Getting a jump on other smartphone makers expected to launch handsets with the same capability, Acer has officially announced the Liquid S2, which is capable of recording 4K video. Acer’s pre-IFA press release makes the Liquid S2 the first smartphone in the world that can shoot ultra HD video.
“Acer is now ushering in a different world of clarity with four times the resolution of full HD. This technology has been featured in some cameras already, but it’s a completely new experience with smartphones,” said the official press release from Acer.
With a 6-inch IPS display, the Liquid S2 is definitely in phablet territory. It sports 1920 x 1080 pixels with 368 PPI – impressive by smartphone standards, but still far below the 3840 x 2160 pixels required for viewing a 4K video.
“To fully appreciate the clarity of an image with this resolution, you’ll need to have quite deep pockets. You see, the phone can’t display pictures at that resolution, and neither can your 1080p HDTV,” said DigitalTrends. Current 4K-ready TVs from Samsung and LG start at $5500 for the least expensive 55-inch model.
The Liquid S2 captures photo and video with a 13MP real-facing shooter – which is surrounded by an LED ring flash. A built-in panorama mode can capture up to 27 megapixels in one photo. It also has a 2MP front camera that is capable of recording 1080p video. Slow motion (4X) can also be captured when shooting in 1080p at 60FPS.
Following in the LG G2’s footsteps, Acer’s Liquid S2 will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor clocked at 2.2 GHz. It comes with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage – with a microSD port that can handle up to 128 additional gigabytes of photos, videos, music, and other content.
“You’ll want to pick up a sizable microSD expansion card before you start shooting,” said Geek.com. “The standard 16GB of NAND the Liquid S2 packs could get burned up pretty quickly if you’re going to record at 4K frequently.”
Acer’s newest handset comes with a 3300 mAh battery and will support Android 4.2.2 out of the box. It also features Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC.
The Liquid S2 will go on sale in Europe at the end of October. No additional release locations – or pricing – were revealed by Acer. However, tech insiders expect the upcoming Galaxy Note 3 and Sony Xperia Z1 to support 4K video – both of which are sure to get a wider release than the Liquid S2.