So we’ve looked the web and apps performance, the general Android 2.2 user interface and the phone’s camera – now it’s time to tidy up a few loose ends and complete our review of the Samsung Galaxy Ace Android phone.
There are two messages to take away from this. We really like the telephone. And we need to make our reviews much shorter.
Anyway. More screenshots of the Galaxy Ace in action. That’s what the music player looks like. It’s not very exciting visually, but then that’s not really the point of MUSIC.
Video playback is sadly rather limited. The Galaxy Ace refused to play standard DivX AVI files, requiring everything to be in MP4 format. Which is a shame, as Samsung’s usually quite good at getting DivX Certification for its devices.
Standard Android photo gallery. Really doesn’t require two screenshots to show it off but we’ve sort of committed to putting two images in above every caption so we’d better keep it up.
Battery life was good. Better than our HTC Desire, which is our main frame of reference. Oh yes, and it also works as a telephone!
Definitely no Flash Player support. Needed to check that. Nice Notifications area.
We’ll stop now. We’re going to attempt to formalise the reviewing process, as our attempts thus far have always been a bit of a haphazard mess.
So here’s a summary, as found in proper reviews written by people who know what they’re doing:
HARDWARE 8/10
The Galaxy Ace is a solid, slim phone, with reliable capacitive touch buttons and a responsive screen. The 5megapixel camera is good, it has a flash, plus it’s definitely the fastest phone we’ve yet encountered when it comes to reconnecting to wi-fi when you wake it up.SOFTWARE 7/10
Samsung’s TouchWiz interface is only a minor visual tweak, with most Android functionality left as you’d find it in plain Android 2.2 phones. It’s a bit light on pre-loaded apps, but then we’d only complain it it was bogged down with stuff. Sadly it doesn’t support DivX movie files, which limits media performance.PERFORMANCE 7/10
The 800MHz processor does a good job of apps and web use, although we had a few weird visual glitches when using the actual web browser. We didn’t suffer any lock-ups of note, and it was generally swift in action.OVERALL 8/10
A very nice phone for the money. A bigger screen than LG’s competing Optimus One, powerful enough to run everything we tried and with Android 2.2 out of the box. You could happily use this as your “main” phone and remain confident you’re getting the full Android experience. Apart from the lack of Flash Player support. That’s the only downer.
Thanks to Three UK for the loan of the phone. You can buy the thing from Three here if you suddenly feel like you want to. No pressure. You don’t have to make your mind up today.
If you have any questions, pop them up here or in Twitter or whatever and we’ll try to get back to you with a proper answer.
HTC’s 4.3″ dual-core Android model, powered by Qualcomm’s all-new S4 processor. It’s smaller than the enormous One X, but is it as nice as its bigger brother? (SPOILER: Yes it is).
HTC is very much B-A-C-K at the top of the Android world with this, its quad-core flagship for 2012. Great camera, huge 4.7″ display and Android 4.0 running beautifully well.
Sony returns with an all-new mobile design for 2012, pairing a dual-core processor with a 720p display. It’s a lovely phone, but is it enough to end our Samsung and HTC obsession?
LG’s updated Prada phone comes with an absolutely crazy black & white theme, but is it just for fashionable suit wearers who want to make themselves look a bit more interesting?
Sahil
/ September 5, 2011I just bought the samsung galaxy ace. Good phone in this range. 5 megapixel with led flash auto focus, 800 mhz processor, good touch screen, good colours. battery life is not very good, but thats the case with almost all the smart phones. Other phones in this range are wave 2, htc wildfire s, htc salsa. HTC
Abrahim
/ September 13, 2011I love the way reviews are written here… seriously… please never change that…
Sharad
/ September 25, 2011I was confuse among trio Wildfire, Xperia mini pro and Galaxy Ace, but now I am sure to get Ace. And yes, even in i-Phone battery hardly run for 48 hrs. So, with only 13000(Yes, Latest price in Gujarat, India) its awesome, great phone.
Roberto
/ October 7, 2011Olá, gostaria de deixa aqui minha insatisfação com a marca SAMSUNG!
Fui a loja hoje em juiz de fora MG,compra um Samsung galaxy ace,e por incrível que pareça 2 aparelhos apresentaram defeito na hora da compra! Acabei voltando pra casa sem fazer a compra! NÂO RECOMENTO A NINQUEM A COMPRA O GALAXY ACE DA SAMSUNG NEM PELA METADE DO PREÇO!
Shakti
/ October 18, 2011Flash player 11.1 for galaxy ace working with video preview download now link
sga-flash.blogspot.com/ copy n paste it to adress bar (:
Shakti
/ October 18, 2011Flash player 11.1 for galaxy ace working with video preview download now link
sga-flash.blogspot.com/ copy n paste it to address bar (: For all roms
rajesh
/ October 19, 2011got this phone recently.
its a good one .
good features value to our money
sanji
/ October 29, 2011I bought tgis phone about 3 months ago here in the uk.
You can play .avi files if you download an app from the android market called mmx.
Stusan
/ November 10, 2011I bought this phone 2 weeks ago, it was my first smartphone. I am addicted to it already. The battery is an issue as I need to charge it every night and I am only a light user but other than that it fantastic. I was surprised that there wasnt a manual in the box but have now downloaded one.
For a child or light user I would definately recommend this phone. If I can use it anyone can.
Avinash
/ November 21, 2011I have bought samsung galaxy ace two days before. Please anyone help me for the issue:
I am not able to receive any calls or SMS when i am using internet connect. Please anyone help me how to avoid this issue.
1. Why we are buying smart phones with 3G?
Answer will be like: We can use internet connection as well as calls and fast access of all applications.
But here the problem i facing with galaxy ace is when i am using internet connect with 2g on android 2.3.4(ginger bird). I am not able receive any calls or messages. Earlier i have used NOKIA and micromax mobiles. Even if i use internet also i am able to receive calls. Even the small company micromax is good with this. Why samsung is not concentrated on this. Is there any settings or any option is have this facility. Please help me ASAP.
I there is no way to get calls when we are coneected to internet then dont buy this phone. Instead of this we can use one phone and TAB.
mitchell theobald
/ December 4, 2011come back to me when you have a review with this device on gingerbread. soo much better
sid
/ January 10, 2012its battery life sucks…… but it is a good phone over all
John Doe
/ April 17, 2012It’s not Ginger Bird, but Ginger Bread. ; ))