Acer Liquid Leap smartband hands on

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You ain’t anyone in the tech world without your own wearable it seems.

Acer is the latest to join the fitness tracking party with its prototype Liquid Leap smartband. With the device slated for a summer launch, we went wrists on with the black and red models in New York to see if Acer can crack the wearables conundrum.

Specs are thin on the ground but up close it’s one of the smaller fitness tracker screens we’ve seen. At the moment, menus appear vertically and pedometer, distance and calorie information horizontally but Acer tells us this is being updated so fitness info may appear vertically in the final version.

Smartband by numbers

As well as glanceable fitness info, Acer says messaging notifications are possible plus we spotted a phone symbol – for call notifications – and a sleep symbol on the Liquid Leap’s menus. Settings and home were the only other options we saw from a quick scroll around the Leap’s OS – Android Wear this is not.

If the price is right, Acer seems to have figured out the basics of a useful fitness tracker for casual use. The 17mm thick rubbery strap feels comfortable and the Leap is very light too. Plus the screen isn’t as bulky on the wrist as the admittedly lovelier Gear Fit’s.

Acer also tells us the Liquid Leap’s battery lasts more than five days which is spot on for a smartband.

Due this summer in ‘limited markets’ the Liquid Leap will be pitched as a bundled accessory to the also just-announced 5in Acer Liquid Jade smartphone. We’ll keep you posted on a standalone price.