Review Acer Liquid E1 Duo Smartphone
For the original German review, see here.
The Liquid E series is not Acer's first smartphone generation - the manufacturing giant from Taipei has already gained some experience in the field. Nonetheless, the core business is still computer manufacturing. In addition to the E series, Acer also has the phablet Liquid S1 with the gigantic 5.7-inch display with 720x1280 pixels in its portfolio. Below the Liquid E devices is the entry-level Liquid Z series.
The Liquid E1 Duo comes with the interesting dual SIM capability that can simultaneously handle two different SIM cards. However, the user must do without the NFC technology. The phone is powered by a Mediatek MT 6577 dual-core SoC with a core frequency of 1 GHz, 1 GB RAM and an integrated PowerVR SGX531 graphics card. The small internal memory of 4 GB (about 2 GB available) can be expanded via a microSD card on the 4.5-inch phone. The operating system is Android 4.1, Jelly Bean.
The competition in the 200 Euros (~$263) class is fierce and even devices with dual SIM function are growing in number. Therefore, the Liquid E1 Duo must take on the Sony Xperia E dual, the Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS and the Chinese Amoi N828 and Jiayu G3. So what can our test device offer in order to distinguish itself from and even prevail over the competition? Our detailed review should clarify this.
Case
In view of the lower price class, we naturally expect less than ideal quality of materials and workmanship. The polycarbonate that is used feels of surprisingly high quality, due to the pleasant rubberized surface. We also like the design of the wine red accents on the power button and the two covers of the earpiece and the microphone. Not as good is the IPS display that is protected by a glass panel, which yields even under slight pressure and this is followed by color changes on the screen. Overall, the rigidity of the case is only medium. The corresponding creaking noises are within acceptable limits. The removable back cover is firmly attached and does not have a uniform gap throughout. Beneath it, we find the 6.5 Wh battery and the SIM and microSD slots. With a weight of 140 g, dimensions measuring 68.5 x 132 mm, and a height of 9.9 mm the Acer Liquid E1 Duo is not a small and light device, but it is relatively compact, despite the 4.5-inch display.
Connectivity
The dual-core processor and the 4 GB of flash storage (about 2 GB available) are the usual size for this class. The 1 GB of RAM is also the usual equipment used by the competition, while only the Sony Xperia E dual offers just 512 MB.
There are no surprises with the ports on the Liquid E1 Duo either. In addition to the obligatory duo of 3.5 mm audio jack and micro-USB 2.0 port, there are no other connection options on the matte black case. Beneath the back cover, there is also a microSD slot for memory cards of up to 32 GB. Unfortunately, the battery must be removed in order to access the slot. This makes Hot Swap, meaning the replacement of the card with the phone turned on, impossible. Next to the microSD slot, we have two slots for standard size SIM cards.
Software
The Android operating system of the Acer Liquid E1 Duo is the version 4.1.1 Jelly Bean. The pure Android has been slightly changed by the manufacturer. For example, the lock screen has been beefed up a bit. The user can lay out four apps on the lock screen, which are then readily available without unlocking. The unlocking itself is done by a well-animated swipe.
There are lots of useful software goodies. For example, Acer has preinstalled the Polaris Office in its current version 4.0, which is compatible with Microsoft Office and significantly increases productivity on the go. Dropbox is also available, as well as Facebook and the YouTube HD Channel. Google Maps Navigation and an app for wireless input devices round up the appealing portfolio.
A true highlight is the DLNA compatibility for media playback. A small drawback is that local media, stored on the smartphone, cannot be streamed. Once registered in the AcerCloud, the media completely disappeared from the list and could be played only via preinstalled applications like the Google Player for as long as the smartphone and AcerCloud were linked. The music directory in the AcerCloud can be filled only using a connected PC. Then we have a photo stream available as well, similar to the rivals from Apple. Finally, documents can be transferred via the Cloud or to other devices on the local network.
Communication & GPS
The integrated communications modules work well. The Acer Liquid E1 Duo supports HSPA, while a quicker HSPA+ modem is installed only in the Acer Liquid E2. Wireless connectivity is provided by a Wireless-N module, whose reception quality is in no way inferior to that of the Apple iPhone 5.
On the other hand, the built-in GPS module does not have quite as good reception, as our test with application GPS Test shows. Eleven satellites were detected indoors, while a transition into the open only increased the accuracy of the location.
Telephone function
The telephone app is the standard Android one. The dual SIM functionality is very well implemented. Every important function of the individual SIM cards can be accessed. Different colors can be allocated to the two SIM cards in order to distinguish them better. This will also affect the network strength indicator in the status bar on the screen.
