Acer is the latest entrant in the bigger smartphone space as the company launched its first-ever phablet, the 5.7-inch Liquid S1, at the ongoing Computex 2013 trade fair in Taiwan.
The Liquid S1 from Acer is "designed to be the new travel companion for professionals and adventurers alike" and touts a mammoth 5.7-inch HD display with a pixel resolution of 1280 x 720 at 257 pixels per inch (ppi).
"When we look at smartphones, we look at perspective and what new things we can bring in a smartphone. Most smartphone products are very single-tasked, so focusing on that with the S1, we said 'shall we make a larger smartphone or a tablet'?" notes Acer.
Under the hood, the Liquid S1 packs in the latest Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS. It also houses a quad-core processor, which is clocked at 1.5GHz. The 2,400 mAh battery provides "a day's worth of battery power." The phablet has 1GB of RAM and single/dual-SIM card slots for separating business and personal data without using two different devices.
According to Acer, the Liquid S1 also "combines the work efficiency of a tablet PC with the convenience and multimedia-rich features of a smartphone. It is an all-in-one mobile device that opens up more possibilities for users to communicate and explore."
The all-in-one mobile device also offers both entertainment and business-focused features, including the ability to auto save and wirelessly retrieve business documents via AcerCloud Docs. Users can also remotely access files from their desktop thanks to Acer Remote Files.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 challenger also has the easy to access Acer Float feature that "allows several app windows to stay open so users can multitask without having to back out of one app to work on another."
The Acer phablet also packs in front- and rear-facing cameras. The secondary camera has an 88 degree viewing angle with a 24mm wide angle lens, making it ideal for video conferencing. The primary camera packs in 8 megapixels with LED flash. The Liquid S1 has 8GB of on-board storage with additional support of up to 32GB via a microSD card.
The Liquid S1 is already being touted as the Galaxy Note 2 challenger and not just because of its screen size. The phablet also has an optional digital pen-like stylus the Samsung phablet.
The Liquid S1 will "start shipping in Q3 2013 in France, Belgium, Netherlands, Ukraine, Russia, UK and Germany, followed by Spain and Italy with a starting price of €349." No word on the U.S. release or pricing yet.
