The much awaited Internationale Funkausstellung has finally begun in Berlin, Germany. This year's event, better known as the IFA 2015, gives several electronics companies the chance to exhibit their most recent products to a large audience composed of consumers and technology journalists.
During Acer's own "next@acer" conference set within the IFA halls, the Taiwan-based device maker has unveiled a total of six new smartphones along with a handful of tablets and computers. One of the highlights of Acer's Liquid-series launch is the announcement two new affordable smartphone models, the Acer Liquid Z330 and Liquid M330.
The company touts the duo of budget-friendly handsets as "an ideal first phone or an excellent backup to an existing handset." Both models are designed to look and perform similarly. In fact, the only difference lies in the operating system (OS) that runs them.
The Acer Liquid Z330 runs Android 5.1 Lollipop and the Liquid M330 is powered by Microsoft's new Windows 10 mobile OS.
Both models are equipped with the entry-level Snapdragon 210 chipset by Qualcomm supported with 1GB of RAM and a conservative 8GB of internal storage. They feature 4.5-inch LCD wide-angle screens with 480 x 854-pixel (FWVGA) resolution.
The devices sport a 5-megapixel primary camera as well as 5-megapixel front snapper. On the Android version, a few shooting modes has been added including the Instagram-ready Gourmet mode, Favorite Shot and Bright Magic Selfie.
The two smartphones both measure 136 x 66.5 x 9.6 mm. Acer added subtle curves to the phones' chassis to provide a more comfortable in-hand feel.
The Acer Liquid Z330 and Liquid M330's initial target regions are Europe, Middle East, and Africa. The Taiwanese tech company noted that these handset will not be available in North America, at least for the time being. However, independent online retailers are not prohibited from selling them once the device are distributed to the market.
The Liquid Z330's release date is set for October with prices starting at €129 (or $145). The Windows 10-run M330 will be tagged with a similar price but Acer only mentioned that it will arrive later this year.
Other entries included in the device maker's new Liquid roster includes the high-end Liquid Z630, the camera-focused Liquid 530, and another twin smartphone models-the Liquid Z320 and Liquid M320. These two handsets are even more affordable versions of the abovementioned Android and Windows 10 models. The only notable modifications lie in their less powerful Qualcomm MSM 8209 processor and a lower-end 2MP front camera.
