Acer is still new to the Android game, but it’s already making inroads as a second tier manufacturer. The Acer Liquid E, the Android 2.1 reboot of the original Liquid, has been given a Ferrari makeover here – and a larger price tag to boot.

The chassis is still very thick and rounded, with the plastic exterior offering a slightly cheap feel. However, the scarlet of the Ferrari brand, as well as the air intake-style vent and the carbon fibre-wrapped logo on the back do help add to the premium feel.

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You get a Ferrari Bluetooth headset bundled in the box, with a nice array of ear buds to help with the fit.

On top of that, there’s a selection of Ferrari videos, wallpapers and engine-revving ringtones to elevate this phone about the bog-standard Liquid E – but after that it’s still the same phone under the hood.

Acer Liquid E Ferrari edition: Interface

The Android OS has been barely skinned by Acer – little spinning wheels of thumbnails at either end of the five home screens offer bookmarks to the internet, and pictures, videos and music albums on the other.

The 3.5inch screen is a WVGA effort, not OLED, and is crisp without being dazzling. However it is at least more useable in bright light, although not completely visible at all times.

From here, things start to get a little shaky for the Acer Liquid E, as the foibles of the Liquid series come storming through. The underclocked processor lags all the time, with button presses simply not registering.

The UI can pause too, and this translates into the internet browser as well. While it’s perfectly competent, the whole experience is slow and doesn’t play flash, although the speed at which sites load isn’t too bad, and pinch-to-zoom and text reflow are included as well.

Acer Liquid E Ferrari edition: Media

The media experience really relies on a decent memory card, as only 512MB internal won’t hold much. However some file types don’t play properly, with m4k files looking terribly grainy and AVI files not playing at all. Music sounds OK, but it’s no iPhone beater, that’s for sure.

The camera is just average, taking OK snaps and just about satisfactory video footage, but with no flash and only 20fps recording it’s not stunning.

You’d say rivals to this phone were the likes of the LG Optimus One or the Motorola Dext, but these are significantly cheaper than the Acer Liquid E Ferrari Edition – unless you’re a lifelong member of the tifosi then it’s hard to see why you wouldn’t buy a normal Liquid E and simply download the Ferrari extras. Or just buy a Samsung Galaxy S instead.



Link: Acer

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Specifications 
OS: Android 2.1
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8250 (underclocked to 768 MHz)
Screen: 3.5-inch capacitive, WVGA
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b/g, miniUSB, microSD, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, GPS, HSDPA (7.2Mbps)

Camera: 5MP with AF

Video: VGA, 20fps

3G Talk time: up to 5 hours

Dimensions: 115 x 63x 13 mm


Weight: 135 g
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