Acer beTouch E210

The Acer beTouch e210 sports a 2.6'' (resistive) touchscreen, a full-size keyboard and a trackpad for navigation.  It runs Android 2.2 Froyo and is hoping to attract messaging addicts and business users alike.  So what's this entry-level BlackBerry-lite actually like?  Let's take a closer look.

Handling

We're happy to admit that the handset's low weight (110 g) and slim form factor make it easy to handle, but it's a shame that the plastic used feels so cheap.  We can't identify any particular problems with the finish on Acer's latest smartphone, but it feels more than a little fragile.

It's hard, if not impossible, to say anything good about the 2.6'' screen and its 320 x 420 pixels.  Colours are washed out, the contrast ratio is too low, accuracy is only just about acceptable, and, finally, as for responsiveness ...


We ended up only using the touchscreen to scroll through the menus or between the four homescreens very rarely.  We used the trackpad instead, but it is way too sensitive.  Simply brush your finger across it, and you'll bounce from one homescreen to the next, or even onto the next one after that.  It's just about the only area where this phone is too responsive, and it's a shame some of that punch couldn't have been deployed somewhere else, like on the screen or the web browser.


Messages are composed using  the backlit keyboard, which includes some shortcuts to key features like the camera or writing a new SMS.  The keys are far enough apart to make typing without looking down at the screen easy, but the gaps are also big enough to allow dust to creep in between the buttons.  Inputting text is easy enough, but it's nowhere near like the experience of using a BlackBerry keyboard.  The keys are also a little too round, and our fingers sometimes slid off them.

Multimedia: only if you've got nothing better

Writing a message on the beTouch e210 might not be great, but there's not much else to do because it doesn't have much to offer in the way of multimedia.  The tiny, mediocre screen is part of the problem, of course: while you can browse the web, for instance, it's a very frustrating experience.  If you only very rarely use the Internet on your phone, it might just about do.


Photos produced by the camera are dreadful.  All that we can say is that it manages to do a little better in a well-lit environment, by which we mean outside in bright sunlight.