Acer Chromebook Tab 10 review: The start of something beautiful

Chromebooks are extremely popular in schools around the world, but they do not offer the portability of an iPad or Surface device. That's why Google Chrome is partnering with manufacturers to launch OS OS tablet. The first of these is the $ 346 Chromebook Tab 10 from Acer, which was announced back in March this year.

A cheap Chrome OS tablet looks great to be true, but it is not for everyday users. This education is ready to market. If you want one raise one, but first, read about why you should not - to know that unless you work for school. Here's our Acer Chromebook Tab 10 review.

The design

Keep this in mind in this review: Acer Chromebook tab 10 is not trying to compete with consumer-grade iPad or Surface tablet. It was made in the minds of the children, and it is also not trying to be an attractive tablet, which is right for all your needs.

This is especially true with the design of tab 10. It is made of succulent plastic, with a textured back which makes it easy to catch. At 1.2 pounds it is also a bit heavy. It looks like it looks like what you see in a school - it does not sit much on a coffee table in someone's home. 

The bejels around the display are large, making it easy to capture in both Landscape and Portrait mode. Above top, you will get a headphone jack (yay!), A microphone and three speaker cutouts. On the left are Power Buttons, Volume Keys, MicroSD Card Slots, and Stylus (more on that later). Below are three more speaker cutouts and USB type-c ports. You can use this type-p port to charge or hook external hardware such as display, keyboards and rats.

 I am not able to test the tablet while it is embedded on the external monitor, unfortunately. Overall, I like the design of this tablet. This is a simple, no-frills device for the classroom.

The Acer Chromebook tab plays 10 9.7-inch IPS LCD display - the size of Apple's new learning-focused iPad. It does not compete with the iPad's screen quality, but it is quite good. It has a resolution of 4: 3 aspect ratio and 2,048 x 1,536, which results in a pixel density of 264ppi. It is good to see an angle, and it can be very bright and dull. Although the screen is hot, there is no option to tweak it in the settings menu.

Display and hardware:

The most notable "extra" hardware feature with Tab 10 is its speak stylus. Stuck on the edge of the tablet, Stylus provides an easy way to screenshots users, take notes, draw and zoom in things. This is using the electro-magnetic resonance (EMR) technology you've got in Samsung's Chromebook Stylus. This allows the stylus to work without built-in battery or Bluetooth connection.

 

 The stylus itself is decent. It's small and light. It may be difficult to catch for an extended period because it is too small, but I think that kids will not have any problem in sketching the doodle and taking notes with it. Samsung's S Pen does not have any additional hardware buttons in the side, but it's still super functional. Removing the stylus enables a small menu with screenshots and note-taking shortcuts. It is quite easy.

In addition, since Acer Chromebook 10 can run Android apps, you can download any note-taking apps from the Play Store if you want something more powerful than Google Keep.

There are six speaker cutouts in this tablet, but do not let it fool you - this is very quiet. I'm not sure that the speakers will be quite vigorous for children to listen to the video inside the classroom filled with other children, although I did not test it.

If you are using an app at a time, Acer Chromebook Tab 10 is a solid artist. Dual Core Rockchip RK 3399 and 4GB are enough to launch RAM apps, but it fights with multitasking. There is a fair amount of interval when switching between two apps at one time.

 This will definitely not be a good tool for consuming media or casting things on your TV, which is worth explaining to the targeted demographic of the tablet. Students may not use this device as hard as I can.

Another reason this tablet is not clearly for consumers: cameras Tab 10 has 5 MP rear and 2 MP front camera, both of which are less than passable. It seems that they are directly out of the 2010 Flip Phone era. They may be fine for classroom use, but it's about it.

Acer says that the Chromebook tab 10 can run on a single charge for up to nine hours, and I would say it's right. Teachers will be able to get them plugged in these days.

The keyboard:

The software keyboard on tab 10 is the same keyboard as the other touchscreen Chrome OS device. It certainly does not compare to the gobbles, and typing can be extremely disappointing. Text prediction and improvements are not exactly accurate in the form of goggles.

 In addition, for some reason, the keyboard is set to capitalize the first letter in each word on some Android apps, and you can not turn it off. If you are using normal Android apps like Google Keep or Docs, then it breaks down the typing experience alone. To be worth it, it's not on Chrome Web App.

Fortunately, Tab 10 pairs are there with any Bluetooth keyboard, so this is the option if teachers want their students to write long form essays or like. Acer, however, does not offer a Bluetooth keyboard built for this tablet, which is a bumar.

Acer needs to create a folio cover with a built-in keyboard, like what is the Surface tablet. Obviously, this tablet will defeat the purpose of keeping the form factor, but the option to include one in each order would be good - especially because this garbage software will be ready for the keyboard. Belkin Chrome OS tablet creates a wired keyboard for schools that can connect with this tablet, if they do so.

On the bright side, Gore is obviously coming in to Chrome OS in this fall. It will significantly improve the typing experience.

Software:

In addition to keyboard problems, this is the same Chrome OS experience you'll find on any other Chromebook. I will not go into the basics of Chrome OS in this review - I will save it for Gary - but I will talk about my experiences using this as the main computer in addition to the Android app.

It's still a desktop-level OS, which means that some things are hard to do on a tablet. Automatically hides the "status bar" at the top of the screen about every web and Android app, so if you want to close the app, you need to swipe down from top to bottom every time. On Chromebooks with a physical keyboard (and thus a trackpad), the "X" button appears automatically. The workflow is just easy on the full computer.

The Android app still needs some work on Chromebooks. They are not compatible with all Chrome OS, and some compatible people will not open anyway. Gboard is available in the Play Store, but can not be set as the input method. Some Android apps work perfectly, and when they do this, it's great. Multitasking with Android apps and Chrome browsers makes an amazing experience.

Educational attributes

The Acer Chromebook tab 10 supports Google campaigns, which lets you take virtual field trips from the comfort of your desk. The tablet will also support AR campaign in future, ultimately allowing students to see objects in real reality in the classroom.

The IT department will be able to manage these tablets with Chrome Management Console. Each student can have their profile with their own login information, so all data loaded on a person's account will remain on that account.

Specification:

	Acer Chromebook Tab 10 (D651N-K9WT)
Display	9.7-inch IPS LCD 2,048 x 1,536 resolution ~264ppi 4:3 aspect ratio
SoC	Rockchip RK3399 Dual-core Cortex-A72 and quad-core Cortex-A53 processors 2GHz
GPU	Mali T860
RAM	4GB LPDDR3
Storage	32GB MicroSD expansion
Cameras	Rear: 5MP sensor, 720p HD audio and video recording Front: 2MP sensor, 720p HD audio and video recording
Battery	34Wh 8,860mAh Lithium-polymer Up to 9 hours
Stylus	Wacom EMR
Connectivity	802.11ac 2x2 MIMO dual-band Wi-Fi Bluetooth 4.1 USB 3.1 Type-C
Software	Chrome OS
Dimensions and weight	172.2 x 238.2 x 9.9mm 544.3g
Color	Indigo blue

I think it's clear that Chrome OS is not ready for the mainstream tablet market. A lot of things are not yet optimized for the tablet form factor. However, Google issues continuous updates for the operating system, so things will change in the coming weeks and months.