Acer Liquid Z410 Quick Review, A Budget Beast With LTE Under 5000 Pesos!

Looking for a great gaming smartphone on a tight budget of 5000 Pesos is a hard task to complete before, until we saw the rise of budget octa core setups this 2015. While their common combination of MediaTek MT6592m and Mali 450 GPU is decent enough to handle most games, their smoothness still falls short compared to those that are using 64 bit processors and higher GPU type.

Acer Liquid Z410 review

What if there's a phone like that in this price range? It would be amazing right?

Fortunately the Acer Liquid Z410 is there which is powered by the better 64 Bit 1.5 GHz MediaTek MT6732 quad core processor and Mali T760 GPU!  (We'll explain in the performance part later why) What's even better is I was able to check it out myself to report to you guys. Let's begin! :)

Acer Liquid Z410 Specs

Display: 4.5 Inch IPS Capactive LCD 540 x 960 at 245 ppi

CPU: 1.5 GHz 64 Bit MT6732 quad core processor

GPU: Mali T760

RAM: 1 GB

ROM: 8 GB expandable via microSD card up to 32 GB

Back Camera: 5 MP w/ AF and LED flash (w/ geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, dual shot)

Selfie Camera: 2 MP wide angle lens

Battery: 2,500 mAh

OS: Android 4.4.2 Kitkat (Upgradeable to Lollipop)

Connectivity: WiFi, WiFi Hotspot, 3G, LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, OTG, FM Radio, GPS w/ A-GPS, Single SIM (Micro)

Others: Front facing speakers, quick touch button

Dimensions: 136 x 66.7 x 9.9 mm

Weight: 145 g

Price: 4,490 Pesos

Unboxing / Accessories

The box of Z410

Acer was able to put a nicely made packaging here. The Z410 comes in a simple hard box with all the basic infornation and highlights of the phone printed. Upon opening the box you get the standard micro USB cable, wall charger adapter and in ear monitors with mic. What's missing in the package is the case and screen protector that's understandable for the price and value this phone presents.

The standard accessories included

Build Quality / Design

The camera, acer button and crisscrossed back design at the back

What I like with the Z410 is its a well made device for its price. The quality of the polycarbonate plastic used is simply better than the average and the shape of the phone feels great to hold. The Z410 also has a beautifully etched textured back and sides that ensures you a better grip. Another unique feature from the design of this phone that I like is the back button that you can use to lock the phone. With proper care and use, the Acer Liquid Z410 won't break easily for years. Let's also take note that Acer has an excellent aftermarket support.

Back of the phone opened showing 

Buttons on the right side

Earspeaker grills on top together with the micro USB and 3.5 mm female port

Display

Quite good display for the screen size

The screen quality of the Z410 actually surprised me as I thought that it might be bad as it's just using a lower resolution qHD display. I was wrong, this is actually great enough! It has nice viewing angles, the gap in the display was narrow and it was able to produce colors with good balance. This is also one of those rare budget phones that's not overly bright so it won't hurt your eyes even with prolonged use that's great for those who have sensitive eyes like me.

The Z410 also also has a 5 point multi touch setup that's good enough to ensure that you'll have a responsive enough screen for gaming, typing and navigation.

Audio Quality

Speaker grills in front!

The Z410 is probably the only budget phone in this price bracket to have a front facing speaker setup which most love. It was also more than just a marketing gimmick, the speaker in front actually works. It was able to blast my senses with decent sound quality and great loudness. The highs is clear, the mids were quite detailed and it actually has some bass!

Going to the headphone out part, the Liquid Z410 uses DTS audio setup that promises great tunes for your headgear. From what I was able to hear, it did okay but not to the point that it will blow you away. What I like with it is it was able to produce that warm relaxing sound signature with nice sub-bass reproduction and extension. However, I do feel that it lacks a little driving power as you might need to crank the volume up to 60 or 70 % to get satisfying loudness. Overall, it's a decent music player on the go that has nice mids, highs and wide enough soundstage.

Battery

Unfortunately, I wasn't truly able to perform a battery test with this device. Fortunately, that 2000 mAh battery is quite big for a phone with just 4.5 Inch of qHD screen that consumes less power. I'll just give a rough estimate that this phone can last you a day of normal use. (To be updated)

Camera Samples

Rear Camera (Rainy morning shot)

Lights off shot in HDR

Selfie sample

The Z410 utilizes a 5 MP back camera w/ flash and 2 MP front facing camera that was able to produce unexpectedly decent shots. This device also probably has the fastest shutter and focus speed I've tried in the sub 5K category which is impressive. While the camera lacks details and sharpness in some shots, the color reproduction on the rear camera is actually good. The front camera is no slough too even at just 2 MP as it can let more light it to provide your selfies with great lighting. It's not the best camera out there, but it's good enough to be placed in the decent bracket.

Performance Impressions

If you think that the use of a quad core processor is a downgrade, then you're wrong. That type of 64 bit quad core processor is more powerful than the usual MT6592m octa core processor. When it comes to the GPU the one that the Z410 used is the monster performing Mali T760 which is several notches higher than Mali 450. As a result my short experience with the Z410 was actually pleasing overall.

Benchmark Scores

Antutu and multitouch result

Geek Bench and Quadrant score

GPU Benchmark 3D

Pros - Price, specs, performance, front facing speaker, LTE connectivity
Cons - Display not OGS, a bit thick

Verdict

This phone deserves to be in the conversation of the best under 5K phone this 2015! The Liquid Z410 is a dream phone for those who wanted a GREAT overall phone experience under 5000 Pesos. Other than that, it was also able to hit most of the spots correctly for gamers and even casual mobile internet users as it has probably the most powerful hardware for the price and LTE connectivity to match. While it has other weaknesses, who am I to complain at this price point? The Z410 is that impressive!

GIZ Rating: 4.5/5 Stars