The Liquid Jade Z is one of the phone that I really wanted to grab a hold for the past few months. Why? 1. It is one of the better spec'd phone from an international brand. 2. The Liquid Jade Z is probably the cheapest phone in the country with 24 Bit / 192 KHz HiFi audio support. 3. It has the lowest aperture count at just f/1.8 I've seen in paper together with LG G4 that could give the Liquid Jade Z the recognition as the best camera smartphone in its price bracket. 4. There's a lot of people that needs to be informed that something so good from Acer is available in the country that they should absolutely check out. Fortunately and finally, I was able to see this phone in person earlier to give you my insights. Let's start!
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| Meet the impressive Liquid Jade Z |
Note: There are two versions of the Liquid Jade Z, but the one that's available in the country is the more powerful 2 GB RAM and 16 GB ROM version.
Accessories
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| The accessories included |
I wasn't able to take a photo of the box, but it comes in a simple white small standard box. Then the accessories include the standard package we normally see, the wall charger adapter rated at 1.3 A, Free in ear monitors and micro USB cables.
Build Quality and Design
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| The textured back view |
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| The power button on top and the volume rocker, there's also a mic if I'm correct |
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| Micro USB port and mic below |
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| The left side where SIM card slots can be found |
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| The right side showing the volume rocker and chrome paint |
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| The front camera view, sensors and the rare metal ear speaker |
What's special with the design of the of the Liquid Jade Z is its thickness, it is a very slim smartphone at just 7.95 mm with narrow bezels that makes it look like just 4.7 inch phone even at 5 inches. It also has rounded corners that makes it feels nice to hold. The Liquid Jade Z also features an all plastic build quality that appears to be well made and durable enough. It also has a textured back for better grip and chrome paint on the sides. I would have liked it better though if it has an aluminum frame, but for the price and performance I cannot really complain at all.
Display
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| Check out those bezels! |
I'm also impressed with the display quality of this handset, it comes with a clear, sharp and not overly bright 5 inch HD display with 294 ppi. The display is also an IPS panel with Zero Air Gap (similar to OGS) to give anyone great viewing angles. However, I wasn't able to test it under the sun due to the rainy weather earlier, but I believe that it will still look decent in that condition. Aside from that this one also has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection to prevent scratches and cracks from accidental mild drops.
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| Gamers! 10 point multi touch alert! |
Being my known cheapest phone with HiFi in the country today, the Acer Liquid Jade Z is very audiophile friendly. It supports the highest form of digital lossless music at 24 Bit /192 KHz that even the ZenFone 2 can't play. When it comes to the actual experience, it was a fabulous treat to my ears! The frequencies are very clean across the spectrum especially the mids. Has that warm balanced sound signature. The highs were phenomenal for a phone and the lows was just right. It is also one of the most analytical (detailed) smartphones audio out I've encountered that's very near the level of the Galaxy S6, iPhone 6 and Meizu MX4 Pro from my memory that can deliver great sound separation. The soundstage and loudness is on the average side, but doesn't sound artificial compared dolby boosted smartphones. When it comes to the speaker, it was fairly loud, crisp and detailed but I was expecting a bit more.
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| The rounded speaker grills at the back |
Camera and Sample Shots
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| A closer look to the camera |
The camera of the Liquid Jade Z is extremely interesting as there are just 3 smartphones in the world that I know with f/1.8 aperture, the LG G4, Vivo X Shot and this one. I'm not saying that the camera of the Liquid Jade Z is on par with them, as there's a lot of other factors that should be considered like the lens size, sensor type and software. However, the fact that Acer was able to put that incredibly low aperture count at this very low price is highly commendable.
Note: The lower the aperture the better, it means more light and deeper depth of field and can make you take "bokeh" shots easily. Performs better in low light
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| Bokeh shot |
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| Lights off shot |
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| Check out the sharpness from the f/1.8 13 MP sensor of this phone |
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| Rainy dim shot from the window of Acer's office |
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| The color of my face in this shameless selfie looks very natural |
The shots I took with the Liquid Jade Z is very very good! It has very sharp details and great color accuracy. It is also arguably the best camera I've seen in this price range as it's more impressive than the M1 Note and the K3 Note. The camera software of this phone is also pretty loaded as it has a lot of effects / options to control your camera. The shutter speed and focus was one of the fastest out there.
Acer Liquid Jade Z Specs
- Display: 5 Inches HD IPS w/ Zero Air Gap & Gorilla Glass 3 (294 ppi)
- Processor: 1.5 GHz 64 Bit MT6732 quad core
- RAM: 2 GB
- ROM: 16 GB expandable via microSD card up to 32 GB
- Rear Camera: 13 MP f/1.8 Aperture
- Front Camera: 5 MP f/2.2 Aperture
- Battery: 2,300 mAh Li-Polymer
- OS: Android 4.4.4 Upgradable to 5.0 Lollipop
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, hotspot, Bluetooth, 3G, LTE, GPS w/ A-GPS
- Others: Dual nano SIM, 24 Bit 192 KHz HiFi Audio Support & DTS Studio Sound
- Dimensions: 143.5 × 69.8 × 7.95 mm
- Weight: 110 g
- Price: PHP 7,990
Pro's - Price, Specs, Camera, HiFi Audio output thru headphones, LTE, Slimness
Con's - I didn't like the chrome paint that much, average speaker loudness, power button placement, not yet in Lollipop
As of the moment...
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Geek Bench Scores
(I can't run Antutu benchmark for unknown reasons) |
Aside from the Liquid Z410, the Liquid Jade Z could be the Acer phone that could skyrocket the reputation of the brand as one of the underrated bang per buck smartphone makers in the world today. This handset gives you incredible value for money and could really be the 5 inch phone to beat in its class today. It has that very slim design with narrow bezels, display with very sharp images, best in class camera performance, powerful specs and true high fidelity audio. Those traits makes the Acer Liquid Jade Z the most impressive hype worthy 5 Inch phone in this price category today. Hey, I'm not just hyping this phone, it's really a good handset.
Note: I'll update this post once if I get a chance to hold the unit again and do more test
