Review Acer Iconia B1-721 Tablet

Acer outfits their Iconia B1-721 with a MediaTek MT8312 dual-core SoC with a clock frequency of 1.3 GHz alongside an integrated Mali MP400 graphics card and 1 GB of RAM. The 16 GB of internal flash memory can be expanded by up to 64 GB using a microSD card.

The B1-721 is also equipped with a SIM card slot for 3G functionality, a micro USB 2.0 port and a 3.5 mm audio jack. The power button and the volume rocker work flawlessly and have a palpable click point.

Accessories

The B1-721's packaging includes the tablet itself and a modular 10 Watt power supply. A variety of protective covers are also available at additional cost.

Warranty

Acer provides their Iconia B1-721 with a 12-month carry-in warranty.

The virtual keyboards correspond to the Android standard and function intuitively and reliably, as per usual. As is generally true of the Android keyboard, in portrait mode it only takes up about a third of the display, but the key size is still large enough to allow for error-free typing. In landscape mode, together with the Android navigation keys, the keyboard takes up about 50% of the screen. If you then subtract the browser's navigation bar, only a rather thin portion of the open website remains visible.

Overall, the capacitive 10-point multitouch screen registers inputs reliably and with a high degree of precision. When you rotate the display, the tablet has to think for a second before switching formats, but this is acceptable for its class.

The measurements we took with CalMAN reveal substantial deviations from the norm, particularly in the areas of red and blue. The high average DeltaE of 13.35 underlines this shortcoming. The grayscale shows an extreme blue cast as well. In practical use, however, these deficits are not terribly obvious and are only manifested blatantly in monochromatic images.

If you look at the browser-based benchmark tests, compared to the rest of the tablets in its class, the Acer Iconia B1-721's performance proves to be more or less average here too. In SunSpider 1.0, for instance, on average our test device comes in about 20% behind the Asus Memo Pad HD 7 and the others. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 SM-T210 is the only device that has to admit clear defeat in both the SunSpider and the Peacekeeper benchmarks. In the latter and in Browsermark 2, our test device outpaces almost all the competition and draws very near to the Google Nexus 7 2013.

In everyday use, however, these mixed results are not all that noticeable. Web pages load quickly, and surfing goes even faster with a browser like Google Chrome.

As expected, the Mali MP400 graphics solution integrated into the SoC does not merit a standing ovation, but it is powerful enough for a current 3D game here or there. We did not experience any problems running the games FIFA 14, Shadowgun: Deadzone or Angry Birds Go! in our test.

In terms of controls, the touchscreen, the position sensor and the accelerometer all function very well and consistently allow the user to precisely control what is happening on the screen.

Temperature

The surface temperatures we measured on the tablet's case during practical, everyday use give us no cause for concern. In idle mode, the average temperatures came to around 27 °C (80.6 °F) on the underside of the tablet and 30.6 °C (87.08 °F) on the top side.

After a long period under full load, these temperatures rise to 32.4 to 33.4 °C (90.32 to 92.12 °F). The tablet reached its maximum temperatures in the area of the SoC -- 40 °C (104 °F) on the underside and 41.6 °C (106.88 °F) on the top side. The Acer Iconia B1-721 never grew uncomfortably hot. The little power supply, however, heated up to a maximum of 45.6 °C (114.08 °F), so it should always be left out in the open.

The Acer Iconia B1-721 is equipped with an 11.2 Wh battery with a capacity of 2955 mAh. Combined with the tablet's relatively frugal SoC, it is able to provide the device with entirely respectable battery runtimes -- though it comes nowhere close to holding out through a whole work day in constant use. Compared to the competition, the tablet's battery life is not stellar, as it is outfitted with a considerably weaker battery.

The B1-721 runs for a maximum of 9 hours and 11 minutes without an external power source. Here the Google Nexus 7 2013 laps our test device several times over and holds out for over 44 hours with its fat 3950 mAh/16 Wh battery. But the Asus Memo Pad HD 7 (3950 mAh/16Wh) with a maximum runtime of about 17 hours, the HP Slate 7 Plus 4200ef (14 Wh) with about 15.5 hours and the Gigaset QV830 (3260 mAh) with about 21 hours all last considerably longer than the B1-721 too.

In our WLAN surf test, which is meant to simulate everyday use, with the brightness set to about 30% (150 cd/m²), our test device chugs along for 4 hours and 17 minutes. Here too, the competition all runs at least 1.5 hours longer. A user who is frequently out and about and needs to use the Internet all day should be sure to bring along the compact charger or an external spare battery.

Under load with the Stability Test app, at the highest brightness setting and with activated communication modules, our test device cuts out after just 1.5 hours. The B1-721's competitors all offer at least double the runtime here.