First announced last June 2014, the Liquid X1 is the latest flagship smartphone of Acer. It's my first time to review an international flagship smartphone so I'm very excited to share with you my thoughts about this handset.
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| Meet Liquid X1 |
Thank you Acer Philippines for giving us a chance to finally review this flagship device! Excited now? Me too! :D
To give you a quick overview of the specs of the handset, the Acer Liquid X1 sports a 5.7-inch HD display, and is powered by a MediaTek MT6592 octa-core processor. It also features ultra-fast LTE connectivity, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable internal memory, 13MP rear camera, 2MP front camera and 2700mAh Li-Ion battery. It runs Android KitKat 4.4.2 right out of the box. The Acer Liquid X1 is priced at Php 12,990 and is available in all Acer concept stores and kiosks.
What's in the box?
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| The Box |
The most exciting part is... UNBOXING. Would you agree, or not? Let's now cut the seal!
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| Inside the box: Acer Liquid X1 and its accessories |
- Acer Liquid X1
- Battery
- Data Cable
- Adapter
- Earphones
- Liquid X1 Quick Guide
- Third Party Software or Free Software License Information
- Build Your Own Cloud (BYOC) Instructions
- Warranty Information
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| Closer look to its accessories! Earphones, Adapeter, Data Cable (L-R) |
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| Inside the Liquid X1 and its battery |
Before giving you a first look of the handset itself, I have shown you already what's inside the Liquid X1 when you remove the back cover. Surprisingly, the back cover is very easy to remove. And yes, it's worth pointing out because the back covers of most handsets I've tried are difficult to remove. This is great for impatient people like me. Can relate?
The photo above shows the microSD card slot, AcerRAPID button which is also accessible even if the back cover is attached (this button lets user shoot photos or open their favorite app, instantly), and the SIM card slot. You will also see the following details here:
- Model No.
- Part No.
- SNID
- Series No.
- MFG Date
Build Quality
The first time I was able to hold the Liquid X1, I instantly noticed that it's lightweight (weighing only 160 grams) despite its big 5.7-inch screen and 153.3 x 80.4 x 8.5 mm dimensions. Usually smartphones of the same size feel heavier to hold. As a result, longer usage would cause discomfort to the hand/s.
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Front View of the Acer Liquid X1 (Sleep Mode)
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For now, I can't guarantee yet that women with average-size hands (like me) won't feel any discomfort while using it for a long time. I'll probably try texting/ chatting for several minutes (or hours) to further test this. I'll keep you posted.
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| Front of the Acer Liquid X1 (Already Switched On) |
You will find the speakers at the top and bottom of the screen. You'll probably not notice it in the photo, and even on the phone itself (if you're not keen to details) as the speakers are almost invisible to eye. The 5.7-inch Acer Liquid X1 has rounded corners and slightly thin side bezels. The front camera is located at the top right of the screen. You will also see an Acer branding on the bottom bezel of the handset.
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| Side view of Acer Liquid X1 showing the microUSB, volume rocker and power button. |
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| Closer look to the right side of Acer Liquid X1: microUSB, volume rocker and power button |
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| Rear of Acer Liquid X1 |
The rear of Acer Liquid X1 has a dimpled texture. It resembles that of Samsung Galaxy S5's. This texture allows user to have some grip, which is advisable for smartphones of this size (or bigger). The back cover doesn't seem to be a hairline scratch magnet - I don't feel a need to house it with a case.
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| 3.5 mm audio jack located on the top edge of the Liquid Acer X1 |
The camera is slightly protruded, so make sure not to place it on rough textured tables. Beside the 13 MP rear camera is the LED flash, which allows user to take good photos in low light places. Just below the rear camera is where the AcerRAPID button is located.
