Acer Iconia A500 Quick Review

Overview

The Acer Iconia A500 is an Android Honeycomb based tablet, not to be confused with the Acer W500, a Windows tablet of similar design.

This quick review of the Acer Iconia A500 is a general review, not a hands-on review. The device is 95% the same as the Motorola XOOM, the only main differences are cosmetic. After reading below, reference this hands-on Xoom review for a look at what to expect from a software standpoint, since they both run Android 3.0 Honeycomb and have nearly identical specs.

Features and Hardware

The Acer Iconia tablet features a 10" 1280 x 800 resolution touchscreen, WiFi and Bluetooth, HDMI port, 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor, 1GB DDR2 memory, 16GB eMMC internal memory, microSD card slot for cards up to 32GB, and of course it runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb.

The Iconia also comes with a 2MP front-facing webcam for video chat and a 5MP rear camera with flash and 720p video recording. It can play 1080p HD video and 3D games, including flash-based video, games, and applications. It comes pre-loaded with two games, "Need for Speed: Shift" and "Let's Golf".

For e-reading, the tablet comes pre-installed with the Acer LumiRead and Google Books ereading apps, and the Zinio app for reading full-color digital magazines.

What jumps out most about the Acer Iconia A500 is its relatively low price of $449, about $150 less than the Motorola Xoom and $50 less than the 16GB iPad 2. But its not quite the most inexpensive 10" Honeycomb tablet. The ASUS Transformer has it beat by $50, plus it comes with a higher-quality screen and option for a fully-integrated keyboard dock.

Acer offers some additional accessories for the Iconia A500.

Full-sized dedicated Bluetooth keyboard. MSRP $69.99.
Dock and IR remote with two tilt angles. The dock charges the unit and includes connections for external speakers or headphones. MSRP $79.99.
Protective case. MSRP $39.99.
Power adapter set with three connectors for the US, UK, and Europe. MSRP $29.99.