Hands on: Acer Liquid E1, Liquid Z2 handsets

<A href="http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/home">Acer</a> was among several computer companies with a presence in Barcelona this week to promote their latest mobile electronics. The Liquid Z2 and Liquid E1 represent the Taiwanese company's push into the entry-level and midrange smartphone markets, respectively. We had a chance to try out both devices at Mobile World Congress, ahead of their official arrival later this month.<br />
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The E1 is the larger handset, though still smaller than many of the high-end behemoths that have become the norm in the Android market. It integrates a 4.5-inch IPS display with 960x540 resolution, a dual-core 1GHz processor, and a five-megapixel primary camera.

The Z2 steps down to a 3.5-inch display with 480x320 resolution, along with a single-core processor, though we were surprised to find that it was powered by Android 4.1.

Performance is on-par with other entry-level and midrange devices, and we were not expecting either device to be as fast as the flagship competitors outfitted with quad-core chips. Build quality seems to be decent for the intended markets, though neither exudes a particularly high-quality appearance.

Acer expects the E1 and Z2 to arrive before the end of March.