The Iconia Tab A500 was launched alongside the Iconia Tab A100 and Iconia Tab W500 as part of Acer´s latest quest to get a foothold in the tablet market. The A500 and A100 both run on Android Honeycomb, specifically designed for tablet use (unlike earlier Android versions), while the W500 comes with Windows 7 as its OS of choice. While many may argue that Honeycomb offers a better touchscreen experience the W500 does come with an optional laptop dock that can provided a more old school experience which many may prefer.
The main difference between the two Android Iconia Tabs is that the A100 comes with a smaller 7″ screen compared to the A500´s 10″ beast of a display. This screen is fantastic for all things visual offering an exceptional level of quality and sharpness and is ideal for videos and gaming. The Iconia Tab A500 comes with a lot of processing power on board including a dual core processor, 2GB RAM and hardware graphics acceleration that make it one of the best tablets around for gaming.
The Iconia Tab A500 also comes with a 3 axis gyro sensor that can be used as a means for controlling games and other apps, by tilting the tablet in different directions (similar to the now ubiquitous accelerometer, but with more directions available). The screen is fully touch sensitive with support for multitouch and comes with one of the highest resolutions found on a tablet.
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The Iconia Tab A500 comes with 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity to help you hook up online whenever you feel the need and the tablet is a perfect device for all online activity. With the large screen being ideal for viewing web pages in all their glory, the Iconia Tab also comes with Adobe Flash and YouTube support so that you can enjoy online video and flash animations.
This is another area where the Iconia Tab A500 performs well with gaming, with support for online 3D gaming. In US markets the Iconia Tab will come with 4G LTE connections but, as these networks are not in place in the United Kingdom they will not be on offer with the UK version unfortunately. However, with the connectivity that is available you can enjoy many messaging features such as email and instant messaging as well as social networking through Acer´s SocialJogger application. This pools information from Facebook and Twitter as well as other social networks into one easy to manage interface.
While running on Android Honeycomb the Iconia Tab also comes with Acer´s specially designed interface with the homescreen divided into sections for gaming, reading, entertainment and social networking. The Iconia Tab supports full HD 1080p video playback and through HDMI you can watch these videos back through your home TV as well.
The Iconia Tab A500 is certainly one of the most high powered tablets on offer today, with its hardware allowing it to accomplish all tablet activities with ease. It comes with excellent online support and is one of the best tablets for gaming and entertainment. If the 10″ screen is perhaps a little too large for your liking, there is also the similar Iconia Tab A100 that comes in a more petite frame.
Editor’s Note: You can get this phone and associated contracts at our UK partner, Best Mobile Contracts