Acer Liquid Jade S review: Semi-precious

Introduction

It's a tall order for any midranger to stand out among a myriad of offerings in the market. Both established brands and emerging Asian manufacturers are trying hard to grab a piece of that market spoiling those shopping there for choice. The Acer Liquid Jade S aims to make a name for itself with bold looks, slim waistline and balanced hardware.

Announced merely six months after the Liquid Jade the S version brings notable upgrades in several major areas. A more powerful chipset, featuring an octa-core processor and a higher-grade graphics processor is the key change, but the doubled operating memory and onboard storage are also important updates. The new SoC is not just about higher performance though, it also brings LTE support to the mix.

Meanwhile, other key features have been retained starting with the 5-inch display. True, it's not FullHD, but qHD resolutions aren't unheard of in the price segment and 720p gives enough density without rising the price too high. The dual SIM capability will be appreciated by a certain type of users, even if the second card needs to fight with the microSD for the shared slot space.

The Acer Liquid Jade S sports prominent styling too. While certain design elements may not be to everyone's liking, it's definitely not just another nameless black rectangle of a smartphone. It's also light and pleasantly thin - a rarity in a price range where build is usually sacrificed at the altar of lower price.

Acer Liquid Jade S key features

• Dual SIM slots, quad-band 2G connectivity for both SIM cards, quad-band 3G and Cat. 4 LTE for download speeds up to 150Mbps
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, hotspot; GPS with A-GPS
• 64-bit Mediatek MT6752M chipset with an octa-core Cortex-A53 processor clocked at 1.5GHz
• Mali T760MP2 dual-core GPU
• 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage on board, expandable up to 32GB via microSD card in place of SIM 2
• 5-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display of 1,280 x 720 pixels resolution, Gorilla Glass 3 protection
• 13MP main camera with fast f1.8 lens, autofocus, and LED flash; 1080p@30fps video recording
• 5MP front facing camera
• DTS-HD certified audio
• Android 4.4.4 KitKat with thorough customizations from Acer, promised upgrade to Lollipop
• FM radio receiver
• 2,300mAh battery capacity
• Compact, light body; striking design

Main disadvantages

• Non-removable battery
• Power button is in an uncomfortable position
• No NFC
• You can't have dual-SIM and microSD at the same time

So, as evidenced by the above list, the Acer Liquid Jade S addresses the predecessor's shortcomings and adds up to a convincing smartphone package on paper. The capable hardware is complemented by unusual styling that may not please everyone, but is certainly a conversation starter.

Acer Liquid Jade S official images

With the specs duly rounded up, we headed on to the lab for our customary test routine. We start on the next page with unboxing and hardware inspection.