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MagyarAcer Iconia Tab 8 A1-840FHD Tablet Review
For the original German review, see here.
When it comes to tablets, a low price and good hardware need not be mutually exclusive. Acer's new 8-inch Iconia Tab 8 is a good example. At just 200 Euros (~$256), the buyer gets a tablet that runs Android 4.4.2, has a high-resolution Full HD display, and it sports a stylish aluminum case. The A1-840FHD model offers a nominal 16 GB of storage space, and with its energy-saving quad-core Intel Atom Z3745 SoC, it has a solid foundation for processing performance. The overall mix of components made a good impression in our tests; except for a few small weaknesses, the Iconia Tab 8 turns out to be a very good tablet.
Alongside the A1-840FHD, Acer also has a second version of the Iconia Tab 8 for sale -- the A1-841HD. While the A1-840FHD's processor is based on the Intel Bay Trail-T platform, this device runs on a quad-core MediaTek MT8389 SoC. The A1-841HD only offers the "low" HD resolution of 1280x720 pixels, though in exchange the A1-841HD has a 3G wireless module on board. In terms of price, neither version of the Iconia Tab 8 comes at a high cost. At the time of writing, either tablet is available in online stores for just under 200 Euros (~$256).
Case
With their 8-inch tablet, Acer is offering an alternative to the usual 7 and 10-inch devices found in today's market. The eight-incher offers more display space than the small tablets but is simultaneously easier to hold and carry than the big 10-inch versions. The Iconia Tab 8 is undergirded by its aluminum (but, unfortunately, not scratch-proof) backside. The aluminum gives the tablet a high-quality look and a good feel as well. With its unibody, the Acer tablet looks quite similar to the Apple iPad Mini Retina and also wins points for its excellent manufacturing quality.
Due to its thin 8.5 mm (~0.3 inch) case and low weight of 360 grams (~0.8 lbs), the tablet feels good in your hands. A special coating on the surface of the screen supposedly keeps the IPS display from collecting fingerprints, though this was not really the case in our tests: Like many other tablets, the Acer device needs to be regularly wiped off with a cleaning cloth.
Connectivity
The Acer Iconia Tab 8 runs on a quad-core Intel Atom Z3745 SoC. The processor's cores each clock at 1.33 GHz. An Intel HD Graphics (Bay Trail) graphics unit takes care of graphics-related tasks. This GPU is just as conservative with its energy usage as the system's processor, but it is not known for being a particularly high-performance component. The tablet is equipped with 2 GB of LPDDR3 RAM and 16 GB of mass storage. Subtract the space occupied by the numerous preinstalled apps and Android 4.4.2, and about 9.2 GB remains available to the user. Using the microSD card slot, the internal memory can be expanded by up to 32 GB.
Software
Acer outfitted the Iconia Tab 8 with Android 4.4.2 and installed a comprehensive range of apps straight out of the factory. Among them are a variety of Google applications like Maps, Drive, Google+, Chrome and Gmail, as well as the ASTRO File Manager, a barcode scanner, the McAfee Security Suite, Skype and a connection to the Acer cloud. Additionally, users can choose from an assortment of widgets and position them at will across the well-designed and easy-to-use user interface.
Communication & GPS
The Acer Iconia Tab 8 communicates wirelessly over WLAN 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0. Both modules functioned perfectly in our tests and at the expected speeds. The integrated GPS antenna did not present any problems either: The Android Tablet reliably determined our current position both outdoors and inside buildings.
When we went for a spin with the Acer tablet and compared its positioning skills with that of the professional Garmin Edge 500 navigation device, our tablet actually did relatively well. On our more than 10-kilometer-long test track on a bike, the GPS reception was consistently strong. Only when the device tried to locate our exact position was it occasionally slightly off, but all in all, when it comes to apps that use the GPS module, the deviations were so insignificant that they would be inconsequential.
Cameras & Multimedia
Acer did no real favor to users with their integrated cameras. Yes, both the 4-megapixel main camera with a resolution of up to 2560x1440 pixels and the Full HD webcam earn points for their many settings options that make it easy to adjust to any environment. But no matter how precisely we adjusted the photo parameters, the picture quality was bad. Even without looking all that closely at the shots, it is obvious that the main camera and especially the webcam lack dynamic range and image sharpness. Still, anyone who just wants to be able to take a snapshot here and there with the tablet need not cross the Iconia Tab 8 off their shopping list -- the device's image quality is certainly sufficient for that use.
Accessories & Warranty
Acer includes a micro-USB cable and a modular power supply in the Iconia Tab 8's packaging and outfits the device with a 12-month warranty. The manufacturer does not offer any accessories for their tablet.