The app SIM Tools allows the users with prepaid cards to see their current balance and to top-up the card.
Cameras & Multimedia
The front camera is indisputably bad and is only sufficient for video chats, provided there is enough light. The Acer Liquid E1 Duo features a main camera that can take pictures with 5 megapixels, has auto-focus and an LED flash. There are also extras such as various photo filters, scene modes, smile detection as well as the options of HDR and panoramic images. Yet, sharp images with low noise are not always possible. In optimally lit rooms and outdoors, images still look good, but with decreasing ambient light, loss of sharpness and image noise increase considerably. Compared to the Google Nexus 4 or our reference camera Sony Alpha 57 we clearly see the lack of focus and the slightly distorted colors.
Accessories
In addition to the smartphone itself and the 1760 mAh battery, Acer has packed the Liquid E1 Duo with various short instructions, a standard stereo headset and a compact 5V/1A AC adapter with a 75 cm USB cable. So far, there are no optional accessories on the manufacturer's website.
Warranty
The Liquid E1 Duo comes with a 2-year warranty, while the accessories and the battery are only covered for 1 year. Software support is provided by Acer for only 180 days from the date of purchase. The manufacturer does not offer optional renewals or extensions.
Input Devices & Controls
The virtual keyboard is the same, in terms of size and button layout, as the standard Android one. The touchscreen responds quickly and accurately to any input. The automatic screen content rotation works reliably and is not too sensitive. Overall, there is nothing to complain about in this discipline.
Display
The IPS display of the Acer Liquid E1 Duo has a resolution of 960x540 pixels (qHD), a 4.5-inch diagonal, and 245 PPI pixel density. Screen content is clearly visible on the touchscreen and even fine characters do not clump and stay sharp, even in direct comparison to the brilliant picture of the Apple iPhone 5. Colors are very vivid, but are slightly distorted. Very impressive is the high brightness, which can counteract the highly reflective surface of the display.
We measured the technical values of the display with the X-Rite i1pro 2 sensor. The result is an average brightness of 450 cd/m². This is a really good value, compared to top smartphones such as the Google Nexus 4 and the Apple iPhone 5. Only the Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS with 451 cd/m² and the impressively bright Amoi N828 with 501 cd/m² have higher values in this class. The Sony Xperia E Dual with 315 cd/m² and the Jiayu G3 with about 326 cd/m² cannot compete here.
As for the illumination the Acer Liquid E1 Duo is less impressive with 88%, the great brightness sharply decreases towards the edges of the display. However, this is not noticeable in everyday use, which can be confirmed by displaying a white image.
|
Brightness Distribution: 88 %
Center on Battery: 450 cd/m²
Contrast: 918:1 (Black: 0.49 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 9.74 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 9.13 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
Gamma: 3.6
The black level of 0.49 cd/m² is mediocre, but it is positioned in the middle of the competition. The subjectively rich black is still impressive. The contrast ratio of 918:1 can be matched only by the Amoi N828 and the Jiayu G3, the rest of the competitors fare worse than our test device.
We measured further technical values of the display with the help of the CalMAN software and the corresponding colorimeter.
The color accuracy and saturation showed some deviations from the standard, but these are not noticeable in practice. Even a white image does not show any color casts. The color accuracy is not exactly outstanding. The grayscale and the color saturation could have been better and here we also see slight distortions.
Outdoors the Acer Liquid E1 Duo remains highly usable thanks to its high brightness of 450 cd/m². Screen content is still legible even under direct sunlight, although at certain angles some sections of the display become unreadable due to the strong reflections.
The viewing angle stability of the IPS display is naturally very good. There are no color inversions and only at extreme, practically irrelevant, angles is there a slight drop in brightness.
Performance
The Acer Liquid E1 Duo is equipped with popular for this class Mediatek MT6577 dual-core SoC (System-on-Chip) with 1 GHz core frequency. It is backed up by 1 GB of RAM. The integrated PowerVR SGX 531 graphics card takes care of the graphics tasks. This equipment is good for proper performance, but is in the middle ranks of smartphones. Nevertheless, the direct competition does not perform much better despite their powerful hardware. Only the Amoi N828 with its MT6589 SoC beats our test device in almost all the synthetic benchmarks.
The Acer Liquid E1 Duo must compete against smartphones with dual SIM slots and dual-core SoC in the benchmarks: Sony Xperia E dual and Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS, as well as the Jiayu G3 enter the battle for the dual SIM crown.
