ACER SWITCH ALPHA 12


WHAT IS THE ACER SWITCH ALPHA 12?

The Switch Alpha 12 is Acer’s attempt to create a Microsoft Surface rival. It aims to offer the same tablet-first convertible experience, but at a significantly more competitive £600 starting price. That makes it over £100 cheaper than similarly specified convertibles, such as the Galaxy TabPro S and Surface Pro 4.
The Switch Alpha 12 generally delivers solid performance and will meet most Windows fans' tablet and laptop needs. However, issues with its touchpad, battery and a minor bloatware infestation make it hard to wholeheartedly recommend over moderately pricier competitors.

ACER SWITCH ALPHA 12 – DESIGN AND BUILD

2016 has seen an influx of Surface Pro rivals. The majority of them are cut-down copies of Microsoft’s convertible and their only real selling point is a moderately reduced price tag. At first glance the Switch Alpha does little to change this trend.
The boxy all-metal tablet section’s silver-grey finish hardly exudes the same class you'd get from a Surface Pro. The attachable keyboard is also almost identical to a Surface Type Cover, which is a good thing.


ACER SWITCH ALPHA 12 – SCREEN

The Acer Switch Alpha 12’s 12-inch screen features some impressive specifications, on paper at least. The 2,160 x 1,440 resolution easily matches its key rivals, including the Surface Pro 4, and ensures text and icons are uniformly sharp.
To the naked eye colours are also solid and, thanks to the use of IPS screen tech, whites are nice and clean. I didn’t notice severe backlight bleed either. If all you want to do is watch Netflx, browse the web or doodle a few quick notes in OneNote, the screen is more than up to scratch.
However, more in-depth testing with a colorimeter revealed a few issues with the display that will put off some buyers. The 456.7nits max brightness is very bright, but the 0.56 black level gives it a distinctly average 795:1 contrast ratio. The 8,712k colour temperature is also well above the 6,500k ideal.
The screen’s 81.3% coverage of the sRGB colour gamut is OK for regular use, but its 57.8% coverage of the Adobe RGB is disappointing.
For regular folks who just want a tablet to watch Netflix, or a laptop to web browse, these figures won’t be a problem. The Adobe RGB coverage will, however, be a serious negative for professional artists and designers looking to take advantage of the Aspire’s stylus.
The inaccurate colours make the tablet a poor choice for editing photos or digital painting. A few years ago this would've been fine, but since the arrival of stellar tablets like the Galaxy TabPro S, there are better convertibles available for artists.

ACER SWITCH ALPHA 12 – AUDIO AND CAMERA

Hybrid devices generally offer pretty poor audio quality. The thin dimensions and focus on portability mean they always come loaded with tiny, generally underpowered speakers. This remains true on the Switch Alpha 12. The tablet section’s speakers are good enough for Netflix watching in bed, but it's underpowered for pretty much everything else.
Maximum volume levels aren’t as high as the Surface Pro 4’s and rapidly become tinny when you try to play music on them. Being fair to Acer, though, they’re no worse than on most other Windows tablets and this is an issue I’ve encountered on close to all of the hybrids I’ve tested.
The front microphone is similarly weak, which is a shame as the front camera can shoot at 1080p. During video chats the person on the other end of the line struggled to hear me with even moderate background noise. The camera also didn’t perform as well as I expected. Even though it can shoot at 1080p, it struggles in even moderately dim lighting conditions. Recording on an overcast London morning the camera made me look like a member of the Walking Dead.




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