Review Acer Iconia W3-810-27602G03nsw Tablet

For the original German review, see here.
Nowadays there are many tablets with a full version of Windows 8. The idea here is pretty obvious: If you are interested in a tablet but cannot waive certain x86 applications, a Windows 8 tablet is a device that meets both requirements. Acer's Iconia W3-810 is currently the smallest (8.1-inch) and at 329 Euros (~$433) also the cheapest Windows 8 tablet. Other manufacturers only produce 10.1-inch and 11.6-inch tablets - for example Asus with the Asus Vivotab Smart ME400C (Atom Z2760, PowerVR SGX545). The base price of the Acer is identical to the iPad Mini, a coincidence? Or does Acer consider the W3-810 a direct rival to the smaller iPad? Our review will determine if the performance of the small Iconia is convincing.
Case
You can immediately see the similarities between the W3-810 and the bigger siblings Iconia W510 and Iconia W 710. The basic design of the three tablets is pretty much identical; the case of the W3-810 is completely made of plastic. The device is surrounded by a white frame and it is wider on the right side of the case to accommodate the physical Home button. The color of the back is silver. The build quality shows no reasons for criticism: All the material transitions are seamless and the tablet leaves a solid impression. With a weight of 500 grams (~1.1 pounds) and a height of 11.4 mm (~0.45 inches) it is slightly heavier and thicker than direct competitors like the iPad Mini or the Acer Iconia A1-810.
Connectivity
Acer spread the several ports across all the sides. The Iconia does no stand out from the competition and offers the usual ports similar to many other tablets.
USB-Port
Acer provides a micro USB to USB adaptor, so you can instantly use the micro USB port. Here we can see one advantage of the full Windows version: Most of the USB devices work immediately; we had no problems to attach a USB hard drive (without external power supply) and a mouse. Even a desktop keyboard with a PS/2 connector worked with the appropriate adaptor.
HDMI-Out
The micro HDMI port can be used to connect the tablet with your television or other external display; the connection works flawlessly. Unfortunately, the picture uses Overscan (the outer area of the picture is not visible). The GPU driver has no setting to deactivate the Overscan so you have to adjust your TV. Our test TV had the needed setting and the picture was fully visible (1:1).
Software
We already mentioned that the Iconia W3-810 is based on Windows 8 (32-bit). The box also includes a recovery DVD for the operating system as well as a download coupon for Microsoft Office 2013 (Home and Student). We are already familiar with the several preinstalled tools from other Acer notebooks and personal computers.
Communication & GPS
The Iconia is equipped with a Broadcom WLAN module; it supports the WLAN standards 802.11 b/g/n. The reception is not overwhelming: Even in direct proximity to the router (around 3 meters/~10 feet) the Windows WLAN symbol usually only shows two to three bars, which is reduced to one bar if the distance gets bigger. A Bluetooth 4.0 chip is also integrated, but that is about it. Our review unit has no 3G or even an LTE module and there are no higher priced versions of the tablet with this feature either. Since the tablet is based on Windows 8, you can at least use the mobile Internet with an external UMTS stick; a GPS module is not integrated.
Cameras & Multimedia
The Iconia has two cameras; both have a resolution of 2 megapixels and can take pictures and record videos with a resolution of up to 1920x1080 pixels. All in all the two cameras do not deliver satisfying pictures; they are blurry and pale.
Accessories
Besides some manuals, the box of the Iconia also contains a quick start guide, the warranty information, a micro USB to USB adaptor, the power supply unit, a Windows 8 recovery DVD and the download coupon for MS Office 2013 (Home and Student).
Warranty
The warranty period of the Iconia is 12 months but Acer also offers an extension to 36 months for an additional charge of around 55 Euros (~$72). You have to extend the warranty in the first 90 days after the purchase.
Input Devices & Handling
Buttons
The four buttons of the tablet can be used without any problems. The two buttons for the volume (each 12 x 2 mm) and the Power button (14 x 2 mm) are quite thin but this is no problem for the handling. All three buttons have a clearly audible and tangible pressure point. The Home button occupies more space with a size of 12 x 7 mm; its pressure point is slightly softer but still audible and tangible.
