Review Acer Iconia B1-A71 Tablet and battery life
The tablet market is all set to explode if it still hasn't. Hardly a day passes where a new model is not announced. Most of the action in at the low end of the tablet where many manufacturers are trying to make money by selling large quantities of cheap tablets. Acer TravelMate 290 Battery We have had a large number of these cheap tablets hit our office coming at unheard prices of 130 Euros to 150 Euros (~$175 to $200). However, almost none of the devices came from well-known brands. The tablets were from companies like Trekstor, Pearl, Prestigo and cmx. Acer is the first big name that is trying its hand at making an ultra-cheap tablet. The PR coming out of Acer for the tablet mentions it to be light, handy and powerful. Acer TravelMate 290D Battery The biggest feature of the tablet is the excellent price of 120 Euros (~$160) which makes it an extremely attractive product if the other touted features are as good as what Acer makes them out to be. We have not tested a good cheap tablet and we find ourselves to be extremely curious about this offering.

The technical specifications sound promising, at least in the beginning. The 7-inch tablet is powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core CPU with Cortex A9 cores from MediaTek, supported by a PowerVR SX531 graphics chip from Imagination. Acer TravelMate 290E Battery Both are certainly not the most powerful components, but they aren't bottom of the barrel either. The working memory is 512 MB and the 8 GB internal memory can be expanded with a microSD card. Google's Nexus 7, which happens to this tablet's main rival, does not provide this option. The Nexus 7 and the Galaxy Tab 7.7 made the 7-inch form factor very popular. But the caveat is the resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels which is pretty low compared to the other (more expensive) tablets. Acer promises 70 degree viewing angle stability from every direction. Acer TravelMate 290ELC Battery To date, Acer's Iconia B1 is available in a Wi-Fi only version. Whether a 3G version will follow is not yet certain.

Acer's Iconia B1 is not one of the smallest 7-inch tablets out there, with dimensions of 197.4 and 128.5 millimeters. It is thicker than most other tablets at 11.3 mm. BUt the tablet is extremely light at only 320 g that makes it very comfortable to hold.

It is very obvious that Acer made several cut-backs in its choice of materials for construction and the build quality to keep the price of the product down. With exception of the screen panel, the entire device is made of cheap plastic which also affects the tablet's stability. Acer TravelMate 290ELCi Battery Light pressure is all that is needed to deform the body of the tablet (with ripples on the screen when the back is pressed in). This is also accompanied by creaking noises that would scare any user. The screen can be pushed in at the edges that creates a gaping space between the panel and the bezel. Acer's Iconia B1 build quality cannot be compared to the build quality of devices like Google's Nexus 7 and the Prestigio MultiPad 7.0. Acer TravelMate 290ELM Battery

Although the manufacturer dubs the color "Midnight Black", the tablet is completely framed by a blue border. The tablet looks like a toy and would most probably be used for the entertainment of kids. The price is low enough to make it an impulse buy for many customers.

Display

7 inches is the magic number for a portable device that can be considered to make a decent tablet. Acer TravelMate 290ELMi Battery The leaders Apple and Google paved the way with their iPad Mini and Nexus 7 tablets for the hype around this device category, which are both genuine premium tablets within different price ranges. Google's Nexus 7 excels with its HD resolution despite the low price. The iPad cannot compete with that and Acer's Iconia B1-A71 remains discreetly in the background with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. This WSVGA resolution leads to a rather unusual aspect ratio of 17:10. Acer TravelMate 290EXC Battery The pixel density is merely 170 ppi. For comparison: The Google Nexus 7 achieves a density of 216 ppi, which is good 27 percent higher. Remarkably, the 162 ppi of Apple's iPad Mini does not come close to the Acer although it is three times as expensive.

Not as remarkable, though positive, is the 7-inch screen's brightness. We ascertained a maximum brightness of 200 cd/m² in the center, which is not really a good number for a tablet. However, the uneven illumination of just 68 percent has much more significance. Acer TravelMate 290EXCi Battery The gauge recorded just 135 cd/m² in the upper left corner. This difference is visible with the naked eye. On the other hand, the low black value of 0.27 cd/m² appealed to us and results in a decent contrast of 741:1 despite the low brightness.

Performance

The buyer cannot expect a high-performance machine for 120 Euros. However, when drawing parallels to the automotive sector, the buyer must get a sufficiently powerful vehicle that can deal with normal, everyday requirements in all situations even in the entry-level sector. Acer TravelMate 290LC Battery That should not be different for tablets. Our experience however has taught us the opposite many a time.

Acer's Iconia Tab B1 makes a reasonable impression on paper. The system-on-a-chip (SoC) dubbed MediaTek MTK 8317T fuses a dual-core processor with Cortex A9 cores and a single-core GPU from Imagination called the PowerVR SGX531. The processor cores are clocked at 1.2 GHz each and are technically modern. Acer TravelMate 290LCi Battery Although there are stronger Cortex cores, the A9 is still built into high-end tablets. But, the single-core graphics chip is no longer relevant when compared to the latest chips.

With 833 points in the cross-platform benchmark GeekBench 2, the Acer Iconia B1 places itself in the lower section of the tablets tested to date by notebookcheck.com. This is quite decent. It even marginally outperforms the Apple iPad Mini and places itself ahead of other entry-level tablets like the Braun B-Tab 711. AnTuTu v3 confirmed this result in the overall score. Acer TravelMate 290LMi Battery AnTuTu's benchmarks also generally achieved the same results in the CPU, GPU and RAM parts.

