Should I buy a Liquid?

[Guest Meowy]

So dear Liquid using XDA-members

I once again reached an obstacle in my life :huh:

Right now I am on a european 32a HTC Magic running Android 1.6 and I think its time to get some change :P

So I thought "why not buy a Liquid? Its fast, cheap and that notification bar on the top of the phone is too sexy to be ignored"

But before I buy it I really wanna know some things about it, and that is where you guys can help me :blink:

(Also posted this at XDA, but you guys are more active B))

Android 2.1

So I've been seeing a lot of Liquid E leaks here and wanna know if they are stable enough for everyday use? 2.1 working would be something that could get me to order this phone now. Does the notification bar on the top work with 2.1 roms? Is 2.1 as fast as stock?

RAM

Is the low RAM ever an issue? I mean it have the same RAM as my HTC Magic, but yet again Nexus one have twice as much :I

Form factor

Does it feel too big? HTC Magic is 3.2 inch screen, and I'm afraid this will feel too cluncky in my pocket :I

Performance

Is it as fast as shown in the youtube videos? Does it have good battery life? :D

Please someone answer this before monday, so I can order it :o

Edited April 30, 2010 by Meowy

[Guest sss_ddk]

So dear Liquid using XDA-members

I once again reached an obstacle in my life :huh:

Right now I am on a european 32a HTC Magic running Android 1.6 and I think its time to get some change :P

So I thought "why not buy a Liquid? Its fast, cheap and that notification bar on the top of the phone is too sexy to be ignored"

But before I buy it I really wanna know some things about it, and that is where you guys can help me :blink:

(Also posted this at XDA, but you guys are more active B))

Android 2.1

So I've been seeing a lot of Liquid E leaks here and wanna know if they are stable enough for everyday use? 2.1 working would be something that could get me to order this phone now. Does the notification bar on the top work with 2.1 roms? Is 2.1 as fast as stock?

RAM

Is the low RAM ever an issue? I mean it have the same RAM as my HTC Magic, but yet again Nexus one have twice as much :I

Form factor

Does it feel too big? HTC Magic is 3.2 inch screen, and I'm afraid this will feel too cluncky in my pocket :I

Performance

Is it as fast as shown in the youtube videos? Does it have good battery life? :D

Please someone answer this before monday, so I can order it :o

I have been using the liquid for a few months now.

1-Existing liquidE leaks are still not final releases...So they have their share of instabilities (else acer would have released the LiquidE by now). But we'll get our official update soon.

2-The RAM problem. It is better to have more RAM but so far i have nothing to complain about.

3-The notification LEDs on top... Way too practical for me to ignore

4-It doesn't feel big at all...for a smartphone of course. Almost the same as an IPhone in pocket or in hand. It does feel a bit (not too much) cheap compared to iphone or HTC desire

5-It IS as fast as shown in youtube videos. As for battery, must recharge it everyday (or more often if you use the internet much). But that's the case with all (android) smartphones.

Quality-price ratio i'd say go for it. or shed almost twice the price for a device that has some more (interesting) stuff (more RAM, OLED screen, better finish)...my 2 cent

[Guest Ultimate Chicken]

I'll say one thing about the Liquid:

Why the heck aren't there any accessories (non-pouch cases, screen protectors) for this thing?

I mean, the Milestone has its crystal case in stores the day it came out! I saw the same behavior for the Legend!

The Nexus was never sold outside of Google but it has cases in the market! There is a distinct lack of accessories for the Liquid, I swear...

(currently all I have is a custom DIY cut anti-fingerprint screen protector on it. The stock one provided with the unit reeks. Seriously. It affects the screen's sensitivity, is totally unsuitable for the sliding operations required in Android, and is an oil magnet. I've never had a worse screen protector. Replaced after 1 week. )

Otherwise, this is about the cheapest Snapdragon device you can get. I know its underclocked but I think you won't feel it too much, even on the default ROM it's already faster than 75% of the cellphones out there.

