Acer Stream smartphone

Product Acer Stream
Website www.acer.co.uk
System Specifications Qualcomm Snapdragon 8250 1GHz processor, 512MB RAM, Android 2.1 Eclair, 2GB NAND Flash, Micro SD (support up to 32GB), 3.7-inch Amoled display, 119.5 x 63 x 11.2mm, 126g.
Price £379.99 including VAT

SOLIDLY BUILT and with a gorgeous 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen display, Acer's Stream handset is a good-looking piece of kit. At 11.2mm it is a bit thicker than competitors such as Apple's Iphone 4 and the Samsung Galaxy S, but not by much. Using the touchscreen display to tap out notes is a pleasant experience thanks to the gentle haptic feedback. We did find that it picked up fingerprints very quickly, though, so you'll need to keep a cleaning cloth handy if you want it looking its best.

Interestingly, the device comes with a micro-HDMI output port, allowing it to be connected to a larger HDTV to display its multimedia content. This is a rare inclusion in a smartphone and, apart from the Nokia N8, which is due to arrive this month, no other prominent handsets currently have this feature. And with the Stream able to output 720p HD video via the HDMI port, it's likely to be well used. A combination of physical and touch buttons are present just below the screen aiding navigation. The Home button conveniently flashes white when users have an unread text message and red when an email has been received.

The device comes with the intuitive Android 2.1 Éclair OS, which is always a welcome addition. Like many manufacturers that incorporate Android into their devices, Acer provides its own user interface. The UI 4.0 overlay has some unique features. When the screen is in standby mode, users can either unlock the phone by peeling back the screen or swipe left and right to get access to their current location, events calendar, weather or music player.

Once the phone is unlocked, users are taken to a home screen, where two rows of apps - including Contacts, Messaging, Google Maps and Facebook - run along the bottom of the screen. When the menu is expanded these two rows stay fixed in place, even when swiping between pages. The idea behind this is to make sure the most commonly used apps are always just one click or swipe away. It is a very useful feature especially as the applications in the fixed rows can be customised.

Unlike HTC devices, the Stream doesn't let users set up multiple homescreens. Instead, a gentle swipe to the left will bring up the last applications used, allowing quick access to them. This is a useful function to start off with, but the list becomes cluttered rather quickly, and it isn't long before the 'clear history' function is called into action. Meanwhile, swiping right from the homescreen provides convenient access to photo, video and music content when a memory card has been inserted and is another handy feature. Clicking on the battery icon brings up a host of connectivity options as well as the exact percentage of power remaining. A more detailed display showing exactly how energy from the battery has been used is also available from this menu.

The device comes pre-loaded with useful apps including Nemoplayer, Youtube, Facebook, Twidroid, Roadsync and Barcode Scanner. Access to the fast-growing Android Market is available from the off, and syncing email is quick and easy. Text entry in portrait mode is not recommended as the keyboard is squished to fit the screen. However, in landscape mode the letters are larger and well spaced, making typing much faster and more accurate. The predictive text will annoy some users as it constantly adjusts to try and guess the word being typed out and can be distracting. In our tests, it didn't appear to be the most successful predictive software we have seen. While the keyboard is good, it still doesn't match up to the Swype app on the Galaxy S, which has become the benchmark when it comes to quick and easy messaging input.

Surfing the Internet on the Stream is great in landscape mode. Pages are automatically resized to fit the screen at a readable size. The pinch-to-zoom feature comes in very handy when users need to zoom in and click on a small icon or make the font a bit larger. Websites load quickly over Wi-Fi and even 3G when we tested the device using a Vodafone SIM. Loading times of video using the YouTube app were particularly impressive with content streaming smoothly even over 3G.

Music playback is crisp and clear as the smartphone comes with Dolby Digital Mobile. It is possible to tinker with bass and treble settings, and the effects of the equaliser are particularly noticeable through headphones. With a pair of quality headphones, the Stream can be turned into a more than decent MP3 player. Acer provides 2GB of internal memory, with an additional 32GB available when a micro-SD card is added. Rounding off the multimedia features is the 5-megapixel camera, which comes with autofocus but lacks a flash so pictures in low-lighting aren't the best.

Battery life is slightly disappointing. Acer claims up to seven hours of talktime and 500 hours of standby, but the Stream only lasted just over a day with medium-to-heavy use. The device therefore almost certainly requires a daily charge when resource-hungry features such as the internet, video and/or music functions are used regularly.

In Short
The Stream is available now for around £380 SIM-free, making it significantly cheaper than the iPhone 4 and Galaxy S devices. Considering that the Acer device offers most of the same functions as these other devices, it is an attractive alternative. µ

The Good
Well built, great Dolby Mobile sound, brilliant Nemoplayer, fast streaming, reasonable price.

The Bad
Interface takes time to get used to, no camera flash, poor battery life.

The Ugly
Nothing.

Bartender's Score
7/10