Acer Liquid S1: Does 329 EUR buy you a Galaxy Note II competitor or a bucket of compromises?

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Published 3 Jun 2013

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Acer announced a new phone in Taipei this morning called the Liquid S1. It has a 5.7 inch 720p screen, quadcore 1.5 GHz processor from MediaTek, an 8 megapixel camera, and a partly 2,400 mAh battery. The only good thing about it is the price: 329 EUR.

Without even touching it, I’m going to say stay away. That battery is ridiculously tiny for such a huge device. The HTC One, which has a 4.7 inch screen, has a 2,300 mAh battery. The 5.0 inch Galaxy S4 has a 2,600 mAh battery. Does Acer expect a full day’s use out of just 2,400 mAh? Moving on to the screen, Engadget says it’s not very bright, and viewing angles are quite poor.

Sure, the S1 may run a near stock version of Android, but the rest of the device just screams fail to me. What should you buy instead? For that price you should wait for the Galaxy Mega 6.3 to come out, but if you want my honest advice, just wait until the Note III hits the market and then buy the Note II at a steep discount. If you’re comfortable with used hardware, then buy a used Note II and a new battery and you’re golden.