14 DAY TRIAL // If have you followed our coverage of IFA 2014, you might remember we told you Acer had brought along in Berlin one of its latest budget tablets, called the Iconia One 8, which is part of its Android range.
Now it appears the slate will not only be made available on the European continent but will soon be on sale in the US.
We can share this information with you because the slate has just been spotted going through the FCC, the place all new electronic products must visit before hitting retail in the US.
The full name of the tablet is Acer Iconia One B1-810, but it is code-named Vesper 8 in the FCC filling. Anyway, the tablet is going to be a budget one, coming with mid-range specifications we’re going to be detailing in a few.
Acer Iconia One 8 is a smudge-free colorful tablet
Back when it launched it, Acer called the slate a “colorful, stylish tablet for everybody,” and this seems an accurate description of this little device we had the pleasure of handling at IFA 2014.
Acer will offer the product in a choice of 10 lively colors that should match any user’s personal style. Back at the Berlin trade-show, we were told the tablet will be marketed for around €149 / $149, so as you can see, you can’t expect any high-end specifications.
The slate comes with an 8-inch screen with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution and lives off an Intel Atom Z3735G quad-core processor.
Acer has a Windows 8.1 model with similar specs too
Specification-wise, the tablet is identical to the Iconia Tab 8 W with the difference that the latter takes advantage of Microsoft’s budget Windows 8.1 with Bing operating system. Acer will be marketing the device for the same price it does its Android counterpart.
So for customers looking to purchase a budget slate from Acer, choice will boil down to which operating system they prefer.
Anyway, going back to the colorful Acer Iconia One 8 , the slate runs Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box, so you’ll be off the hook with updates, at least until Android L comes out.
This is a great plus to take into consideration when buying the tablet, as Acer has been known to be quite slow with providing updates.
As owners of the Acer Iconia A1-830 already know too well, they had to wait months on-end before Acer finally rolled out the Android 4.4.2 KitKat update.
Another positive aspect of the tablet is that it comes with an anti-fingerprint coating, so you can kiss goodbye screen smudges. As we could see for ourselves at IFA 2014, the system is quite effective.
