two speakers are located at the bottom edge of the tablet which produces an accurate and soft sound.
The tablet starts with the lock screen, from where you can directly access the Browser, Gallery, Google, Camera or the four apps according to your requirement. A700 has some improved features like augmented Notification tab, which enables users to easily toggle a number most used settings such as wireless connections, display and audio settings.
Like many other Android tablets, the A700 is packed with 1.3 MHz Nvidia Tegra 3 processor including a 1GB of RAM. For memory, the A700 includes 32GB of internal storage and can incorporate microSD cards up to 64GB in size. It is also equipped with 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi support, Bluetooth 2.1, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and GPS.
The 5-MP rear facing camera on the A700 can be compared with mid-level Smartphones, which is to say they are just OK as compared to other premium Android tablets. Outdoor images are comparatively better and show great colors and detail, but it shows some trouble picking up light in dim areas. On the other hand, the front facing 1 megapixel camera is just good for video chats.
Overall, the tablet is indeed a solid product but it is good for those who are willing to sacrifice a bit on style, weight and size. Undoubtedly, the processing power is very fast, but it’s heftier as compared to other latest tablets. The $450 price point is inexpensive compared to Asus and other manufacturers, but as far as the shape is concerned, it has to run a long way in the tablet market.
