Acer smartphone sounds so strange – it doesn’t quite roll off the old tongue just yet, but give them time. This Taiwanese electronics giant is best known for their high quality and reasonably priced PCs and laptops, but they aim to change all of that by entering the smartphone market. From a couple of affordable models they are sending to Canada, it looks as though they are following the same formula with their two smartphones, the award winning Acer Liquid Jade Z and the Liquid Z410. Both devices support 4G LTE connectivity and 64-bit processing for the fastest processing and both devices are unlocked so customers can purchase them and jump on any carrier they want with no contracts. As carriers look to switch over to get rid of subsidies, the idea of purchasing your own device is looking better all of the time and Acer is banking on it. These devices will be sold at at big retailers in Canada, such as Staples, so they will not even make it to the carriers.
Hugo Hernandez, VP of Acer America Smartphone Business Group, stated, “Our newest smartphones for the Canadian market are thin, light and outfitted with the convenient tools people depend on for navigating and communicating.”
The entry-level of the two is the Acer Liquid Z410 – a dual-SIM Android smartphone running Android 4.4 KitKat. It sports a 4.5-inch qHD IPS LCD display with a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels with dual front-facing speakers with built-in DTS digital audio support. It uses a 64-bit quad-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory. It has a 5MP main camera and a 2MP front-facing camera with an 80-degree wide-angle lens for group selfies or video chatting. Pricing for the Liquid Z410 is priced at $149 CAD.
The higher-end Liquid Jade Z comes with a 5-inch IPS LCD HD display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels with Zero Air Gap technology that reduces unwanted glare. The processor is a 64-bit quad-core clocked at 1.5GHz with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. It has a “voice-activated”13MP main camera and a 5MP FFC. Power is provided by a 2300mAH battery with pricing for the Jade Z at $269 CAD.