Acer is new to the smartphone business but it has immediately embraced the Android mobile operating system with the Acer Liquid. The touchscreen phone has the potential to be a really good purchase option. But, does it live up to that potential? Lets find out.
In the box
The Acer Liquid comes in a box which is as blue as the water in the nearest ocean. Inside you find the charger, usb cable, 2GB card and a headset.
First Impression
The Liquid looks really elegant. Dressed in white with tinges of black on two sides and around the screen, the phone feels a bit plasticy, but not something that should impair your judgement about the phone.
The sides have the volume, camera and power buttons, while the miniUSB is at the botton, safely covered by a plastic cover.
The Performance
Since it is a touchscreen phone, the response quality matters the most. the 3.5 inch glossy capacitive touchscreen is extremely good, but the glossy bit ruins the look with the constant fingerprint smudging.
The Android version 1.6 installed is quite nippy and the Snapdragon processor clocking at 768MHz does keep things moving along quite well. Acer have tried to put the Android in a wrapper- something like a chocolate in a wrapper, with the Acer UI. Not that the Acer UI does much, but it is certainly not a problem either. Multiple desktop screens is its biggest plus point, allowing users to add shortcuts, widgets and folders for quicker access.
Call quality is extremely good, and there was no disturbance in the audio.
There are LED indicators on the top panel which indicate a new SMS or missed call. Quite useful.
The battery life, however, is a bit iffy. Lasts just about a couple of days on normal usage, but need a long time to charge. While most phones fully charge in a couple of hours, the Liquid takes 3 hours+ to charge from a fully discharged state. Another very wierd thing is that if the battery fully discharges and the phone turns off, you will need to plug in the charger- wait for 30 minutes for the battery to charge- and then be able to switch on the phone. What is there is an emergency or the person needs to make an urgent call? What was Acer thinking? I hope this trend does not catch on with their other phones.
Since this is Android, Google Apps are there. But, the issue with them is that I found it really difficult to get them to work. They just would not detect my Vodafone Live connection and even if the Wi-Fi switched on (and connected to an access point), it still refused to detect it.
But the really good thing about the Liquid is the 3.5mm jack, which allows you to use any headphones/earphones you want.
The 5MP camera is much better than certain other 5MP camera phones out there.
Verdict
The Acer Liquid is a good phone, but has its faults. If you don't mind the faults, and are enticed by its looks, Android, OS and the overall good performance, then go for it. Or you could even check out the Garmin Asus M10 which is Windows Mobile powered, but is priced in the same range.
