Acer Liquid Leap review

Acer Leap Manager companion app

The Liquid Leap has its own companion app for both iOS and Android, to help you get connected, adjust the band’s settings and keep track of your fitness progress over time. Your data is saved to a profile, meaning you can take it with you across multiple devices, although you can’t be signed in to two devices simultaneously and the app doesn’t autofill your username and password, which is irritating.

It’s a shame the app is so basic on iOS, with no options to limit what notifications get sent to the device – only the ability to toggle calls, texts and meetings. We eventually had to switch to an Android device, as there was no way to stop our regular stream of Twitter notifications. Thankfully Android is much more involved, with options to allow notifications on a per-app basis. You can also set a vibrating alarm through the app, should you want a smoother way to wake up in the mornings.

The rest of the app is still rather limited, with simple bar graphs showing your progress over time but no way to track exercise or workouts other than walking/running, no training advice and no community aspects for sharing your performance on social networks. Even the Tips section is nothing more than a link to the user manual in PDF form.

Charging and Battery life

Battery life is one of the Leap’s more positive aspects. It will last for at least four days on a single charge, with five or six being typical during our time with the device. It only takes an hour or two to recharge fully, so leaving it in its cradle overnight will guarantee you’re at full capacity when you wake up in the morning – although that will of course mean an evening without sleep tracking.

The cradle itself completely surrounds the device, clipping in place with a locking mechanism to ensure the charging terminals are making contact. It uses a standard microUSB connector, although the supplied cable is very short. Acer doesn’t include a mains adapter in the box either, so you’ll either have to use the one that came with your smartphone or plug the Leap into a PC’s USB port to recharge it.

Conclusion

The Liquid Leap is Acer’s “me too” attempt to join in on the craze for wearable technology. Beyond some incredibly basic smartphone features, there’s little here to separate it from any other smartband. It may be relatively inexpensive, but it feels cheap, is frustrating to use and isn’t much better than a smartphone app at tracking your daily exercise. Though it doesn’t have a screen or smartwatch-style extras, we would still recommend the FitBit Flex over the Leap every time.