Acer Stream review

For business users the presence of Android 2.1 means support for Microsoft Exchange. The phone can also pull in contacts from Facebook and, of course, from GMail. Business users may be intitially pleased by the presence of Documents to Go office suite app. However, the bundled version is limited to viewing Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files. If you want to edit and create files, then you’ll need to pay extra for an unlock code.

The Stream doesn't currently support remote wiping of your data in case you lose it while out and about. Several third party apps, including one from Symantec currently in beta, do provide remote wiping. Android 2.2 will have this ability built in, but Acer has yet to confirm when this update will become available to Stream users.

The on-screen qwerty keyboard is very good which is welcome news for heavy texters and email addicts. It is a little cramped when the handset is held vertically, but when held horizontally the large screen means the keys have plenty of space, and the capacitive touchscreen is very responsive.

Where the Stream will delight and frustrate in equal measure is Acer's custom Android interface. It has to be the most quirky approach we’ve ever seen.

The main screen is divided into two sections. The bottom third displays eight application shortcuts and, sitting above them, the Android notification bar - moved from its usual location at the top of the screen. This remains in place at all times, and you can customise the application shortcuts.

Sweep upwards and the full apps menu opens with these eight at the top and the remaining apps shortcuts ranged across two horizontally scrollable screens. Any more apps you add are appended to a new screen.

The upper two thirds of the screen can be swept left and right. On the left is a carousel of recently used apps. On the right there is a carousel of media files offering access selectively to music, photos and video when you tap the appropriate icon. The central screen just shows the time and date.

Where, then, are the usual multiple screens of Android widgets? These are found on a separate set of five screens which are accessible when you switch the handset on or double tap the on/off switch on the left edge of the casing. Think of them as being accessible from what we would normally consider to be the lock screen.

You can swipe through five separate screens of shortcuts, and get back to the main screen by pulling at a tab on the bottom left corner of any of the five screens. Adding widgets requires a long press on the Home button when you are back on the main screen.

Acer's interface does work, but it is fiddly. We’d have preferred a more conventional approach to widgets, while still allowing Acer to retain its innovative recently used apps and media carousel screens.

Memory support is fairly generous for an Android phone with 2GB of on board storage and an 8GB microSD card. The card fits into a slot near the battery, which you have to remove to swap cards.

Battery life suffers because of the large screen and fast processor, and we found a daily charge was needed. That is not unusual for a high end Android smartphone, but the Stream is definitely on the power-hungry side, and you may find a midday recharge is needed if you are a heavy media, Wi-Fi, GPS or 3G data user.