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Today we are looking at a smartphone from another company who aren't best known for their mobile devices – Acer. The Acer Liquid Jade was released in July 2014 and currently retails for just £159. Featuring a 720p display and a quad-core processor, it aims for those looking for a good all-round phone on a budget.
The Acer Liquid Jade isn't the newest handset but its recent price cut, as well the impending release of the Liquid Jade Z, make it an interesting handset to have a look at. Perhaps its best feature is its weight, coming in at just 110g.
Features
- 5″ HD display
- Quad-core MediaTek MT6582 1.3 GHz
- 2GB RAM
- 13 MP & 2MP cameras
- 16GB internal storage, with microSD cards supported up to 32GB
- Android KitKat 4.4.2
- 2100 mAh battery
The Acer Liquid Jade ships in a standard silver box. Comprised of two parts, the top section lifts off to reveal the phone underneath. A picture of the device is against a white background on the top of the case.
As with most handset boxes, the phone's key features can be found on the side.
While our sample only came with a European charger and small starter guide, retail versions ship with a UK plug, microUSB cable and headphone set.
The design of the phone is elegant yet frustrating. The first thing we noticed is just how light the Liquid Jade is – 110g. It may not sound amazing, but when you remember that this is 2g lighter than the iPhone 5, but still a whole inch bigger, it is simply incredible.
The phone weighs so little it's almost a fault – you could forget it's in your pocket whilst moving around, it is that light for a 5″ phone.
Another fantastic part of the design is how thin the Liquid Jade is – just 7.5mm. To continue the comparison, this is only 0.1mm thicker than the iPhone 5, despite packing in a larger battery. However, this is somewhat let down by the fact that the rear camera protrudes from the back of the device – not much, just enough to mean the Liquid Jade won't lie flat if you set it down. It's annoying but not a major flaw.
Annoyances occur in other areas – like the glossy black plastic. This covers the entire back of the phone, as well as the front bezel. It reflects everything and picks up the slightest of fingerprint smudges and other greasy imprints – and that's only the appearance.
The device feels cheap when held in hand and can slip down your palm quite easily. It's clear that Acer cut costs with the build materials – which is only partially remedied by the sleekness and weight of the phone.
To complete the design, an on/off switch at the top of the device continues the comparison with the iPhone 5, whilst a volume rocker is on the top-right edge. On the top-left edge is a handy SIM card tray which can just slide out – no need for a small pin which is useful. The standard microUSB port at the bottom-right of the phone is the last point to mention.
Embedded into the sleek frame of the Liquid Jade is a 5″ HD (1280*720) IPS display. This is arguably the phone's best feature – we couldn't fault this display.
The 720p resolution is crisp across the 5″ screen, equating to 294 PPI. This is definitely enough – we tend to think around the 300 PPI mark is very sharp. It's not the eye-popping FHD display found on other 5″ phones such as the HTC One M8 or the Nexus 5 – but the Liquid Jade comes in at less than half the price of those flagships, so we can't expect the same quality here.
The IPS panel means viewing angles are good – in fact we were very impressed with this aspect of the phone. Colours didn't distort at all when holding the phone at an angle, whilst text remained clear and readable – making reading on the phone easy. This is impressive as some cheaper handsets can have awful viewing angles.
The weakest area of the display is the brightness level – on full brightness it can be a strain to use on a sunny day outside, whilst the automatic brightness feature tended to be too bright indoors. On the whole, though, this display is very good.
Shipping with Android 4.4.2 – KitKat – Acer also include their own launcher, called Acer Home, rather than use the stock Google Now launcher.
In truth it is not too different from Google's own launcher. The default layout did feel somewhat clunky due to the weather widget which takes up almost half the home screen, but it doesn't take much to remove it in favour of a simpler widget.
The Liquid Jade quick settings (left) compared with stock Android Lollipop quick settings.
The rest of the home pages are taken up with the Google apps which manufacturers using Android have to feature, as well as other widgets that might seem handy but really just get in the way – like a music player. There's nothing wrong with the launcher per-say, there's just no wow factor. It's functional, but there's nothing to excite you about going back to your home page.
The Liquid Jade settings menu (left) compared with stock Android Lollipop settings.
The same goes for the system's UI. It's unpleasantly dark and seems to be desperately crying out for some colour – something we felt the ZenFone 6 did very well. The quick settings found by swiping down on the notification panel are too busy for our liking, and also lack the simplicity and beauty of the stock Android quick settings.
