Windows Mobile 6.5 is not breath-taking
In addition to the new Windows Mobile 6.5 homescreen, the Acer neoTouch offers a new one very similar to the Home tab of the new upcoming TouchFLO update. There you can find a digital clock, the date and nine customizable app shortcuts. At the bottom are found the lock, start menu and options buttons. The homescreen, as you can see, is touch-optimized and practical.
Still, if you are keen on the new default Windows Mobile 6.5 homescreen you can switch to it at any time. For more information about the new interface and features of WinMo 6.5, read our review here.
The Acer homescreen • the lock screen • the WinMo default homescreen
Pressing the Start menu icon at the top right no longer opens a drop down menu full of shortcuts. Instead it opens what we like to call the new Windows Mobile "Main menu". It's got icons ordered in that oh-so-popular honeycomb pattern that so many people can easily recognize as pure WinMo 6.5 stuff thanks to numerous official and leaked screenshots. A shortcut to the start menu is also available at the bottom of the Acer homescreen.
The Start menu
In the new main menu you've got all the installed programs plus shortcuts to the settings menu. That Settings menu also has received a facelift and displays icons in the same honeycomb structure.
There is another simplified Preferences menu provided by Acer where you can do some basic stuff such as change ringtones and sound levels, wallpapers, choose the end key functionality or start the Acer Communication Manager. It's very similar to every other custom Comm. Manager available today, where you can switch on/off the different types of connections - Phone, Data, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
The new Preferences menu and Communication Manager
The perfectly flat structure of the Main menu can certainly get a bit clumsy over time due to the huge number of icons that pile up there (iPhone users with loads of apps installed will know what we mean) but we'd still prefer that over the confusing experience that so many Windows Mobile new adopters have enjoyed in the past.
The Windows Mobile 6.5 brought larger fonts to all menus, which made them a lot more touch friendly.
Another nice change brought by the new version of the OS is the option to alternate tabs by simple finger sweeps wherever Windows offers you tabbed screens. You no longer need to aim for the tiny titles at the bottom of the screen as on the WinMo 6.1 handsets - you just swipe your finger across the screen and the next tab opens instantaneously.
Since the Acer neoTouch is the first smartphone we've reviewed powered by the Snapdragon 1GHz CPU, we decided to do a benchmark and see how it stacks up next to a previous generation CPU - in our case HTC Touch Diamond with 528 MHz MSM7200 Qualcomm CPU. From the screenshots bellow you may see that CPU results of the Snapdragon are 3 times better than its older Qualcomm sibling, while the other benchmark results vary from two to six times better. The evolution is obvious and we are quite impressed with the whole Windows Mobile 6.5 performance - there is no lag anywhere in the Windows interface and all the stuff just flows smoothly.
Spb Bencmark - Acer neoTouch and HTC Touch Diamond
(Source : gsmarena.com)
Acer neoTouch review:Unboxing, 360-degree spin. design and construction
Unboxing the Acer neoTouch
Starting with the basics, in the retail box you'll find a charger, data cable and a headset. The headset is one piece, but you can use your favorite headphones of course, thanks to the 3.5mm audio jack. The wall charger is universal and you get market-specific adaptors - just like you would with HTC handsets. The charger connects to the phone's microUSB port.
The neoTouch is cabled, but not quite accessorized
The retail box will also include manuals and a disk with software. Given that this is a high-end PocketPC, we were a little disappointed to see that there were no additional accessories in the box. There is no memory card - which the neoTouch certainly needs, given the 300 MB of onboard storage available to the user. A TV out cable is nowhere in sight either.
Acer neoTouch 360-degree view
Size matters: the neoTouch gets it right
Design and construction
The first thing to note - other than the huge touchscreen - is perhaps the distinct styling of the controls underneath. Not too keen on the green / red receiver convention, we quite liked the original minimalist pictograms marking the hardware buttons. The actual controls - Call buttons, Home key, Back key - are touch-sensitive and haptic-enabled.
The four buttons on the front
Otherwise, the Acer neoTouch is not willing to go to extremes to distinguish itself from the countless touchscreen bars out there. Instead it takes a rather cautious and traditional approach to styling. The Acer neoTouch front is quite conservative with black glass framing the display and the surface of the buttons. The rest of the handset is made of glossy plastic and while it's not cheap looking, the fingerprints just love to make their home there. The whole handset was completely covered with smudges in no time and didn't look nice at all.
The glossy silver strip running the sides are the only accent and it works quite well. It's elegant and subtly emphasizes the huge display.
The Acer neoTouch display is a TFT unit, 3.8 inches in diagonal and within the limits of comfortable one hand use. The resolution is WVGA at 480 x 800 pixels - the highest any smartphone has gone so far. As far as screen sensitivity goes, the Acer neoTouch resistive unit is better than the XPERIA X1 and X2 and on par with the latest HTC handsets. We have nothing to complain about here.
Sunlight legibility is not one of its strengths though. It's far behind the iPhone and Nokia devices. Using the neoTouch in direct sunlight is near impossible, so you may want to look for some shade nearby if outdoor use is absolutely essential.
The display looks good, but sunlight legibility lets it down
As is expected on a Windows Mobile device, the Acer neoTouch screen has 65K-color support. On a screen this size, color banding really becomes an issue. But we all know the limited color palette is not Acer's fault, but rather a limitation imposed by Microsoft. To give you a bit of background, Windows Mobile uses a 16-bit color palette (that's 65K colors) for CPU friendliness and optimal performance. We are sure it made perfect sense a few years back, but now that we have Snapdragon processors and a lot more RAM we may as well start hoping for a boost to color support. That will perhaps involve the guys at Redmond rewriting the whole OS.
