The development of sensors using surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices has been attracting attention. A shear horizontal SAW (SH-SAW) sensor can detect the properties and chemical reactions in liquids. To realize practical applications of the SAW sensor, it is necessary to discuss its properties. In this paper, SH-SAW sensors with a floating electrode unidirectional transducer (FEUDT) or an interdigital transducer (IDT) are compared and the insertion loss and phase characteristics are measured. Also, the phase shift between sample and reference liquids is evaluated. The results indicate that the SH-SAW sensor with the FEUDT is suitable for liquid measurements. The SH-SAW sensor with the FEUDT is then mounted in a newly developed SH-SAW sensing system. The system configuration is the same as that of a vector voltmeter measurement system. However, circuits have been developed that reduce its size. Using this system, several liquids are measured. The obtained results agree well with the theoretical values.