A short review of the Acer Iconia W4

Roderick Aspiras

New member
Feb 4, 2013
309
0
0
Visit site
I just bought this a few days ago. I'm from Manila, Philippines and it cost P18,900 (32GB version). I'm pretty satisfied with this tablet. Battery life is amazing. It lasts more than a day of casual use. Casual means grabbing it, surfing the web, facebook, youtube videos and emails and putting it to sleep and using it sparringly with my laptop. Battery is really good. My thoughts:

The good:

* Battery life. I don't have the exact numbers because it really depends on your usage but mine lasts for more than a day of moderate usage.
* Screen is a huge improvement over the W3. The screen on the W4 is very good. Its not 1080p but it serves its purpose. Text and graphics are crisp and clear. Viewing angles are good.
* Build quality is good although some people may not want the slippery brushed dark aluminum paint scheme but works for me. There are stickers at the back (Intel, Windows log and serial number which you can easily remove if desired)
* WIFI reception is good (not sure if this has dual antennas)
* Boot time is very good (fastest is around 5 seconds no kidding).
* No bloatware or AV pre-installed although I have removed some Acer programs. 12GB free afterwards.
* Home buttons is I think executed well, its not capacitive and you don't hit it by accident.
* INCLUDES CRUNCH KEYBOARD AND micro-USB adapter cable --Yes and Yes. This sets it apart from Dell, Lenovo and even the Toshiba. I don't know what Asus is offering since they also plan to release an 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablet.

The not so good:

* Weight - I would have gotten the Mixx 2 but it does not have microHDMI. I can say its manageable.
* Speaker is not that loud so a good headphone is a must.
* Camera is what is expected its not that good but video is okay (how is that? I don't know). Decent shots in well lit places.
* Screen mirroring for some reason has been disabled or not working. Same as for Dell and Lenovo. Not sure why. But it defeats the purpose of having to project it to a bigger screen. Example, how do you get back an app to the main screen once it goes to the extended screen? If there's a mouse no problem but that is not the point here.

I cannot say that Windows 8.1 is a strength or weakness because it has not mature yet but it does the job. I hope they can fix the scaling in the desktop mode so it will be optimized for touch. I would suggest anyone who has an 8 inch Windows 8.1 tablet to set the scaling to 125% or 150% for better touch experience. Setting the zoom for IE (metro) to 120% helps too.

And before I forget, some modern apps are inconsistent because even though you lock orientation to portrait mode, some apps override it since it only works in landscape mode.

I did not include pictures because there's always plenty out there over the net. One thing I cannot confirm is the GPS. The specs mentions about GPS but I can't get some apps to work without Internet connection.

Overall I'm very happy with my purchase and I will keep this. I will give this 4 out of 5 stars.
 

rav16

New member
Aug 17, 2013
128
0
0
Visit site
I played around with one today .

The build quality is very good . It doesnt give that typical cheap plastic look . It looks solidly build .The screen too looks nice . But somehow I dint find it bright enough .
@ OP
How is your screen is it bright enough ?
Here are some pics . Btw saw the crunch cover also .
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    445.9 KB · Views: 24
  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    458.5 KB · Views: 24
  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    376.3 KB · Views: 24

Roderick Aspiras

New member
Feb 4, 2013
309
0
0
Visit site
Follow-up tip... for the not so bright screen it could be that the power settings has something to do with it. I have disabled setting of screen brightness automatically and under advanced option in power turn off adaptive brightness.
Also if your iconia w4 has screen flickering, disable hotkey in intel display control panel. Simply go to desktop and press and hold until intel display properties appear you can find it there.
 

babblingape

New member
Jan 30, 2014
3
0
0
Visit site
Thanks for the Hotkey tip... I Just got mine 2 days ago and it's really impressive.. I was supposed to get the Dell Venue 8 Pro but the free keyboard and hdmi port got me! :) Have you found any good ebook reader app tho?
 

Roderick Aspiras

New member
Feb 4, 2013
309
0
0
Visit site
Hmm... not really an ebook user but I think you can find something good in the store.

Thanks for the Hotkey tip... I Just got mine 2 days ago and it's really impressive.. I was supposed to get the Dell Venue 8 Pro but the free keyboard and hdmi port got me! :) Have you found any good ebook reader app tho?
 

sonisoe

New member
Dec 15, 2011
3
0
0
Visit site
tried to connect my cd driver/optical drive to install softwares from cd, but the tablet cant read/doesnt recognize the drive. is the usb port only for peripherals ??
 

Weeberi

New member
May 14, 2014
1
0
0
Visit site
Nice review!
I'm really thinking about buying one, but I'm curious about hdmi performance.
Have you tried youtube on full hd, netflix or any other flash streams how they run on external monitor?

I'd mostly use mine for web browsing and watching flash streams (twitch.tv, sports) on external monitor and really wanted to know how they would perform.
 

Roderick Aspiras

New member
Feb 4, 2013
309
0
0
Visit site
Nice review!
I'm really thinking about buying one, but I'm curious about hdmi performance.
Have you tried youtube on full hd, netflix or any other flash streams how they run on external monitor?

No problem. Just like a pc when you plug hdmi. You need an adapter though microhdmi to hdmi


I'd mostly use mine for web browsing and watching flash streams (twitch.tv, sports) on external monitor and really wanted to know how they would perform.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
323,291
Messages
2,243,579
Members
428,054
Latest member
moocher720