Hands on: Acer Iconia A1 review

The big tablet battleground has moved away from the 10-inch market, with manufacturers far more interested in creating smaller devices. At 7.9-inches, Acer's remodeled Iconia A1 tablet is one such tablet, aiming to go up against the Nexus 7, Asus Fonepad and Galaxy Note 8.0. It's Acer's chance to have a device crowned king of the low-cost Android tablets.

Of course, its size draws inevitable comparisons to the iPad mini, but with prices starting at €159, it's clear the similarities with Apple's best-selling tablet end at the screen dimensions.

Going toe to toe with the Google Nexus 7 and the FonePad, the Acer Iconia A1 boasts a quad Core 1.2GHz processor, which keeps things nice and smooth. You can flip and navigate the OS with ease, and it lends to a buttery smooth experience, as you'd expect with a device running Jelly Bean 4.2.2.

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