Back to the neoTouch physical description, the video-call camera, proximity and ambient light sensors, along with a status LED are placed above the display on both sides of the earpiece.
Video-call camera, proximity and ambient light sensors
On the left side of the handset you get the hardware Lock key and nothing else. The key is quite handy actually - conveniently placed for your index finger (for right-handed users).
The neoTouch right side features the volume rocker, reset hole and the camera shutter key. The camera key has a distinct half and full press and is quite responsive.
Side controls on the Acer neoTouch
A 3.5 mm standard audio jack and the stylus compartment are at the top of the Acer neoTouch. The bottom reveals the microphone and the microUSB port, which is not protected by a cover. The phone charges via the USB port, which is quite useful as you can skip the charger when traveling if you have a computer with you.
microUSB port and standard audio jack on both ends of the phone
Unfortunately the stylus is not active as those on the HTC devices. It would have been a really nice addition to the Acer neoTouch user-friendliness.
The Acer neoTouch rear is neat and simple - quite in line with the conservative styling of the device. There you'll find the 5 megapixel camera lens and the LED flash, along with a loudspeaker grill. The Acer neoTouch has no stereo speakers on board, but it's still not considered a standard feature even on high-end smartphones.
As there is no lens cover, the 5 megapixel camera lens is exposed to both smudges and scratches
The loudspeaker, camera lens and LED flash
Under the back cover, you'll find a 1350 mAh battery and the SIM card slot as well as the microSD card slot. Hot-swap is enabled but a card slot placed externally on the device would've been a lot better.
The microSD card slot is hot-swappable but under the rear cover
The Acer neoTouch can be commended on its high build quality. The all-plastic looking chassis looks and feels quite fit and durable. The rear cover holds firmly in place, no annoying creaks.
Acer neoTouch knows comfortable handling
The Acer neoTouch weighs in at 130 grams and that's perfectly acceptable given the spacious screen. It's not a small handset but size is well atoned for by the classic, subtle styling and secure handhold. The extreme edges of the screen may be a little hard to reach for some, but the device is still pocketable and reasonably comfortable to navigate single-handedly.
(Source : gsmarena.com)
Introduction
It must be sweet October for Microsoft, with the launch of WinMo 6.5 on the 6th followed by the desktop Windows 7 on the 22nd. Acer are quick to sneak into the spotlight and make the most of the primetime coverage. Their neoTouch is leading a small PocketPC fleet, all powered by 6.5.But it's the flagship of course to focus all the attention and the neoTouch should be conscious of its task. If you want it all you need to be prepared to take it - all the glory and all the enemy fire. The neoTouch is riding on the wings of a dragon but entering a territory long claimed by others.
The Acer neoTouch is not just the next in the growing line of Windows Mobile 6.5 handsets. It's the top device of a company that's determined to enter the mobile phone game with a bang. The 1 GHz Snapdragon CPU is a great way to start and the other ingredients look quite on par: complete connectivity options, spacious high-res screen and something becoming fairly typical for smartphones these days - a 5 megapixel snapper.
Acer neoTouch official photos
Today Windows Mobile is all about handset manufacturers customizing the OS with their own proprietary interface, such as the popular TouchFLO by HTC, Samsung's TouchWiz and the LG S-Class. Acer have given the neoTouch their own homescreen, brand new Phonebook and Organizer app (called Agenda), along with a neat Preferences menu and Communication manager.
But first, let's go over what the Acer neoTouch does and doesn't do. PocketPC spec sheets are quite a reading but potential deal breakers won't be overlooked either.
Key features:
- 3.8" 65K-color resistive TFT touchscreen, WVGA 480 x 800 pixels
- Windows Mobile 6.5 with Acer Homescreen, Contacts, Agenda and Gallery
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz processor, 256MB RAM, 512MB ROM (300MB user available)
- 5 megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash, geotagging, image stabilizer
- VGA video recording @ 30fps
- Quad-band GSM support
- Tri-band 3G with HSDPA (7.2Mbps) and HSUPA (5.76 Mbps) support
- Wi-Fi with DLNA technology
- Built-in GPS with A-GPS functionality
- microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
- FM radio with RDS
- Bluetooth and USB v2.0
- 3.5mm standard audio jack, TV-out functionality
- Ambient light sensor, proximity sensor for screen auto turn-off
- Accelerometer sensor for automatic UI rotation
- Smart dial
- Office document editor (but no PDF viewer)
- Full Flash support in the web browser (IE)
- Top-notch audio output quality
Main disadvantages:
- Not enough user interface customization
- No camera lens cover
- Poor photo and video quality
- microSD slot is under the back cover
- No DivX/XviD video support out-of-the-box
- No navigation software, even Google Maps is not preinstalled
- No active stylus
- High-gloss body panels are a fingerprint magnet
- Poor ringing volume
Acer neoTouch in our office
The Acer credentials as leading laptop manufacturer will have the neoTouch - and the phones to follow - held to a rather high standard. We're dealing with a debut but it looks bold enough at least on paper. And we won't mind another keen compatriot rivalry along the lines of Samsung and LG. Of course, HTC are well ahead at this point but Acer look like they should be taken seriously.
But much like every other Windows Mobile smartphone out there, the Acer neoTouch has it strong and weak points. You can be sure we will explore both of them, on the pages to follow.
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