Input Devices & Operation
Operating the Acer Iconia Tab 8 is just plain fun. The tablet reacts immediately to finger input, shifts swiftly through menus and settings options, and it can be controlled very precisely via its capacitive 10-point touchscreen. The same goes for the virtual keyboard that interprets input quickly, allowing for a fluid typing experience. Although there would certainly have been space on the device's Full HD display, Acer chose not to include an additional row of keys with the numbers 0 through 9. The only critique we have in terms of the tablet's operation is its boot time. About 30 seconds pass between when the device is turned on to when the lock screen appears -- quite a long wait time for a tablet.
Display
The Iconia Tab 8's IPS display has a resolution of 1920x1200 pixels and renders image content in razor-sharp definition. At an average brightness of 315.6 cd/m², the tablet's LED monitor generates a bright enough display image to be visible even under the sun. Additionally, at a 91% similarity across the screen, the brightness distribution is very even. Furthermore, with its black value of 0.54 cd/m² and contrast ratio of 611:1, the tablet's display content is also rich in contrast and enhanced by a deep black.
When compared to other similarly equipped tablets, our test device does quite well. However, for each measured value, there is at least one competitor that outstrips the Acer tablet's display. In the area of brightness, the Iconia Tab even comes in last; the Dell Venue 8 Pro (365.2 cd/m²), the Apple iPad mini Retina (398.4 cd/m²), the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 (406.0 cd/m²) and the HP Slate 7 Plus 4200ef (408.4 cd/m²) all glow more brightly. Even so, this does not diminish the Iconia Tab 8's overall ability to display a rich, crisp, and bright image.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 91 %
Center on Battery: 330 cd/m²
Contrast: 611:1 (Black: 0.54 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 5.47 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.94
ΔE Greyscale 5.36 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
Gamma: 2.14
The measurements we took with the X-Rite i1Pro 2 spectrophotometer and CalMAN software show that the Acer display does have a few weaknesses, though they are barely recognizable to the naked eye. The Iconia Tab 8 displays blue tones a little too weakly, while the light gray tones in particular are overemphasized and can overpower some image details (Delta E value of 5.36). Mixed colors are not optimally rendered either and appear minimally distorted (Delta E value of 5.47). However, at 6342 K, the color temperature is close to the optimal white point of 6500 K.
With its high brightness level and good viewing-angle stability, the Acer Iconia Tab 8's IPS display makes the tablet completely suitable for outdoor use. As is true of every tablet on the market today, the display's reflective surface can occasionally spoil the fun outdoors, especially if the sun shines directly onto the screen. All in all, however, the display content is easily visible.
Additionally, from very wide side angles the display content still looks good. The colors are neither distorted nor inverted.
Performance
The Acer Iconia Tab 8 is equipped with a quad-core Intel Atom Z3745 SoC that clocks at 1.33 GHz. This simultaneously energy-saving and high-performance processor is accompanied by 2 GB of RAM. When it comes to the integrated Intel HD Graphics (Bay Trail) graphics unit, however, our expectations ought not to be too high, as it is a somewhat weaker GPU. Even so, in our tests the CPU-GPU team performed reasonably well under Android.
In the synthetic benchmarks, compared to its nearest competitors, the Acer Iconia Tab 8 consistently ranks highly or even highest. In PassMark and Epic Citadel, only the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 can keep up with the Acer device, while the Apple iPad mini Retina comes in a tad ahead of our review device in 3DMark 2013 and Linpack.
| PassMark PerformanceTest Mobile V1 - System (sort by value) | |
| Acer Iconia Tab 8 | |
| Apple iPad mini Retina | |
| HP Slate 7 Plus 4200ef | |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 | |
| Epic Citadel - High Quality (sort by value) | |
| Acer Iconia Tab 8 | |
| HP Slate 7 Plus 4200ef | |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 | |
| 3DMark - 1920x1080 Ice Storm Extreme Score (sort by value) | |
| Acer Iconia Tab 8 | |
| Apple iPad mini Retina | |
| HP Slate 7 Plus 4200ef | |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 | |
| Linpack Android / IOS - Multi Thread (sort by value) | |
| Acer Iconia Tab 8 | |
| Apple iPad mini Retina | |
| HP Slate 7 Plus 4200ef | |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 | |
In the browser benchmarks, the Apple iPad mini Retina is the clear winner. Even so, the Apple tablet is unable to put much distance between it and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and Acer Iconia Tab 8. All three tablets should provide users with the same high level of surfing performance. Only the HP Slate 7 Plus 4200ef runs perceptibly slower.
| Peacekeeper - --- (sort by value) | |
| Acer Iconia Tab 8 | |
| Apple iPad mini Retina | |
| HP Slate 7 Plus 4200ef | |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 | |
| Octane V1 - Total Score (sort by value) | |
| Acer Iconia Tab 8 | |
| Apple iPad mini Retina | |
| HP Slate 7 Plus 4200ef | |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 | |
| WebXPRT 2013 - Overall (sort by value) | |
| Acer Iconia Tab 8 | |
| Apple iPad mini Retina | |
| HP Slate 7 Plus 4200ef | |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 | |
Reading and writing files is no problem for the Acer Iconia Tab 8; the system transfers data very quickly. Our test device is especially speedy when transferring large files, i.e. sequential reading and writing. Only in our random write test did the Acer tablet show that writing 4 KB files is not its forte, landing it in last place in that discipline.