Touchscreen
We had no problems when we used the touchscreen. The display reacts well to inputs and is neither too sensitive nor insensitive. Operating the device is actually easier than the size would suggest. Everything is fine if you use the Metro UI, after all, the interface was designed for touchscreen inputs. It can be a bit tricky if you leave the Metro UI; you really have to aim to hit the right symbols. Surprisingly the hit rate is quite high but you will want to use a mouse nevertheless. A capacitive pen would also be beneficial, especially on the go.
Virtual Keyboard
The screen keyboard offers two different layouts in the landscape mode: Standard and Split. The portrait mode exclusively uses the Standard layout, which does not include numbers. A separate key switches between the letters and numbers (including special characters). The Split layout can show numbers if you set the key size to medium or small. Besides the keyboard, you can also use handwriting recognition in both the portrait and landscape mode. Due to the small size of the tablet it is basically impossible to write with all ten fingers; you can use your thumbs to write in the portrait mode. A full onscreen keyboard can be activated in the control panel (Ease of Access category).
Display
Acer equips the Iconia with an 8.1-inch display and a resolution of 1280x800 pixels. The average brightness of 292.2 cd/m² is not bad but it cannot keep up with the Vivotab (359.7 cd/m²) or the iPad Mini (337.7 cd/m²). Unfortunately, Acer does not use an IPS panel. This is surprising, even significantly cheaper tablets like the Google Nexus 7 use the IPS technology.
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Brightness Distribution: 86 %
Center on Battery: 236 cd/m²
Contrast: 891:1 (Black: 0.34 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 4.67 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.9
ΔE Greyscale 9.26 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
Gamma: 4.12
The contrast ratio (891:1) and black value (0.34 cd/m²) of the display are also decent. We analyzed the display in the factory state (target color space sRGB) and determined high DeltaE-2000 deviations for many colors. Only a few colors are within the target area (DeltaE smaller than 5). Positive: At least the display does not have a visible blue cast.
Brightness and contrast ratio should be sufficient for outdoor use of the tablet. However, the glossy display surface makes it that much harder and you can really only use it in the shade.
Performance
The W3-810 offers sufficient performance for all tasks that can be handled with netbooks or entry-level notebooks. Only graphic applications, which require features beyond DirectX 9, cannot be used. Acer itself positions the device as a mobile office for your home or the university with the free addition of MS Office 2013 (Home and Student) as well as the optional keyboard dock (around 50 Euros/~$66). But the tablet also handles video playback via TV very well. The Windows 8 Media Player cannot handle H.264 videos so we installed a codec pack (Shark007 Advanced Codecs). After that video playback was no problem, even Full HD videos run very smoothly. The Iconia is currently available for 329 Euros (~$433); a second version with 64 GB storage is 50 Euros (~$66) more expensive.
Processor
The Iconia does not surprise in regard to the processor. Acer equips the tablet with an Intel Atom Z2760 processor, which can also be found in many competitors - for instance the Vivotab. The dual-core CPU clocks at 1.8 GHz and supports Hyperthreading. This technology enables the simultaneous execution of up to four threads. Cinebench shows that the processor always uses its full performance and does not reduce it on battery. The results are as expected and on the same level compared to similarly equipped tablets.
Graphics
Graphics of the Iconia are handled by the Intel GMA, the already familiar Power VR SGX545 GPU. It only supports DirectX 9; applications with higher requirements cannot be used. This also includes some of our benchmarks. The result is as expected in 3DMark 06, the GPU performance is usually sufficient for all applications other than 3D. The video decoding features of the GPU will have the biggest impact for the users; Full HD videos run very smooth on the Iconia.