It does have less RAM than the other modern Android offerings ('cept the Tattoo, GW620 and G1), tho 256 is still plenty.

This phone doesn't feel as well made as an iPhone, yes, but even so, its construction is nothing to sneeze at. The battery casing is snug, and is better secured than even some of HTC's offerings. It doesn't have the plasticy feel of Samsung and LG either - in fact, the battery cover alone feels quite solid. I suppose Acer learnt a thing or two from the company they purchased back when (Eten).

Touchscreen takes some getting used to. Not because its not responsive. It's because you can accidentially press the "flat touch buttons" on the bottom whilst trying to do something else. And you'll have to get used to the touchscreen, its one of the few 'droid cells that lacks not just a keyboard, but a physical call button.

Here where I am the choice is bettwen this and the Milestone for the same price point. Everything else uses last years tech or costs a few hundred more.

Edited April 30, 2010 by Ultimate Chicken

[Guest sede]

Hi, my opinion:

-The current beta 2.1 ROMs are not stable for everyday use, better to use an overclocked 1.6 ROM.

-RAM: no problems so far

-Dimensions: Feels too small to me. When saw on the internet I thought it is larger, but it is very small in the hand.

-Performance: it is fast, but I have nothing to compare. The first beta 2.1 ROMs were slow.

-The touch keys are not so good like real ones and maybe a trackball would be good to have few times.

-Looks nice, have a cool black holder originally, but the screen protector is very hard to install, it is recommended to install before everything and in a clean room.

-For the price it is very good, but maybe I would by a HTC desire now at a 30% higher price.

[Guest Meowy]

Wow thanks for the fast reply guys! BTW stop comparing to iphone :huh: had one but sold it long time ago...

Do any of you know if Liquid will get official 2.1 or would you have to buy a Liquid E?

Oh the OLED vs liquid is no problem since all OLED screens have that pinkish or bownish tint!

I'm most interested in 2.1, gaming, apps and hardware like RAM/CPU

P.S. Desire is nice, but I would rather avoid HTC Sense :P only alternatives for me is Nexus One and Samsung Galaxy Spica... But Nexus is too exspensive and spica only have 128 mb ram...

[Guest dentette]

Wow thanks for the fast reply guys! BTW stop comparing to iphone :huh: had one but sold it long time ago...

Do any of you know if Liquid will get official 2.1 or would you have to buy a Liquid E?

Oh the OLED vs liquid is no problem since all OLED screens have that pinkish or bownish tint!

I'm most interested in 2.1, gaming, apps and hardware like RAM/CPU

P.S. Desire is nice, but I would rather avoid HTC Sense :P only alternatives for me is Nexus One and Samsung Galaxy Spica... But Nexus is too exspensive and spica only have 128 mb ram...

If those are your options go for the Liquid!

There is no official statement about 2.1 ( only assumptions)

screen is beautiful and hardware capable

imo 2.1 is useable, I use it every day

[Guest oyveggen]

Yes I agree there are too few accessories but it is not that bad, either. I just received the custom made silicon case from BJ, you'll find it very cheap on Ebay. It fits perfect and is elegant and useful. I've also bought the 2000 mAh battery from Cameron Sino, which seem to greatly increase battery capacity. BTW I think the Liquid uses slightly less battery than most alternatives.

[Guest Apocangel]

The liquid is fast. I've had no problems with mine at all. The ram is enough. I've been able to get well over 30 hours of battery with the stock 1300mAh. The 2.1 Rom on mine is stable, still has one or two glitches but nothing that stops me from doing whatever I want. Acer might or might not release an official update but if they don't then getting a port to the s100/A1 will be very easy since the liquidE will be exactly the same when it comes to hardware. its not big nor small. I feel its the right size.

Concerning accessories, mine came with screen protector made specifically for the liquid. I've found a couple of cases online as well as batteries car docks etc...