| AndroBench 3-5 | |
| Sequential Read 256KB (sort by value) | |
| Acer Iconia Tab 8 | |
| HP Slate 7 Plus 4200ef | |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 | |
| Sequential Write 256KB (sort by value) | |
| Acer Iconia Tab 8 | |
| HP Slate 7 Plus 4200ef | |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 | |
| Random Read 4KB (sort by value) | |
| Acer Iconia Tab 8 | |
| HP Slate 7 Plus 4200ef | |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 | |
| Random Write 4KB (sort by value) | |
| Acer Iconia Tab 8 | |
| HP Slate 7 Plus 4200ef | |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 | |
Games
Current Android games run fluidly on the Iconia Tab 8 -- even graphically demanding titles. The Acer's position and motion sensors reacted to changes in position very precisely in all the games we tested out, including Angry Birds Go! and Real Racing 3. There is no shortcoming in this area to hamper the fun of gaming on this tablet.
Emissions
At a maximum temperature of 36.6 °C (97.88 °F) in one spot, the Acer tablet remained comfortably cool in our tests, even after an hour under full load. The average maximum temperature across the case surface came to just 33.7 °C (92.66 °F) -- a number none of the other competing devices can match. The Apple iPad mini Retina (maximum 38.4 °C, 101.12 °F) and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 (39.3 °C, 102.74 °F) come next in the lineup, while the Dell Venue 8 Pro heats up to up to 50.2 °C (122.36 °F). The Iconia Tab 8's power supply also grows very hot; we measured temperatures of up to 47 °C (116.6 °F).
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 36.6 °C / 98 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 34.3 °C / 94 F, compared to the average of 33.2 °C / 92 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 30.1 °C / 86 F, compared to the device average of 30 °C / 86 F.
Speakers
The stereo speaker bar located on the back of the Acer device near the bottom produces the thin sound typical of tablet speakers. However, the little membranes do not distort the sound even at maximum volume and reproduce both voices and music clearly. The position of the speaker bar can be bothersome if the user holds the tablet in landscape format, as the sound then emits only from the right or only from the left, depending on the tablet's orientation.
Energy Management
The Acer Iconia Tab 8 proves to be frugal with its energy usage. Under the highest level of load, our test device required up to 8.7 Watts. In standby mode the maximum was 4.2 Watts. The HP Slate 7 Plus 4200ef is an especially thrifty machine, consuming no more than 7.1 Watts under the highest level of load.
| Off / Standby |   1.4 / 1.4 Watt |
| Idle |  2 / 3.8 / 4.2 Watt |
| Load |
6.5 / 8.7 Watt |
    
| |
Battery Life
The WLAN test is our battery life test designed to examine a device's stamina under conditions that simulate practical, everyday use. For the test, we set the display brightness to 150 cd/m², activate the energy-saving functions, and we run a script to load a new webpage every 40 seconds. The Acer Iconia Tab 8 achieved a good runtime here of 6 hours and 25 minutes. The HP Slate 7 Plus 4200ef (6 hours 40 minutes) and the Dell Venue 8 Pro (6 hours 13 minutes) plug along for a similar length of time. But none of them can keep up with the Apple iPad mini Retina (9 hours 3 minutes) and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 (11 hours 42 minutes), both of which have enough steam in them to get through an entire workday.
Verdict
With its high number of positive features in the areas of hardware and performance, the Acer Iconia Tab 8 A1-840FHD leaves a very good overall impression. Fresh out of its packaging, the Acer tablet already scores points for its attractive aluminum back cover, good manufacturing quality and almost non-existent gaps between the case's separate pieces. Up and running, the device offers a bright IPS display with good viewing-angle stability and fairly accurate color reproduction; and at a resolution of 1920x1200 pixels, the screen is ideal for playing HD videos. The 10-point multi-touch panel reacts to input with precision, making operation under Android 4.4.2 child's play. Even though the Iconia Tab 8 currently costs just 200 Euros (~$256), Acer outfitted the device with a high-performance quad-core Intel Atom Z3745 SoC that makes working, surfing and gaming a fast-paced experience. The tablet's low temperatures, reasonably good stereo speaker and fairly long battery life complete the positive overall picture.
Still, the Acer tablet does not do everything right. The barely over 9 GB of available storage space is rather small, and the integrated cameras are only good for the occasional snapshot. However, anyone who is looking for a reasonably priced Android tablet and can live with these shortcomings will find the Iconia Tab 8 to be a very interesting option indeed.
