By Oo Gin Lee

WHEN I read the specs - 1 GHz processor, 256 MB RAM - I thought I was looking at something that belonged to my five-year- old laptop. But no, this was the new Acer neoTouch smartphone, which comes souped up with high-end hardware.

The powerful processor and RAM meant that I could browse the Web smoothly on the Internet Explorer 6 mobile browser and run three to four apps in the background without any lag.

With assisted-GPS, 7.2 Mbps 3.5G, 11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, this phone has all the wireless connectivity you need to stay in touch.

The display is a generous 3.8-inch touchscreen with a decent 480 x 800 resolution, making it great for users who want to see more on their mobile phones.

But a bigger screen (118 x 32 mm) also means more bulk. It felt like I was using an older PDA instead of a smartphone.

Indeed, that continues to be the challenge of Windows Mobile phones, which still cannot decide whether they want to be old-school stylus or new-age pure touch and try to combine both. I liked the simple user interface.

The home screen has nine app icons lined up in a 3 x 3 grid which you can add your favourite apps to. Just press a button to access the entire library of other apps.

Photo fans will also be pleased with the 5-megapixel camera.

I did not like the glossy screen and glossy black cover which were easily smudged by fingerprints.

At a time when rivals are coming up with features to reduce unsightly smudges, the neoTouch still has a long way to go in the clean-looks area.

The accelorometer is fast, so you can switch between landscape and portrait on the fly, but it is unreliable as I often got switched about without even tilting the phone.

Final say

Powerful hardware makes it speedy. Clean and simple interface. But with the gadget feeling more like a PDA than a smartphone, it lacks the drool factor.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

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