Really good tablet for under 200 euros are still a rarity. This reveals a number of manufacturers and try to do just that suitable products to bring to market. So even Acer, because with the Iconia A1-830, the manufacturer has introduced a mere 169 euros expensive 7.9 "tablet that will shine with a good build quality, a good screen and a solid performance. Whether the entry-level tablet has also convinced us, you learn in our Iconia Tab A1-830 test .
Test Device: Acer Iconia Tab A1-830 - price from about € 169 at Amazon
Software: Android 4.2.2 with customized UI
Hardware
Externally reminds the A1 without doubt significantly to the iPad Mini from Apple. This begins with the choice of material, because the back is like the much more expensive Apple tablet pretty good fabricated aluminum. In direct comparison with the small iPad but it is also clear that the Acer device here by far can not keep up: Small gaps and generally less precision in the processing are obvious here that you can for the price but do not expect otherwise. Nevertheless, the back, in which also the company logo and a logo for Intel Inside are stamped feels definitely better at than plastic and is a plus point for the Iconia. In addition, the rear nor the antenna module, the camera and continue down the rather poor speakers to be found. Although he is relatively loud, but even at medium volume it starts to rattle strong and sounds tinny.

On the front is located above the display, the front camera and the display returns to the manufacturer's logo. Unfortunately there is no message LED, which I think is a pity. Such a display for notifications is always very helpful in our eyes, but that is not absolutely necessary in a € 169 tablet.
On the top side of the device has the headphone output and the at that position somewhat unusual micro-USB port and a small microphone. You can usually find micro-USB ports even more on the device bottoms, chosen by Acer position but by far not a disadvantage. On the right side of the Tablets of the switch, Volume up / down rocker switch and an SD card slot has been installed. The buttons can all be quite good use, even if we were already testing some devices with better pressure points of controls.However, this is criticism at a high level. Anything other than criticism, in contrast, but the SD card slot.Such is always very useful and unfortunately in Tablets no default. So you can easily upgrade the factory 16GB memory in this case.

Overall, we like the device, by design, well, even if it can not connect to the significance of his role model, the iPad Mini by far. The Iconia A1 is easy with 380 g, with only 8.0 mm thin amazing (Height: 203.0 mm Width: 138.0 mm) and is also really good in the hand.
Display
Very important in a tablet is of course the display. In this case, this is a 7.9 "IPS display with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels in 4:3 format. This results in a pixel density of 163 pixels per inch. Who happen this data now, who thinks most likely to - right - the first generation iPad Mini. So here some parallels become clear again. However, both displays have in common is that the pixel density is not very high and therefore the presentation of content is rather pixelated. Photos or videos you can also order still pleasant to heart, with smaller texts, such as on websites, but this can quite disturbing. For an entry-level tablet that's still okay.

Apart from that, the display of the A1-830 very good viewing angles and is very bright, even if you will have problems when reading in sunlight. We are also noticed in the test that the display has a relatively strong yellow tinge, it may be natural but that this was only the case with this unit. In addition, a single pixel error in our test device to recognize of course that is to say negative, and a real coating appears to have been part of Acer not applied to the screen. It feels slightly "rough" and attracts fingerprints. And to also get rid of one last point of criticism, we noticed some small difficulties in the response of the capacitive touch screen. So we had now and then a little more press on the screen than usual, to perform an action. For the very low price of the tablet but the display is definitely in order. If one is accustomed to better, but so will a notice some disturbing factors to the panel.
Performance
In terms of performance the Acer Iconia A1-830 has really surprised us. Thanks to the dual-core Intel Atom processor, clocked at 1.6 GHz, the tablet runs very smoothly and accomplished everyday tasks such as Twitter, Facebook, or surfing pretty good. On the Web, partially small stuttering and load times can occur, but overall the performance is really satisfactory. 1GB RAM, the device, however, this is sometimes a bit too little. Thus, there are occasionally slight problems in multitasking, but the fall only rarely. Games like "Asphalt 8" run on this tablet, but you should not expect to be able to play graphics-intensive games such always backless one. For this, go small games such as "Mr. Flap "of course without any problems. All in all you get with the Acer tablet, a liquid operation of the UI and it can also expose some intensive tasks.
Some benchmark results compared to similar cheap tablets can be found in the following table:
| Acer Iconia Tab A1-830 | Asus FonePad 7 (ME175CG) | Nexus 7 2013 | Asus Fonepad 7 (ME371MG) | ASUS MeMo Pad HD 7 |
Peacekeeper: | 645 | 469 | 611 | - | 565 | 681 |
Antutu Benchmark: | 17341 | 14473 | 18897 | 5493 | 12782 | 18528 |
Quadrant Standard Benchmark: | 6243 | 6587 | 5733 | 2189 | 3864 | 5736 |
SunSpider: | 1203.2 ms | 1604.7 ms | 849.8 ms | 1267.6 ms | 1492.1 ms | 1050.0 ms |
Accumulator
Another positive aspect of the Icona A1 is the battery life. Thanks to the 4,000 mAh battery, the device can withstand under normal use two days without charge with almost no problems, and when something heavier use one days should also be possible without further notice. Particularly impressive aspect was the stand-by time, because you could leave the tablet for several days and still there were only a few percentage points less battery than before. For continuous video playback, Wi-Fi switched on and full screen brightness the A1 creates good seven hours - better than many high-end tablet.
Camera
As mentioned earlier, the tablet has both front and rear camera. The front camera is sufficient for Skype or short snapshots, otherwise provides the triggering with 5MP rear camera is also pretty decent results.Here, the camera interface is also quite easy to use and simple. Nevertheless, there are cameras in an entry-level tablet and here it is better to expect little. Because really great photos so you will barely shoot.
Software

The nearly most important part of a good tablet user experience is the software. Unfortunately, the A1 comes with Android 4.2.2 only Jelly Bean, which is a slightly older version of the Google system. This is a shame and I hope at this point to a future KitKat update, just because KitKat is designed for devices like the Iconia A1-830 with slightly lower specifications. Positive but the speed is noticed in any event that brings the system itself and especially that part of Acer not a great skin was placed over Android. The design looks mostly like stock Android and the like very much. In large additional features, the manufacturer has also waived, but some additional apps like your own file manager, a complete weather app or a photo app were integrated. These apps can use it if you want, or uninstall it easily. However, the software makes a good impression is easy to use and close to pure Android - at this point so a thumbs up! Nevertheless, a KitKat update would of course be great.
Conclusion
Acer Iconia A1-830
05/2014
Price: € 169The Acer Iconia A1-830 convinces by its price, for the good workmanship and a total solid user experience is offered.
Benefits- Price
- processing and design
- battery life
- SD card slot
Disadvantages- low display resolution
- Speakers
The Acer Iconia A1-830 is definitely worth a look if you are looking for a cheap tablet the 8 "class. The appearance along with the more than satisfactory processing, the SD card slot and the liquid software that is close to stock Android also are definitely pluses. Must be recalled also the bad speaker and the display, which unfortunately could not convince one hundred percent in our tests. Can you live with these criticisms, but you get quite a lot of tablet for a surprisingly low price offered - including a great battery life.In the League of cheap 8 "tablet, the Iconia A1-830 may count on definitely one of the better alternatives.