Acer Allegro Is The Reasonable Windows Phone
Acer who have experienced a revitalization of their product line and probably some serious rebranding over the last few years are beginning sales of their Windows Phone 7.5 Mango phone the Allegro on December the 1st.
The phone is going to be offered in silver and dark blue from what I can ascertain. Information on the Acer site (UK, USA or Israel) was sparse if not nonexistent.
Thankfully, I was able to find more information via Expansys.com
It would appear that Acer are offering the Allegro at a substantially cheaper price than competing companies (Samsung, HTC, Nokia to name most).
How does the phone stack up, well I can only compare the spec until I can get my hands on any of these devices. I chose to compare it to the new pretender to the throne The Nokia Lumia 800 and to a comparable device the HTC Radar: –
| Company | Nokia | HTC | Acer |
| Model | Lumia 800 | Radar | Allegro |
| Cost | £440 | £330 | £260 |
| Platform |
Windows Phone 7.5 Mango |
Windows Phone 7.5 Mango |
Windows Phone 7.5 Mango |
| Weight | 142g | 137g | 126g |
| CPU | 1.4 GHz / Qualcomm 8255 chipset / 3D Graphics HW Accelerator | 1 GHz | 1 GHz Qualcomm 8255 |
| Memory | 512MB RAM / 16GB storage | 8 GB / Available storage: up to 6.54 GB / RAM: 512 MB | Internal phone storage: 8GB / RAM: 512MB |
| Display | 3.7 inches 480×800 AMOLED | 3.8-inch touch screen with 480 x 800 resolution | 3.6-inch WVGA |
| Network | GSM 850-900-1800-1900 / HSDPA 850-900-1900-2100 | HSPA/WCDMA: Europe/Asia: 900/2100 MHz / Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:850/900/1800/1900 MHz | HSPA/WCDMA Europe/Asia: 900/2100 MHz / Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:850/900/1800/1900 MHz |
| Internet | 3G/EDGE | 3G/GPRS/EDGE | GPRS/EDGE |
| Wi Fi | IEEE 802.11 b/g/n | IEEE 802.11 b/g/n | IEEE 802.11b/g/n |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 2.1 | Bluetooth 2.1 | Bluetooth 2.1 |
| Camera | 8MP 3264×2448 / Carl Zeiss optics / autofocus / dual-LED flash | 5 megapixel with F2.2 lens, dual LED flash, and BSI sensor (for better low-light capture) / Front camera: VGA front camera / HD video recording: 720p HD video recording | 5 megapixel camera with autofocus / 720p HD video recording |
| Location | A-GPS | Internal GPS antenna, HTC Locations, Bing Maps | Internal GPS antenna |
| Connectors | 3.5 mm stereo audio jack / Micro-USB | 3.5 mm stereo audio jack / Micro-USB | 3.5 mm stereo audio jack / Micro-USB |
| Sensor(s) | information not available | Gyro Sensor, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor | Gyro Sensor, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor |
| Power | Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery 1450 mAh / 13hrs-265hrs | Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery 1520 mAh / Talk time: WCDMA: Up to 485 minutes, GSM: Up to 600 minutes | Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery 1300 mAh |
| Size (L*W*T) | 116.5 x 61.2 x 12.1 mm | 120.5 x 61.5 x 10.9mm | 115.8 x 59 x 12.9 mm |
*the information above was aggregated from the Expansys.com and Nokia site
The Acer Allegro is a competitor with the HTC Radar at a notably cheaper price.
What it comes down to though is holding each phone, trying them out, quality of sound / phone call and of course bundled apps on each phone.
The Nokia Lumia is clearly in a different class with more powerful CPU and higher resolution camera.
I’m unfamiliar with Acer products but know HTC. Even at £70 I would have to do a hands on comparison to be convinced to decide which handset purely on price.
If you absolutely have to have a Windows Phone and don’t want to enter into a contract with a cell provider then if price is an object this might be the phone for you.