Hardy giant. Review smartphone Acer Liquid Z630

Can someone define “chip” Acer smartphones? For example, Sony flaunts its waterproof smartphones, Samsung — prohibitive features, HTC — Huawei and ASUS — price and power… But the collection Liquid of a single “shortcut” will not hang, that’s why the famous manufacturer of computers is not easily retained in the mobile market, which today or tomorrow will “fall off” of Sony and HTC.

To survive in such a situation, Acer is introducing new models in the works, which for some reason did not think of competitors. For example, soon to be released game PC Predator 6: and it’s not a smartphone that can run games and specialized game model. Not less cool promises to be the flagship Jade Primo for Windows 10 Mobile — beyond good characteristics of the handset, it should be noted that he is able to transform into a fast Windows PC after connecting to the docking station.

But the example many times of the deceased and resurrected Vertu suggests to us that among luxury flagships can not eat, so their share of exclusives received and available models. Liquid Z630, which will be discussed today, looks a very good example of “tuning” phablet middle class: an average 5.5-inch model, the manufacturer has added large capacity battery, DTS sound, brand version Android Lollipop and the function of charging other mobile devices via cable. Even if we put aside the bells and whistles “for show” in front of us, potentially one of the most long-lived of smartphones with big screen. Is it worth to pay for such happiness by 14 thousand rubles, and in than Acer saved in this case — let me find out.

Acer Liquid Z630
Acer Liquid Z630

Features

Acer Liquid Z630

Operating system

Android 5.1 Lollipop

Screen

5.5 inch 1280×720, IPS, 267 ppi

Processor

MT6735 MediaTek 1.3 GHz (4 cores, Cortex-A53)

Graphics

The Mali-T720 MP2

Operational memory

2 GB

Permanent memory

16 GB

Link

4G (LTE Cat.4), 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 (IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth 4.0, GPS

Camera

8 MP primary, autofocus, video 1920×1080, front 8 MP

Battery

removable, 4000 mAh

Sizes

156,3×77,5×8,9 mm

Weight

165 g

The price at the time of publication

14 000 rubles

Price according to price.EN

Call for price:Acer Liquid Z63028011

Design and management

Surprise Liquid Z630 begins even before operation: it is necessary to extract from the box the phone apart from the battery, as you start to doubt — and not in a fake package? Because a 5.5-inch casing with screen, speaker, camera, chip and the rest of the stuffing weighs surprisingly little — a little less than a couple tablespoons.

«под алюминий» выглядит неплохо,  да и царапины на такой крышке не видны
Rear panel “for aluminum” looks good, and the scratches on the cover are not visible

“Conservatives” can doubt the reliability of such corps, and to mourning, say, the manufacturer can save on the thickness of the frame, but in reality this lightness is good news for buyers. After all the hero of our test, for example, 15% lighter than the iPhone 6s Plus, and the battery at the same time, 32% more capacious.

And even if you compare it with smartphones-classmates, it turns out that as plastic ZenFone 2 is 2 mm thicker and slightly heavier when the battery capacity is equal to 3000 mAh. What can we say about “folk” Wileyfox Storm, which at 9.1 mm thickness and removable cover has only 2500 mAh?

In short, Acer has managed to create a light and relatively thin phablet without any signs of the monster battery “under the hood”. However, no traces of “inferiority” like combined SIM tray and MicroSD in this model, the presence of separate Micro-SIM and a slot for memory cards.

Extremely light body, and tightly Packed stuffing has allowed Acer to design a light and compact smartphone-survivor

Левая грань Acer Liquid Z630 лишена элементов управления и интерфейсов

The left side Acer Liquid Z630 devoid of controls and interfaces Разъём Micro-USB на нижней грани Acer Liquid Z630

Micro-USB connector on the bottom edge Acer Liquid Z630 Аппаратные клавиши на правой грани Acer Liquid Z630 удобны в управлении

Hardware keys on the right side the Acer Liquid Z630 easy to manage

However, we cannot say that Assembly is so flawless: without battery cover creaks at the slightest pretext. And, although the battery such effects almost disappear, with a strong compression of the joints of the cover with the side face softly “will yell at you” to the actions of the owner.

Acer Liquid Z630 в сравнении с Wileyfox Storm
Acer Liquid Z630 compared to Wileyfox Storm

The materials impeccable and similar to those seen in ZenFone 2: brushed metal-like plastic panel collects no fingerprints, no scratches, and in hands does not slide. The keys on the right side that doesn’t look very comfortable, but are located exactly where they expect to find. Bother unless specially made notch on speaker speakerphone — if it is done to ensure that the smartphone is “up” above the table and called louder, the effect was weak. It looks kind of part in the manner of spoiled by accident of perforation dynamics.

