Acer has now launched the Iconia Smart S300 smartphone powered by 1.0 GHz processor and running on Android 2.3 OS (Gingerbread). But the main highlight is the 4.8 inch touch screen supporting resolution of 1024 x 480 pixels which brings it at par with the tablet PC’s.

The Acer Iconia Smart S300 houses a 4.8 inch screen which is close to the Dell Streak that sports a 5 inch screen. The Iconia S300 is as powerful and capable as a tablet but just for the screen size it falls under the category of smartphones.

Acer Iconia Smart S300 features

This handset is powered by  1 GHz processor (Scorpion) with a 4.8 inch touch screen display supporting incredible resolution of 1024 by 480. This handset runs on the android Gingerbread 2.3 OS and comes with 512MB RAM and 8 GB internal memory.  The S300 has got a very elegant look with dedicated control touch buttons at the bottom.

Android powered Acer Iconia Smart S300 features
Android powered Acer Iconia Smart S300 features

The Acer Iconia Smart S300 has some more surprises; it comes with dual display so you can connect this smartphone with your HDTV using the HDMI port and watch movies or play games on big HD Screen. Another surprise is the 8 megapixel camera (back side) with LED flash. The camera comes with many features that you will find on other handsets. 8MP resolution is really cool and not many handsets come with this feature. In addition to the primary camera there is a 2 megapixel front facing camera that can be used for video chats etc. You can use Google Talk for video chats or use SKYPE.

The Acer Iconia Smart S300 is a 3G phone that comes with GPS, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi with Hotspot, 6 axis motion sensors (Gyroscope), Accelerometer, HDMI port, social networking enabled and a 3.5mm jack. For additional space (which you will definitely need) you can plugin the microSD card up to 32GB.

This handset comes packed with 1500 mAh li-ion battery that gives a talktime of 8 hours on a 3G network.

Acer Iconia Smart S300 price in India
Acer Iconia Smart S300 price in India

Acer Iconia Smart S300 price in India

MRP: Rs. 28,900

Verdict: This smartphone does not fall into the category of what we call affordable. The features are good but the price I think is too high. Yes it is a mix of smartphone and a tablet but still you can get a good tablet for below Rs. 28K. Other models that share nearly the same specifications as the Acer Iconia Smart are Samsung Galaxy R i9103, Samsung Galaxy Tab (7 inch tablet), Samsung Galaxy S2 I9100 and the BlackBerry Bold 4 (9900).

By Rajeev Rana

Founder and Chief Editor - gogi.in