The Acer Iconia Tab A510 is finally available at our local stores. The Acer Iconia A510 is the successor of Iconia A500, an improved and upgraded version. The Iconia A510 is more powerful and faster, yet it’s lighter and smaller in dimension compared to the A500. Let’s compare their specifications side by side, and see what has changed.
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| Acer Iconia Tab A510 | Acer Iconia Tab A500 | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating System | Android v4 Ice Cream Sandwhich | Android v3.2 Honeycomb |
| Chipset | Nvidia Tegra 3 | Nvidia Tegra 2 |
| Processor | Quad Core 1.3GHz | 1GHz Dual Core Cortex A9 |
| GPU | ULP 12 Core GeForce | ULP GeForce |
| Dimensions | 259.1 x 175.3 x 10.2 mm | 260 x 177 x 13.3 mm |
| Weight | 680 grams | 730 g |
| Display | Capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors | Active Matrix TFT Color LCD, 256K |
| 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800 pixels, 149 ppi pixel density | 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800 pixels, 149 ppi pixel density | |
| Multitouch | Multitouch | |
| Acer UI | ||
| Rear Camera | 5 megapixel at 2592×1944 pixel with AF | 5 megapixel at 2592×1944 pixel with AF |
| Front Camera | 1 megapixel | 2 megapixel |
| Speaker | Stereo with Dolby Mobile 3 Technology | Stero Speakers |
| Audio Connectors | 3.5mm jack | 3.5mm jack |
| Memory Internal | 1GB DDR2 RAM, 32GB | 1GB DDR2 RAM, 16GB/32GB Storage |
| Memory External | microSD up to 32GB | microSD up to 32GB |
| Connectivity | WiFi 802.11 b/g/n | WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi hotspot |
| Bluetooth 2.1+EDR | Bluetooth 2.1 +A2DP, EDR | |
| 1 micro USB 2.0 | 1 micro USB 2.0 | |
| 1 micro HDMI | 1 micro HDMI | |
| Sensors | G-Sensor, E-Compass, L Sensor, Gyro-meter | G-Sensor, E-Compass, L Sensor, Gyro-meter |
| Battery | Li-Ion 9800 mAh | Li-Po 3260 mAh |
Display
At first look, you will not notice any difference in its display. Both of the Acer Iconia A510 and Iconia A500 has the same 10.1-inch LCD display, at 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. But despite the size and the resolution, the Acer Iconia Tab A510 has more colors compared to A500. The Iconia A510 is capable of 16 million colors, whereas the A500 has only 256,000 colors. This means that the images in the Iconia A510 are more vivid compared to the A500.
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Processing Power and Performance
It’s pretty obvious, there is no debate in here, the Acer Iconia Tab A510 is much faster and has more processing power compared to the Iconia A500. The Iconia A510 is powered by the new NVIDIA Tegra 3 4-PLUS-1 Quad Core processor clocked at 1.3GHz. Whereas the Iconia A500 is powered by the previous Tegra 2 dual core processor, based on Cortex A9 architecture, clocked at 1GHz.
Operating System
Out of the box, the Acer Iconia A510 runs on the latest Android v4 Ice Cream Sandwich. While the Iconia A500, by default, runs on Android 3.2 Honeycomb. The Ice Cream Sandwich is the better Operating System, since it has an improved appearance and performs better. But it’s not really a big issue, since you can upgrade the Iconia A500 to ICS also.
Size and Weight
The Acer Iconia A510 is slightly smaller in terms of its dimension by a few millimeters. But Acer has managed to remove 50 grams from A510’s weight compared to the A500 which weighs 730 grams. Weight is important, since you don’t to go around carrying a heavy tablet.
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Battery Life
The battery life has also improved. From 3260mAh Li-Po of the A500, to 9800mAh of the Acer Iconia A510. Because of the upgrade, battery life has also increased from 6 hours, to up to 15hrs. Now you can use your tablet longer.
This is also a necessary upgrade since quad core processors are known to drain more juice compared to dual core processors. But with the help of NVIDIA 4-PLUS-1 technology, power is conserved through the +1 core which is the Battery Saver Core.
Prices
Surprisingly, as of today, the 32GB Acer Iconia A510 is cheaper compared to the 32GB Acer Iconia A500. I do not know why. But the Iconia A510 is definitely a steal. I’m sure prices will change soon, its either the Iconia A510 price will goes up, or the Iconia A500 price will go down. Below are today’s best price.
For the Acer Iconia A510, we have the Olympic Black Edition and Olympic Silver Edition. Below are Iconia A510 best price as of today.
For the Acer Iconia Tab A500, we have the 8GB, 16GB and the 32GB version.
Which one will you choose? I’d definitely go for the Acer Iconia A510, over the A500. It has better specifications compared to the later, plus it’s cheaper.
You might also want to compare Acer Iconia Tab A510 vs Asus Transformer Prime TF201 and Asus Transformer Pad TF300 vs Acer Iconia Tab A510.
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