Acer Betouch E210 Review

Just did part 2 of the review on this phone after using this for a week.  Found new problems on it, but it doesn't really matters if you're not too fussy.

Announcing the arrival of the Acer Betouch E210, a blackberry phone running on Android 2.2.  When I first heard about this phone, I've pretty much had mix feelings about it due to the fact that Acer was the one that brought this phone first plus Phone Arena Review on it wasn't a rather disappointing one.  But never the less, after having long discussion with Dennis and he successfully managed to coax me in getting this phone.  Ok before we go on, here's a brief specification on this phone.

OS Platform : Android Froyo
Display : 2.6” 256k Colors TFT Touch Screen
Input : QWERTY keyboard and Optical Trackpad
Camera : 3.2MP with Auto Focus
Processor : Qualcomm MSM 7227-1 (600MHz)
ROM/RAM : 512/256MB
Battery : Li-poly 1300 mAh
Talk Time : Up to 300 Minutes
Color : Black
Stand By Time :  Up to 400 Hours
Connectivity :  Wi-Fi / Bluetooth / GPS & AGPS / Micro-SD Slot/ Mini-USB
Sensor :  G-Sensor / E-Compass
Size :  115(L) x 62.5(D) x 11.5(T) mm
Weight : 109g

Phone Design

The first thing that actually caught my attention when I got the phone was impress on how amazingly light this phone really is.  It only weighs less than 110g, plus the phone is kinda slim.  So it feels as if I'm not carrying any phone now, when I'm moving around.  So now I won't have to worry about my shorts actually fall to the ground when I'm carrying this phone.  Plus the design of the Acer Betouch E210 seems pretty, and gives a more professional look to it.  Hence that also contributed one of the factor why I ended up getting this phone.  The build on this phone may feel bit solid despite most of the back part which is made out of plastic, that can be easily mistaken as metal.  But never the less, overall the handling of this phone is good.

As you can see that we were comparing the Acer Betouch E210 with the Blackberry 9300.  The E210 is actually more longer and wider compared to the Blackberry 9300, but in terms of thickness the E210 is more slimmer compared to the 9300.  Plus the LCD display is much more larger by 0.2 inches.  But in terms of weight, the Blackberry 9300 is lighter by 5 grams.  So that pretty much says a lot about the design on this phone.

Camera Quality

Despite being a 3.2 MP camera, one should not really expect much from this camera.  As the quality on this is pretty much like any normal camera phone I would say.  But quite disappointed that they didn't include flash on this phone or it would have been the perfect solutions for taking shots at night.  But still, it's still acceptable during for outdoor shots where you have enough light.  The pictures I took on Esther is based on 4 different iso indoors, and one under the table lamp at ISO 100.

So hopefully this will give you an rough idea on what type of camera will you be getting. Again, most likely indoor shots you may not get good quality, but you shouldn't have problems with outdoor pictures especially when you have sufficient light around you.

Multimedia

The sound on this thing is kinda loud, and supports stereo sound.  Youtube works real good on it, but again don't expect too much on video playbacks you downloaded from the internet.  Here's an excerpt on what Phone Arena say about this the music player.

As with other handsets from the Acer beTouch series, you get nemoPlayer, which plays both movies and music, as well as the stock Android music player. The music capabilities of this phone are somehow limited, which is understandable, and the headphones you receive out of the box get the job done, but don't expect some really loud music or really deep tones.

The Acer beTouch E210 doesn't support certain formats (Xvid, H.264 and DivX), but at least plays smoothly MPEG4 videos with a 480 x 800 resolution. Funny enough, it also plays MOV videos with the same resolution, but for some reason sound is off.

Browsing Experience

Despite having a 320 x 240 screen, you may find difficult reading the text on certain website.  Plus being a resistive screen there is no pinch and zoom feature.  So most likely you may need to double tap to zoom in or out for each area.  It doesn't support flash, considering it's android 2.2.  For those who have been used to larger screens, you may not like what you see.  But if you don't really mind, it's still readable considering the price for this phone.  But overall you may need to swipe left and right and probably zoom the correct size to read certain website that doesn't support mobile version.  But overall it's still usable.

Calling Experience

I did a few test calls with people, but didn't had any problems as stated by Phone Arena.  And the person on the receiving end seems fine and was able to hear what I was talking despite being in a crowded place.  I've also managed to install Skype onto the Acer Betouch E210, and did a test call via 3G to a friend of mine who is in Canada.  The line was good, and didn't had any problems with the sound as we could hear each other clearly.  So I guess it's still usable :)

Conclusion

In conclusion, this phone is worth getting considering being priced at RM799.  But if you have an extra budget, I would recommend that you go for the HTC Desire Z instead.  But if you're someone who is just like me who wouldn't want to fork out  more than RM1,000 for a phone.  I think this would do just fine.  It's good enough for you to pretty much do almost your daily necessities such as calling, sms, email as well as going through social network.  Plus if you're a blogger like me, you can easily blog with the QWERTY keyboard.

This phone would have been perfect if the camera support flash, and also vibration may be slightly stronger.  Apart from that, I don't really have any problems with this phone.  It's a good upgrade from the TYTN II that I was previously using. I was able to play Angry Birds on it, so I think it's kinda meet my expectation.

So if you're looking for a budget Android Phone, this would be just nice for you.  As for me, I'm quite satisfied with the product considering the price range.  And just meet my daily needs of going through facebook, blogging, whatsapp and skype.  Feel free to comment or if you have any question on this phone.  Hope this will help you in making your decision to get or not to get this phone.

You can purchase it also through this site here :- Acer Betouch E210 - T.T.E. Tech

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