It's difficult to stand out in this crowded 7-inch tablet market, but Acer's just had an epiphany: people actually quite like colours.

For a company so fond of silvers, blacks and greys, the decision to focus on some more lively designs, and a $129.99/€140 price tag, could pay off. At the very least, we can say that this tablet looks like one of the most playful out there.

At 8.95mm thin and weighing 330g, the One 7 feels as lightweight as a 7-incher should, and although it's a bit plasticky I am a tad partial to the gripped back. But those of you who prefer a brushed aluminum may opt for the Tab 7, a second Android tablet that Acer announced alongside the One 7.


So sure, a lot of the exciting stuff about the One 7 is happening on the rear, but the screen quality is nothing to sniff at. The 1280 x 800 7-inch screen might not be top of the line - the problem with being spoiled with the Nexus 7's 1920 x 1200 screen is that I immediately noticed the slightly-washed-out display - but it's a decent resolution for this price, especially for the uninitiated.


Under the hood, things are a little ho-hum. There's an Intel Atom Z2560 dual-core processor but a meagre 1GB of RAM, which led to some noticeable lag when I was moving quickly around the interface - especially when rotating the display.

Oddly, the One 7 comes with Android 4.2.2 out of the box but can be immediately updated to 4.4. Search us.

And while you can have either 8GB or 16GB of internal storage, Acer is hoping you'll be using its cloud service to hold all to your photos, music and documents.


Say what you want about people who take pictures with their tablets, it's something that people are just going to keep doing and we all have to accept that - so Acer has put on a 2MP camera on the rear of the Iconia One 7, and a 0.3MP camera on the front.

Enough for the odd amateur pic but low enough to encourage people to move to their smartphones or (heaven forbid) actual cameras.


Oh yeah, and back to those colours. The One 7 is going to be available in ten different hues. I liked the blue and dark red best, not so much a fan of the yellow. But hey, that's just personal taste.

Early verdict

The Acer Iconia One 7 should attract buyers with its colourful design, and that's no bad thing. The specs aren't going to blow anyone's mind but they're respectable enough for this 7-inch tablet, which has a price that we can't really argue with.