Съёмный аккумулятор и раздельные разъёмы для SIM и карты памяти — вымирающая компоновка в смартфонах
Removable battery and separate slots for SIM and memory cards — endangered layout in smartphones

The screen and sound

The display in Acer Liquid Z630 — on “four”. Of course, with the pictures of our hero matrix quality very very poor will not name, but, as often happens in the public sector — good characteristics spoils one, but significant disadvantage — small range of brightness. The colorimeter gave 275 CD/m2 at maximum brightness, and this means that on a Sunny day the display will have to cover up with his hand to keep something in it to see. For comparison, the maximum brightness level in tabletag Meizu M2 Note or the Huawei Honor 4X passes for 500 CD/m2.

Цветовой охват дисплея Acer Liquid Z630
Color gamut of display Acer Liquid Z630

However, it is not the most dull in the class is the same ZenFone 2 even in the top variant ZE551ML gives only 260 CD/m2, ASUS only makes the contrast in a bad way and is 600:1. As for Liquid Z630, it figures the contrast is much more steep and reaches 1000:1, and the level of error in the amount of DeltaE 1.84 worthy of praise. Color gamut by the standards of the class was also good (89% sRGB) and more accurate color reproduction can boast is much more expensive smartphones.

The screen is good, except for the lack of brightness

Surprisingly, the impression “all is well, but specifically that it is not the” is repeated and when meeting with the sound of Liquid Z630. After all the hero of our test has quite good quality speaker that produces clean and articulate sound which includes not only high but also medium frequencies. Any music in Liquid Z630 clearly “rustling” percussion instruments, the melody is always clearly audible and even a fancy sounding tracks does not turn into a “mess” — just the speaker is a little quieter so as not to mangle the sound.

Аудиоплеер и диспетчер звука в Acer Liquid Z630 Аудиоплеер и диспетчер звука в Acer Liquid Z630 Аудиоплеер и диспетчер звука в Acer Liquid Z630 Аудиоплеер и диспетчер звука в Acer Liquid Z630

Audio player and Manager of sound in Acer Liquid Z630

Yes, but that’s the maximum volume, so to speak, it is not the maximum standards of phablets. Flagship Samsung Galaxy (including skinny A7) and Huawei Honor 4X/7 perekrikivayut our Liquid with an impressive stock, as phablets HTC Desire 15-20 thousand rubles. Compared to Meizu M2 Note or ASUS ZenFone 2 our hero sounds a bit louder and much better quality, but the best modern units with a single speaker Z630 our lack of commercials 15, or 20% of the volume.

Liquid Z630 speaker is not the loudest, but the quality. In survivor Acer headphones sound surprisingly good

But the sound in the headphones and not carp really standard sounding audiochip MT6753 seasoned Manager sound DTS Studio Sound and I have to admit that this is a rare case when it isn’t “for show.” Despite the small number of “whirlings”, add bass, improved clarity or change the hue of all audio in the smartphone can easily. I would not like to generalize, but from large smartphones up to 15 thousand rubles comparable “factory” sound models in mind and even comes.

Iron

In terms of capacity of Acer Liquid to flash Z630 nothing is Quad — core MediaTek not be called old (Cortex-A53, after all), but this CPU is decent today, except that the definition of “not crap, but still not middle class”. Even in the official Russian retail. our hero looks pale, inferior in power the same ASUS ZenFone 2 ZE550ML, Meizu M2 Note and the Huawei Honor 4X. And as a “pure Chinese”, like Elephone, Doogee, UMI, or will be, and more productive.

Производительность всей системы (тест Antutu Benchmark)
Performance (Antutu Benchmark test)

Four cores in a mobile phone today is not a luxury but an analogue of the “working horses”. Tries to load — thanks for that. In this case do not dare to dignify our hero slow: firmware not Acer’ovsky well optimized, the processor does not have to pull extra stuff in the background, so the menu scroll smoothly and apps open quickly.

Economical chetyrekhyadernykh with 2 GB of RAM enough for the system to work without slowdowns, but nothing more

Android 5.1 with a “cold start” consumes 450 MB of RAM — the remaining 1.5 GB is enough in order to monitor the number of running applications. But to play on such a processor will only be minimal, if you’re lucky — at medium graphics detail. Wireless interfaces (4G, wifi, GPS) work well. The earpiece volume is average — in normal circumstances it is not satisfactory, but here in the vestibule of a commuter train or in a subway car it desperately lacks.

