A phone I’ve had my eye on in Europe for quite a while now is the Acer Liquid. With a Snapdragon processor, capacitive touchscreen and a good-looking set of specifications you’d expect it to cost more than it does but if you’re in the EU, this little pocket rocket can be picked up for under 300 Euros inclusive of taxes. Unlocked! Compare that to the 400-500 that you’ll pay for a Nexus One and you see why it becomes interesting as a sub-year phone or a good device for keeping track of the Android ecosystem. The only problem is that it runs Android 1.6.
Fortunately, Acer will be releasing the Liquid E soon and with Android 2.1 it should bring some great improvements along with the possibility of multitouch, Google Navigation, Buzz and other features that are only possible with Android 2. Unfortunately, when I visited Acer at MWC there wasn’t anyone around to answer my questions so I was left like a schoolboy playing with the device to find out what I could.
Acer will have to keep the price down on this to compete with the incoming HTC Android devices but if they do, it’s a chance make an lower-risk investment in Android at a time when new devices are coming in thick and fast.
I’d be very wary of buying an Acer phone. If past experience is anything to go by (I bought a Tempo when they were very cheap (mainly for the built in fingerprint reader)), they won’t support the device for long, if at all. Reliability isn’t anything to write home about, either. Mine is holding up so far but it never leaves the house. Despite what the reviews said, the camera is pathetic, the keyboard is all but unusable and the screen is useless outdoors.