Acer Enduro T1 ET108-11A A9001 Rugged Tablet Review
The Enduro series is Acer's lineup of rugged tablets, detachables, and laptops designed for professional use in factory, warehouse or industrial environments. The 8-inch Android 9 Enduro T1 tablet we have here is the smallest and least expensive model in its family especially when compared to the larger 10.1-inch Enduro T5 model.
More information on the tablet can be found on its official product page here where it is available for $350 USD. The device competes directly with other rugged 8-inch Android tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active 2 or Vanquisher.
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Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
v (old) | 09 / 2020 | Acer Enduro T1 ET108-11A A9001 | 499 g | 10.9 mm | 8.00" | 1280x800 | |
| 80.5 % v7 (old) | 09 / 2020 | Huawei MatePad T8 Helio MT8768, PowerVR GE8320 | 310 g | 8.55 mm | 8.00" | 1280x800 | |
| 80.8 % v7 (old) | 08 / 2020 | Amazon Fire HD 8 2020 MT8168, Mali-G52 MP1 | 355 g | 9.7 mm | 8.00" | 1280x800 | |
| 81 % v7 (old) | 01 / 2020 | Lenovo Tab M8 HD Helio A22 MT6762M, PowerVR GE8320 | 305 g | 8.2 mm | 8.00" | 1280x800 | |
| 79.6 % v7 (old) | 01 / 2020 | Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 2019 Wifi SM-T290 SD 429, Adreno 504 | 345 g | 8 mm | 8.00" | 1280x800 | |
| 78.7 % v6 (old) | 03 / 2019 | Alldocube M8 T801 MT6797X, Mali-T880 MP4 | 345 g | 8.48 mm | 8.00" | 1920x1200 |
Case
The chassis is MIL-STD 810G and IP54 certified to withstand certain levels of impact, shock, dust, water, and drops of up to 4 feet. Attempting to twist the unit produces no creaking or warping. A notable drawback is that there is no pen recess, but the omission is reasonable considering the target form factor.
Connectivity
Port options are limited to just USB-C, 3.5 mm audio, and a MicroSD card reader because of the light weight. The USB-C port doubles as a charging and data port, but it unfortunately does not support video-out.
Strangely enough, our test unit cannot recognize our UHS-II MicroSD test card in neither eXFAT or FAT32. Our UHS-I card, however, would work just fine.
Communication
Wi-Fi 5 is supported via a 1x1 module with no connectivity issues when paired to our Netgear RAX200 test router. Bluetooth 4.1 and NFC also come standard but with no WWAN options.
Webcam
The front 2 MP and rear 5 MP cameras are of higher quality than any integrated laptop webcam you can find. However, the lack of an LED flash really limits pictures and videos to bright ambient conditions only.
Accessories and Warranty
The box includes a hand strap in addition to the usual paperwork and AC adapter. The standard limited warranty lasts for only a year compared to two years or longer on the Dell Rugged series.
Display
Acer advertises a brightness of 350 nits and that is exactly what we have measured here. Contrast ratio is excellent and picture quality is crisp due to the glossy overlay.
Other aspects of the display are unremarkable or simply average. The overlying glass layer is thick and so colors and details do not pop. Color temperature is too cool by default, black-white response times are middle-of-the-road, and the 1280 x 800 native resolution is indicative of a budget screen. The 10-point touchscreen is functional, but don't expect it to blow you away.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 92 %
Center on Battery: 350 cd/m²
Contrast: 1667:1 (Black: 0.21 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 5.68 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.91
ΔE Greyscale 6.3 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
Gamma: 2.12
| Acer Enduro T1 ET108-11A A9001 IPS, 8", 1280x800 | Huawei MatePad T8 LCD, 8", 1280x800 | Amazon Fire HD 8 2020 IPS, 8", 1280x800 | Lenovo Tab M8 HD IPS, 8", 1280x800 | Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 2019 Wifi SM-T290 TFT, 8", 1280x800 | Alldocube M8 T801 IPS, 8", 1920x1200 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Response Times | -24% | -17% | -53% | -15% | 4% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 33.6 ? | 47.2 ? -40% | 47.6 ? -42% | 60 ? -79% | 44.8 ? -33% | 32 ? 5% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 29.6 ? | 31.6 ? -7% | 27.2 ? 8% | 37.2 ? -26% | 28.8 ? 3% | 28.8 ? 3% |
| PWM Frequency | 65790 ? | |||||
| Screen | 17% | 26% | 12% | -9% | -31% | |
| Brightness middle | 350 | 331 -5% | 501 43% | 379 8% | 377 8% | 317.5 -9% |
| Brightness | 353 | 326 -8% | 463 31% | 346 -2% | 372 5% | 320 -9% |
