Acer Iconia W4 hands-on, first impressions

A couple of days ago, Acer Philippines introduced to us their new campaign for the Acer I.T. Doctor and handed us their latest Windows 8.1 tablet, the Acer Iconia W4.

The Iconia W4 was first introduced back in December (see our story here).

With a suggested retail price of only Php18,990, it’s probably the most affordable Intel Bay Trail-touting Windows 8.1 tablet to date.

The bundle comes with a wireless Bluetooth keyboard and a carrying case that doubles as a stand. With the keyboard always on board, the Iconia W4 can practically replace a typical netbook. Connect it to a mouse (either via Bluetooth or via the microUSB port which comes with a full USB adaptor) and you’re set to do anything you want, even as far as play a game of DoTA.

The Windows 8.1 tablet has an 8-inch display with HD resolution (1280×800 pixels) using IPS technology and looks much better than most other netbooks or laptops.

The device has a bit of heft (430 grams) for its size and also not very thin (10.8mm) but even when you combine it with the keyboard and the case-stand, it’s still manageable and portable.

The tablet-netbook only has a 32GB internal storage for the OS and other software application but you can still upgrade the capacity with 32GB more via a microSD card slot (limited to file storage only though).

There’s a micro-HDMI port so you are able to hook it up to a monitor or bigger display using an HDMI cable.

The budnled keyboard is quite small to match the size of the display. It’s usable but might take a bit while to get used to especially if you’re used to speed-typing.

Acer Iconia W4-820 specs:
8-inch IPS display with Zero Air Gap @ 1280×800 pixels, 189ppi
Intel Atom Z3740 quad-core processor @ 1.33GHz
2GB LPDDR3 RAM
32GB eMMC
up to 32GB microSD card slot
5 megapixel rear camera
2 megapixel front-facing
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
microUSB port 2.0
microHDMI w/ HDCP support
4,960mAh, 8-hour battery life
218 x 135 x 10.8mm
430 g
Windows 8.1

The Iconia W4 comes pre-installed with Windows 8.1 including a free, lifetime license of Microsoft Office 2013 Home and Student Edition (worth Php4k).

Acer promises up to 8 hours of battery life on a single full charge. Based on previous experience with similarly-specced tablets, it can achieve that time with light to moderate use.

With an SRP of only Php18,990, the Iconia W4 bundle is looking to be an attractive and affordable offer to folks looking at entry level Windows 8 tablet for productivity and portability.

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

8 Comments

Ed says:

10 years ago

Been using this for the pass 4 months, i absolutely love the tablet, it rans autocad and sketchup how cool can that be, i dont need a bulky bag for a laptop everything fits into a small messenger bag. Good work acer :)
- Reply
jcruze057 says:

10 years ago

Di ba pwede sa 64gb yung microsd?
- Reply
Freeje says:

11 years ago

A better alternative with stylus support (WACOM) and a little bit faster (1.86GHz) is the ASUS VivoTab Note 8 but minus HDMI. Would have been great if it had one. Good for note taking or drawing and only for $349 for the 64GB version. $300 for the 32GB version.
- Reply
hanz says:

11 years ago

finally!!Intel Atom na Quad Core,congratssss Acer. . . nice job,keep it up
- Reply
Hen-Sheen says:

11 years ago

For Windows 8 I see. Microsoft came to their senses and finally revived the use of the Start button via the 8.1 update! Abe Olandres, I hope you guys from Yugatech would review other tech such as TV’s, Blu-Ray’s, DVD’s, and others….
- Reply
tamangpresyo says:

11 years ago

16,500 na nga lang to sa CMK eh…
http://www.cmkcellphones.com/Acer/ACER_W4-820_tablet.html
- Reply
diego delos santos says:

11 years ago

hello, the last time I saw a month ago sa booth nila the w4 at sm megamall is P17k with the Bluetooth keyboard. I tried it pero naliliitan ako sa screen. im looking for a field pc that can do the job. masyado mahal Lenovo miix 2 na 10″ or 11″ (still looking baka bumaba ang price) and affordable asus transformer pero masyado mabigat ilagay sa bag or pouch pg dala ang keyboard.
- Reply
carlokill says:

11 years ago

can you run linux with it?
- Reply

YugaGaming