14 DAY TRIAL // With just a few days ahead of Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2014, Acer announced the upcoming availability of another Liquid series smartphone.
The Acer Liquid Z5 will be showcased at the said trade fair and will go on sale in the coming weeks for just €170 ($230) off contract.
According to Acer, the smartphone will be available beginning in mid-January in France, Benelux, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Ukraine and UK.
Customers will be able to choose from two colors: Essential White and Gentle Grey. In addition, Acer has confirmed that the Liquid Z5 will receive a range of accessories, including flip and protection cases, which will be available for purchase separately.
Acer tipped the sequel to its budget-friendly Liquid Z3, the Liquid Z5, last month when the company announced that it had sold 300,000 smartphones in Thailand thanks to its partnership with local carrier Advanced Info Service (AIS).
The company has also confirmed that the Acer Liquid Z5 will be sold in Thailand exclusively through AIS and expects to sell around 500,000 units this year, which includes the unannounced Liquid Z3s.
Acer Liquid Z5 comes with a large 5-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen display, hence the name. It ships with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box and packs a mid-range 1.3GHz dual-core MediaTek MT6572 processor inside.
Furthermore, the smartphone packs a Mali 400 graphics processing unit, only 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal memory, which can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD memory card. Dual-SIM support is included as well.
The Liquid Z5 sports a 5-megapixel photo snapper on the back, a VGA front-facing camera for video calls, as well as 2000 mAh Li-Ion battery. Connectivity-wise, it provides 3G HSPA and Bluetooth 3.0 support, along with Wi-Fi and built-in GPS.
It is also worth mentioning that the smartphone features “four different Quick Mode profiles targeted at different users and age groups:
- Basic Mode: for youngsters with fixed call and text functions; - Senior Mode: messages, radio, weather, magnify, clock, quick call contacts to make life easier; - Classic mode: all main functions in a simple and organized layout for first time smartphone users; - Keypad mode: for people who primarily use voice and need their keypad right away.”
Another innovative aspect about the Liquid Z5 is the Acer Float UI, which allows apps to stay open, so users can multitask without having to back out of one app to work on another.