[Guest audiobastard]

If I had to do it over again, I'd have kept my iphone 3gs a bit longer to trade or sell it and get the ATT version of the nexus one. The nexus desire rom has everything I want in a cellphone. With that said, if the nexus one was not an option, I'd still go for a new acer liquid. The 256 ram is a problem sometimes when trying to do several things at once; that's because I have plenty of background stuffs going on at once. Until flash 10.1 comes out, the only bragging point the iphone would have is a justin tv app.

If you can get a desire or nexus one or something like it, do it, hands down do it. But if you don't want to shell out the extra 200 bucks, acer liquid is probably the best cell phone you can get for the money, no doubt.

2.1 is stable enough for everyday use. There is an overclocked 1.6 rom that works well. Voice input is great.

[Guest Andy__P]

Do any of you know if Liquid will get official 2.1 or would you have to buy a Liquid E?

2:30

[Guest jayziac]

I've had mine for about 3 weeks now, running latest official 1.6 ROM (hopefully official 2.1 upgrade soon). A few thoughts:

256 MB ram is not an issue since I don't run too many memory hogging apps at the same time. Android is smart about swapping out physical RAM anyway when things get tight, it's only an issue probably when playing games or using apps that require the whole 256 or more chunk of memory.

The top LED notifications is actually not as practical as LED lights on the screen face. Imagine setting the phone face up on the table in front of you, you have to place the phone 'up-side-down' orientation to see the top bar LEDs, then when you pick it up to use, you have to rotate it in your hand.

Feels about the same as when I used a MyTouch 3G (HTC Magic) a few months ago. I thought I wouldn't like the white glossy plastic, but after a while it's grown on me. It has a 'futuristic' feel. My battery cover is a bit looser, and creaks after a few "hard prying" openings & closings. So just be gentle, not a good phone if you plan to swap SIM cards often.

The side buttons takes a bit getting used to since they're flush and in awkward positions. But I'm used to them now.

Also lack of a cursor trackball/button makes placing exact cursor in edit mode a bit harder.

My battery use (no EDGE/3G data plan, GPS & Bluetooth off, only wi-fi use occasionally). Lasts about 4 days (turned off when I sleep too).

Even after all these minor issues, it's still worth getting because you get so much for the relatively cheap price compared to anything on the market and in the immediate future.

[Guest Mr.r9]

I agree with what Ultimate Chicken & jayziac said about the Liquid. I would like to add that the Liquid will feel wide in your hand after using the HTC Magic.

I also had the Magic & when I bought my Liquid I had 3 instant reactions:

1- Oh my God this phone is wide! (But in 3-4 days you will get used to it :huh:)

2- The screen is sooooooooooo sharp!

3- This phone is fast!

All in all, I am a happy user of the Liquid.

[Guest three_pineapples]

It depends how soon you need a new phone. You could just wait until the Liquid E is released mid may (on vodafone i think). At least that's the current date. Then you'll have native 2.1.

Also, you mentioned the HTC Desire. You CAN turn sense off easily with the desire. What you can't do is write to the system partitions (yet), so no custom roms. I have to say i went from a Liquid to a nexus one. I won't look back. The build quality is much better. The OLED screen is great. The battery lasts at least twice as long as the liquid (with some tweaking, like turning down the brightness on the nexus one).

Also, It looks very likely that android 2.2 (Froyo we assume) is only a couple of months away and it will bring flash support and possibly native apps2sd. If you buy a liquid it is unlikely you will see an update for a long time. The nexus one would be updated very quickly. The HTC Desire should follow in a couple of months.

The Liquid is a good phone. But even though it is getting a 2.1 update, it is still nearing the point where it is going to drop away. Acer took too long to update to 2.1 in my opinion. If you want something that will keep up to date for a year or more, i would recommend the Desire or Nexus one. I should also point out that with the nexus one you can run the desire rom (not completely stable yet, but it is getting there) and that the desire rom seems to fix many of the issues that have plagued the nexus one (except the 3G issue which is only related to t-mobile anyway).

[Guest Ultimate Chicken]

Until flash 10.1 comes out, the only bragging point the iphone would have is a justin tv app.

