Event Coverage

MWC 2011 - Acer Showcases Iconia Smartphone and Tablets

By Seow Tein Hee - 16 Feb 2011

Hands on with Acer Iconia Smart, Tab A100 and Tab A500

Hands on with Acer Iconia Smart, Tab A100 and Tab A500

Acer has been maintaining a low profile over the past few months, but we do know where they're heading - onward with the Google Android platform. At MWC 2011, they are still on track, focusing on all things Android for their devices. Devices such as the Acer Liquid Mini and Metal did make a re-appearance, but our eyes were fixated on three of its devices, two of which are Android 3.0 tablets. From the newly minted Iconia series, they are namely the Acer Iconia Smart, Iconia Tab A100 and A500.

Let us start with the Iconia Smart. When we first saw it, the device left a deep impression on us for its elongated form factor. A quick check of its specs reveal a 4.8-inch screen with a unique resolution of 1024 x 480. According to Acer, the Iconia Smart is actually designated as both a tablet and a smartphone, running on Google Android 2.3, aka Gingerbread. Powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 1GHz processor, the Iconia Smart is also armed with an 8-megapixel camera and LED flash.

The elongated 4.8-inch display is unique, and challenging to use due to the length of its real estate.

The Smart looks relatively slim when we looked at its side profile.

Its four physical buttons just below the screen are too thin, which makes it hard for us to access.

Acer Iconia Smart

Key highlights of the Acer Iconia Smart

  • Google Android 2.3
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 1GHz processor
  • 512MB RAM / 512MB ROM
  • 8GB internal storage / microSD expandability
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 2.1
  • 4.8-inch capacitive / 1024 x 480 pixels
  • 8-megapixel camera / Autofocus /  LED flash
  • 1500mAh battery
  • 185g
  • 141.7 x 64.5 x 13.6mm
     
  • Availability: TBA

And that settles the smartphone (and tablet) offering from Acer. We now take a look at Acer's Android tablets, which comes in two variants. The first of which is the Acer Iconia Tab A100, which sports a 7-inch display. This is differentiated from the 10.1-inch display employed by the Acer Iconia Tab A500. That aside, both tablets will be pre-loaded with Google Android 3.0 and NVIDIA's Tegra 2 1GHz chipset. Both the A100 and A500 by themselves have another variant which is loaded with a 3G chipset for HSDPA connecctivity, named as the A101 and A501.

However, when we were at Acer's booth, both tablets were running the earlier Android 2.2 firmware, which hindered our experience. The reason is simple - Android 3.0 is a full touch screen interface, with is Home and Back buttons integrated as part of the interface. As such, both the A100 and A500 aren't armed with physical buttons.

In our hands is the Tab A500, which sports a 10.1-inch screen. And it is pretty hefty, weighing in at a minimum of 700g.

We prefer Acer's decision to consolidate the Tab A100's connectivity ports on the right profile.

The microSD card slot (and a SIM card slot for the A101 / A501 variants) are hidden at the top, which requires you to pry open a plastic cover hiding it.

Acer Iconia Tab A100

Key highlights of the Acer Iconia Tab A100

  • Google Android 3.0
  • NVIDIA Tegra 250 Dual-Core A9 1GHz processor
  • 512MB RAM
  • 8GB internal storage / microSD expandability
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 2.1
  • 7-inch capacitive / 1024 x 600 pixels
  • Rear: 5-megapixel camera / Autofocus /  LED flash
  • Front: 2-megapixel camera
  • HDMI-out
  • 1530mAh battery
  • 450g
  • 195 x 117 x 13.1mm
     
  • Availability: TBA

Acer Iconia Tab A500

Key highlights of the Acer Iconia Tab A500

  • Google Android 3.0
  • NVIDIA Tegra 250 Dual-Core A9 1GHz processor
  • 512MB RAM
  • 16GB/32GB internal storage / microSD expandability
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 2.1
  • 10.1-inch capacitive / 1280 x 800 pixels
  • Rear: 5-megapixel camera / Autofocus /  LED flash
  • Front: 2-megapixel camera
  • HDMI-out
  • 3260mAh battery
  • 700g
  • 260 x 177 x 13.3mm
     
  • Availability: TBA

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