| Brightness Distribution | 92 | 92 0% | 85 -8% | 88 -4% | 87 -5% | 94 2% |
| Black Level * | 0.21 | 0.16 24% | 0.25 -19% | 0.21 -0% | 0.29 -38% | 0.5 -138% |
| Contrast | 1667 | 2069 24% | 2004 20% | 1805 8% | 1300 -22% | 635 -62% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 5.68 | 4.1 28% | 3.6 37% | 3.8 33% | 6.1 -7% | 6.12 -8% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 10.51 | 7.2 31% | 8.4 20% | 7.5 29% | 10.9 -4% | 13.72 -31% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 6.3 | 3.9 38% | 1 84% | 5 21% | 6.6 -5% | 5.8 8% |
| Gamma | 2.12 104% | 2.31 95% | 2.17 101% | 2.23 99% | 2.13 103% | 2.12 104% |
| CCT | 7390 88% | 7355 88% | 6473 100% | 7514 87% | 7861 83% | 7633 85% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -4% /
9% | 5% /
17% | -21% /
-1% | -12% /
-10% | -14% /
-24% |
* ... smaller is better
X-Rite measurements show a cool color temperature of 7390 for a high average DeltaE grayscale of 6.3. Thankfully, there are settings to adjust color temperature if desired for a more color accurate display.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 29.6 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 18 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 11.6 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 77 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (20.9 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 33.6 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 17.2 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 16.4 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 42 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is similar to the average of all tested devices (32.8 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8705 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. | |||
The Enduro T1 includes no super-bright 1000-nit options unlike on the larger and more expensive Dell Latitude Rugged series. Combine this with the glossy display and you'll find yourself fighting glare and squinting if attempting to use the Acer tablet in bright outdoor conditions. You'll want it to stay indoors or be under shade as much as possible.
Performance
Overall performance is comparable to the recent budget Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite equipped with the octa-core Exynos 9611. The MediaTek MT8385 (4-core Cortex-A73 + 4-core Cortex-A53) is an uncommon CPU with the Acer Enduro T1 being one of the first to incorporate it.
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
The internal 64 GB eMMC drive offers surprisingly fast sequential write rates for the price and category. At 238 MB/s, performance is over two times faster than most consumer-based 8-inch Android tablets.
| Acer Enduro T1 ET108-11A A9001 64 GB eMMC Flash | Huawei MatePad T8 16 GB eMMC Flash | Amazon Fire HD 8 2020 32 GB eMMC Flash | Lenovo Tab M8 HD 32 GB eMMC Flash | Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 2019 Wifi SM-T290 32 GB eMMC Flash | Alldocube M8 T801 32 GB eMMC Flash | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AndroBench 3-5 | -40% | -28% | -29% | -32% | -63% | |
| Sequential Read 256KB | 292.4 | 274.1 -6% | 315 8% | 297.1 2% | 291.9 0% | 142.8 -51% |
| Sequential Write 256KB | 238.2 | 67.4 -72% | 103.9 -56% | 79.6 -67% | 108.5 -54% | 103 -57% |
| Random Read 4KB | 84.3 | 57.5 -32% | 67.6 -20% | 77.4 -8% | 57.8 -31% | 19.5 -77% |
| Random Write 4KB | 28.44 | 14.63 -49% | 15.72 -45% | 15.84 -44% | 16.89 -41% | 10.01 -65% |
| Sequential Read 256KB SDCard | 82.9 | 84.1 | 83.8 | 87.1 | ||
| Sequential Write 256KB SDCard | 62.4 | 62 | 64.3 | 69.9 |
Emissions
Temperature
Surface temperatures are warm at about 30 C on average on either side of the tablet when idling on the home screen. If running extreme loads, hot spots can reach over 38 C as shown by the temperature maps below. The tablet never becomes uncomfortable to the touch, but the temperature change is certainly noticeable.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 37.8 °C / 100 F, compared to the average of 33.7 °C / 93 F, ranging from 20.7 to 53.2 °C for the class Tablet.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 39.4 °C / 103 F, compared to the average of 33.2 °C / 92 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 29.4 °C / 85 F, compared to the device average of 30 °C / 86 F.
Stress Test
If the CPU is fully stressed, clock rates spike periodically before falling back down to about 60 percent utilization meaning that the tablet has been optimized for "bursty" workloads like launching applications. Sustained loads like 3D games may stutter.
