Acer beTouch E200

Windows Phone (aka Windows Mobile 6.5) may be fresh out of the blocks, but switch on the Acer beTouch E200 and you'd be forgiven for thinking that it was running an older version of Microsoft's mobile OS.

As well as feeling like a mere incremental update rather than a brand new version, Acer has robbed Windows Phone of its best new feature - the revised Today screen.

Acer's largely pointless change has taken the new Today screen, with its scrolling options and status updates, and replaced it with a bland icon grid.

It offers shortcuts to oft-used applications - with Internet Explorer, email and four others initially present, and customisation possible - but it's far less attractive and versatile than Microsoft's own offering.

Acer has left the rest of Windows Phone largely untouched, so the numerous pros and cons of the new OS are present here. The new version of Internet Explorer mobile is easier to use than previous incarnations, even if it can't compete with the likes of Opera Mobile, and the start button now unveils a larger grid for accessing applications rather than the fiddly menus of yore.

Windows Phone also integrates as well as it always has with your key Microsoft applications. The installed mobile version of Office can create, edit, open and export Office 2007 documents, with support for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote included. This brings the Acer's functionality in line with the HTC Touch2, which also offers Office Mobile 2007, and the Nokia E75, which includes the full-fat version of QuickOffice for document editing and creation.

The combination of Outlook and Exchange Server support also enables push email alongside address book, calendar and folder synchronisation, plus the ability for IT managers to manage phones remotely.

These are all key features for corporate users, but clunky execution means the Acer can't match HTC, whose phones use the excellent in-house TouchFLO 3D interface to hide the operating system's uglinesses. Many key apps and menus, including the address book, appointments and alarm clock, remain unchanged from the previous version.

The hardware isn't great either. The phone looks and feels cheap compared to the sleek professionalism of the Touch2 - the only other HTC phone we've reviewed to use Windows Mobile 6.5 - and it's also heavier and bulkier than many of its rivals.

Build quality is variable, with the chassis feeling reasonably sturdy but several of the outlying buttons, including the power switch, camera shortcut and volume rocker, feeling indistinct and awkward. The buttons on the front of the machine also failed to impress, with a resistant and fiddly central cluster.

And although the combination of resistive touchscreen and hardware number pad (revealed with a sliding mechanism) is unusual, neither is well implemented. The touchscreen lacks haptic feedback, actions often take a second to register and it feels imprecise. Quality isn't up to scratch, either, with the 240 x 400 screen proving dull, dim and washed out, as well as lacking in detail. Meanwhile, the number pad's skinny buttons are simply not tall enough.

The Acer also fails to excite under the hood, with a lack of Wi-Fi the main sin - even if the 7.2Mbps HSDPA still allows for reasonable internet access on the move. The presence of a half-decent 3.2-megapixel camera, plus Bluetooth, GPS and a microSD slot brings the E200 in line with rivals, but the lack of an accelerometer is another peculiar omission.
And it's a similar story with battery life. Our light use battery test - which consists of a 30 minute phone call, half-hourly email checks and 50MB of data downloads - showed you can expect two and a half days of light use from the 1,140mAh Lithium-ion battery before having to recharge. It's a distinctly average result that's outclassed by competitors, with the HTC Touch2 lasting for up to five days and the Nokia E75 going on more than a week on a single charge.

In fact, Acer's latest smartphone can't compete on any front: the iPhone 3GS and slew of new Android handsets are far easier to use, and Windows Mobile 6.5 is far more palatable on the Touch Touch2 thanks to HTC's TouchFLO 3D interface.

The E200 also looks dull, is chunkier than most of its rivals and also offers few inspiring features. It may be comparatively cheap at £197 exc VAT but, with so much competent competition around these days, there are precious few reasons to settle for something as disappointing as this.

Price when reviewed: £197 (£227 inc VAT)