Judging by Steve Job's very recent riff on Flash and Adobe's response to that... you'll never see an official Flash on the iPhone, I'm afraid. More power to Jobs and Apple for walled garden fu - I'm glad I didn't get tempted. :huh:

The top LED notifications is actually not as practical as LED lights on the screen face. Imagine setting the phone face up on the table in front of you, you have to place the phone 'up-side-down' orientation to see the top bar LEDs, then when you pick it up to use, you have to rotate it in your hand.

The default pouch that comes with the unit is why they did this. I still have to remove the unit from the pouch to read the SMS tho. >_>

Edited May 1, 2010 by Ultimate Chicken

[Guest audiobastard]

Judging by Steve Job's very recent riff on Flash and Adobe's response to that... you'll never see an official Flash on the iPhone, I'm afraid. More power to Jobs and Apple for walled garden fu - I'm glad I didn't get tempted. :huh:

The default pouch that comes with the unit is why they did this. I still have to remove the unit from the pouch to read the SMS tho. >_>

Erroneous interpretation of my comment. I was saying that until flash 10.1 comes out on android (e.g. liquid, not desire rom), the only bragging point the iphone has is the justin tv app, well, not anymore... since the app is gonna be on android in a week or two. As a result, there is no reason to get an iphone. I honestly cannot think of one reason why.....i really really can't lol :P

so yeah, go buy a liquid.... or nexus... or incredible... or desire.... or xperia.... or ... you get the picture.

btw, i have no clue why i even brought up that phone. I guess i'm so used to android iphone flame wars it just crept in there.

Edited May 1, 2010 by audiobastard

[Guest Ultimate Chicken]

XPeria X10 also runs 1.6 tho, so it's not quite in the clear as well (until Sony decides to officially update the thing). It does have the best friggin camera in all of AndroidDom but it has a premium price point to match.

I think the most important selling point for the Liquid is its use of the bog standard miniUSB connector. These days even HTC has switched to the _micro_USB connector, which is much different and less common. (it also has a full-size headphone jack, tho cell companies are beginning to learn that this is a must and have designed their stuff accordingly...)

Edited May 1, 2010 by Ultimate Chicken

[Guest chingy1788]

If you want a cheap phone, sure get it, its not bad, build quality is meh (low res touch screen, creaks), low bass audio

but its cheap, and Android 2.1 beta roms work fine on it, I'm using Xian 0.6b with Helix Launcher 1 (not Helix Launcher 2 as included, HL2 uses tons of RAM)

it does crash now and then, probalby because of the beta version of Android 2.1

if you dont want 2.1, then theres 1.6 roms (ACR 1.5.1) somewhere on these forums and that works fine, coupled with the overclocked kernel, runs fast.

for $400 ish off ebay, its the cheapest snapdragon phone with a WVGA screen and 5MP camera around, I'd get it over the G1, Magic, Hero, and the swarm of Phones running the older Qualcomm 7200 Series CPUs running at 600MHz or less.

When Acer releases the official Android 2.1 and the Android 2.1 kernel source, would be awesome.

I bought it when it just came out, $580AUD, then the Nexus one came out, sigh

the Liquid is ok, of course there are better phones, but they are much more expensive

[Guest quantumfusion]

hehe i have some spare mirror screen protector for acer liquid . u interested ?

From SG also.

Yup , soooo hard to find acer liquid accessories.

[Guest linuxluver]

So dear Liquid using XDA-members

....

Please someone answer this before monday, so I can order it :huh:

I have owned HTC Magic (32B)

Acer Liquid

Nexus One

The Acer Liquid is a great phone. It's 50% faster than HTC Magic and comes close to the effective (using in hand) power of the Nexus One but at a lower price.

It has enough memory to run the system and apps.

It feels good and works well as a phone.

The screen is big, bright and looks great.

480x800 resolution - great.

The 5MP camera is good.

In other respects, the phone is at least adequate or better.

