Acer has announced ‘Liquid S1’ Android phablet at Computex. By the looks of it, it seems targeted towards budget users and is a direct competition to the likes of Galaxy Mega 5.8 phablet.
Let’s have a look at the specifications:
- 5.7-inch, 720p display
- 1.5GHz quad-core MediaTek processor
- Dual-SIM support
- 1GB of RAM
- Android 4.2
- 8MP rear camera with f2.0, 28mm lens, BSI sensor, and LED flash
- Front camera
- 2400 mAh battery
- 8GB of internal storage, microSD card slot
- Dimensions: 163 x 83 x 9.5 mm, 195 g
- Black and White colour options
Although it runs on almost stock Android, Acer has added some software customisations like ‘Float UI’ which allows several app windows to stay open so users can multitask without having to back out of one app to work on another. These apps include camera, maps, calculator and notes. Another one is ‘Float Caller notification’ that pops up a mini-window when a call comes in and the user can choose to take the call or reply with a quick message. Also, there’s ‘Auto Profile’ feature which switches selected settings of the phablet based on user’s location. ‘Voice Unlock’ to open apps or unlock phone, Traffic Manager to manage 3G data, Acer Cloud for cloud storage and Live Screen to share photos or notes in group of devices are the other software add-ons.
It will be available in Q3 starting at $427 (329 euros, Rs 25,000 approx) in France, Belgium, Netherlands, Ukraine, Russia, UK and Germany. There is no official word on an Indian launch.
