The gaming tablet is totally a thing now. First it was Nvidia with the outstanding Nvidia Shield Tablet, and now Acer has announced the “Acer Predator 8” GT-810 at IFA 2015 in Berlin. The fact Intel is not renowned for its graphics prowess makes it a brave choice for a gaming tablet.
The basics are straightforward enough. It is an 8-in tablet that weighs about 350g and is a svelte 8.7-mm thick. It was powered by one of Intel’s new Atom x7 processors, which is a little unusual. The screen of Predator 8 is exceptionally bright and colorful, too much in fact. The photos do not do justice to just how vibrant it is, but it is the over-saturated kind that looks a bit daft in photos and videos.
The Predator 8 has a couple of signature characteristics. One is the screen, which is a Full HD 1920×1080 res with a 100% NTSC color gamut; the other is the combination of four front-facing speakers and what Acer is calling TacSense. It is more like getting loads of bothering notifications than the kind of force feedback you get from a console controller. This is probably the first and last time you will ever hear about TacSense.
This is fine for games, where accuracy is not tantamount, but you’ll want to tone it down for everything else. There is an app for that. Some will like it, but it isn’t . This will date quickly, but it will stand out on the train, plane or anywhere else you happen to be. As for the design, it is not instantly lovable. It has the that trying too hard vibe common among gaming laptops, as if everything has to be wacky colors and neon lights to make an impression.
The Acer Predator 8 seems nice enough, but its key characteristics are gimmicky and it lacks the graphics grunt and serious gaming characteristics of its rival. There is a lot more to making a gaming tablet than making it look “gamey.”
