Acer Iconia Tab A501

The Acer Iconia Tab A501 4G is the cheapest 4G Honeycomb tablet currently on the market, but its adherence to Android 3.0, relatively low-quality screen, and hefty design ultimately make it the least appealing of the 4G tablets.

Acer was evidently happy with the A500’s design, because nothing about it changes with the A501. The tablet measures 10.25 by 7.0 by 0.56 inches (HWD), and weighs 1.67 pounds (that’s 0.02 pounds heavier than the A500, apparently the weight of the AT&T modem). It’s got the same pewter-color brushed aluminum frame around a 10.1-inch, 1,280-by-800 LCD.

The HD screen on the A501 is excellent, providing vibrant colors and crisp images. It also has a wide viewing angle so you don’t have to worry about holding the tablet in the exact right position to make sure you can see things clearly.

The Iconia A501 still being stuck on Android 3.0.1 Honeycomb is a bit of a surprise though. While Acer’s rivals are releasing tablets with Android 3.2, or quickly upgrading them to that, the Iconia doesn’t seem to be walking that line.

At $330 with a contract, the inclusion of a WWAN radio on the A501 simply becomes more of a financial burden and not much else. But, if you've got some coin to spare and you don't mind paying for a data connection for only one device, you could certainly do much worse.