Acer Iconia Tab A700-10k32u Pro Reviews

If you've been envying your Apple iPad-toting friends with their high-res Retina displays, but are a die-hard Android user, the A700 presents an interesting alternative that's worth considering. In addition to its display which supports a higher resolution than we've seen on most Android tablets to date, the A700 also offers plenty of onboard storage (32GB) as well as a microSD card slot and micro HDMI connectivity. As our performance tests have shown though, the A700's high resolution display holds back performance in a few tests, due to its more demanding fillrate and memory bandwidth requirements. During real-world testing, we were mostly pleased with the tablet's responsiveness, but there were some instances where we felt it wasn't quite as zippy as it should have been. That said, the display on the A700 is really gorgeous. To many users, the better display found on the A700 might be worth taking a small hit in performance in graphically intensive apps. But take note, it may not feel as fast as other Tegra 3-based devices with lower resolutions displays.

The Iconia Tab A700's display isn't in the same class as the iPad, but it's certainly among the best Android tablet screens yet to hit the market. Paired with otherwise solid performance and a decent-if-boring design, there's a lot to like about Acer's latest tablet. At $449, you're nearly in iPad territory, and unless you're completely committed to Android it's hard to recommend the A700 over a new iPad or even an iPad 2, which offer equally good performance, far superior app ecosystems, and in the new iPad's case an even better display. In the Android market, there's a clear new leader as well. The Nexus 7 has a better design than the A700, equals its performance, comes with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and has a seriously appealing $199 price tag. Every Android tablet now has to justify its purchase over Google's halo tablet, and has to prove it's worth whatever extra cost is associated. A 1080p screen goes a long way, but it's not worth doubling the price tag. This is Acer's best tablet yet, without question, but it's not quite enough to get me excited about the idea of buying an Iconia Tab.

A good full HD screen and an excellent pair of speakers make the A700 a media tablet par excellence. There is also more of an improvement over the A510 in other areas than Acer’s spec list suggests, which, combined with a reasonable ticket price, makes the Iconia Tab A700 a very solid purchase.

The data sheet of the Acer Iconia TAB A700 really grabbed our attention: high resolution display, strong performing hardware and good components. Because of these things, the 10.1 inch device was actually a canditate for producing a really good score in our review - but in reallity this was not quite the case. Despite numerous positive aspects, we still found a things we had to criticize. This all began with the case of the tablet. While the build quallity is flawless, the materials used and the overall stability leave room for improvement. Next comes the quite heavy weight of the device, and it's fair enough to say this tablet is a little bit fat. On the visual side Acer is holding back, yet still leaving a good impression in our test lab.

Acer’s Iconia Tab A700 packs in Nvidia’s Tegra 3 and a superb Full HD screen for under £400 – at this price, it’s the Android tablet to beat

The Acer Iconia Tab A700 is an appropriate upgrade to Acer's earlier efforts, but it doesn't really go far enough to make it a viable choice for new tablet buyers. Its sluggish performance and cheap feel make it hard to recommend against the ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity or the Apple iPad. Acer is selling the A700 in either black or silver for $449.99, which is a little bit cheaper than the competition, but I think that the extra money spent on the other options goes a long way towards providing a better user experience.

In many ways, the new Iconia Tab A700 continues Acer's tablet legacy, with a lightly (and attractively) skinned version of Android, a less-than-thin design and middling battery life. In other ways, this device improves on past products: rather than the standard 1280 x 800 resolution, you get a 1920 x 1200-pixel display, and audio quality is nothing to sniff at. Though that HD panel is pretty sweet, it's not the best out there. For $50 more, ASUS' 10-inch Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 offers a display with the same resolution -- plus wider viewing angles and better outdoor visibility thanks to IPS technology. That tablet also boasts a thinner, lighter design and longer battery life. And performance-wise, you'll suffer fewer glitches on the TF700 than on Acer's slate, which stuttered, hung and even crashed more than a few times during our testing period. In short, while the A700 has a high-res panel and a clean ICS build in its favor, it's not quite the best 10-inch Android tablet out there.

The A700 feels like an ambitious device that maybe was released a little too early. With some more time spent finalizing engineering issues, perhaps some of those hardware problems we spoke of could have been adequately addressed. The heat problem, especially, is one that seems like someone really should have taken the time to investigate prior to the tablet’s release. This isn’t Acer’s first tablet by a long shot, so it’s hard to have much sympathy for the company; ultimately, the A700 should have been much more impressive than the tablet we ended up with. It’s not a bad tablet, though, and eventually once it drops a little in price and gets Jelly Bean, we’ll be rethinking things. We also know that Android’s got its work cut out for it if it wants to be seen as the platform for superior tablets, so we’re holding its high-end tablets to some pretty lofty standards; if your expectations are a little more relaxed, the A700 might be a good fit for you.

This powerful tablet has a Full HD screen, but its super-glossy finish took the shine off for us

The Acer Iconia Tab A700 isn't in the same league as the Transformer Infinity. Asus smartly used an upgraded version of the Tegra 3 to compensate for the bandwidth demands of a high-resolution screen. Acer seemed to have simply swapped in a 1,920x1,200 screen into the A510 without much thought as to how that would affect usability. From a pure performance perspective, even the cheaper TF300 and A510 offer faster, smoother performance for less. That's not to say A700 isn't capable of meeting plenty of tablet needs. The screen looks great and Micro-HDMI and microSD are welcome inclusions; however, there are other tablet choices out there that are worth more for the money. If a high-res Android tablet is on your wishlist, go with Transformer Infinity. If something lower-priced, but still powerful is what you long for, seek out the Transformer TF300.

The Acer Iconia Tab A700 is a good midrange 10-inch Android tablet with an above-average screen, but it lags behind other high-resolution-display tablets.

This tablet will cost you $449.99 at any of a variety of outlets, this ringing in just at or below the rest of the market offering similar solutions. You’ve got the most advanced options in an Android tablet included here, and Acer’s unique vision for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich will not leave you wanting for multi-tasking and for standing out in the software crowd. We recommend picking up the Iconia Tab A700 especially if you’ve already got Acer notebooks or towers in your home – their software connects quite fluidly and makes your whole personal cloud experience all the richer.