Tegra 3 devices are about to fill up the market. NVIDIA’s press conference last night was quite impressive, but the surprises did not stop there. After showing up at the NVIDIA booth here at CES2012, the team had a small surprise for us; they had a couple of unannounced Tegra 3, Android 4.0 tablets on display.
These tablets are the Acer Iconia Tab A510 and the ZTE 7. Both have Tegra 3 quad-core processors and come packed with Android 4.0.1 Ice Cream Sandwich. We do not know much about the devices, since the team was not allowed to talk to much about them. But these little tablets don’t look bad at all.
Acer Iconia Tab A510
The Iconia A510 is a 10-inch tablet that feels much like the original A500. It is about the same thickness and weight, but offers a notable performance boost as expected from the Tegra 3 chipset. The device runs rather smoothly, and while I had an issue with the touchscreen while gaming (happened with both tablets), games generally loaded quite fast and control response was what you can expect out of a Tegra 3 tablet. The device also has Ice Cream Sandwich and a front-facing and rear-facing camera.
This tablet actually has a bit of added functionality to it, which you may like or may hate. It’s a modification to the stock Ice Cream Sandwich experience. As you can see in the images, there’s a dot in the middle of the notification bar. After you tap on that, an enhanced virtual command center (of sorts) pops out. This allows you to control the volume, as well as access app shortcuts and your favorite bookmarks. Take a look at the features in the video to see what the experience is like.
It is definitely something different, and as we mentioned it is something many of you won’t like (non-stock). But it really doesn’t make a huge difference, unless you find it too annoying to see the dot there all the time. The middle of the notification bar has always been unused space, though, so it can be convenient to use it for some added functionality.
ZTE 7
This little guy is a 7-inch tablet, but don’t let its small size fool you. It’s as smooth as the Acer Iconia Tab A510 and in some ways matches the performance of the Transformer Prime. It would be a great device for those who like the 7-inch form-factor. With ASUS announcing its new $250-dollar Tegra 3 tablet, this tablet has to at least match that little beast.
The ZTE 7 tab has 16GB of internal storage, a Tegra 3 processor and Android 4.0, as well as a front-facing and rear-facing camera. It has a minimalistic look, at least in the front. The is very good looking, though, with a chromed outline and a black rubberized back.
Wrap-Up
We do not know anything about the prices and release dates yet, but we expect these tablets will be announced soon. Get ready, guys! The market is about to be flodded with quad-core tablets. Acer’s A500 was one of the cheapest Honeycomb devices around last year, and we think Acer will market the A510 similarly. ZTE is not a very popular manufacturer, which generally translates to lower prices, so both tablets should be affordable once they hit the market.
Stay tuned for the announcement or check out the gallery below for a closer look. Would you guys get one of these if they hit the right price? What would be a fair price for these?
Gallery
