Hands-on at IFA: Acer Liquid S2

Just before IFA officially opened, Acer made a huge announcement with the Liquid S2 that is capable on recording 4K (quad-1080p) video, a first in any smartphone.

We checked out the Acer Liquid S2 at the Acer Booth in Messe Berlin. The device feels heavy and large on the hands but still comfortable to hold with one-handed operation.

The 13MP backside illuminated sensor at the back is flanked by a ring flash (that’s 4 LED flash lined around the camera lens) which will be of good use for low-light photography or macro shots.

That’s the translucent circular band around the silver ring of the camera module shown below. This is also the first time we’ve seen a ring flash on a smartphone.

Acer’s Fluid UI is basic but functional and still retains that Android-y look. The over-all experience is smooth, fluid and very snappy, thanks to that monstrous 2.265GHz quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM.

The front panel is completely covered with Gorilla Glass 3, the display looking really sharp and crisp with that 368ppi pixel density while the backside has a soft-matte finish.

The Liquid S2 is Acer’s flagship device and represents the best among the smartphones introduced here in IFA. It has almost the same configuration as the Galaxy Note 3 which was also launched here in Berlin a couple of days ago.

Here’s the complete specification of the device.

Acer Liquid S2 specs:
6.0-inch IPS LCD display @ 1920×1080 pixels, 368ppi
Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.265GHz quad-core processor
Adreno 330 Graphics
2GB RAM
16GB internal storage
up to 128GB via microSD
4G/LTE 150Mbps
WiFi 802.11ac
Bluetooth 4.0
NFC
GPS w/ aGPS support, GLONASS
Stereo FM Tuner
13MP rear BSI camera, Ring Flash
4K 2160p@24fps video recording
1080p video recording @ 60fps
3,300mAh Li-Po battery
Acer Float UI
Android 4.2.2 Jellybean
166 x 86 x 9mm (dimensions)

Acer Philippines is currently testing the Liquid S1 in their office for a couple of weeks now and should launch the device within the month. This could mean a late 4th quarter of 2013 launch for the Liquid S2. We’re expecting the retail price to be in the low Php20k+ range.