The phone arrives in a well designed box, which is hinged, allowing the top to slide side ways and reveal the documents and accessories. The design doesn't stop there though, the phone looks smooth and elegant with its rounded sides and curved top and bottom. The full touchscreen which is very responsive, covers most of the front of the phone, with four touch buttons beneath. The top of the phone has various images which light up, one for when the battery is charging, another flashes indicating a message has arrived and one for missed calls, though these are not really needed and not visible when the phone is flat on the desk.

The Liquid runs on Android 1.6 so comes loaded with the usual Google applications such as Gmail, Maps, Youtube and the Android marketplace. It is easy to use once you get into the hang of using the Android software and have worked out what the four touch buttons do. And the only annoyance with the phone was to do with the Android software and its on-screen keyboard, which doesn't auto correct spelling mistakes.

It is equipped with a 5 megapixel camera but no flash. The quality of the pictures is average for a mobile phone. It also has WiFi connectivity and GPS. The snapdragon processor helps the phone work in a speedy manner, loading and navigating through the operating system is fast and efficient with only a little lag on loading the camera and other resource hungry applications. The phone also comes with the Documents To Go viewer which is upgradable to an editor, allowing users to view Microsoft Office documents and PDFs.

Overall this is an excellent smartphone from Acer and would appeal to business people which it is primarily aimed at and would allow users to work on the go.

Summary:

• Good Points: Looks good, fast
• Bad Points: Android - no auto correct on typing
• Others to Consider: Apple iPhone 3GS