For me, the two main DISadvantages of the Acer Liquid:

1. Limited internal app storage. I think 192MB is the max, but in practice it seems to start around 160MB. This phone *needs* Apps2SD. Google Earth uses about 30MB. The new Fennec browser (pre-alpha) uses about 40MB. Just these two apps would use about 1/3 of all internal app storage. Also, you can't really use the last 30MB of internal app space as various apps use it to store data temporarily. If you fill it up, these apps start to crash. I installed apps down to about 15MB and the phone became unstable.

BUT!!! With LCR v1.3 or v1.4 and Apps2SD (with apps and Dalvik moved to sdcard) this problem goes away completely.

I have been using LCR v1.3 and 1.4 and either one of them can be your everyday ROM...being mindful they are not completely bug free. I found v1.3, from the previous ROM leak (008.0006?), to be better.

2. Lack of a trackball or d-Pad. This can make fine placing of the cursor more difficult, particularly when trying to select text for cut / paste.

These two issues were not show-stoppers for me and I have very much enjoyed using my Acer Liquid. My Nexus One is better.....but the Acer Liquid was about half the price of the N1 at the time....and for sheer VALUE the Acer Liquid is hard to beat.

It is an Android Superphone by today's standard.

Edited May 1, 2010 by linuxluver

[Guest MBK6]

I am pretty happy with my Liquid, the phone is fast and nice, but it is a budget phone, you get a high performance/price ratio, but what you don't get is a high grade phone.

I wouldn't buy from Acer again, because:

Build quality is rather low, my camera has stopped working, because of a hardware error. One other guy on this forum had the same defect, and got a replacement phone. So why dont I just get a replacement for mine?

Because Acer service sucks, it took him 6-7 weeks to get his replacement, I cant live without my phone for so long.

Also, look at all of the phones with bad displays, I dont think Acer is up to par with for example HTC.

I would probadly get a Nexus One next, better build quality, better and newer versions of Android, other manufactures will always be behind Googles own supported phones.

[Guest Mythrix]

My biggest complaint about the phone would definitely be the camera (no flash, and if I shake even a little the photos get blurry). I kinda feel that even the camera in my previous phone (Nokia N95) was less sensitive to shaking. Or maybe it's just because the N95 was bigger and thus easier to hold while taking photos? In fact in the beginning I found it pretty hard to hold the Liquid still while taking photos, because the sides of the phone is rounded, so it was difficult to press the camera button without the finger sliding off... Well since I've upgraded the phone to 2.1 I could use the onscreen button now, that might be easier. Haven't tested it so much.

Everything else has been said already I guess. :P I guess the biggest reason I picked this phone is because it's cheaper, even though its hardware (not counting the camera) is better than even HTCs newest phone models.

[Guest ©_vito_©]

Expansys sells White Liquids for 270 eur now - does that mean Liquid E is around the corner?

[Guest jayziac]

My biggest complaint about the phone would definitely be the camera (no flash, and if I shake even a little the photos get blurry). I kinda feel that even the camera in my previous phone (Nokia N95) was less sensitive to shaking. Or maybe it's just because the N95 was bigger and thus easier to hold while taking photos? In fact in the beginning I found it pretty hard to hold the Liquid still while taking photos, because the sides of the phone is rounded, so it was difficult to press the camera button without the finger sliding off... Well since I've upgraded the phone to 2.1 I could use the onscreen button now, that might be easier. Haven't tested it so much.

Everything else has been said already I guess. :P I guess the biggest reason I picked this phone is because it's cheaper, even though its hardware (not counting the camera) is better than even HTCs newest phone models.

To reduce shake, try increasing the ISO manually to 400 or 800, you'll get slightly more image noise but it should be sharper overall. Setting it on auto is supposed to do this, but the camera software may not bump it high enough and sometimes resort to slower shutter speeds, which is more sensitive to shake.

I've been looking for a camera app that uses the accelerometer to detect when the phone is stable before snapping the photo. So far all the apps only support 3 MP, and not 5MP. This is a nifty feature that I used in my previous HTC Magic and it does a good job of taking clear pictures even in low light.