Игровая производительность (тест 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme)

Gaming performance (the test 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme) Мощность процессора (тест Geekbench)

Processor speed test (Geekbench)

Under heavy load Z630 is heated moderately warm becomes part of the case, since top and ending at the bottom edge of the swing adjust the volume. Throughout the rest of the smartphone holds the temperature to just above room.

Software

If tablet Acer really loved stocking the gadget neudalimye applications partners, modifying nothing at all in Android for smartphones Taiwanese bother much more thoroughly.

Applications still could be smaller: tea, 2004 and 4 games preinstalled, entrenched in memory, do not cause joy. Other futility in the smartphone you can select client store Gameloft, “nailed” the operation guide and customer of cloud services Acer the app to buy tickets Booking.com, Puffin browser (that last is quite good, but without imposition). Games, apps and browser, however, you can delete the regular way.

Интерфейс Android 5.1 в Acer Liquid Z630 Интерфейс Android 5.1 в Acer Liquid Z630 Интерфейс Android 5.1 в Acer Liquid Z630 Интерфейс Android 5.1 в Acer Liquid Z630 Интерфейс Android 5.1 в Acer Liquid Z630

Interface Android 5.1 in Acer Liquid Z630

Standard Android has been repainted in the original style. It turned out pretty — a kind of mixture of style Android 2.1-2.3 with a typical computer shortcuts in Windows and popular menu polyphonic clamshells. It’s much better than to create dull clones of MIUI, how do you know what “Chinese”.

In the system Liquid Z630 pre-installed many useful and many useless apps. Importantly, all these changes do not affect the speed of the phone

From useful — file Manager program is for shooting documents Acer SnapNote (corrects littered the horizon in the picture slides and clips on the limits of the text), the program for a full (screen, menu, etc.) control the smartphone from the computer AcerEXTEND offers a custom “kid mode” and the mode is Quick Mode in which you can manually pile up a large and convenient menu for an elderly person, if using a smartphone.

And then there are remade from scratch, the notifications, launch the software by drawing letters on the screen is off, the cleaner the memory and a couple of goofy apps, and the harm reduction away from the screen for vision.

Camera

In the advertisement Acer Liquid Z630 focuses on quality selfies due to the 8-megapixels in front camera. In fact, from budget sensor without autofocus cool will not achieve quality, but selfies are of a normal — quite in the spirit of the time, in short.

Пример фото, снятых на фронтальную камеру Acer Liquid Z630 Пример фото, снятых на фронтальную камеру Acer Liquid Z630 Пример фото, снятых на фронтальную камеру Acer Liquid Z630

Example photos taken with the front camera of the Acer Liquid Z630

But rear camera quality does not Shine: in the afternoon from it is possible to achieve more or less clear images, but in cloudy weather it turns into a pumpkin starts to work directly. The level of sharpness drops sharply, zamylivaetsya many shots, the white balance is dancing out of place, disfiguring HDR photo and makes it too “rough”, but in artificial light it becomes practically impossible to take a picture of the text (the picture with price tags in the store — the best that has been removed from the camera in such conditions after 5 attempts). And, oddly enough, all this coexists with a nice and easy camera interface with lots of settings.

From the rear sensor reeks of cheapness and economy, while the selfie camera came out good

Пример фото, снятых на тыловую камеру Acer Liquid Z630 Пример фото, снятых на тыловую камеру Acer Liquid Z630 Пример фото, снятых на тыловую камеру Acer Liquid Z630 Пример фото, снятых на тыловую камеру Acer Liquid Z630 Пример фото, снятых на тыловую камеру Acer Liquid Z630 Пример фото, снятых на тыловую камеру Acer Liquid Z630

Example photos taken with rear camera Acer Liquid Z630

The video quality can be described in two words — “scented soap”. The picture is hopelessly blurry, the actual quality of the videos is infinitely far from what we mean by quality 1080p. In fairness, we note that the frame rate of the camera doesn’t “drop” even in difficult conditions, but this is the only compliment that can be addressed rear camera Liquid Z630.

Autonomy

Endurance is one of the main trumps Liquid Z630. Due to economical processor and, I think, not too gluttonous display, the hero of our review a hell of a time running on the battery. It’s not even in his capacity as such is a solid smartphone-centenarians today is considered to be a model with 5000 mAh and more. Acer just enough prudence not to spoil energy-saving features of Android Lollipop and to provide normal work of “iron”. The result You can see below.

