Acer Liquid E700 review: Good performance

Specs: 5-inch HD touchscreen with scratch-resistant glass | 1.2GHz quad-core Mediatek MT6582 processor | 2GB RAM | 16GB internal memory, microSD slot up to 32GB | 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, HD video | 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | 3500mAh battery | Android 4.4 Kit Kat with Acer Fluid UI

Price: Rs. 11,999

Is there more to the phone than what the specs indicate?

Not really. Generally, everything works as advertised: the performance is good and you can play most HD games although not all at high-quality graphics, the screen is good, call quality is good, the large internal storage is a nice addition. The two things that don’t tell the whole story with their specs are the camera and battery.

Although equipped with an 8-megapixel sensor, the E700’s camera is quite poor. You will invariably see noise in most photos, and videos have distinct ghosting—not something we have seen in most phones with these specs.

The 3500mAh battery was expected to be good, but it surpassed even our expectations. It continuously played video for 12 hours, and will easily last a full day of usage even for power users.

Anything different about the phone?

There’s a button on the back, under the lens. By default, it’s linked with the camera, so you can use it to start the camera app and take a photo. It’s actually a nice experience and makes it comfortable to snap a pic—however, you lose the option for manual focus then. This button can also be customised to start other apps, like Google Play Music.

Are there any flaws I need to know about?

The speaker grills above and below the screen seem ornamental—the sound output is weak, not to mention the quality is poor. If you’re expecting audio like on the HTC One, think again.

The touch-sensitive keys don’t have backlighting, so the phone is difficult to operate at night, and you’ll often press the wrong button.

Acer has customised the lock screen and home page UI, and it’s not really an improvement. You’d do better to switch to a stock Android experience with Nova Launcher.

And something particularly noteworthy about the handset?
This is the only phone we’ve seen with three SIM slots, and Acer’s ability to let you customise the purpose of each (data, calls, roaming) is pretty cool and works seamlessly.

We also liked the rubberised back, which makes the phone easy to grip. Fair warning though, this picks up a lot of dust.

Give it to me straight: Buy or Don’t Buy?

Buy. But first, read our comparison to know which of these budget phones best fits your needs: Acer Liquid E700 vs. Motorola Moto G vs. Asus Zenfone 5