Acer Iconia W4-820
By Deepanshu Kumar, March 6th, 2014
Being the first entrant in the 8 inch windows 8 tablet with Iconica W3, Acer has now rolled out a new device with an improved IPS display and a faster Intel Atom quad-core processor in a compact design, the Iconica W4. Cutting through the completion, it also comes along with a free copy of Office Home and Student. But to what extent does it turn out to be a perfect blend of entertainment and portability for you? Let check out what it exactly offers.
Display
The Iconica W4 offers a 1280x800 pixel 8” IPS display that will give you rich colour and crisp details while watching a 1080p video on it. The viewing angles are abundant. You’ll have a similar experience while reading text on the browser and docs. The Iconia W4 registered 343 lux on our brightness meter, less than the tablet category average of 356 lux, the Venue 8 Pro's 360 lux and the Miix 2's stunning 534 lux. However, the W4 fared better than the 331-lux Encore.
Interface
Iconica W4 runs Windows 8.1 along with a few updates from Microsoft that makes using the tablet quite easy. From the lock screen itself you will be able to answer Skype calls, play a slideshow of your pictures, receive updates for apps and much more. You may find it annoying that tapping the power button shuts the tablet down instead of locking the screen. You can reassign this yourself under Power Options, but it's an unnecessary extra step. You can also use the traditional Desktop environment, which now features a Start button. While it still won't launch a Start menu when you tap it (brings you back to the colorful Live Tiles instead), long-tapping the Start button lets you pull up options for Task Manager, Control Panel, File Explorer, Programs and Features and more.
Camera
The 5 MP rear camera might not able to impress you because of its dull and fuzzy pictures but is still capable of recording 720p videos. The front facing 2 MP camera is will give dull and grainy pictures but will somehow let you make video calls from the tablet. So those of you who are waiting for a better picture quality from their tablets cameras will have to wait a little more.
Processor
The Acer Iconica W4 is powered by a 1.33-GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3740 processor backed by 2GB of RAM, the Iconia W4 delivered mixed performance during daily use. It boots up in 10 seconds which is faster than most of the tablets in this range and the same as that of Dell’s Venue Pro Windows Tablet.
Battery Backup
Iconica possesses a 4,960 mAh battery that lasts upto 8 hours and 25 minutes i.e more than an average tablet.
The Iconica W4 offers a 1280x800 pixel 8” IPS display that will give you rich colour and crisp details while watching a 1080p video on it. The viewing angles are abundant. You’ll have a similar experience while reading text on the browser and docs. The Iconia W4 registered 343 lux on our brightness meter, less than the tablet category average of 356 lux, the Venue 8 Pro's 360 lux and the Miix 2's stunning 534 lux. However, the W4 fared better than the 331-lux Encore.
Interface
Iconica W4 runs Windows 8.1 along with a few updates from Microsoft that makes using the tablet quite easy. From the lock screen itself you will be able to answer Skype calls, play a slideshow of your pictures, receive updates for apps and much more. You may find it annoying that tapping the power button shuts the tablet down instead of locking the screen. You can reassign this yourself under Power Options, but it's an unnecessary extra step. You can also use the traditional Desktop environment, which now features a Start button. While it still won't launch a Start menu when you tap it (brings you back to the colorful Live Tiles instead), long-tapping the Start button lets you pull up options for Task Manager, Control Panel, File Explorer, Programs and Features and more.
Camera
The 5 MP rear camera might not able to impress you because of its dull and fuzzy pictures but is still capable of recording 720p videos. The front facing 2 MP camera is will give dull and grainy pictures but will somehow let you make video calls from the tablet. So those of you who are waiting for a better picture quality from their tablets cameras will have to wait a little more.
Processor
The Acer Iconica W4 is powered by a 1.33-GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3740 processor backed by 2GB of RAM, the Iconia W4 delivered mixed performance during daily use. It boots up in 10 seconds which is faster than most of the tablets in this range and the same as that of Dell’s Venue Pro Windows Tablet.
Battery Backup
Iconica possesses a 4,960 mAh battery that lasts upto 8 hours and 25 minutes i.e more than an average tablet.