Review of Acer's X960 Windows Mobile smartphone

Acer X960

Acer X960

Acer X960

Acer X960

Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Acer recently entered into the smartphone marketplace with a handful of new devices, thanks to its purchase of E-TEN. The X960 is one of these devices, and we've got hold of one to put it through its paces. Read on to find out what we think of the X960 in this hands-on review.

Physical Aspects

At 106mm x 59mm x 14mm (4.2in x 2.3in x .6in), the Acer X960 isn't the smallest phone on the market, but is still easy to throw in a pocket. The front features a 2.8" resistive touchscreen^(INFO), which is capable of showing 65,000 colors at VGA (640 x 480 pixel) resolution. Sunlight legibility isn't the best, due to a reflective covering over the display. The rest of the front is clad in shiny black plastic that likes to show up finger prints, as does the display. Above the display is the ear piece, a forward facing camera, an ambient light sensor, and a few different colored notification LEDs.

Beneath the display are a handful are the call send and end keys, a home key, a GPS button, and the circular chrome d-pad. There is also a chrome band running around the outside of the handset that holds the volume rocker, lanyard fixing, and a customizable shortcut button on the left and the camera shutter button, covered microSD slot, and power button on the right. There are no buttons atop the device, but the bottom of the device houses the microphone pinhole, a flimsy telescopic stylus, and a mini-USB port for charging, headphones, and data.

The rear of the device is clad in black soft-touch paint and features the X960's 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and self portrait mirror, plus two small speakerphone grilles and a Windows logo. Overall, the Acer X960 seems well screwed together, however the plastic covers creak when you hold the device, which makes it feel of lesser quality than many of its rivals.

Core Functions

Call audio quality on the Acer X960 was fairly average, with a little hiss in both directions. The X960's 1530MAh battery gave below average performance for its capacity, only lasting between 1-2 days of light use in our tests. Reception seemed fairly average, with no calls being dropped and a HSDPA signal being often available. Being a Windows Mobile 6.1 device, the X960's contacts application was very robust, with plenty of room for various data.