Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review

Anjie lou delos Reyes
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Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review
Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review

INTRODUCTION:

Acer smartphones are becoming more visible and popular in the Philippines, one of the recent additions to their growing number of offerings is the Acer Liquid Z520.

The Acer Liquid Z520 features a 5-inch display with FWVGA resolution, which translates to about 196 pixels per inch. There is no IPS panel, but the viewing angles are still pretty decent. In terms of multi-touch capability, it can support up to two fingers and based on our first-hand experience, we did not encounter any touch issue.

On the inside, it is powered by MediaTek MT6582M processor clocked at 1.3GHz each coupled with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage. This particular system-on-chip has been around in the market for more than a year and proven to be capable and reliable in the entry-level smartphone segment.


UNBOXING and HANDS-ON:

To learn more about its physical aspects, how it looks and the contents of the retail package, you can watch the video we prepared below.

Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Hands-on Video

The contents of the box include the unit, battery, user manual, warranty card, charger, USB cable and a wired headset.


 HARDWARE:

Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review
Front

The front is dominated by the 5-inch screen, below it is the usual back, home and menu capacitive keys while above the display, you will find the ACER logo, followed by the loudspeaker grill above it and secondary camera to its right.

Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review
Sides

The top holds the 3.5mm audio socket and the micro USB port, the right side has the volume rocker and the power button, the bottom has the primary microphone and left side has nothing on it.

Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review
Back

Going in the back, you will find the main camera at the upper portion and to its left are the LED flash and the loudspeaker grill. The back cover is removable, by doing so, you can access the battery, two micro SIM cards and micro SD card slots.

Related: Acer Liquid Z410, 64-bit Quad Core with LTE for Php4,490

The Liquid Z520 is made mostly of plastic and yet it does not look and feel cheap. The textile texture of the rear cover is not fingerprint and smudge magnet plus it helps for better handling. Meanwhile, the square pyramids along the sides are quite unique and adds a sense of touch to the user.


BENCHMARKS:

The benchmarks scores are as follows:

Antutu - 19, 751
Quadrant - 7, 248
NenaMark2 - 57.5 fps
Vellamo Multicore - 1, 241
Vellamo Metal - 814
Vellamo Browser - 1, 811

These results are typical for a device running on the MediaTek MT6582M chipset.


INTERFACE:

Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review
User Interface

The Liquid Z520 runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat and has Acer's proprietary user interface on top. It offers lots of customization and useful pre-installed applications.

Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review
Quick Modes

There is also three Quick Modes to choose from - Standard for tech-savvy users, Easy for not so techie individuals like the elderly and Basic for the young ones. Overall, the interface is clean and easy to navigate, however, the responsiveness is not as smooth when compared to other devices with similar specs that are running on near-stock Android KitKat UI.


CAMERA:

Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review
Camera

The main camera has an 8MP resolution and accompanied by an LED flash, the camera interface is user-friendly and provides useful features such as Bright Magic and Acen Snap Note. The former gives you brighter photos even under low-light condition while the latter allows you to export images as slides in .JPG, .PDF or .PPT format.

Sample Shots:

Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review
Day Shot
Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review
100% Crop of the Above
Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review
Day Shot
Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review
100% Crop of the Above
Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review
Afternoon Shot
Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review
Afternoon Shot
Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review
Night Shot without Night Mode
Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review
Night Shot with Night Mode
Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review
Food Porn
Acer Liquid Z520 Unboxing and Review
Macro Shot

The main camera able to deliver good image quality, especially when there is ample lighting condition. However, the resolve details are not spectacular, in some devices that we reviewed, the word "EXIT" can easily be read after cropping. Using night mode during at night or when the light source is less than adequate improves photos and makes the captured images more usable. In terms of macro or close-up photography, it is having a hard time focusing on the subject and even if you tap to focus, the image clarity you desired is still hard to achieve.


BATTERY STATS:

I used it as my secondary phone and it can easily last for two days, the usage pattern is about 5 to 10 minutes of calls and around 20 SMS, 30 minutes of playing Criminal Case and 45-60 minutes of Facebook using WiFi.


CONCLUSION:

The Acer Liquid Z520 is an affordable offering from the Taiwanese hardware and electronics manufacturer. It can deliver most of the tasks you need on a smartphone, from texting, calls, emails and productivity on the go. You can also use it as your multimedia companion for consuming videos and musics. Overall, it can get the job done plus a little extra, just remind yourself that it is an entry-level device.

 Acer Liquid Z520 Specifications:

  • Dual micro SIM, dual standby, supports 3G
  • 5-inch capacitive FWVGA (854x480) touchscreen display
  • Dimensions: 154mm x 86mm x 6.4mm
  • Weight: 118 grams
  • Android 4.4.2 KitKat
  • 1.3GHz quad core Cortex-A7 CPU, Mali-400MP GPU, MediaTek MT6582M chipset
  • 1GB of RAM
  • 8GB internal storage, expandable up to 32GB
  • 8MP auto focus main camera with LED flash, 720p video recording
  • 2MP secondary camera
  • Multimedia player
  • DTS audio
  • FM Radio
  • 3.5mm audio jack
  • GPS with A-GPS
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
  • Micro USB 2.0
  • Bluetooth v4.0
  • Sensors: accelerometer, proximity, light
  • 2000mAh Li-ion removable battery
  • Price: Php4,990

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