March 11, 2025, 8:58 am | Read time: 5 minutes
The Taiwanese company Acer is returning to the smartphone market with two new models — after an absence of nine years. TECHBOOK explains the details.
With just under seven percent of global PC sales (source: Statista), Acer is one of the largest manufacturers on the market. Its core business has been the production of laptops for decades. Acer is now aiming to adopt a more lifestyle-oriented approach by re-entering the smartphone market.
Acer Introduces Two New Budget Devices to the Smartphone Market
Acer wants to establish itself as a lifestyle company with its subsidiary, Acerpure. Acerpure has also been selling air purifiers, hot air fryers, TVs, and hair dryers in India since May 2024. The company is now expanding its portfolio there with two smartphones, as Gsmarena discovered.
There is a new “Smartphones” category on the Acerpure website, which so far only includes two models: the Acerpure Acerone Liquid S272E4 and the Acerpure Acerone Liquid S162E4. What reads like a tongue twister is actually a reference to Acer’s former “Liquid” smartphone series.
Each device features a basic LCD panel with HD+ resolution (1600×720 pixels), 4 gigabytes (GB) of RAM, and 64 GB of storage. As is now standard for budget smartphones, they come with a 5000 mAh battery and are charged via USB-C. They have WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, and a 4G modem with dual SIM support and integrated GPS. Both come pre-installed with Android 14, which is not the latest version.
Acerpure Acerone Liquid S162E4
The smaller of the two models comes with a 6.5-inch display and weighs 179 grams. With a maximum brightness of 450 nits, the panel is likely to be difficult to read outdoors. There is a 16-megapixel camera on the back, which is supported by a 0.08 MP sensor. The smartphone takes selfies with a 5 MP resolution.
It is powered by a MediaTek MT6765, also known as Helio P35. The chip has eight CPU cores, four of which are clocked at 2.3 gigahertz (GHz) and four at 1.8 GHz. The memory of the Acerone Liquid S162E4 can be expanded by up to 512 GB via MicroSD.
Acerpure Acerone Liquid S272E4
With its 6.7-inch screen and 200-gram weight, the Acerone Liquid S272E4 is a little larger and heavier. At a maximum of 350 nits, the display is even darker and, therefore, hardly usable in direct sunlight. The chip used is a MediaTek MT6765X, also known as Helio G36. The chip achieves maximum clock frequencies of 2.2 GHz.
The main camera has a higher resolution of 20 MP and is also supported by a slightly better 0.3 MP sensor. There is also a 5 MP selfie cam on the front. The memory can also be expanded via MicroSD, but only by up to 256 GB.
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Acer Smartphones Only in India for Now
The devices are set to launch in the Indian market soon, and according to Gsmarena, Acer plans to start selling them on Amazon starting on March 25. It is still unclear whether they will then also be available in Germany.
Neither the Acer nor the Acerpure websites currently list the prices of the smartphones. However, the Indian technology comparison portal Smartprix expects 12,990 baht (approx. 137 euros) for the Acerone Liquid S272E4. With specifications similar to its counterpart, the Acerone Liquid S162E4 is expected to be priced under the 150 euro threshold as well.
Not Exactly Spoiled for Success
Initially, Acer successfully established itself in the market with its Windows Mobile devices. However, the Android smartphone division has always led a niche existence. Hardly any of the dozens of models were able to stand out from the crowd — not least because almost all of them had to make do with meager technology. Acer was one of the few smartphone manufacturers to rely on Intel’s inglorious Atom processors for mobile devices.
Intel was never able to keep up with the big names such as Qualcomm and Snapdragon in terms of performance and energy efficiency — and this was also noticeable in Acer smartphones. Today, Intel’s smartphone chip business has been completely scrapped, and Acer has not manufactured its own cell phones since 2016. It remains to be seen whether the new Acerpure models can carve out a niche in the competitive market.
Acer Has a Lot to Do
“When I look at the two new smartphones from Acer, nothing really stands out that makes the devices stand out from other budget options on the market. There are now so many models under 200 euros—especially in India—that Acer might find it difficult to compete.
I suspect that Acer is trying to probe the market and is using 08/15 hardware from some Chinese company to keep costs as low as possible. Chinese Original Design Manufacturers (ODM) design and manufacture products on which a company only has to put its brand — this is probably also the case here.
If the market accepts the two new devices, Acer could also switch back to creating its own designs in the future. Maybe this second foray into the smartphone market will prove successful.”