Acer Liquid X2 review: Switchboarding

Decent 5.5-inch display

The Acer Liquid Jade X2 is equipped with a 5.5-inch IPS display. Its 1,280x720 resolution is rather low by today's standards - the most obvious victim of cost cutting. That said, 267ppi is still okay, if you're not going to be reading tiny texts.

In the other areas we measure though, the screen is actually an okay performer. Its maximum brightness is good for the class, only bested by the Moto X Play. A touch brighter blacks still don't send contrast down the drain - in fact, it's on the good side of average. The minimum brightness is rather high though, at 13.5 nits.

Color reproduction is decently accurate - the average DeltaE of 5.8 is only slightly off the flagship G5's 5.6. The grays are mostly accurate, cyan probably the most distant from the truth.

There is a proprietary mode for enhancing photos in the gallery, called LumiFlex, which we found to be working in other apps as well. It dynamically alters contrast based on the content on the screen. While the premise is nice, in practice we found it to perform quite inconsistently.

The standard DeltaE 2000 deviation is used to describe the accuracy of the screen's color rendition. We test the screen with a set of over 100 different color and grayscale patterns to determine the accuracy of the color reproduction.
Even when a phone's screen color reproduction is off, you would still have a hard time noticing a color cast without a reference as the human eye is quite quick to adjust and normalize colors.
Also, the display colors are a matter of personal taste and perception so consider this test data only if you are concerned about presenting color-critical content on the mobile screen.
Any deviation above DeltaE 2000 of 10 is considered a highly visible error in color reproduction on the display. A DeltaE 2000 deviation between 4 and 10 is considered okay or acceptable color performance. A DeltaE 2000 deviation below 4 is considered good, but professional color calibration requires a deviation between 1 and 2.

It's out in the sun that the Liquid X2 doens't fare all too well. Its result is better than the Zenfone Selfie that we tested, and similar to the Zenfone 2 ZE551ML and the Xiaomi Redmi 3. The Moto X Play is miles ahead, but that's one of the better-scoring non-AMOLEDs in our test.

Sunlight contrast ratio

• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  4.615
• Samsung Galaxy E7
  4.485
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
  4.439
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  4.376
• HTC One A9
  4.274
• Samsung Galaxy A3
  4.241
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  4.124
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  4.09
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  4.019
• OnePlus X
  3.983
• Oppo R7s
  3.964
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
  3.918
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  3.895
• Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
  3.879
• Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
  3.873
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  3.859
• Apple iPhone 6
  3.838
• Microsoft Lumia 950XL
  3.837
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
  3.817
• Motorola Moto X (2014)
  3.816
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
  3.789
• Apple iPhone 6s
  3.783
• Meizu Pro 5
  3.781
• Microsoft Lumia 650
  3.772
• Oppo F1 Plus
  3.709
• Vivo X5Pro
  3.706
• Apple iPhone SE
  3.681
• Samsung Galaxy A7
  3.679
• BlackBerry Priv
  3.645
• Apple iPhone 6s Plus
  3.53
• Acer Jade Primo
  3.521
• Microsoft Lumia 950
  3.512
• Oppo R7 Plus
  3.499
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  3.422
• Meizu MX5
  3.416
• Oppo R7
  3.32
• Samsung Galaxy J2
  3.235
• Motorola Moto X Play
  3.222
• Huawei P9
  3.195
• Lenovo Vibe Shot
  3.113
• Motorola Moto X Force
  3.105
• LG Nexus 5X
  3.092
• Huawei Mate S
  3.073
• Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
  3.065
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  3.023
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  2.97
• Huawei Mate 8
  2.949
• LG G5
  2.905
• HTC One S
  2.901
• Sony Xperia Z5
  2.876
• Microsoft Lumia 550
  2.851
• Sony Xperia Z5 compact
  2.784
• LG V10
  2.744
• Xiaomi Redmi 3
  2.735
• Sony Xperia M5
  2.69
• Vivo V3Max
  2.659
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  2.641
• Xiaomi Mi 4c
  2.574
• Microsoft Lumia 640
  2.563
• Oppo F1
  2.528
• Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
  2.525
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  2.503
• Motorola Moto G
  2.477
• Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
  2.473
• Huawei G8
  2.471
• Sony Xperia Z
  2.462
• Huawei Honor 7
  2.406
• ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
  2.382
• HTC One M9
  2.334
• HTC One E9+
  2.305
• Alcatel One Touch Hero
  2.272
• Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
  2.254
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  2.253
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
  2.249
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  2.235
• Motorola Moto G (2014)
  2.233
• LG Nexus 5
  2.228
• Huawei P8
  2.196
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  2.166
• OnePlus Two
  2.165
• HTC One X
  2.158
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML
  2.149
• LG Aka
  2.145
• Archos 50 Diamond
  2.134
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  2.119
• Acer Liquid X2
  2.084
• Huawei P8lite
  2.078
• Moto G 3rd gen max manual
  2.026
• Sony Xperia E4g
  1.972
• OnePlus One
  1.961
• Meizu m2 note
  1.892
• BlackBerry Leap
  1.892
• HTC Butterfly
  1.873
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  1.759
• Sony Xperia U
  1.758
• Asus Zenfone Selfie
  1.68
• Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
  1.675
• ZTE Nubia Z9
  1.659
• Motorola Moto E
  1.545
• Sony Xperia M
  1.473
• Xiaomi Redmi 2
  1.311
• Sony Xperia C
  1.283
• Meizu MX
  1.221

Connectivity

The Acer Liquid X3 is a triple SIM device, so you have flexibility in terms of carriers and plans. The three microSIM compartments are under the rear cover and they all get 2G connectivity. Only one card gets 3G/4G, but you don't need to worry about it when putting the cards in - the networks are managed in the options menu.

Additionally, the cards are not active at the same time. If you're taking a call on one card, and someone rings you on another, the call would just be forwarded to the active SIM card which may or may not be what you'd like depending on your usage case.

Naturally, you get Wi-Fi, but it only operates on the 2.4GHz band, and there's no Wi-Fi ac. There's GPS with A-GPS, Bluetooth v.4.0, and an FM radio receiver, but no NFC.

Wired options include a microUSB port and a 3.5mm jack. The microUSB port can be used to attach an external accessory as it supports USB On-The-Go.

Acer Liquid X2 battery life

Under the rear cover of the Liquid X2 you'll find a large, flat 4,020mAh battery. It blocks access to the SIM cards, so you may need to pop it out quite often. The capacity is pretty generous, and well above the competition, but then again, it needs to be in order to keep all those radios running.

Indeed, the Liquid X2 proved to be a dependable performer in terms of battery backup. In both tests where the display stays on, the smartphone is good for a little less than 13 hours - excellent numbers. What's not as impressive is the endurance in 3G voice calls, but even so, upwards of 15 and a half hours should still be more than enough for even the busiest days.

We do measure standby battery drain, and even though it's not included explicitly in the scorecard, it has its influence on the overall rating. In the case of the Liquid X2, having three SIMs inside inevitably takes its toll, and the otherwise excellent 85h endurance rating gets a 20-hour hit when you put all cards inside - still acceptable.

An Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML lasts virtually the same on a call, but is otherwise no match for the X2 with around 8 hours on the web and half an hour more of video playback. The Lenovo Vibe K4 Note outlasts the Acer model by more than 3 hours of talk time, but again, its 9 hour score in the two other tests is far from what the X2 is capable of.

The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.