Last month, Spidey had the first impressions and unboxing of the Acer Liquid Z520. Few days later, it was our turn to put the most affordable smarpthone from Acer.
This is a Father and Son in tandem: The Review of the Acer Liquid Z520.
My Turn… I had fun showing the Acer Liquid Z520 to friends, asking them how much this gorgeous smartphone is. Estimates range from P15,000 to even P20,000! Just imagine the pleasant surprise on their faces when I tell them that it’s priced at P4,990 only! That says a lot about its simple but stylish look.
Since it’s promo tagline is “Better Photos, Hands Down”, I focused on its camera features. Its 8MP 3264×2448 pixels camera, Acer Liquid exceeded my expectations. You could take up to 1280×720 pixels resolution with it.
The outdoor, bright sunlight shots came out clear though a bit grainy. However, under the sun, it would be hard to see the display on its 480 x 854 pixels screen. You have to set the brightness to its optimal setting.
Photos I took in shaded areas and indoors surprisingly came out in crispy color and contrast. That’s good news for those who love to take pictures of their food! Given the right lighting, what you see in front of you is what the picture would look like.
To operate it’s Voice Activated Camera, you have to speak loud and slow. In a noisy room, this could be a challenge. Just turn the Camera Voice Control on and say “Cheese!” or “Capture!” and it takes your photo. That feature is for both its 2MP front camera and rear camera.
Taking selfies has never been easier. Just say “Selfie!” and, if it’s on the rear camera view, it automatically switches to front camera. Then, it takes your selfie after a 3- second countdown. The Multi-angle view wows people when I demo it to them. It’s like taking a panorama shot, only tighter. To view it, you just slide your finger on the screen and the picture moves in 3D-like format. However, you can only use your phone to do that. I downloaded it on my computer. It has a .mpo file extension. To duplicate the multi-angle view on my Mac, I have to use the slideshow command on my Preview app.
[I turned over the Acer Liquid to my son to test it. Here’s his review.]
My Son’s Turn…
When the phone was handed to me, I thought that there were four things that the phone needed to have to give the user smooth game playing. These four things are a long active battery life, a fast enough processor, a good enough graphics card, and a decent multitouch functionality.
I played Minecraft first as a test for the processor, graphics, and the multitouch. Despite its simple graphics, it is actually quite resource extensive for phones, especially since you have to deal with infinite world generation, various animal NPCs, and other processes that are running as you play the game. Acer Liquid Z520 was able to keep up with the game, allowing for smooth gameplay as I wandered the land collecting dirt, wood, and gold. As I played, the game did not lag even once. However, I found it challenging to play longer because of the multitouch functionality of the phone. In Minecraft, one has to be able to move and look around at the same time, and sometimes even attack when necessary. I was able to do the first to, but whenever I had to attack a monster, I had to stop moving first or else i wouldn’t be able to swing my sword.
I then charged the phone to 100% for the battery life testing. For that, I used the GBA Emulator “MyBoy!” I chose this app because it drains the battery as much as most games available for Android phones. As I played Fire Emblem, I noticed how smoothly the game ran, even when the fast forward feature of the emulator was on. Usually the fast forward would make the game run choppy in my own Android phones but not on this one. Though at times the game appears to freeze yet the duration of each incident was too short to actually affect the gameplay. I burned 60% of the battery in 3 hours of playing, which I would already consider long for an Android phone.
Overall, this phone can handle games decently, from a simple emulator to games like Minecraft. However, you have to watch out for games that might require various actions to be done, as the multitouch functionality may give you hard time.
Our Verdict
For price-picky people like us, the Acer Liquid Z520 is a must-have phone. Yes it’s affordable but, with it’s over-all performance, it’s not cheap but classy. Sure, we wish its 8MP camera could be higher. Yet, for its price, the Acer Liquid still delivers hands down!
[junkie-toggle title=”About Jessey Cortez” state=”closed”] Jessey Cortez is an incoming sophomore at the University of The Philippines Diliman, taking up BS Computer Science. He loves to cook and play computer games. [/junkie-toggle]
[junkie-toggle title=”About Eyriche Cortez” state=”closed”] Eyriche Cortez worked for seven years as a writer/segment producer of Magandang Gabi… Bayan, a multi-awarded, investigative TV program aired over ABS-CBN Channel 2, a major network here in the Philippines.
Read more. [/junkie-toggle]