Next, we compare the results of the synthetic benchmarks. The Acer Liquid E1 Duo performs well in this discipline. In the AnTuTu Benchmark v3, the SmartBench 2012 and the Linpack multithread test, our test device beats almost all of the rivals, some by more than 30%. Only the Amoi N828 has a slight edge. In the NenaMark2, the Sony Xperia E dual and the Amoi N828 are ahead, while the rest are behind the Liquid E1 Duo. In the Geekbench 2, only the Jiayu G3 manages to get ahead; the Sony Xperia E dual and the Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS are clearly losing. Overall, a great performance.
A short side note: despite the 1 GB of RAM, the most demanding benchmarks like the 3DMark, GLBenchmark 2.5.1 and GFX Bench 2.7.0 refused to load or constantly crashed.
Smartbench 2012 - Productivity Index (sort by value) | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Amoi N828 | |
Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS GT-S6312 | |
Jiayu G3 | |
Sony Xperia E dual |
Linpack Android / IOS | |
Single Thread (sort by value) | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Amoi N828 | |
Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS GT-S6312 | |
Jiayu G3 | |
Sony Xperia E dual | |
Multi Thread (sort by value) | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Amoi N828 | |
Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS GT-S6312 | |
Jiayu G3 | |
Sony Xperia E dual |
AnTuTu v3 - Total Score (sort by value) | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Amoi N828 | |
Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS GT-S6312 | |
Jiayu G3 | |
Sony Xperia E dual |
Geekbench 2 - 32 Bit - Total Score (sort by value) | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS GT-S6312 | |
Jiayu G3 | |
Sony Xperia E dual |
NenaMark2 - --- (sort by value) | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Amoi N828 | |
Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS GT-S6312 | |
Jiayu G3 | |
Sony Xperia E dual |
The Acer Liquid E1 Duo has surprisingly good results in the browser base benchmarks, tested with the preinstalled Android browser. With the alternatives, such as the Google Chrome from the Play Store, the performance can be tuned to an even higher level.
The advantage is particularly clear in the Mozilla Kraken V1 and the Sunspider 0.9.1. The Liquid E1 shows over 100% better results than the competition, excluding the Amoi N828. Our test device completed the latter benchmark in less than 1000 ms; even the Amoi N828 is about 50% slower. The Liquid E1 also performs great in the Peacekeeper, Google V8 and Google Octane V1. The Browsermark 2.0 has some rather mixed results.
Google V8 Ver. 7 - Google V8 Ver. 7 Score (sort by value) | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Jiayu G3 | |
Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS GT-S6312 | |
Sony Xperia E dual | |
Amoi N828 |
Sunspider | |
1.0 Total Score (sort by value) | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
0.9.1 Total Score (sort by value) | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Jiayu G3 | |
Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS GT-S6312 | |
Sony Xperia E dual | |
Amoi N828 |
Browsermark - --- (sort by value) | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Jiayu G3 | |
Sony Xperia E dual |
Mozilla Kraken 1.0 - Total (sort by value) | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Jiayu G3 | |
Sony Xperia E dual | |
Amoi N828 |
Octane V1 - Total Score (sort by value) | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Jiayu G3 | |
Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS GT-S6312 | |
Amoi N828 |
Peacekeeper - --- (sort by value) | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Jiayu G3 | |
Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS GT-S6312 | |
Sony Xperia E dual | |
Amoi N828 |
* ... smaller is better
Epic Citadel | |
High Performance (sort by value) | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Jiayu G3 | |
Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS GT-S6312 | |
Sony Xperia E dual | |
High Quality (sort by value) | |
Acer Liquid E1 Duo | |
Jiayu G3 | |
Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS GT-S6312 | |
Sony Xperia E dual |
Games
The Acer Liquid E1 mastered the two graphics benchmarks in Epic Citadel with flying colors, although it is powered only by a PowerVR SGX531 graphics card.
Our test device turned in good game performance as well. Whether it is Zen Pinball HD, Angry Birds Star Wars or demanding 3D titles such as Shadowgun Deadzone and Iron Man 3, the games run smoothly and without issues. The gyroscope and the touchscreen respond well to any input.
Voice Quality
The dual SIM functionality is clearly the focus of interest in the Acer Liquid E1. The voice and speaker quality during calls are very good. The maximum volume is more than adequate and the speakers do not distort the sound too much when the handsfree function is on. During test calls, our partner confirmed that we were easily understood and there was little noise. The supplied standard stereo headset should be replaced as soon as possible, because its sound and voice quality are inadequate.
