Android at its Best with the Acer Liquid A1

Android at its Best with the Acer Liquid A1

Tawain’s computer maker Acer has released its new line of “Liquid” smartphones at a most opportune time.  With the Snapdragon HTC HD2 coming out later this year and the Sony XPERIA X10 hitting the markets first quarter of the next year, the new Acer Liquid A1 comes out pretty much bagging a couple of firsts. It’s the world’s first Snapdragon Android smartphone and the world’s first Android smartphone in the wide –VGA screen resolution.

Android fans may be a bit disappointed that Acer has underclocked the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon from 1GHz to 768 MHz.  That’s like getting a Ferrari to run only at 80 mph max. But it doesn’t look like this has compromised any of the remarkable features of the Liquid handset. It still packs a winning combination of innovative cutting-edge features and stylish 21st century ergonomics.

Another disappointment comes from Acer’s use of the older Android 1.6 when the latest and more powerful Android 2.0 is already out months before its release. But we can surmise that any shift could have delayed the Liquid’s launch date.  We only hope that Acer provides an upgrade option to prospective users of the Liquid smartphone.

Value for the Money

The handset has been available for pre-order on the Clove site in the UK.  It was initially promoted at a very affordable price of €380 (0) before taxes and subsidies.  But it can now be had for slightly lower at the ?330 (0) price point.  This is a landmark price for an upscale Android phone.  Firstly it’s a quad band GSM and tri-band 3G with HSUPA/HSDPA for high speed internet surfing. Whereas pother smartphones can only allow data synching between your handset and your laptop or desktop PC, the Liquid can also synchronized over WiFi 802.11 b/g apart from its hotspot surfing support.

Multimedia functionality gets upscale treatment starting with its expansive 3.5” TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen in Wide-VGA resolution. Movie watching on the road rarely gets this satisfying.  Then there’s a 5 megapixel camera with software-assisted accelerated autofocus, VGA video recording and geo-tagging from its built-in GPS receiver.  You also get A2DP support for wireless stereo Bluetooth earphones in addition to a 3.5mm headphone jack for wired headphones.

Your media content benefits from its 256MB ROM and a 512MB RAM with microSD support for up to 32 GB. Its slim 1350 mAh lithium-ion battery delivers 5 hours of talk time and 400 hours of standby time on a single charge – a bit on the short side.  It looks like Acer engineers may have underclocked the Snapdragon to be able to get the most of its slim underpowered battery which is the bane of most slim handsets.

Software wise, the Acer Liquid A1 has a full complement of phone apps that allow seamless integration with online social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Picasa and Flickr. You can now have updates and sync of your phonebook and calendar event with these social media and make use of Picasa and YouTube as a remote back-up site for all your media-rich files.   It has what Acer uniquely calls Spinlets, or apps that allow free audio and video streaming on your handsets that you can share with friends and colleague over the web and email.

For its price tag, it looks like Acer has hit on a winner with it Liquid smartphone.  We hope to see this widely available from network carriers soon.