3DMark 06 Standard Score | 381 points | |
3DMark Ice Storm Standard Score | 3533 points | |
Help |
System Performance
The Iconia is responsive and smooth; we could not determine any delays. The benchmark results of PC Mark are solid and the Iconia can even surpass some notebooks like the Asus X55U-SX052H (AMD E2-1800, Radeon HD 7340) or the Acer Aspire V5-551 (AMD A6-4455M, Radeon HD 7500G).
We also use some cross platform benchmarks like Geekbench, Browsermark or Google V8 to compare our review unit with other tablets. All in all the Iconia can keep up with competitors like the iPad Mini or the Google Nexus 7 .
PCMark Vantage Result | 2323 points | |
PCMark 7 Score | 1367 points | |
Help |
Google V8 Ver. 7 - Google V8 Ver. 7 Score (sort by value) | |
Acer Iconia-W3-810-27602G03nsw | |
Asus Vivo Tab Smart | |
Google Nexus 7 | |
Apple iPad mini | |
Acer Iconia A1-810 | |
Blaupunkt Endeavour 800 | |
Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7 inch |
Sunspider - 0.9.1 Total Score (sort by value) | |
Acer Iconia-W3-810-27602G03nsw | |
Asus Vivo Tab Smart | |
Google Nexus 7 | |
Apple iPad mini | |
Blaupunkt Endeavour 800 | |
Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7 inch |
Browsermark - --- (sort by value) | |
Acer Iconia-W3-810-27602G03nsw | |
Asus Vivo Tab Smart | |
Google Nexus 7 | |
Apple iPad mini | |
Blaupunkt Endeavour 800 |
Geekbench 2 - 32 Bit - Total Score (sort by value) | |
Acer Iconia-W3-810-27602G03nsw | |
Asus Vivo Tab Smart | |
Google Nexus 7 | |
Apple iPad mini | |
Acer Iconia A1-810 | |
Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7 inch |
Peacekeeper - --- (sort by value) | |
Acer Iconia-W3-810-27602G03nsw | |
Google Nexus 7 | |
Acer Iconia A1-810 | |
Blaupunkt Endeavour 800 |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Solution
Acer uses a 32 GB eMMC flash module, this storage can be found in many tablets. CrystalDiskMark shows a read speed of 81.63 MB/s. Due to the short access time of just 0.5 milliseconds the system is very responsive. The transfer rates are acceptable for a tablet and are comparable with the results of the Vivotab. The Iconia can obviously not keep up with a Solid State Disk; the transfer rates are clearly lower than three to four-year-old SSD's.
A lot of the available storage is occupied by Windows and the preinstalled applications. Out of the box the user can use around 7 to 8 GB, not much space for additional applications. That is why we recommend the Iconia tablet with 64 GB storage. The available storage can also be expanded by the micro SD card slot with up to 32 GB cards.
CrystalDiskMark 3.0 - Read 4k (sort by value) | |
Acer Iconia-W3-810-27602G03nsw | |
Asus VivoTab TF810C-1B026W | |
Acer Iconia W510 | |
Samsung ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C-A02DE | |
Lenovo IdeaTab Lynx K3011 | |
Toshiba HG5d THNSNH256GCST 256 GB SSD | |
Acer Aspire P3-171-3322Y2G06as | |
Sony Vaio Duo 13 SVD1321M2E | |
OCZ Vertex 4 256 GB Desktop |
Gaming
You should not think about current 3D games you know from your personal computer, the Iconia does not reach playable frame rates. We tried the five-year-old Trackmania Nations Forever and could never achieve smooth frame rates. The game is also not displayed correctly because the GPU does not support all the necessary effects. The situation is better with games for the Metro UI, we tried Fruit Ninja, The Gunstringer and Jetpack Joyride, and all three games were no problem for the Iconia.
low | med. | high | ultra | |
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Trackmania Nations Forever (2008) | 18.9 | 3.8 |
Emissions
Temperature
The Iconia warms up slightly during idle. We measure temperatures between 29.3 and 37 degrees Celsius (84.74 and 98.6 Fahrenheit); they climb to values between 29.2 and 52.2 degrees Celsius (84.56 and 125.96 Fahrenheit) under load. The 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) mark is surpassed in the area of the CPU, however, these values should not be reached during daily tasks and have therefore no impact on the operation. The Vivotab does not get that warm, regardless of the current load. This is not surprising since the Vivotab uses the same hardware in combination with a bigger case; the heat can be dissipated over a larger surface.
