Acer is joining the price war in the mid and low-tier devices section with the introduction of three new smartphones. These devices were launched here last Tuesday and are available now for the Malaysian market.
Click to view slideshow.The Acer Liquid X1, with its 5.7” display, is actually shorter and thinner than the 5.5” display toting Redmi Note/Note 4G. With its 1.7 Ghz octa-core processor, quad-core graphics and 2 GB of RAM, the X1 is Acer’s most powerful device at the moment. The X1 also comes with a Cat 4 LTE radio with up to 150 Mbps download speeds. The 13 MP rear camera has an f/1.8 aperture and an ultra-fast focus time of only 0.3 second. Users can even capture selfies, with its 2 MP wide-angle front camera, by just using voice.
Click to view slideshow.While the X1 looks like it’s been designed for the power users, the Acer Liquid Jade on the other hand aims to cater to those who want a stylish and elegant device. The device is only 7.5 mm thin, has a smooth and curved design. The curved facet continues on to the front display, which also features a curved Gorilla Glass 3 panel. The Jade has a 5” HD IPS display and a very thin bezel. The phone is powered by a 1.3 Ghz quad-core processor with 1 GB of RAM for the heavy lifting. Acer has brought over the same camera module from the X1 and as such, the Liquid Jade shares the same specifications, including the ultra fast focus.
Click to view slideshow.Bringing up the rear is the cheapest of the 3 devices. Although the Acer Liquid Z500, with its dual-active SIM slots, comes with the lowest of specifications, it’s still good enough to hold its ground. The device has a number of similarities to the Liquid Jade, such as the RAM, processor, data connection and 5” HD IPS display, but the Z500 is larger and heavier. The device should work well for first time smartphone owners or for those who need a backup Android phone. The dual front-firing speakers is also a nice touch, considering the other two more expensive devices do not come with that; the DTS sound processing offered here is on the lower end though, as the other two come with DTS HD. It’s not all bad news as the 8 MP rear camera comes with an f/2.0 aperture and has something called Acer Bright Magic to help take better images under low light conditions.
Here are the specifications for all 3 devices:
| Liquid X1 | Liquid Jade | Liquid Z500 | |
| SoC | 1.7 GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6592 CPU and ARM Mali-450 MP4 GPU. | 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 CPU and ARM Mali-400 MP2 GPU. | 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 CPU and ARM Mali-400 MP2 GPU. |
| OS/UI | Runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat with Liquid UI. | Runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat with Liquid UI. | Runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat with Liquid UI. |
| Display | 5.7”, 1280 x 720 (HD), IPS LCD screen with a pixel density of 257.65 ppi. Zero Air Gap technology for display. Has Gorilla Glass 3. | 5”, 1280 x 720 (HD), IPS LCD screen with a pixel density of 293.72 ppi. Zero Air Gap technology for display. Has curved Gorilla Glass 3. | 5”, 1280 x 720 (HD), IPS LCD screen with a pixel density of 293.72 ppi. |
| Memory | 2 GB RAM, 16 GB internal memory and accepts microSD card of up to 32 GB. | 1 GB RAM, 8 GB internal memory and accepts microSD card of up to 32 GB. | 1 GB RAM, 4 GB internal memory and accepts microSD card of up to 32 GB. |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, and micro-USB 2.0. | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, and micro-USB 2.0. | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, and micro-USB 2.0. |
| Data Radio | Supports GPRS, EDGE, HSPA+, and LTE (Cat 4). Single SIM slot. | Supports GPRS, EDGE, and HSPA+. Single micro-SIM slot. | Supports GPRS, EDGE, and HSPA+. Dual micro-SIM dual-active slots. |
| Camera | 13 MP auto-focusing rear camera with BSI sensor, LED flash and 2 MP wide angle front camera. Aperture for the front camera is rated at f/2.0 and the rear at f/1.8. | 13 MP auto-focusing rear camera, LED flash and 2 MP front camera. Aperture for the rear camera is rated at f/1.8. | 8 MP auto-focusing rear camera, LED flash and 2 MP front camera. Aperture for the rear camera is rated at f/2.0. |
| Additional info | FM Radio, DTS HD sound, voice activated selfie, 0.3 seconds Fast Focus, Acer Zoom Fit, AcerRAPID button, AcerFLOAT apps, Acer Live Screen, 5 different home screen modes, Acer Snap Note, and Acer Extend. | AcerFLOAT apps, Acer Live Screen, 5 different home screen modes, Acer Snap Note, Acer Extend, and DTS HD sound. | FM Radio, Front stereo speakers, AcerRAPID button, AcerFLOAT apps, Acer Snap Note, 5 different home screen modes, and DTS sound. |
| Battery | 2,700 mAh, non-removable, Li-Ion battery. | 2,100 mAh, non-removable, Li-Ion battery. | 2,000 mAh, removable, Li-Ion battery. |
| Dimensions H x W x D and weight | 153.3 x 80.4 x 8.5 mm and weighs 164 g. | 140.5 x 69 x 7.5 mm and weighs 110 g. | 145.9 x 73 x 8.65 mm and weighs 147 g. |
| Colour(s) | Comes in only Black colour option. | Comes in Black or White colour options. | Comes in Black or Silver colour options. |
All the devices above run Android 4.4.2 KitKat with Acer’s own Liquid UI. The UI comes with 5 different home screen modes, including the Standard Home Screen; the others are Basic Mode (for entry-level users), Classic Mode (with just the essential communication apps/components), Senior Mode (bigger icons and slightly more advanced than Basic Mode), and Keypad Mode (that is optimised for calls and for quickly dialing numbers).
There’s also the AcerRAPID button that can be programmed to either launch favourite apps, take a selfie, answer calls or to just launch the camera. The button is only present on the X1 and the Z500.
Acer has also made it easy for users to create and manage their own cloud with its Build Your Own Cloud (BYOC) set of apps called abApps. With the apps, users can access/manage/stream files stored on their Windows PC using their smartphones and vice versa. The set consists of abPhoto, abFiles, abDocs, and abMusic apps that are available for iOS, Android and Windows tablets. Users can also get the additional abMedia software for Windows PC or abVideo for Android.
The AcerFLOAT apps are another set of features that can be quite interesting to use. There are 9 apps for this feature (Dialer, Button, Text, Stopwatch, Browser, Camera, Maps, Note, and Calculator) and they can be launched with a long-press of the ‘Recent’ key of the smartphone. The apps will appear to float on top of any existing windows or menu that you are currently accessing on these devices. With the float apps, users can quickly launch, use the apps to execute a task and then minimise them to continue with what they were doing. Acer has also implemented this floating style windows system for incoming calls. The Float Caller app will pop-up in a small window in the foreground, when there’s a call, and users can choose to expand the call window to full, answer the call, end the call, or reply with a text message. All this can be done without leaving an app that is currently running.
Other features include Acer Live Screen (used as a collaborative tool for projects or discussions), Acer Snap Note (capture images that can be automatically straightened and then exported as .jpg, .pdf, or even .ppt), and Acer Extend (launch a window that mirrors the activities of, or can be mirrored to execute actions on, a connected smartphone. These features are only available on some devices for now.
The Acer Liquid X1 has a retail price of RM 999 and is yet another addition to the growing list of LTE phones under a thousand Ringgit. Meanwhile, the Liquid Jade and the Liquid Z500 are priced at RM 799 and RM 499 respectively. All 3 devices are now available at all major Acer Authorised resellers nationwide.
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