The Android tablet wars are beginning to get hot, and Acer has entered the fray with its Iconia Tab A500. Pricing $449–$50 less than the iPad 2–this slickly designed 10.1-inch Honeycomb slate comes with a brushed-metal design and also a full-size USB port, plus Nvidia’s powerful Tegra 2 processor. But could this tablet stand out in a field that’s already crowded with devices bearing the same OS and specs?

Design
Acer wrapped the Iconia Tab A500 within an Alpine Silver brushed-aluminum casing that extends through the to the nicely rounded edges at the top and bottom. At 1.7 pounds, the A500 is 0.4 pounds heavier compared to the iPad 2 and 0.3 pounds heavier compared to the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer. Measuring 10.2 x 7.0 x 0.5 inches, it isn’t really very much larger than the Xoom (9.6 x 7.5 x 0.5 inches), however the difference was noticeable. We found the tablet somewhat unwieldy when attempting to use it while located on a subway platform or standing in line. One especially welcome feature for the A500 is really a full-size USB port, which lines the correct side from the tablet along with a microUSB port and power jack. The headphone and microHDMI ports sit on the left. The docking port on the bottom mars the graceful curve a lttle bit, but not egregiously.

Display
The A500′s 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800 WXGA screen comes with a aspect ratio of 16:10 and good color depth. Brightness and clarity matched that regarding the Motorola Xoom, however the 8.9-inch T-Mobile G-Slate’s display seemed a lttle bit crisper whenever we compared the two alongside, along with the iPad 2′s display was far brighter. Occasionally, too, the A500′s screen was obviously a little pale. Among 10-inch Android tablets, some may choose to IPS panel for the Eee Pad Transformer which promises wider viewing angles.

Interface
Nobody is sure what we can say about Honeycomb that you simply haven’t heard before, but we’ll try anyhow: Android 3.0 is really a beautiful, functional operating-system that lacks serious software support and has a number of quirks to boot. Assuming an adequate amount of us buy Android tablets, the minds of developers around the globe are very prone to change, but for now, you could expect a lovely browser, Gmail client, mp3 music player, calendar, photo browser, chat and maps application, as well as whatever additional Android phone software you can get to run on the thing. Acer actually includes its own compliment of applications to get you started, however they hurt over help — laughably, almost every one duplicates the functionality of your existing Honeycomb app, a lot of them perform worse, but Acer sticks them right beneath your nose anyhow by affixing these phones a collection of glorified app drawers.

Camera
The 5-MP camera for the back from the Iconia Tab captured decent, though not very crisp, images and video. Even while on an overcast day, the 720p video we took of the latest York City traffic offered good colors, but we noted indistinct edges on objects and slight noise once we moved you. Still images also provide some noise around edges, however they do accurately capture colors. The LED flash isn’t much help close up, mainly because it is likely to blow out anything too near the lens. Luckily, you app’s auto white balance settings meant we rarely needed it. The front-facing 2-MP camera did well with stills. Video exhibited some pixelation and fuzziness in the event the subject was close up (including during video chats). The job of the camera–on the upper-left corner when located in landscape orientation–meant it was challenging to center inside us the frame without holding the A500 in an awkward angle.

On the whole, the Acer Iconia Tab A500 is really a solid little bit of hardware, if you have to offer an Android tablet at this time, but unfortunately we cannot determine if we might recommend it in good conscience over a few of the competitors being offered. Honestly, we’re still slightly iffy about Honeycomb itself, along with the longevity from the Tegra 2 processor, due to the not enough Android 3.0 apps and speed from which OEMs are adopting faster plus much more efficient silicon respectively. At the moment, ASUS’ Eee Pad Transformer seems the well-known choice if you can’t afford a G-Slate — assuming prices stay the same — but as well, unfortunately we cannot think you may be wholly displeased with Acer’s tablet if brushed aluminum’s your personal style. Just keep that AC adapter handy. Similar product:Velocity Micro Cruz T301.

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