Samsung Galaxy Ace

Full Review

The Samsung Galaxy Ace is one of the newer phones in Samsung's Galaxy range — it's a mid-range Android phone that has a 3.5-in capacitive touchscreen and a 5-megapixel camera. The Galaxy Ace performs well and has reasonable features, but it's overshadowed by its competition.

Samsung Galaxy Ace: Design and display

We get sick of comparing every phone with the iPhone, but there is no mistaking the fact that the Samsung Galaxy Ace looks remarkably similar to the iPhone 3GS. It has the same rounded edges, the same gloss edging, the same size 3.5-in touchscreen and the same physical home button below the display. The result is a phone that is light and comfortable to hold, and the Galaxy Ace also feels well put together despite its largely plastic construction. We like the rear battery cover, which uses a grippy surface that makes the phone easy to hold, and the volume and power/lock buttons are well placed, and easy to press.

The Samsung Galaxy Ace's 3.5-in capacitive touchscreen is responsive to touch, but its low resolution of 320x480 means it isn't as crisp or clear as more expensive phones, particularly when displaying text. The screen is also tough to see in direct sunlight and although it's bright at full volume, the lack of an ambient light sensor is an annoyance.

Samsung Galaxy Ace: Software and performance

The Samsung Galaxy Ace runs the 2.2 'Froyo' version of Google's Android operating system, and features Samsung's TouchWIZ UI layer on top of the standard Android interface. TouchWIZ equips the Galaxy Ace with up to seven home screens for live widgets and shortcuts. There's nothing that's truly groundbreaking, but the Galaxy Ace includes a number of pre-loaded apps such as the ThinkFree Office suite, Exchange Active Sync compatibility for corporate e-mail, and the Swype keyboard that allows you to draw your fingers over the letters you want to type in a single motion.

The Galaxy Ace also comes with Samsung's Social Hub app that combines social networking (Facebook, Twitter and MySpace), contacts, calendars and messaging activity into a single inbox. As with all Android-powered smartphones, the software is highly customizable via third-party apps which can be downloaded through the Android Market — Google's answer to Apple's App Store.

The Ace's user experience feels snappy and smooth. The inclusion of multi-touch aids web browsing, even if the Galaxy Ace is a little sluggish when loading graphically intense web sites, but there is no Flash support, which is a key feature of Android 2.2. The exclusion of Flash is a little surprising, but given the Galaxy Ace's position as a mid-range handset, Samsung has likely excluded it to maintain performance. The now standard connectivity set of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G are all present.

Samsung Galaxy Ace: Battery life and other features

The Samsung Galaxy Ace has a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, and a single LED flash on-board. It also doubles as a video recorder, but only in standard and not high definition. The camera produces photos good enough for the odd happy snap, but notable image noise and poor color reproduction means that the Galaxy Ace isn't capable of anything more. The Galaxy Ace has limited internal memory (158MB), but the microSD card slot makes up for it, and the phone comes with a 2GB microSD card in the box.

Battery life is reasonably good: the Galaxy Ace will easily last a full day, and even stretched close to two days during testing, though this will depend on your usage patterns.

Bottom Line

The Samsung Galaxy Ace offers a slick user experience and a comfortable design. However, at Rs. 14,000 in India it doesn't match up to the performance and features offered by other mid-range phones. We definitely recommend shopping around before choosing the Galaxy Ace as your next phone.