Acer Liquid Z4, a round figure for a smartphone that will become an option for all budgets

The Acer Liquid Z4 is a terminal that has a 4-inch touch screen, dual core processor and all the major functions that can require an intelligent terminal. Without fanfare, but with a very balanced proposal that stands out above all the quality of the speaker and the ability to use two SIM cards simultaneously. It also has a senior mode to make life easier for older house.

The Acer Liquid Z4 is a simple design smartphone. We were able to test the version that includes a white casing on the back, but we can also go for a more classic black configuration. This case can be removed to change the battery. One of the most exciting additions is a button on the back, which is placed just below the target and used to take pictures. Interestingly, if we are in the main screen of the phone and pressed the button, it automatically opens the platform Google Play Music.

The thickness of this phone runs on just under an inch. Though not very thin, it is quite comfortable in the hand and moves in an acceptable weight of 130 grams. Of course, after a while caught this phone is becoming something heavy. In the field of the screen, the company has introduced a panel IPS 4-inch with a good resolution of 800 x 489 pixels. The IPS technology allows excellent viewing angles up to 178 degrees both horizontally and vertically. We have found that the average brightness of this phone is sufficient for good visualization of the contents, but maybe something has lacked over maximum brightness (brightness difference is quite small between the middle and top). This can cause hard to see the contents of the phone when we’re on the street in the middle of a sunny day.

One of the points that we will notice right away that this is an entry phone is in the photo section. This phone has a 5 megapixel rear camera with LED flash and so HDR to get sharper pictures in bright or low light. However, we immediately found some obvious limitations of the lens that make it difficult to get quality pictures. What has liked is the inclusion of a way to detect smiles. This camera is also capable of recording videos in high quality. In the front we have a camera VGA for using videoconferencing applications like Skype and Hangouts. It is appreciated that Acer has not given up any of the two objectives despite the reduced price of this terminal.

The Acer Liquid Z4 comes with internal memory of 4 GB. Removing the space used by the system and installed applications; this leaves a space of just over 2 GB to store our personal files and apps. In principle, it should be enough if we’re not storing media files such as songs. However, where it is short we can expand this space through a MicroSD memory up to 32 GB. For running Android menus, it incorporates a dual core processor with 1.3 GHz power core and a 512 MB RAM memory. Overall, we have seen a good performance in most phone apps and simple games. Yes, the RAM memory of 512 MB is somewhat limited and quickly notice a decrease in performance in the case of having multiple applications open at the same time.

The operating system that looks this phone is Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. It was missing that Acer had bet directly with the version 4.4 Android KitKat, since this platform was created specifically for the phones can run more limited with flow system. Yes, we have access to the vast universe of apps in the Android has become and has names like WhatsApp, Line or Candy Crush Saga. Also worth mentioning here the software layer that the Taiwanese company has introduced to enrich the user experience.

First of all, we have a custom lock screen when you slide your finger offered us a shortcut to four different applications: phone, messages, browser and the camera application. We also love (from the test of the Acer Liquid Z3) quick access mode. This feature introduces the ability to use different ways according to our needs. For example, we have a senior so for the elderly. This mode has several large icons to access the clock, contacts, radio or telephone. The basic mode is focused on a few icons to your favorite contacts and access to the messages (thus it seems too simple and impractical).

Finally, the classic mode is a stepping stone between the full Android experience and senior mode. The icons provide access to functions such as the social world, the tools or the Internet and displayed in various colors and sizes. Certainly, it is a very interesting bet that may go unnoticed at first but becomes a great attraction for users who do not want to fight with Android icons. Acer has also included other applications such as Acer Cloud, to access our files from anywhere and sync between devices. Or a simple image editor called Acer SnapNote.