Acer DX900 Review

Introduction and design:

Have you ever felt like being on two price plans at the same time? Say, you can use one of the lines for work and another one to communicate with your family and friends. Sounds great plus you can save on some cash, but there´s this tiny hitch here - you need to bring along a pair of cell phones and this might be pretty annoying especially if you´re into tight clothes. Well, there´s one other solution available (nothing is impossible as they say) and it is getting a dual-SIM cell phone. A growing variety of less known, Chinese cell phone producers have been coming up with such models, but none of the leading manufacturers, except for Samsung, has taken onto the task. Eten also jumped on the bandwagon with the DX900, the first Windows Mobile based, dual-SIM card device that was, until recently, available in but a few countries.

On taking over Eten, the computer giant Acer has put its logo onto the DX900 and started to sell it worldwide. It features similar specs like the V900 that we´ve already reviewed, except for digital TV support. Actually, both devices look quite alike and in other words…

It is huge and quite heavy, but this is characteristic of almost all Windows Mobile devices. Anyway, just bear in mind you better wear a belt before you tuck the phone into your pocket… unless you are eager to find yourself walking in your briefs of course. The device lacks the round edges of the V900 that would´ve made it more appealing and less appalling. This is a cell phone designed with work in mind and it sticks out a mile. What else is there in the package?

• Ear-phones
• miniUSB PC link cable
• A spare stylus
• A slip cover
• Software CD
• CD with electronic copy of the manual
• Manual
• Wall charger

You can compare the Acer DX900 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

We´re slightly disappointed to say at the least with the screen size of only 2.8 inches, especially given its large and bulky overall look, but at least it comes with VGA resolution and this is a good thing. Unfortunately direct sunlight renders screen virtually unusable, despite the light intensity sensor located above the display and right next to the video-call camera. Send and end buttons are relatively small, but both have a good travel and are fairly easy to use, unlike the D-Pad that feels really rigid and uncomfortable. Thankfully, the touch sensitive screen allows you to keep using the phone before you get sore fingers. You better get used to the stylus that fits into a conveniently located slot on you right, onto the bottom side of the phone.



The microSD memory card slot is found right above the stylus and as you can see in the pictures, there´s a tiny plastic cap to cover it that, at least on our sample, failed to fit well into its place. The camera shutter and on/off buttons are quite handy and both have a nice travel. The same goes for the buttons on its left hand side – sound rocker and voice dial activator. We just wish we knew why they´re that small. There´s also a 2.5 mm. jack right next to them.



Well, that´s all about the cell phone in a nutshell. There is nothing to bring down the house about this phone, aside from the dual-SIM card slot underneath the battery. Only the right-hand SIM slot allows use of a 3G card and due to certain software peculiarities, you better plug the SIM card that you´d be using for most of the talks in there. Hm, what are these, exactly? Let´s break it down for you.

Software:

As you are probably well aware, the current fashion with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional devices like the Acer DX900 dictates you use a personalized interface to hide the unsightly face of the OS and of course, help alleviate the pain, caused by the interminable wait on version 6.5. In this particular case, the phone comes with Spb Shell preloaded. We have recently analyzed it exhaustively in our review on the Eten X610. It´s looks great and is finger friendly, but unfortunately that friendliness doesn´t seem to have pervaded all menus. Navigating to certain basic functions like the calendar or messages, you´re confronted with the standard Windows Mobile interface and its annoying, miniature icons.

The novelties due to the use of two SIM cards are easy to notice in the connectivity functions, i.e. the Communication Manager. It allows you to switch on and off either line if necessary. The fact that you can assign different ringtones to either line is something we quite liked. Lines can be also managed separately in the dialing menu through Talk 1 and 2 buttons. What really went over big with us was we wereable to filter contact numbers by entering digits (6-3-6 equals Neo). In case you wonder why we seem to be that ecstatic over so simple a function, here´s the brief answer - you cannot easily choose which SIM card to use to make a call. Despite the fact that contact menu shows a combined list, made up of all numbers you have stored on both SIM cards, you can only make an outgoing call through the first SIM card (the one that allows 3G) at least from your contacts menu. If you feel like making a call through the second SIM card, here is what you should do – open your contacts, dial a number, hang up, enter recent calls, select the last contact/number and press the Talk 2 button. Wow, that´s really comfy, isn´t it? The other way is to use the options menu. We do believe Acer could´ve added a second send button just the way Chinese manufacturers do.



We believe going into details on messaging, emails or organizer functions unnecessary here. Just like any other Windows Mobile device out there, the Acer DX900 offers an abundance of options and a hindered interface to prevent you from making good use of them. People who are used to the OS will feel in their element, but the rest will hardly find themselves pleased with what they see. You´ve got Internet Explorer to surf the Web, but we wholeheartedly recommend that you switch over to another one as soon as you can, say, Opera Mobile or Skyfire since they both seem to be ahead of the game. Plus, that´s exactly what´s so great about smart phones anyway – the freedom to personalize and improve the device by getting and running software of your own choosing. Right?



Multimedia and GPS:

If taking a glance at the Acer DX900 has failed to convince you this is a device meant for work, facing its multimedia capabilities will do just about that. What we find OK is its playback capacity (though the built-in Windows Media Player has never been to our liking, at all), even if for no other reason other than the clear, powerful sound. We were able to watch MPEG H.264/H.263 movies and they played well, but DivX playback fell out to be barely acceptable due to excessive stuttering, just like on the V900. Certainly, third party software can help with that, but Acer doesn´t provide any other pre-installed multimedia players.





Camera quality is hardly the strength of any Windows Mobile smart phone and the Acer DX900 is no exception. Its pleasing, easy-on-the-eye interface that places a bunch of shortcuts directly onto the view finder is hardly of any use due to the low camera quality. As you can see for yourself, the snapshot quality is fair to middling at best.




The phone has got a built-inGPS and the software allows you to get up-to-date information on satellites in sky, helping you to pinpoint their location fast. Our first intersection took about 3 minutes, while the “hot” start mere 5 seconds. Unfortunately, the Acer DX900 comes preloaded with no navigation software, so you need to buy a third party pack or use free apps like Google Maps.

Performance:

There is an invariable lag no matter what you do on the DX900 and it feels quite annoying alongside of the latest HTC phones. Now, that´s really odd, since the phone features nice hardware specs – 533 MHz. CPU, 128 Mb. RAM and 256 Mb. ROM.

Fortunately, making calls feels comfy due to the excellent voice quality and clarity. The only issue we encountered was voices had a slightly metallic tone to them. On the other hand, people we talked to claimed the sound was so powerful they had to decrease the volume to catch onto what we were saying. Having done that, they all invariably rated the quality excellent.

Although the battery can hardly win out in any endurance contest, that´s a common problem with all Windows Mobile smart phones on the market. The manufacturer claims a fully charged battery should give you about 5 hours of talk time or 150 hours in standby mode.

Conclusion:

Do you really need a dual-SIM card phone and what are you willing to pay to get one? It´s not all about money here. Carrying the Acer DX900 around in your pocket will certainly fail to make you happy, but that´s an innate feature that most Windows mobile phones have to their credit. As a whole, the phone is sluggish, while the dual-SIM card function has been poorly implemented and feels like a nagging pain. What saves the phone from being characterized as a complete flop is the incredible sound quality during talks and its uniqueness. After all, this is the first and as of now the only dual-SIM Windows Mobile device out there, so you´re out of options should you really need one.

The software version of the reviewed unit is A147 WWE 0400466