The Galaxy Ace has been Samsung's strongest selling mid-range Android smartphone in 2011/2012, but it was released more than a year ago, and has always experienced troubles with an underpowered processor, small memory and poor battery life. So it's good to see its replacement finally arrive.
Unlike the Galaxy Ace Plus, which didn't quite pull it off, the Ace 2 is a worthy successor to the Ace. It delivers everything we could hope for from a mid-range Android phone.
The Ace 2 is slightly less boxy in its appearance than the Ace, and has added a couple of millimetres to its length and width. It doesn't feel large though, thanks to being just 10.5mm thick. It's rather plasticky in feel, like all Samsungs, but seems pretty robust and shouldn't be prone to scratches unless treated really badly. The additional few millimetres have been employed to good effect, increasing the screen size to a respectable 3.8 inches. The number of pixels has tripled to 800 x 480, making the display much sharper and clearer, especially when reading text or viewing photos.
Inside lots has changed, and all for the better. A dual core 800MHz processor lifts the performance of the device considerably, with only the Sony Xperia U beating it for raw power at this price. The memory has also increased dramatically to 4GB, with the option to add a microSD memory card for an additional 32GB. This increase in memory fixes one of the key issues with the original Ace.
Surprisingly the Ace 2 doesn't come with the very latest version of Android. Instead it runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, although we anticipate that an upgrade to Android 4.0 will be forthcoming. Samsung's TouchWiz 4.0 user interface runs on top of Android, giving you weather widgets and other live info on your home screen. It also makes available a lot of content through its Hubs. Social Hub integrates facebook and twitter with email, instant messaging and texts. Games Hub lets you download games (which look good on the hi-res screen and play well too with the new dual-core processor). Music Hub provides an alternative content source to iTunes.
The 5 megapixel camera is very capable, with all the features you'd expect, including autofocus and a flash. There's a second front-facing camera enabled for video chat too. Photos and videos look good on the 3.8 inch screen, and the media player is capable of playing 720p HD videos. Audio quality is good via the 3.5mm headphone jack.
The Ace 2 comes with Google Maps and is capable of receiving signals from both the GPS and GLONASS satellite navigation systems, so you'll be able to find your way quickly and reliably.
Connectivity is a star feature of the Ace 2. An addition to quadband GSM and dual-band 3G HSPA, the device is Wi-Fi enabled, for the fastest possible data access. It also comes with Bluetooth, USB and DLNA, and unusually it features the new NFC system for exchanging data wirelessly.
One area where modern smartphones often fail is battery power. The Ace 2 enjoys an enlarged 1500mAh battery, which seems more than adequate for a phone of this type. We're not saying it'll last for a week like phones used to in olden times, but you should get 2-3 days out of it between charges, which is pretty good going.
Phones designed for the middle price range (around £15 per month on contract) tend to play safe. You won't find cutting edge features at this price, but you'll hope to find everything you need without any nasty surprises. This is what the Ace 2 delivers. We have awarded the phone 5 stars because it delivers absolutely everything you could hope for at this price, without putting a foot wrong.
You might also consider the HTC One V, which runs the latest version of Android (Ice Cream Sandwich) and has a better camera. The Sony Xperia U is also highly recommended, although it has a smaller 3.5 inch screen size. If you fancy a punt you could even check out the LG Optimus L7 with its impressive 4.3 inch screen.
0 comments:
Post a Comment