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| Notice the slightly protruded rear camera? :) |
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| Side view of the rear of Acer Liquid X1 |
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| Bottom of Acer Liquid X1 |
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| Other side (left) of Acer Liquid X1. Apparently, it doesn't have any buttons :) |
Display
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| Acer Liquid X1's 5.7-inch display with 720 x 1280 pixels resolution |
The display of this unit has good quality considering that it uses a large screen of 5.7 Inches with just 720p resolution. It has very good viewing angles, nice color tone and good brightness enough to be pleasing to my eyes. Even under the screen used by Acer here was superb and was able to perform very well. Another thing that I loved here is the touch is also very responsive, thanks to its 10 point multi touch. Oh by the way this also has that Gorilla Glass 3 Protection to avoid breakage on accidental drops and scratches. I'm sure that there's a lot of you who'll surely love watching movies using this phone.
Battery
In this part, the Liquid X1 was able to perform quite long. It's enough to last me a day of work with occasional texting, social media, taking photos and etc. Even at just 2700 mAh, I was surprised that this was able to surpass the 8 hour mark which is impressive considering the large screen size. Just like almost all Acer smartphones we tried, the battery life is always on the bright side.
Audio
Packed with DTS surround, the Acer Liquid X1 is a very good music phone. I believe that the unknown audio chip they used here was able to give me good balanced crisp sound when using my earphones. The microphone they used here have good acceptable quality as the my voice in calls have great detail and clarity. Maybe the only downside of this unit for some is the speaker, while it has good audio quality the speaker volume is a bit low for my liking. It's fairly loud on a small quiet room though.
Performance
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| Acer Liquid X1 UI, the toggles and the basic mode |
Performance wise, I have no problem with the Liquid X1 it was fast, fluid and responsive. I had no troubles in multitasking thanks to its ample 2 GB of RAM. Social media and browsing experience was also great. Some might not like the pre-installed apps of Acer here, but for me I find most of them very useful like the Acer Snapnote and Acer Extend. Maybe the only thing that I didn't like much about its UI is it looks a bit old and dull for my liking. Fortunately, that's not that important as you can always skin your Android phone, what's important here is Acer was able to impose an almost bug free OS that can won't bring you down.
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| System doctor, one handed mode, acer extend |
I also loved the one handed mode, the system doctor that can optimize your system in a click and the basic mode if you want a simpler use.
Benchmarks
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| The benchmark scores |
Antutu - 31,312
Geek Bench - 1,352 (Multi Core)
Vellamo - 1,904
Specifications
- Display: 5.7-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 720 x 1280 pixels, 258 ppi pixel density, Corning Gorilla Glass 3
- Processor: 1.7 GHz Mediatek MT6592 Cortex-A7 Octa Core
- GPU: Mali-450MP4
- RAM: 2 GB
- ROM: 16 GB, expandable up to 32GB via microSD
- Rear Camera: 13 MP, 4160 x 3120 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
- Front Camera: 2 MP
- OS: Android 4.4.2 Kitkat
- Battery: Li-Ion 2700 mAh battery
- Connectivity: GSM, HSPA, LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, hotspot, Bluetooth v4.0, A2DP, Yes, with A-GPS, FM radio, microUSB v2.0
- SIM: Single SIM (Micro)
- Sensors: Accelerometer, proximity, compass
- Dimensions: 153.3 x 80.4 x 8.5 mm (6.04 x 3.17 x 0.33 in)
- Weight: 164 g (5.78 oz)
- Colors: Graphite black, Wine red
- Price: PHP 12,990 from PHP 19,990
Pro's - Solid performance, LTE capability, Great build quality, Fantastic grip, Nice audio out thru headphones, Large vibrant display, and a camera that performs
Con's - Phone is a bit thick, might be too big for some, weak speaker, single SIM only, still in Kitkat
Verdict
This review might be a bit late, but the Acer Liquid X1 remains to be a very solid smartphone in this price range even with the emergence of bang per buck handsets. Why? First the build quality is fantastic, 2nd the grip and hold is very good, 3rd the camera is a performer, 4th it has LTE connectivity, 5th great audio quality and lastly that price cut made this a winner. It's a world class phone from a world class brand that most will surely love.