An interesting aspect in the performance assessment is also the internal memory's performance. We used AndroBench 3 to test this. The B1 also looked quite impressive here, although we have doubts about the very high sequential read score. In any event, Acer has not made excessive cutbacks in the quality of the internal memory. adapter TravelMate 290XCi

Next we looked at the graphics performance. For this, it had to pass through AnTuTu's 3DRating and GLBenchmark 2.5.1. Regrettably, only the on-screen test worked with the tablet's native resolution in the latter. The off-screen test using the native resolution would be more comparable. The achieved 2.5 fps nevertheless clearly show that the graphics chip is low-end. AnTuTu's test also confirmed this. Acer TravelMate 290Xi Battery

The Acer Iconia B1 can be used for routine tasks like running Paint or Internet browsing rather than a gaming machine. We checked the tablet's performance in this category with browser-based tests. One of the best known benchmarks is Sunspider version 0.9.1 Java-script test. The B1 scored remarkably well here. With just 1395 milliseconds, it even outperforms much stronger devices like the Google Nexus 7. Acer TravelMate 290XMi Battery Other low-budget tablets like the Braun B-Tab 711 are completely beaten. The benchmarks Peacekeeper and Google v8 recorded the same results. Acer's tablet also impresses with above-average performance here and proves that Internet surfing is its purpose. However, it did not score quite as well in Browsermark 2. Nevertheless, its browser performance is generally good. And considering the price, there is absolutely nothing to complain about. Acer TravelMate 290XVi Battery

Games

We already mentioned about the installed graphics solution in the course of this review. Acer's Iconia B1 with the PowerVr SGX531 is certainly not a gaming tablet. Nevertheless, the performance is sufficient for most games. Popular games like Angry Birds and Air Attack HD are no problem for the tablet. adapter Acer TravelMate 291 Even more demanding racing simulations like Raging Thunder 2 and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit ran smoothly for the most part. The third person shooter ShadowGun was also playable. However, we can verify that the GPU is limited in its ability to play more modern titles. We can certainly say that future titles designed for tablets having SOCs based on the 28 nm process would be unplayable. Acer TravelMate 291LCi adapter

Temperature

Acer's Iconia B1 definitely does not have thermal problems. This would be due to its middling performance components compared to premium tablets. The surface temperatures were always within a tolerable range. Even hour-long loaded runs for the Stability Test did not let the temperatures exceed 38 degrees Celsius. The power supply unit also remained within an acceptable temperature range at a relatively cool 41 degrees Celsius. The temperatures remained even lower in routine use. Acer TravelMate 291LCi-G Battery The device only gets lukewarm at a few measuring points.

Power Consumption

According to Acer, a 2720 mAh lithium ion battery is installed in the tablet. The battery is one of the smaller ones in the 7-inch tablet form-factor. The power consumption in different load scenarios is crucial for the battery life though. A power consumption between 1.2 and 3.1 watts is pretty good for such a device. For comparison, the Apple iPad Mini consumes up to 5.6 watts here. Acer TravelMate 291Lmi Battery However, it also features a much brighter screen. The power consumption climbed up to 6.2 watts during load. This is still reasonable although not very economical in view of the entry-level SoC.

Battery Runtime

The comparatively low power consumption stirs hope for good battery runtimes despite the small battery. We performed three runtime tests in different load states. Acer TravelMate 291LMi-G Battery The maximum battery runtime is ascertained using server-side scripting, which is automatically opened using minimum brightness and, except for Wi-Fi, all communication modules turned off. Acer's entry-level tablet lasted for a good 12 hours in this scenario and is one of the best for a 7-inch device. Devices like the Apple iPad Mini and the Google Nexus 7, are in a league of their own. Acer TravelMate 291XCi Battery

The minimum battery runtime during full CPU and GPU load was a decent 2:51 hours. Our Wi-Fi surf test, using a brightness of 150 cd/m², is particularly important. Here, a new website is opened every 40 seconds. Acer's Iconia B1 runs for almost five and a half hours and again places itself at the top of the list with this result. However, it is far from reaching the 12 hours achieved by Apple's iPad Mini. Acer TravelMate 291XCiH Battery

Altogether, Acer's B1 scores with good battery runtimes. We have not observed this in many devices in this price range yet. The 10 watt power supply unit needed a bit over two hours to completely recharge the battery.

Kudos to Acer! It was clear right from outset of this review that the Acer Iconia B1 was not fighting for a crown in the tablet market. Nevertheless, we had very high expectations for the first "low-budget" tablet from a brand manufacturer. And Acer did not let us down. Charger Acer TravelMate 292 The B1 is the first tablet at a price of 120 Euros (RRP) that is an attractive buy. However, it was to be expected that the buyer has to make compromises in the hardware to keep the device price down.

A price of 120 Euros is pretty obvious when you look at the workmanship and choice of materials. Acer made cutbacks here, but the price has to match the hardware or Acer would struggle with the overheads. The configuration is above-average for this price range. Acer TravelMate 292ELC Battery A SoC with a dual-core processor based on the Cortex A9 is not a matter of choice, as a look at some other low-budget devices proves. The GPU is not the newest but the choice is good. 8 GB of memory is not generous, but can be inexpensively expanded using an SD card, unlike tablets from Google or Apple. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPU are also available and are the best possible for this price range. However, the GPS sensor disappointed us. Charger Acer TravelMate 292ELCi The battery runtime and user experience were decent. The device does not let its user down here.

Other points of criticism? Sure, there's plenty. The screen is based on the outdated TN technology, is not very bright and the illumination is very uneven. That could have been avoidable. The camera is, with due respect, a joke. Omitting it would have been a better solution.

All said and done, Acer fulfills its promise and provides an affordable tablet for first-time users, or as a second device or a throw-away device for the children. If these requirements fit the needs of the user, then this tablet would be a good buy. Acer TravelMate 292ELM Battery The wish for a stronger device will always be there, but for a first-time user, the device is a great learning tool.

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