Acer Iconia A1 Images leaked, quad-core tablet to compete with iPad Mini

The Nexus 7 started a phenomenon of low-cost 7-inch tablets that don’t dig a hole in your pockets yet provide a very good experience, and even Apple answered with the 7.9-inch iPad Mini, despite the company’s stance on tablets smaller than 10-inches. Now, Acer is joining the fray with the Iconia A1, a quad-core 7.9-inch tablet that will compete with the iPad Mini while carrying a lower price tag.

While the existence of the Iconia A1 has been known for a couple of weeks, it’s only now that multiple images of the device have leaked, along with a laundry list of specifications. Though similar in price to the affordable Iconia B1, the A1 sports a much better IPS display with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels and wide-viewing angles, in order to give the iPad Mini (which features a high-quality, albeit low-resolution, display) some competition.

The A1 is also powered by the quad-core MediaTek MT8125 chipset, which features four Cortex-A7 cores ticking away at 1.2GHz and is coupled with 1GB of RAM. The 5-megapixel camera on the back is capable of recording 1080p videos, while a VGA front-facing camera is included as well. Other known specs include 8/16GB storage options and microSD expansion, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS connectivity, a 3,250 mAh battery, and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

At an expected price of €169 (and $169 in the US), the Iconia A1 will provide plenty bang for buck and should sell in droves – it’s not every day that you get an IPS display, quad-core CPU, 5MP camera with 1080p video recording, and the latest version of Android in a tablet that is so affordable, so the Iconia A1 should be quite an exciting device.

The Iconia A1 is expected to be launched sometime in June. Would any of you be interested in getting one, or would you prefer to go with options like the Nexus 7 instead?