Introduction

The tablet market is in a state of rapid change. It became the hot new stuff at the beginning of 2011 with the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and Apple’s new iPad, but just a year later with the entrance of Google’s Nexus 7 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire, the bottom has fallen out of the market.

Manufacturers are now competing for a budget $200 price point as well as that $500+ premium bracket that’s typically been occupied by the iPad. Just as 10″ tablets make up the majority of the $500+ market, 7″ tablets have become the new norm for a $200 machine.

The Acer Iconia A210 is Acer’s attempt to capture a point between those two markets, with a £234 (~$350) asking price. Will the new tablet help carve out a third price point with its mid-range features, or is it destined to fall behind its more popular brothers? Let’s find out.

Features and Specifications

• Operating System: Android 4.0.4 “Ice Cream Sandwich”
• Chipset: Nvidia Tegra 3 T30L
• CPU: Quad-core 1.2 GHz
• RAM: 1 GB
• Internal Storage: 16 GB
• Display: 10.1″ IPS LCD, 1280 x 800
• Wireless Connectivity: Wireless N, Bluetooth, a-GPS
• Wired Connectivity: micro USB, USB, micro SD, 3.5mm audio jack
• Audio: Mono mic, stereo speakers
• Battery: 3260 mAh
• Dimensions: 260 x 175 x 12.4 mm
• Weight: 711.6 grams

Packaging

Let’s have a look at the box the tablet comes in first, just to give you that unboxing “I feel like I was there!” experience. First of all: the front of the box. There’s a nice picture of the A210 on the home screen, a classly black and white stripe, and a look at the back of the tablet as well. The front of the box also has a Netflix logo.

On the back of the box we’ve got some specifications, leaking with ‘Android’ (!) and including the Tegra 3 CPU, 16 GB of memory, 10.1″ 1280 x 800 display, 2 megapixel front-facing camera, GPS, Wi-Fi N, Bluetooth 2.1, micro SD slot, 3260 mAh battery and the dimensions. Got all that?

Taking off the cover of the box, we see some helpful instructions on plugging in and turning on the tablet, as well as using your fingers to type on the screen.

Taking out these instructions, we get our first glimpse of the tablet itself, hidden behind a temporary screen protector.

Now we get a look at the goodies below, all very nicely stored in the cubby holes in the box.

We’ll take them out and have a look. It’s pretty simple stuff, really – There’s a micro USB to USB cable, a charger, a UK adapter plug and a couple of manuals and other information.