(-) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 49.7 °C / 121 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 52.2 °C / 126 F, compared to the average of 33.2 °C / 92 F
(±) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 32.8 °C / 91 F, compared to the device average of 30 °C / 86 F.
Speakers
The stereo speakers of the Iconia are located on the right side (or at the bottom in portrait mode). They produce a thin and tinny sound; they are not designed for longer periods of listening. You can attach external speakers or headphones. The volume is controlled via two buttons on the top of the device.
Energy Management
Power Consumption
The only available energy profile of the Iconia is Balanced, which has also been limited in terms of settings. There are not many possibilities to control the energy consumption. Nonetheless, the Iconia is very frugal during idle with a consumption between 1.6 and 3.5 Watts; medium or full load results in 5 or 8.1 Watts, respectively. The Iconia needs less energy than the Vivotab; once again, this is not surprising since the Iconia has the smaller display. Despite the full load scenario, the Iconia is even more frugal than the iPad Mini.
Off / Standby | ![]() ![]() |
Idle | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Load |
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Key:
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Battery Runtime
Our review unit is equipped with a 25 Wh battery, which is similar to the Vivotab Smart. Since both devices only use the Balanced energy profile, we used it for all our battery tests. The Iconia manages a runtime of 19:28 hours during idle, simulated by the Battery Eater Reader’s Test: The display is adjusted to the lowest brightness setting and all the wireless modules are deactivated. The battery is empty after 3:54 hours under load, the Vivotab (3:47 hours) is on the same level. The runtime under load is simulated by the Battery Eater Classic Test: Maximum display brightness and activated wireless modules.
The Iconia manages 9:05 hours in the WLAN Test and even surpasses the advertised 8 hours. The WLAN Test refreshes web pages every 40 seconds via a script and the display brightness is adjusted to around 150 cd/m². We ran the test for a second time with a brightness of 75%, in this case the Iconia runs for 6:29 hours. The Vivotab manages a battery runtime of 7:52 hours in the WLAN scenario.
The battery runtimes of the Iconia are decent; it can keep up with similarly sized Android devices and even surpass them. However, you should keep in mind that the Iconia has a larger battery. The Acer tablet cannot keep up with the runtimes of the iPad Mini (idle: 24:00 h, WLAN: 12:00 h, load: 5:20 h).
Verdict
The overall performance of the small Iconia is very good. It offers long battery runtimes, has a decent build quality and can execute x86 applications. The CPU performance is not overwhelming but sufficient for tablet applications and simple x86 applications. Acer had to make some cuts to achieve the low price of 329 Euros (~$433), especially the bad viewing angle stability of the display is not up-to-date anymore. The 32 GB storage is also too small, we recommend the 64 GB version. If you cannot access a wireless network you will not be happy with the Iconia: It has no 3G module.
There is a lot of room for improvements: The desirability of a potential successor could be raised with a better display, faster SSD storage and a CPU based on the upcoming Intel Atom architecture. This is also the case for larger Windows tablets and at the same time, the situation for Windows RT gets more problematic. Why buy a Windows RT tablet if similarly priced Windows 8 Tablets can do much more?
Real alternatives to the Iconia W3-810 are currently not available. No other manufacturer offers Windows 8 tablets with displays smaller than 10 inches. Larger and inexpensive alternatives would be the Asus VivoTab Smart ME400C (10.1-inch, around 400 Euros/~$526) and the Lenovo IdeaTab Lynx K3011 (11.6-inch, around 425 Euros/~$559). The iPad Mini is superior in almost every category; it has a better display (IPS) and longer battery runtimes. It is also equipped with a thinner, better looking and higher quality aluminum case and it is significantly lighter than the Acer tablet at 308 grams (10.9 ounces).