A couple of months back, I was quite excited about the new entry in to mobile arena. That of Samsung Ace. Though I already had expended my budget to buy a smart phone, I was quite ecstatic about this mobile, and had written about it. Though I felt the phone was priced in a very good position, I was a bit disappointed about lack of few features, especially the front camera.
But, that was then.
After experiencing the mobile first hand, I now regret my decision of buying my current mobile instead of waiting for some manufacturer to create a mobile, as-per-my-specifications. Yes, the more I see my colleague using this phone, the more I feel jealous. Missing front camera I said? Well, it does have a front camera, which is used solely for the purpose of video calling. Though I don’t expect as high quality from the camera for video calls like my current mobile, I don’t even expect mobile operators to provide good bandwidth to carry the good quality video. Not at least in near future. Then I said no FM recording!! Well, I don’t remember when I last used it on my current mobile. And it has android, so an application development is possible to carry out the task of FM recording. Low screen resolution I said? Well, as it turns out, 320×480 is quite sufficient for a phone in that price band. Infact, it’s better than one of it’s competitor. Compare it with HTC wildfire S, and you got a deal.
The phone feels like a real smartphone in hand. With android 2.2 out of box, it has limitless possibilities of a true smartphone. Display brightness is quite good, and the gorilla glass gives it a real tough feel. The Touch Wiz UI does not lag while scrolling on home screen. At least not till now. The 800 MHz processor, humming away in the chassis, manages to do its job effectively. The GPS locks to satellite within 2 minutes, and the integrated Google navigation application, with latitude, is quite adequate to point out the happening places near you. The quality of photos taken is good, but the video quality is not up to the mark.
The phone comes pre bundled with a 2gb memory card, and an extra white back panel, to give your phone a makeover. And there are rumors that this device will get an android update. What more could you ask for?
Currently there are very few devices which compete with each other with this kind of specifications and and in this band of price. