It has become a habit for tech companies to unveil their products just days before important trade shows, and since many believe that Computex will be better that CES this year, Acer took chance of the occasion to launch a new line of smartphones, a smartband and a tablet.
The five new smartphones coming from the Taiwanese tech giant, respectively Liquid E700, Liquid E600, Liquid Z200, Liquid X1, and Liquid Jade, are not as big a surprise as the Liquid Leap smartband. This and the Liquid Jade smartphone were first unveiled by the company last month, at the Touch More Connected event, but the details were scarce, to say the least. Now, ahead of Computex, Acer detailed the new products, without revealing the prices, so there are still reasons to anticipate the trade show. As far as the launch date is concerned, the company stated that it will be sometime in Q3 2014.
The Liquid Jade dual-SIM smartphone is equipped with the latest version of Android 4.4 KitKat, and according to the manufacturer, it “targets users for whom every device or accessory carried is an expression of their style and personality.” In other words, expect Acer Liquid Jade to be some sort of a style statement.
Behind the Gorilla Glass 3 screen, there is a 5-inch IPS ‘Zero Air Gap’ display with a 720×1280 pixel resolution. This is by no means revolutionary, as smartphones are slowly, but steadily stepping into 2K territory. Under the hood, Liquid Jade includes a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 CPU and 1GB of RAM. The 8GB of built-in storage confirm that this isn’t exactly flagship material, but it should still be a decent smartphone.
On the back, the Liquid Jade smartphone features a 13 MP camera with an f/1.8 aperture, 0.3 second autofocus, and 1080p HD video recording capability. Selfie-enthusiasts will be able to use the phone’s 2 MP front-facing camera to take the perfect shot of themselves. In terms of connectivity, Liquid Jade comes with 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, Micro-USB, A-GPS, and a 3.5mm audio jack. Measuring only 140.5x69x7.5mm, Acer’s smartphone is powered by a 2,100 mAh battery.
Acer seems to have an affinity for Liquid anything, as it’s been naming its mobile devices using this word for four years now. Personally, I have nothing against this nomenclature, as long as these devices have no glitches. Something makes me think that the decision to name the mobile line this way derives from Bruce Lee’s speech about how people should be like water. Maybe smartphones and smartbands should be like water, as well, in that they should work fluently.
The 1-inch display of the Liquid Leap makes this wearable the smallest touchscreen device made by Acer. On top of that, it represents Acer’s first attempt at making a wearable. Not only is this smartband capable of tracking physical activities, but it can also display SMS and call notifications. Besides that, it has controls for music, but all in all, it’s not that different from other smartbands. Liquid Leap will be bundled with the Liquid Jade smartphone in select markets.
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