Hands on: Acer Iconia Smart review

Acer Iconia Smart
The Acer Iconia Smart is 4.8-inches high

If you were thinking the Samsung Galaxy S2 was too big, try this out for size. It's a 4.8 inch phone that's only a couple of inches shy of the Galaxy Tab.

While it's not massively wide as you can see, the Iconia Smart would find it easier to make conversation with a Dell Streak 5 than any of the new breed of super-Androids.

Acer iconia smart

The buttons at the bottom are actually highly tactile and you can get a really decent press on them. Despite initial reservations, we actually rather liked them by the time we'd finished playing with the handset.

Not everything about this handset is Smart as you'll see shortly but, despite its size, it still feels and looks like a phone rather than, say, the Dell Streak 5 which really does feel like a mini tablet.

Acer iconia smart

Packing Android 2.3.2, the Iconia Smart is probably as big as you'd want a phone to be without considering it a tablet and an Acer representative told us that the idea of a tablet-style phone was indeed what had been used for the design.

Acer iconia smart

Acer iconia smart

Indeed, the phone really does defy its huge size and even the weight isn't stupendous - it's 185g. OK, so that's a lot more than your average smartphone, but still.

Acer iconia smart

It also has specs to burn, with a full six-axis gaming control, a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and a stunning 1024 x 480 pixel display. Obviously it's not quite in the class of Samsung's Super OLED Plus display, but it is impressively bright and Android looks fabulous.

Acer iconia smart

Acer iconia smart

There's also an 8 megapixel snapper with LED flash on the rear in addition to a 2 megapixel front cam (rubbishy plastic block not included). And that's a headphone jack on top as you'd expect.

Acer iconia smart

The device also features the increasingly prevalent Dolby Mobile tech for improved sound.

Acer iconia smart

And finally there's the camera and volume up/down buttons.

Acer iconia smart

Acer iconia smart

Contributor

Dan (Twitter, Google+) is TechRadar's Former Deputy Editor and is now in charge at our sister site T3.com. Covering all things computing, internet and mobile he's a seasoned regular at major tech shows such as CES, IFA and Mobile World Congress. Dan has also been a tech expert for many outlets including BBC Radio 4, 5Live and the World Service, The Sun and ITV News.