Acer Liquid (photos)

The Liquid is Acer's first Google Android device. It's available now in the U.K. and will be coming to Rogers Wireless in Canada. Acer currently has no plans to bring it to the U.S., but you can buy an unlocked version for around $400.

The Liquid has a fun, more sporty design than some of the other Android smartphones we've tested. It's available in white, red, or black.

The Liquid is fairly compact at 4.52 inches tall by 2.51 inches wide by 0.5 inch thick and weighs 4.76 ounces

On the right side, you'll find a volume rocker and a camera activation/capture button. Since the latter is located on the downward slope of the edge, we found it a bit difficult to press.

Unlike most of the recent smartphones, the Acer Liquid uses a Mini-USB port instead of a Micro-USB port.

The Liquid features a 3.5-inch WVGA capacitive touch screen that's clear and bright. However, it's not the most responsive, so using the keyboard was a bit frustrating and slow since it didn't always register our touch on the first try.

Below the display are touch-sensitive controls for the home screen, menu, back button, and search. The icons for the Home screen and back button are a little different than we're accustomed to seeing, since they're shown as a rectangle and a "less than" sign instead of a house and arrow.

The smartphone ships running Android 1.6, but Acer includes several extra apps on the device, such as a free music-streaming service called Spinlets and a more robust multimedia hub called NemoPlayer.

On back, you'll find the 5-megapixel camera, but there is no flash.

Unfortunately, the camera didn't capture the best pictures. Its images were a bit hazy, and the camera app, in general, was sluggish.