Acer Liquid Jade Primo Bundle - Should you buy one ?
At the CES in January, Acer announced the Liquid Jade Primo. This premium Windows Phone was part of 2 new partnerships that Microsoft developed along with HP around Windows 10 Mobile and specifically the Continuum feature set that allows for extension of the Windows 10 screen to an external monitor.
While the Liquid Jade Primo has been available in Asia and Europe since spring, this week it showed up here in the US on the Microsoft Store Online and is actually available at some local Microsoft stores including one in my area.
The $649 Bundle includes the phone itself, a Continuum Dock, Wireless Keyboard/Mouse and Power Supply.
The Liquid Jade Primo follows the Lumia 950 "Standard" of a SnapDragon 808 CPU, 3Gb of RAM, 32GB of internal storage and SD support up to 128GB, but has a larger 5.5" with lower resolution screen FHD screen at 1920 x 1080 versus the 5.2" 2560 x 1440 for the 950.
A key part of the bundle is the Dock. It has HDMI, USB-C and USB 3.0 connectors and can support not only extension to an external monitor but you could also connect a portable HD. Both the Acer and HP docks are improvements over the original dock designed for the 950.
As I've written about previously, Continuum is one of the key features that Microsoft is hanging it's hat on for the future. It can provide an option of allowing a user to have one device, their phone, that can also run productivity apps like Office and even PowerBI and extend the capability to a large format screen when needed.
When you see demonstrations of Continuum they are pretty cool. But the question is would you really use it ? Could you actually use your phone as your primary compute device and simply extend the display with Continuum ?
In addition, would you be willing to spend $649 for a device like the Liquid Jade Primo versus buying a new laptop and make it your primary device ?
For example - for the same $649 - you could but a new Dell Inspiron 13" 5000 series 2-in-1 with Core i5, 4Gb of RAM and a 128Gb SSD.
The big challenge for Windows Mobile is the lack of apps. While the native apps in Windows 10 Mobile work fine - there are just not enough UWP apps available today. If you only use Email and Office - you may be fine. But you can't load apps like Chrome like you can on Windows 10 for PC so your stuck with Edge - which is still not that great and there is no IE for legacy support.
This is going to be the interesting question as Microsoft moves forward. For at least the next 9 months, products like the Acer Liquid Jade Primo and the HP Elite X3 will be what MS will promote as they fade out the Lumia line.
The other new device, the HP Elite X3 is not yet available and I'm hoping that it will show up in August after the Anniversary Release. With it's 820 CPU, 4GB of RAM and WQHD screen I expect the X3 to probably sell in the $750 - $800 range with the dock being an additional $120 - $150. The big question for fans will be if HP will make it available to individuals or only enterprises. But with the higher price it makes the same would you buy one question even more critical.
Bottom line is the Acer Liquid Jade Primo bundle is now available in the US via the Microsoft Store for $649. As interesting as Continuum is - I don't expect either the Acer Liquid Jade Primo or HP Elite X3 to sell in enough volume to A) move the needle on overall Windows Mobile sales or B) make either vendor enough money to justify the development costs. I'll be surprised if both products last more than a year or so.
While the Liquid Jade Primo has been available in Asia and Europe since spring, this week it showed up here in the US on the Microsoft Store Online and is actually available at some local Microsoft stores including one in my area.
The $649 Bundle includes the phone itself, a Continuum Dock, Wireless Keyboard/Mouse and Power Supply.
The Liquid Jade Primo follows the Lumia 950 "Standard" of a SnapDragon 808 CPU, 3Gb of RAM, 32GB of internal storage and SD support up to 128GB, but has a larger 5.5" with lower resolution screen FHD screen at 1920 x 1080 versus the 5.2" 2560 x 1440 for the 950.
A key part of the bundle is the Dock. It has HDMI, USB-C and USB 3.0 connectors and can support not only extension to an external monitor but you could also connect a portable HD. Both the Acer and HP docks are improvements over the original dock designed for the 950.
As I've written about previously, Continuum is one of the key features that Microsoft is hanging it's hat on for the future. It can provide an option of allowing a user to have one device, their phone, that can also run productivity apps like Office and even PowerBI and extend the capability to a large format screen when needed.
When you see demonstrations of Continuum they are pretty cool. But the question is would you really use it ? Could you actually use your phone as your primary compute device and simply extend the display with Continuum ?
In addition, would you be willing to spend $649 for a device like the Liquid Jade Primo versus buying a new laptop and make it your primary device ?
For example - for the same $649 - you could but a new Dell Inspiron 13" 5000 series 2-in-1 with Core i5, 4Gb of RAM and a 128Gb SSD.
The big challenge for Windows Mobile is the lack of apps. While the native apps in Windows 10 Mobile work fine - there are just not enough UWP apps available today. If you only use Email and Office - you may be fine. But you can't load apps like Chrome like you can on Windows 10 for PC so your stuck with Edge - which is still not that great and there is no IE for legacy support.
This is going to be the interesting question as Microsoft moves forward. For at least the next 9 months, products like the Acer Liquid Jade Primo and the HP Elite X3 will be what MS will promote as they fade out the Lumia line.
The other new device, the HP Elite X3 is not yet available and I'm hoping that it will show up in August after the Anniversary Release. With it's 820 CPU, 4GB of RAM and WQHD screen I expect the X3 to probably sell in the $750 - $800 range with the dock being an additional $120 - $150. The big question for fans will be if HP will make it available to individuals or only enterprises. But with the higher price it makes the same would you buy one question even more critical.
Bottom line is the Acer Liquid Jade Primo bundle is now available in the US via the Microsoft Store for $649. As interesting as Continuum is - I don't expect either the Acer Liquid Jade Primo or HP Elite X3 to sell in enough volume to A) move the needle on overall Windows Mobile sales or B) make either vendor enough money to justify the development costs. I'll be surprised if both products last more than a year or so.
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