It's hard to explain what we don't like about the software overall, as it is fully functional and has no major issues. There's just no stand-out features, nothing that says ‘look at me!' It all works, but lacks beauty and elegance, meaning the UI is straightforward but often clunky and dull.Inside the device Acer included a quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor, clocked at 1.3 GHz. This is an interesting choice to go with – a departure from the trusty Snapdragon processors found in most devices. Backing up the CPU is 2GB of RAM and a Mali-400MP2 GPU.
The performance of the Liquid Jade follows a similar pattern to the rest of the device.
In real-world use it'll get you by, with some multi-tasking ability and is mostly responsive to your touch. However, don't expect to be able to effortlessly switch between more than 10 open apps – which the ZenFone 6 handled with ease – as the Liquid Jade struggles with all but the lightest of multi-tasking.
Apps, too, can be slow to open and when they do performance can be unsatisfactory – Games we played such as Temple Run 2 had some occasional issues, particularly with a few apps open in the background.
In the benchmarks, Acer's device didn't fare too badly. In Geekbench 3, the Liquid Jade scored 350 for its single-core performance and 1081 for its multi-core performance. This is very similar to the Moto G (2014)'s scores of 340 and 1168, despite the Moto having far stronger real-world performance – something we found surprising.
When it came to 3DMark's Ice Storm Unlimited test, however, the Liquid Jade fell behind, posting 2844 to the Moto G's 4717.
Like most handsets these days, the Liquid Jade comes with a 13MP rear camera, plus a 2MP front camera for the now infamous ‘selfie.'
Rather than using Google's stock camera app, Acer have included their own, which is fairly standard. It does have a few cool features such as being able to include a second photo mode alongside the capture button so you can quickly take HDR images, for example, as well as normal images.
As for the camera it self, photos are taken at a native 4160 x 3120 resolution, but that is no guarantee of quality.
The camera struggles to focus even with its ‘tap-to-focus' feature, as you can clearly see. Colour reproduction is also poor, even in bright sunlight, as images appear dim and under-lit.
HDR mode off (left) compared with HDR mode on
The HDR mode does work and produces photos which do have better exposure levels, but it can over-expose images – it's not to the same standard as the HDR mode we reviewed on the ZenFone 6.
As for the front camera, it is passable for some Snapchat photos or Skyping if that's what you may be inclined to use it for, but other than that it's not worth using.
Included within the phone is a non-removable 2100 mAh battery. We prefer non-removable batteries as it helps keep the phones slimmer – demonstrated by the 7.5mm thickness here. You can always use an external battery pack if you're on the go and the battery is draining fast.
For a 720p phone 2100 mAh seems to do the job OK. Acer have cleverly fitted a battery saving feature which means when the phone is idle, battery consumption is absolutely minimised. Whilst this means retention levels are good when it's just sitting in your pocket, we found in actual use, the battery levels dropped, and fast.
For instance, when we ran the 3DMark test, which lasts 5 minutes, the battery fell 5% – and brightness was only 50%.
If you use your phone sparingly, the Liquid Jade will last you a full day. However, most users will find they need to top up the phone on the go, if not go for a second full charge. Charging to 100% took just over 2.5 hours, too, so it's not ideal if you're out and about.
‘Quick Charge 2.0' technology – as used by Motorola with the Nexus 6, which reportedly can get up to 60% capacity in 15 minutes – would really help here, but it's unlikely we'll see this technology featured in cheaper phones. As it is, the Liquid Jade may let you down when trying to last a full day.
On the whole, we weren't quite sure what to make of the Acer Liquid Jade. It does everything you'd want a smartphone to do and there's nothing necessarily wrong with the phone, but it feels there's nothing so great about it either.
Everything works, but it lacks a standout feature. The display is certainly the strongest aspect of the device, and for £159 it's good, with crisp colours and a strong 294 PPI level, but other areas let it down.
The UI for instance is dull and unappealing. It works fine and doesn't miss out any key features, there's just no verve to it, or excitement when using it.
And it was the same for most of the phone's other aspects. When the camera's shots weren't too dark they were out of focus, for example. The battery, too, couldn't deliver regular use for a whole day, whilst the phone's performance was just that fraction too slow for our liking.
Granted, it is breathtakingly light, and this is certainly a positive. However, we feel it's no good making a beautiful phone if it can't see you through the day. When it comes to the Liquid Jade, it's just not quite up to scratch.
You can buy the Liquid Jade directly from Acer for £159 inc VAT.
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Pros:
- Super light.
- HD display is crisp across the 5″ screen.
Cons:
- 13MP camera doesn't deliver.
- Battery life is below par.
- Performance isn't as good as similarly-priced phones.
- UI is unattractive.
- Glossy finish.
KitGuru says: Acer haven't made an awful phone with the Liquid Jade, it's just not up to the same standard as other similarly-priced phones in the market. Right now the second-gen Moto G seems your best bet for £150.
