Cheap Acer A512 tablet lands with 12-inch display and 8,000 mAh battery

Acer has quietly added another affordable tablet to its lineup, and the new A512 makes no attempt to hide the fact that it is a basic Android slate built to a price.

Acer A512 tablet price and specs

Listed on JD.com for CNY 999 (~$140/€120), the A512 pairs an 11.97-inch, 2000 x 1200 panel that offers a 60 Hz refresh rate with a MediaTek MT6769 chipset, 4 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of storage. An 8,000 mAh battery, a 13 MP rear camera, a 5 MP selfie shooter, and Android 15 round out the spec sheet on a chassis that weighs 557 grams and measures a slim 7.9 mm.

On paper, that's a reasonable specs sheet for the sub-$150 price in China, but Acer's own roster holds some direct A512 competitors. The Iconia V11, which launched internationally with a Helio G99 chip, a 90 Hz display, and an aluminum body for around €229, sits above the A512 and offers better specs for not much more money.

Meanwhile, the recent A312 Pad occupies the space below it, running an ancient Helio P22T for closer to $75 if one is in need of a 12-incher at rock-bottom pricing. The A512 sits somewhere in the middle since it has newer silicon than the A312 Pad but a basic 60 Hz LCD screen, too, and a plastic build that can't compete with what Redmi, Honor, or even Acer itself is already shipping in the sub-$200 bracket.

For now, there is no word about an international launch of the rather affordable 12-inch tablet. Acer has a long history of testing devices like this in China first, though, as the A312 Pad and older Iconia B1 variants followed the same script. Most never make the jump to Europe or the US, where Acer would rather push the more premium Iconia series like the P11 that goes for $380 on Amazon. Still, the A512 could be made available in select regions as these things go, rather than witness a proper global release.