Emissions
Speakers
Acer boasts that the two stereo speakers of the Liquid E1 have particularly strong sound and has even equipped them with the famous movie audio format DTS. In reality, the DTS label is just a loudness switch with an equalizer, which offers ten presets, such as Hip Hop and Pop. In addition, the user can separately adjust the bass and the treble. Unfortunately, this does not really help, because the small speakers are quickly overwhelmed and the bass and mids are inadequate. Especially at high volume, the sound is bad and overblown. There is also no true stereo sound. If you put the device on a table, the sound becomes acceptable, since the reflection benefit the bass reproduction the most. In comparison to other devices of the same class, the sound is on par. The maximum volume with DTS activated is more than adequate.
The sound over the 3.5 mm audio jack and the connected standard headphones is rather good, but high-impedance headphones will naturally have a lower maximum volume.
Temperature
The generated surface temperatures in everyday use are acceptable, but rivals offer significantly cooler cases.
At idle, the Acer Liquid E1 reaches an average of 32 °C (89.6 °F) at the bottom. Under load, the surface temperature rises to an average of 36 to 38 °C (96.8 to 100.4 °F). The maximum temperatures of exactly 40.6 °C (105.1 °F) were reached in a one-hour test with the App Stability Test. Subjectively, we did not consider the device to be uncomfortably warm at any point.
(±) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 40.6 °C / 105 F, compared to the average of 35 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 56 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 39.5 °C / 103 F, compared to the average of 33.8 °C / 93 F
(±) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 33.5 °C / 92 F, compared to the device average of 32.7 °C / 91 F.
Energy Management
Power Consumption
The power consumption of the Acer Liquid E1 when turned off and in standby is exemplary at zero and 0.1 W. At idle, the test device needed between 0.4 and 1.5 W, which is on par with the Sony Xperia E dual and the Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS. The Amoi N828 and the Jiayu G3 consume considerably more power.
Under load, the test device was unusually power hungry, consuming 2.8 to 3.2 W. Although the Chinese Jiayu G3 consumed even more, the rest of the competition were far more frugal. The Sony Xperia E consumed a maximum of 2.1 W, the Samsung and Amoi needed 2.7 and 2.6 W respectively.
Off / Standby | 0 / 0.1 Watt |
Idle | 0.4 / 1.1 / 1.5 Watt |
Load |
2.8 / 3.2 Watt |
Battery Life
Despite the big 6.5 Wh battery with 1760 mAh, the Acer Liquid E1 managed only a mediocre battery life, due to its power consumption. In addition to the 8 hours of talk time and 400 hours standby promised by Acer, we test more runtimes.
In the idle test, which uses minimum display brightness and a wireless script, the Liquid E1 reached the ordinary 12 hours and 19 minutes. This is worse than the competition. The Sony Xperia E dual with 5.6 Wh battery managed a whopping 19 hours, then we have the Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS with its 4.81 Wh battery and about 16 hours, the Jiayu G3 (10.18 Wh, 14:31 hours) and the Amoi N828 (7.6 Wh, 12:11 hours).
The more practical browsing test over WLAN utilizes adjusted brightness and loads a mix of websites by a script. The Acer Liquid E1 lasted 7 hours and 20 minutes. In this discipline, it is just behind the Jiayu G3 and the Samsung Galaxy Young DUOS with about 8 hours. The Sony Xperia E dual is far ahead with 10 hours, the Amoi N828 is in last place with only 5.5 hours.
Under load, simulated by the app Stability Test and maximum brightness, the test device turned off after 2 hours and 22 minutes. The Samsung is on par, followed by the Jiayu and the Sony. The Amoi can last up to 4 hours with its powerful battery.
The phone lasts about one day in everyday use. If expecting higher usage, you should pack the 5V AC adapter with you. Overall, a good performance.
Verdict
There are not many dual SIM devices on the market so far, but does this indicate a purchase recommendation for the Acer Liquid E1? Well, first off we have the bright, high-contrast IPS display, which offers a sharp and colorful image. The good application performance and the decent battery life are definitely on the plus side. We liked the clever dual SIM integration the most, which also offers a variety of customization options.
The stereo sound and the not so stable display glass are neither bad nor outstanding. We did not like the mediocre workmanship, in particular the back cover and the gaps. The average camera module was also not impressive. All of this has lowered our impression rating a bit.
The Acer Liquid E1 is a good choice for those seeking dual SIM functionality and a reasonably priced, yet good all-round device in the entry segment below 200 Euros (~$263). We advise those interested to have a look at the other devices in the review as well.