Acer beTouch : Android phone for Rs.6990

Acer beTouch E110, a fully-loaded touch screen Android mobile is on sale for Rs. 6990 at Futurebazaar. That’s a drop of Rs. 3000 over retail price. Ever since Google decided to push Android to India through the low-cost mobile makers like Micromax and Videocon, the prices are set to fall. And I did not expect them to drop this fast. They are dropping like a pack of cards.
If you are in need of a new mobile or wanted to trade in your old mobile, then the best thing to do is buy it as low as you can and not check about the price after the purchase. If you did, you will be left with heartburn. The price drops are nothing new. Nokia is notorious for its price drops. Throw in a bunch of retailers trying to grab the market and all you get is a price war. Throw in online retailers and it would be a battle. FutureBazaar and Flipkart are the two notable retailers pushing the price limits.

Acer beTouch is the cheapest Android phone available on the market. That statement might not be true if you are reading it two days later. beTouch is touch screen phone with GSM connectivity. It comes with 2GB card, 3.2 megapixel camera and our favorite FM Radio.

Memory, OS and Processing :

beTouch has a 2.8 inch resistive touch screen powered by ST Ericsson 416MHz processor. beTouch runs the Android 1.5 OS a.k.a CupCake. The latest Android version is 2.2 or Froyo. It’s not clear if an upgrade is possible or not. It comes with an internal memory of 512 MB and a 2 GB Micro SD card. The phone is compatible for a 32 GB memory card.

Audio, Video, Camera and Battery

beTouch comes with a 3.2 megapixel camera. All regular audio formats are supported and the music can be played through the speakers. 3.5 mm audio jack is available. 5 hours of talk time and 16 days standby time. Quite an impressive standby time. Just like Blackberry Torch.

Apps and Connectivity :

GSM, Bluetooth, GPRS, EDGE and 3G. beTouch has a built-in GPS. Well it runs Android so it can access to thousands of apps on the store. It comes pre-loaded with the social media apps like Twitter and Facebook.

What’s missing

Though the standby time is quite impressive, talk time could be better. Wi-Fi is missing on the phone. Not a big miss but we are used to it. I don’t think it is fair to say something is missing on a phone this cheap and which packs many useful features.
FutureBazaar’s offer of beTouch could be a launch offer for its revamped site and might not last long. Go grab it before its gone.