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Sony X10 vs Acer Liquid E

mjschmidt

Android Expert
Jun 27, 2009
1,268
113
In my house.
So Rogers is bring to market both the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 and the Acer "Liquid E" Android phones. I see that there are already separate threads for these two phones, but wanted to post a comparison in one place.

Here's the important info (we don't have pricing yet that I've seen).

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 (Avail Q2)
(GSM Arena)

Size: 119.0 x 63.0 x 13.0 mm (4.7 x 2.5 x 0.5 inches)
Weight: 135.0 g (4.8 oz)
Memory: Phone memory 1GB, 384 MB RAM + SanDisk microSD
 
I must say, I'm rather evenly torn between the two... The biggest differences that I can see between the two are: Battery, camera, internal memory/processor, and shipped OS.

X10 has the larger battery capacity, though that doesn't necessarily mean longer battery life... (this could be a big decision point for me).

X10 also has a more detailed camera, however I've come to notice that a higher number in MP section DOES NOT mean better camera. I'll instantly take the 5MP camera over the 8.1MP camera if the 8.1 takes too long to focus, is too sensitive to movement or just generally takes crappy pictures. (Also a potentially sticky area for me.)

Liquid has the more recent OS and being on Rogers I've all but determined that the safest bet might be to make the choice as things stand now rather than how they might be later. (As a for instance, the Dream is capable of "evolving" to Android 1.6... I don't think I need to elaborate any further. :) )

As for the memory differences, I honestly don't think that I would ever notice a difference. As long as the processors are capable of handling the OS that ships with the phone (within reasonable limits), I'm not likely to press the processors much further than that, so I can't see that it would be an issue for me.

As it stands, my personal preference lies with the X10, but that has mostly to do with looks. Both of the phone itself, and what I've seen of Sony's OS. Otherwise, I'm almost perfectly on the fence about the two.
 
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Now that it seems that the magic definitely isn't getting flash, both of these phones just became more attractive to me but I still don't think either is worth it. As a ps3 fanboy I like some of the integration potential as well as the hardware specs of the x10 but the ui seems overdone and launching this phone at 1.6 is foolishness.

I have to assume that the Acer's snapdragon is underclocked for battery optimization which makes me wonder what the hell is wrong with their battery optimization. They're paying the same for those chips as every other manufacturer so underclocking them is just devaluing their product (and thus their margin) so you'd think that they'd find other ways to make the battery last. HTC and Motorola obviously have.

At the end of the day, unless the x10 gets 2.1 sooner than later, I'm waiting for something better.
 
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As the owner of a Acer Liquid (not running 2.1, but running 1.6), I would like to point out a few key differences between the two cameras:
1. The Sony is (from all accounts) an exceptional camera with flash; the acer liquid has a camera that is just passable.
2. I'm not sure what the difference is going to be in price - but I'm sure it will be substantial. The Sony is going to be much more expensive. (I would guess around $430 for the acer versus $800 for the Sony).
3. The Acer is a decent, competent phone, but it isn't extremely well built, and it doesn't have the same "support environment" as HTC phones due to its limited penetration of the market.
4. The Acer does not have a customized UI which will drag it down. It does have some unique apps from Acer (which you may remove).
 
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Some good input here.I have to wonder why Rogers has not announced that they will be carrying a Legend,Desire or Supersonic or one of the many good HTC phones that will be coming out.The phones they have announced for this year really don't excite me too much.anyways back to on topic.

This is a tough toss up between the two phones...X10 looks hot and just sweet UI BUT after the magic/dream issue,has changed my mindset.X10 has been kinda coy with their upgrade path and ...the fact they are delaying this release and still releasing with 1.6 scares me.Unless the X10 boys pull a major fast one and somehow release this with 2.1 or give a solid upgrade date at launch i will be passing on this phone.One thing about this phone is that so far rogers is the only north american carrier to annouce carrying this phone which makes me wonder about how well it will be supported in the dev community.I have a wait see attitude with the X10.

The acer will be the only rogers phone with 2.1 so it will win in the OS area for sure which is very important to many people and the trouble of getting these phones updated to 2.1. may cause a few to really give this acer phone a chance.As stated earlier the lack of acer with the dev community and presence in the android handset business will maby cause some of the serious android users to hold back.support concerns for sure.as far as the UI does not matter much to me cause anyone who has played with enough apps know they can customize their phone the way they want it anyhow.

In all honesty between these two phones they have their own plus and minuses ,it just comes down to matter of choice on whats more important to you...

Personally i will save my money for one the great new phones that may make their way to rogers or maby just buy my self nexus one / the new motorola google experience phone when released....
 
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Now we have another contender in the arena - the Google Nexus One.
I would suggest that you can look at it in the following way:

Acer Liquid $430

Google Nexus One $540

HTC Desire $600

Sony Experia X10 $800

Increasing cost, increasing functionality!
(all numbers above are approximate Cdn $;
in some cases very approximate because the phone itself hasn't come out!)
 