Speakers
Acer Enduro T1 ET108-11A A9001 audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (87.9 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 40.6% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (8.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | reduced mids - on average 7.2% lower than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (11.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 8.4% higher than median
(±) | linearity of highs is average (7.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (30.5% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 87% of all tested devices in this class were better, 4% similar, 9% worse
» The best had a delta of 7%, average was 22%, worst was 129%
Compared to all devices tested
» 87% of all tested devices were better, 3% similar, 10% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Apple MacBook 12 (Early 2016) 1.1 GHz audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (83.6 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 11.3% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (14.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 2.4% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (5.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (4.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (10.2% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 6% of all tested devices in this class were better, 2% similar, 92% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 19%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 4% of all tested devices were better, 1% similar, 95% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Energy Management
Power Consumption
The tablet is very power efficient with a minimum consumption of 1.1 W when on the minimum brightness setting or just 0.35 W when on standby. Browsing the web will draw an average of only 3.6 W even when on the highest brightness setting.
| Off / Standby |   0.27 / 0.35 Watt |
| Idle |  1.1 / 2.2 / 2.2 Watt |
| Load |
3.6 / 6.7 Watt |
    
| |
Key:
min: ,
med: ,
max: Metrahit Energy | |
| Acer Enduro T1 ET108-11A A9001 64 GB eMMC Flash, IPS, 1280x800, 8" | Huawei MatePad T8 Helio MT8768, PowerVR GE8320, 16 GB eMMC Flash, LCD, 1280x800, 8" | Amazon Fire HD 8 2020 MT8168, Mali-G52 MP1, 32 GB eMMC Flash, IPS, 1280x800, 8" | Lenovo Tab M8 HD Helio A22 MT6762M, PowerVR GE8320, 32 GB eMMC Flash, IPS, 1280x800, 8" | Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 2019 Wifi SM-T290 SD 429, Adreno 504, 32 GB eMMC Flash, TFT, 1280x800, 8" | Alldocube M8 T801 MT6797X, Mali-T880 MP4, 32 GB eMMC Flash, IPS, 1920x1200, 8" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power Consumption | 16% | -5% | 24% | 8% | -124% | |
| Idle Minimum * | 1.1 | 0.68 38% | 0.72 35% | 0.66 40% | 0.62 44% | 3.4 -209% |
| Idle Average * | 2.2 | 2.24 -2% | 2.97 -35% | 2.15 2% | 2.68 -22% | 5.1 -132% |
| Idle Maximum * | 2.2 | 2.27 -3% | 2.99 -36% | 2.18 1% | 2.7 -23% | 5.3 -141% |
| Load Average * | 3.6 | 3.06 15% | 4.02 -12% | 2.48 31% | 3.61 -0% | 6 -67% |
| Load Maximum * | 6.7 | 4.45 34% | 5.1 24% | 3.49 48% | 4 40% | 11.5 -72% |
* ... smaller is better
Battery Life
Runtimes are long from the 4420 mAh internal battery at over 15 hours of real-world WLAN use when set to a brightness of 150 nits. Charging from empty to full takes about 1.5 hours.
The small (~9.4 x 3.8 x 2.7 cm) 45 W AC adapter can be used to charge other USB-C devices.
| Acer Enduro T1 ET108-11A A9001 Wh | Huawei MatePad T8 Helio MT8768, PowerVR GE8320, Wh | Amazon Fire HD 8 2020 MT8168, Mali-G52 MP1, Wh | Lenovo Tab M8 HD Helio A22 MT6762M, PowerVR GE8320, Wh | Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 2019 Wifi SM-T290 SD 429, Adreno 504, Wh | Alldocube M8 T801 MT6797X, Mali-T880 MP4, Wh | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Runtime | 1% | -4% | 20% | -11% | -55% | |
| WiFi v1.3 | 936 | 949 1% | 902 -4% | 1124 20% | 831 -11% | 420 -55% |
| Reader / Idle | 2393 | 2661 | 3581 | 3132 | ||
| Load | 359 | 286 | 374 | 342 |
Pros
Cons
Verdict
A key selling point of the Enduro T1 is its thin and light design for a rugged tablet. It's still large from the perspective of a regular consumer, but the Acer balances sturdiness, portability and price better than anticipated.
On the flip side, the tablet sacrifices a handful of features in order to meet those thin and light goals. LED flash, ultra-bright display options, WWAN, USB-A, stylus holder, and a dedicated docking port have all been omitted. Such drawbacks may be acceptable so long as potential buyers are aware of the intended usage scenarios or environments for deployment.
Thin, light and sturdy without the bells and whistles to fluff up the price or size. The Acer Enduro T1 is a barebones rugged tablet fit for indoor warehouses or industrial environments. A brighter display would have been helpful nonetheless.
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