One of the Honeycomb tablets announced this year is the Iconia Tab A500 from Acer. Like most of them it’s not here yet, but as the release date is coming near it’s time to take a look at the final version that landed in the hands of the press just a few days ago. If you look at the specs below you’ll see that the Iconia TAB A500 is not too different from the bunch of Honeycomb tablets it’s supposed to compete with: 1 GHz Tegra 2 CPU, 10 inch screen, dual cameras and slate design.

    One thing that sets the A500 apart is the use of dual batteries, in an effort to increase battery life. But before we jump right in the review let’s see the quick specs.

    Acer Iconia Tab A500 quick specs:

    • Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system
    • 10.1-inch 1280×800 pixels TFT display
    • NVIDIA Tegra 250 Cortex A9 1GHz processor (dual-core)
    • 1 GB RAM
    • 16 GB / microSD supporting up to 64 GB cards
    • 5 MP rear-facing camera / 2 MP front-facing camera
    • Two 3260 mAh Li-polymer batteries
    • WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, bluetooth, and GPS
    • Dimensions: 10.24(w) x 6.97(d) x 0.52(h)-inches
    • Weight: 1.69 pounds

    Design and construction

    Immediately after you take the Iconia Tab A500 out of the box you realize it’s one of the few tablets on market that manages to distinguish itself visually from the competition: the back is made from a gray finish aluminum that extends a little bit on the top and bottom of the black screen bezel in front, plus the four corners are slightly curved making it easier to spot the Acer tablet. Also the aluminum finish makes the tablet look serious, not something a child would play with. Just don’t look at the sides, as both are made from plastic.

    Let’s see now the buttons and ports: on the right there’s the DC in charging port, micro USB and USB ports, on the left there’s the power button, 3.5 mm audio jack and mini HDMI out ports, the top houses a volume rocker and a small door that hides the microSD card slot and the SIM slot for the future 4G LTE modem upgrade (which we don’t know anything else about at this point). On the bottom we have a docking connector for Acer’s custom accessory dock.

    The two speakers on the back of Iconia Tab A500 are Dolby certified and manage to get impressive volume levels for a tablet, something you’ll appreciate if you use the tablet with apps that take advantage of those two speakers.

    All in all, the Acer Iconia Tab A500 manages to look different in a sea or slates, but still pales compared to the iPad 2 which is thinner and lighter, something other manufacturers will have to live with at least until the next generation of slates comes out (hopefully before the even slimmer iPad 3).

    Official images:

    Performance, software and apps

    Because it’s powered by the more than competent Tegra 2 platform, the Iconia Tab A500 moves fast in daily tasks, but the software sometimes slows down unexpectedly and apps crash (even the official ones). It’s nothing Acer can do, but it’s still a problem worth mentioning. As of the Operating System, there’s nothing different from your regular Honeycomb installation except the addition of a few Acer apps, clear.fi being the one worth mentioning: it connects the A500 to multimedia devices in your wireless network, allowing you to share content between those devices. It’s something I would like to see as a standard, as it seems easier to use than DLNA.

    And don’t hope that you can install Honeycomb apps to personalize the Iconia Tab A500, as the selection is still under 100 titles, but you can always pick from the thousand apps for Android smartphones.

    Battery life

    That’s one chapter where Acer’s tablet makes a good impression, with over 8 hours of battery life in the most stressful conditions: video recording and playback. If you’re performing lighter tasks expect more then 10 hours of continuous usage before needing to recharge. That’s one point where the Iconia wins.

    Availability and price

    At first, at the end of April, the Acer Iconia Tab A500 will make an appearance in WiFi only form in US, with prices starting at $450, a good value that’s a little bit lower than the iPad 2′s starting price. Together with the tablet itself you’ll be able to purchase a bunch of official Accessories from Acer. The list, with prices, below:

    • Full size Bluetooth keyboard – $69.66
    • Dock with two tilt angles and IR remote – $79.99
    • Protective case with two angles desk stand – $39.99
    • Travel power adapter that works in North, Central and South America as well as the UK and Europe – $29.99

    Overall, the Acer Iconia Tab A500 is a very good deal if you’re hunting for a 10 inch tablet, but is plagued by the same problems as Motorola Xoom and ASUS EEE Pad Transformer and LG G-Slate: lack of apps and buggy software that are linked to Google’s rush to bring Honeycomb to market. Those problems will likely be solved in a few months, but for now the iPad 2 reigns supreme.

    Get pricing and availability details for Acer Iconia A500

    Conclusion

    It’s hard to find any problems with the Acer Iconia Tab A500 except the software, which I’m sure Google is working on right now to improve to a point where we won’t complain anymore about lack of apps and unpolished interface. The sweet $450 starting price point and solid battery life make me recommend this tablet for those who don’t like the iPad 2 and it’s Apple imposed limitations.

    Short video presentation Acer Iconia Tab A500: