Acer Iconia Tab 8 Review: Can It Really Handle a Life of Travel?.

We’re always looking to minimize our packing list. Some of the heaviest offenders can be found in our tech backpack , in particular the need to travel with two computers. I’m looking to slim down our electronics footprint again, and this time I’m going to see if I can make an 8-inch Android tablet work for our travel blogging lifestyle.

A year ago I proudly announced that I ditched my laptop for a 10-inch Intel tablet for travel. That tablet, which contains an Intel Atom Clover Trail processor, runs a full version of Windows 8 and boasts 10 hours of battery life. I found it really easy to use for working on the road, as it’s essentially like having a mini-desktop computer in your pack (I carry a Bluetooth travel keyboard and mouse). My main issues with it were the lack of apps in the Windows Store and the processors lack of power to play the latest games in the app store.

While we bounced around Europe this summer for the Must Love Festivals project, I carried my laptop with me for the first time in more than a year. I swapped out my tablet right before leaving because I couldn’t find my mouse and didn’t have a chance to buy a replacement. From the start, I noticed the increased weight compared to the tablet. You wouldn’t think a few pounds would make that much of a difference but it did. Then came the shoddy battery life–approximately four hours. After a couple of days, I longed for my tablet. But I also wondered if I could go even smaller without sacrificing my work flow?

Well, I just got back a couple of days ago from a road trip with my mom and grandparents to Williamsburg, Virginia. In fact, mi madre is still with us in New England for a few days (say hi Mom!), and I’m happy to say I went smaller and I loved it. I took Acer’s newest tablet, the Iconia Tab 8, on our trip, and I was able to do everything I needed to do for work–blogging, freelancing writing, light photo edits, answering emails, and updating social media–with the aid of my Bluetooth keyboard. Plus, because the tablet runs Android I’m able to access the Google Play store which boasted the entertainment aspect of the tablet immensely. Not only could I play graphics-rich games, like Fifa 14 and Real Racing 3, but the size of the tablet also made reading on the tablet much more enjoyable, as the Tab 8 felt more like a paperback novel in my hands.

The easiest way to describe Acer’s newest tablet is to look where it draws its inspiration from, the iPad mini. From its white profile and silver metal back, to the Iconia 8’s weight and thickness, Acer has stepped to the plate with this tablet. I absolutely love the size and feel of the 8-inch slate in my hand. Where as the 10-inch tablet felt okay to the touch, I found it a bit awkward to type on with my thumbs, no matter if I was using it in landscape or portrait, which lead to typos.

What I like about the Tab 8, though, is that it performs just as good as it looks. Just 8.5 millimeters thick, the tablet boasts Intel’s latest Atom processor, Bay Trail, a quad core dynamo whose power and quickness can handle the most demanding mobile games available, not to mention video playback and web browsing, and runs Android’s newest OS, Kitkat. Intel has become a master of squeezing long battery life out of its processors, and the Tab 8 gets a solid 7.5 hours–perfect for those long travel days. And since the tablet is charged through the micro-usb port, the battery life can essentially be doubled with the aid of a battery pack like a Jockery.

And to bring it back full circle, the Tab 8 also looks as good as it performs; this time, though, I’m not talking about its slim figure. Acer hooked the 8-inch tablet up with a full HD display (1920 x 1200) with IPS wide-viewing technology and zero air gap that makes everything pop. With that said, I found the brightness to be lacking in direct sunlight leading to glare, something I hope Acer will fix in future iterations of the tablet. Beyond that though,the display is simply gorgeous and rivals many of the top-rated tablets on the market.

Intel has become a master of squeezing long battery life out of its processors, and the Tab 8 gets a solid 7.5 hours–perfect for those long travel days. And since the tablet is charged through the micro-usb port, the battery life can essentially be doubled with the aid of a battery pack like a Jockery.

The Tab 8 that I’m testing also features a micro-HDMI port, a micro-SD slot, and the new and improved Bluetooth 4.0. Additionally, the tablet has a front camera (2mp) and a rear camera (5mp) that’s just okay in terms of image quality. Personally, this isn’t a big deal to me since I like to shoot with my phone. One feature, however,  that is sadly lacking from the Tab 8 is the ability to do a screenshot. It’s a minor feature, but one I do use on a regular basis for work.

On the road, the Intel tablet handled most of my work needs without a problem. Though, I did put in some time learning the Android OS before leaving on the trip. And, in all honesty, most of the minor issues I encountered had to do with Android and not the tablet itself.

For example, one of the biggest hurdles I had in the past with the Android OS was WordPress.  Ultimately, this is the make it or it break it test for me, since we are after all bloggers. I was happy to find that WordPress was doable, much more so than it was a couple of years ago. The key here is that you have to use the text editor and not the visual one, as the latter made it difficult to scroll through the post. While it’s not as smooth as I’d like it to be, and it still has a few quirks, such as images breaking when I tried to upload them from One Drive, I was able to publish from the Tab 8 in roughly the same amount of time it would take me on my laptop or Windows 8 tablet.  It’s important to note,  however,  that I used the website to publish and not the app,  which I find to be best for editing and uploading images since its a lot more basic than the website.

To give you a better idea of how the Tab 8 performed, I’ve put together a pros and cons list. My hope is that this will help you in deciding if the Tab 8 (or one of the other Intel Tablets) could also work for you on your travels.

Know Before You Buy: The Pros and Cons of the Acer Iconia Tab 8

As you can see, the list speaks for itself. I’m excited about the results as I loved the size, weight and power of the 8-inch tablet. The Acer Iconia Tab 8 is scheduled to be released this fall; though, the company hasn’t given an exact date yet. And early reports have the tablet priced under $300. Once I have more information about its release date and pricing, I’ll let you guys know. In the meantime, though, feel free to reach out to me in the comments about any questions you may have about the tablet or my workflow on the road with it.

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Would you ever ditch your laptop for a tablet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Disclosure:

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