The Acer beTouch E101 is the cheapest model in the company's newest line-up of Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphones. If you're in the market for a sub-$300 device with Microsoft's latest handiwork, this is probably the way to go. The ride after won't be such a smooth one, though.
Physically, this batch of releases from Acer is a huge step up from their previous Tempo line. While not being particularly attention-grabbing, the beTouch E101 looks like a proper smartphone. Despite the plastic build, it handles very well and appears to have sturdy construction. The navigation array, particularly the clickable scroll wheel, is admirably designed.
Display is a 3.2-inch resistive touchscreen (with 240 x 400 resolution), which manages to show very clear and vibrant images. Unfortunately, touch response is among the worst we've seen on a Windows Mobile handset. If you're planning to use this without a stylus, be prepared for a world of frustration.
As a phone, the E101 manages very good call quality on both ends of the conversation, with clear, natural-sounding voices. Speakerphone works similarly well, albeit with a lot more echo. Windows Mobile 6.5 works as 6.1 has always done - a little too lacking to be relevant at the current market. There are some noticeable lags, but it's not too bad - a credit to Acer's hardware. Battery life is rated at up to five hours of talk time, enough for a couple or more days of regular use.
Forget about connecting to the web. The phone has neither 3G nor Wi-Fi, so you're stuck with GPRS or EDGE for data connections. Kind of makes it odd that the handset comes with a YouTube app on board.
It has all the usual Windows Mobile features, including a robust messaging suite, stereo Bluetooth, GPS and some pre-installed apps. The 2.0 megapixel camera manages decent-looking snaps, although it comes with neither flash nor a good amount of settings.
Overall, the Acer beTouch E101 is a tough phone to recommend, unless it's the "only" Windows Mobile 6.5 handset you can afford at your budget. Core hardware is actually pretty powerful (528MHz processor, 256MB of RAM), but the touch implementation begs a lot of improvement.
[...] slightly higher than the bottom-of-the-barrel E101, the Acer beTouch E200 still falls in the budget category for full-featured smartphones. This [...]