Acer beTouch E200 review

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.

Author: Mike Jennings