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Why not get a Subsidzed Cost phone... I renew my 3 year contact all the time.. and keep my grandfathered plan... and don't have to pay the full price for the phone..

if you buy a phone at full price like the N1 your going to be paying the same rate as I am or more.. since i'm using old rates.. and doing an upgrade does not effect them.

I plan on using a cell phone for more then 3 years.. I can upgrade before the 3 years and get another phone at Subsidzed Cost.. and sell my old one that will cover 100% of the cost of the new one.

I'm waiting for the X10 since I can't see spending $600+ for a phone.. $199 sounds good to me... I have not even had my HTC magic for a year and I can upgrade to any phone today.. you just have to get to the right level of support level for
But i'm waiting for the X10. also when I get the x10 I will sell my magic and it will pay for my new phone.. so it cost me nothing other then paying for my plan.. using a Subsidzed Cost Phone like the x10.

Another Point is its not hard to get out of a 3 year contact... I have done it before with bell.. all you have to do is list your phone on say Kijij for a cost of $0 if they take over your contact. then do a transfer of contact.. its very easy only took me 4 hours to get out of my bell contact.
 
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I'm not saying you shouldn't get a subsidized phone, all I'm saying is that 1. some people don't like them because you are locked in to a contract, and 2. adding the N1 to the group of official Rogers Android phones is not an equal comparison because you cannot get it for a subsidized price, and not everyone can afford the up-front cost.
 
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One thing you want to consider is that the keyboard on the X10 would be useless like the one on the droid/milestone. The touch keyboard works perfectly fine and decent for 1 handed typing while driving ;)

Second, the snapdragon processors tend to get warm with use. My Acer Liquid A1 (using leaked 2.1 OS) gets warm in the back when I got the Live wallpaper and other stuff going. Battery life isn't as good as the Milestone.
 
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My Acer Liquid A1 (using leaked 2.1 OS) gets warm in the back when I got the Live wallpaper and other stuff going. Battery life isn't as good as the Milestone.

It's very normal for processors to get warm when they've got something to process, sometimes even hot. How warm did yours get?

Remember: warm = fast battery drain
You can use a clocking software to try to minimize the drain on your battery. Just make sure it's compatible with your phone.
 
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I am on my second X10 from Rogers and I have been having nothing but problems with it. the menu button wont work in half my apps, sometimes when I go to bring it out of sleep mode the screen just goes black and I have to take the battery out to reboot the damn thing, the battery sucks. it wont last overnight without using less than %15 of the battery and it seems to use 2x the data of my old iphone with the same general usage. I have set all my updates (facebook twitter email etc... to the longest update interval, 3 hours I think, and it still uses the juice like nobodies business)
I bought the phone based on the specs and not the OS, big mistake. I should have read all the reviews on the rogers page before I bought it. there isn't one bad review on the acer on the rogers page and half the reviews on the x10 say not to waste your money.
oh yeah and the resistive screen sucks big time. half the time I have to click the outer keyboard letters like 3 times to get it to type them. (1, 0, p, and q.) the screen on the acer might be a little smaller but I'll never buy a resistive screen device again as long as I live.
I have a friend at work with an x10 and he has had all the same problems that I have, he just got an iphone. im pretty stuck on Android OS, I love it but the hardware on the x10 has way too many downfalls. get the acer.

Dont waste your money on the X10 ppl.
 
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I am on my second X10 from Rogers and I have been having nothing but problems with it. the menu button wont work in half my apps, sometimes when I go to bring it out of sleep mode the screen just goes black and I have to take the battery out to reboot the damn thing, the battery sucks. it wont last overnight without using less than %15 of the battery and it seems to use 2x the data of my old iphone with the same general usage. I have set all my updates (facebook twitter email etc... to the longest update interval, 3 hours I think, and it still uses the juice like nobodies business)
I bought the phone based on the specs and not the OS, big mistake. I should have read all the reviews on the rogers page before I bought it. there isn't one bad review on the acer on the rogers page and half the reviews on the x10 say not to waste your money.
oh yeah and the resistive screen sucks big time. half the time I have to click the outer keyboard letters like 3 times to get it to type them. (1, 0, p, and q.) the screen on the acer might be a little smaller but I'll never buy a resistive screen device again as long as I live.
I have a friend at work with an x10 and he has had all the same problems that I have, he just got an iphone. im pretty stuck on Android OS, I love it but the hardware on the x10 has way too many downfalls. get the acer.

Dont waste your money on the X10 ppl.


Do you even have a X10 as the screen is capacitive not resistive, both phones have the same screen technology so your point is mute. As far as the typing goes its a keyboard issue not hardware and if you don't like the keyboard, change it, that is the beauty of Android. Try the Htc mod or better keyboard, shapewriter, slide it, swype or any of a hundred others. The best advice I can give is to actually utylize these forums and modify your phone to your liking as there are a million different things to improve it.
Even though Rogers hasn't released it yet, my X10 is running 2.1 and the phone now kicks azz.
 
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