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Samsung Galaxy Ace review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £215
inc VAT

A smart design, colourful screen and decent camera make the Ace an attractive phone, but it lacks room for apps and a big screen.

Specifications

Android 2.2, 3.5in 320×480 display

http://www.theorder.co.uk

While all eyes may be on Samsung’s impressive dual-core Galaxy S2, the Galaxy stable has been rounded out with a new budget entry. The Ace looks similar to the S2, but it’s about a centimetre shorter and 5mm narrower, as well as being slightly thicker. It lacks the front-facing camera of the S2, but retains a similar texture on the rear of the case that makes it easy to grip.

Samsung Galaxy Ace

Despite its similar looks, it specification shows it to be a much more modest beast. It uses an 800MHz, single-core processor and has a 3.2in TFT screen with a 320×480 resolution. It’s not a patch on the S2’s AMOLED display, but it’s still bright and colourful. Its 5-megapixel camera also has an LED flash, and we found snaps taken with the Ace’s camera to be as sharp as the S2’s, although it’s not capable of capturing 1080p video. We preferred the Ace’s microSDHC card slot, which is mounted on the side of the phone behind a flap rather than under the back cover, and a flap also protects the microUSB slot from dust.

Samsung Galaxy Ace right

The Ace has less software installed as standard, which makes sense as its smaller screen isn’t ideal for reading ebooks, watching movies or playing games. It’s a shame it doesn’t come with Samsung’s Kies Air app, which lets you access your phone’s contents remotely through a browser – instead, you’ll need to download the 74MB Kies application for Windows if you want a PC sync tool. We prefer simply using Google’s cloud synchronisation, which is half the reason for buying an Android phone in the first place.

Samsung Galaxy Ace left

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Details

Price£215
Rating****

Hardware

Main display size3.5in
Native resolution320×480
Second DisplayNo
CCD effective megapixels5-megapixel
FlashLED
Video recording formatMP4
ConnectivityBluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB
GPSyes
Internal memory158MB
Memory card supportmicroSDHC
Memory card included2048MB
Operating frequenciesGSM 850/900/1800/1900, 3G 900/2100
Wireless dataEDGE, HSPA
Size112x60x12mm
Weight113g

Features

Operating systemAndroid 2.2
Microsoft Office compatibilityWord/Excel/PowerPoint/PDF viewers
Email clientPOP3/IMAP/Exchange
Audio format supportMP3, AAC, WMA, OGG
Video playback formatsMPEG4, H.263, H.264
FM Radioyes
Web BrowserWebkit
Accessoriesheadset, data cable, charger
Talk time6.5 hours
Standby time17.5 days
Tested battery life (MP3 playback)23h 11m

Buying Information

SIM-free price£215
Price on contract£20-per-month, 18-month contract
SIM-free supplierwww.theorder.co.uk
Contract/prepay supplierwww.buymobilephones.net
Detailswww.samsung.co.uk

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