Acer Liquid Z630 — первый смартфон с предустановленным «списком ненормальных» Acer Liquid Z630 — первый смартфон с предустановленным «списком ненормальных» Acer Liquid Z630 — первый смартфон с предустановленным «списком ненормальных»

Acer Liquid Z630 — first smartphone with pre-installed “list crazy”

Use (brightness 200 CD/m2)

The duration of the work

Video from a memory card

14 hours and 15 minutes

Game

7 hours 10 minutes

Reading

16 hours 30 minutes

For gourmets Acer got the standard power saving mode in Android 5 (reduced brightness, all in addition to voice communication, disabled and also reduced the timeout of the display to off), the ability to add in the “black list” of apps that love to eat the battery, working in the background. Russian-speaking users will especially appreciate the “list of lunatics” — there, unfortunately, are not violent personality from social networks, but only energy-intensive applications.

The smartphone is very hardy, and in this discipline he did not interfere even with a 5.5 inch diagonal display

Продолжительность работы в смешанной нагрузке (тест PCMark, 200 кд/м2, минут)
The duration of the mixed workload tests (PCMark, 200 CD/m2, min)

To charge third-party gadgets, our PC can, but don’t expect it to be a quick procedure — “the seeker” the smartphone will get with a USB OTG current in the range 0.4-0.7 A, and therefore, the charging speed will be comparable with a standard USB port in your computer.

Acer Liquid Z630 способен подзаряжать другие гаджеты, но уж очень медленно
Acer Liquid Z630 able to recharge other gadgets, but very slowly

Competitors

Acer Liquid Z630

Senseit E500

Lenovo P90

Acer Z630

Senseit E500

Lenovo P90

Operating system

Android 5.1 Lollipop

Android 5.0 Lollipop

Android 4.4 KitKat

Screen

5.5 inch 1280×720, IPS, 267 ppi

5.5 inch 1280×720, IPS, 267 ppi

5.5 inch, 1920×1080, IPS, 440 ppi

Processor

MT6735 MediaTek 1.3 GHz (4 cores, Cortex-A53)

MediaTek MT6582 1.3 GHz (4 cores, Cortex-7)

Intel Atom Z3560 1.8 GHz (4 cores, x86)

Graphics

The Mali-T720 MP2

Mali-400 MP2

PowerVR G6430

Operational memory

2 GB

1 GB

2 GB

Permanent memory

16 GB

8 GB

32 GB

Link

4G (LTE Cat.4), 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 (IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth 4.0, GPS

3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 (IEEE 802.11 b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, GLONASS

4G (LTE Cat.6), 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 (IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, GLONASS

Camera

8 MP primary, autofocus, video 1920×1080, front 8 MP

13 MP main with autofocus, video 1920×1080, the front — 5 MP

primary: 13 MP, autofocus, video 1920×1080, front: 5 MP

Battery

removable, 4000 mAh

non removable 4000 mAh

non removable 4000 mAh

Sizes

156,3×77,5×8,9 mm

150×76,5×8 mm

150×77,4×8,5 mm

Weight

165 g

178 g

156 g

The price at the time of publication

14 000 rubles

10 000 rubles

20 000 rubles

Price according to price.EN

Call for price:Acer Liquid Z63028011

Quote:Senseit E50028011

 Quote:Lenovo P9028011

Conclusions

Love the Acer Liquid Z630 “at first sight” just will not work: when we first met the eye immediately catches the shortage of the brightness of the display, plastic-perepletchikova case, stupid rear camera and an overloaded system applications. And on that note, to bring such a smartphone to oblivion, but…

Criticizing, you need to offer. And to offer comparable speed, sound quality, size and, most importantly, the autonomy, the model is within 15 thousand is not easy. On the Russian market as an alternative, you can venture more affordable and outdated even at the time Senseit E500. Or add 5 thousand rubles and take just as hardy, but still cool in games Lenovo P90.

Удачная покупка

For that amount the display will be higher quality, however, the lack of volume dynamics and mediocre camera relevant for the long-lived Lenovo. In search of better smartphone-marathoner for the comparable money you can draw attention except on the Elephone P8000, but reputation, firmware updates, and sales channels in Russia this brand while no, you can not say about Acer.

Therefore, as a universal “Lopatina” with long time work, good sound and speed exactly on 14 thousand roubles is our Z630 looks very attractive suggestion, for which he receives the award “good buy”.

Acer Liquid Z630

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

+ Excellent autonomy

Dim display

+ The speaker quality and the sound in the headphones

Mediocre rear camera

+ High speed

Modest (by the standards of the class) supply volume dynamics

+ Compact size

The CPU and graphics on the verge of mid range and low end

+ Useful improvements operating system

 


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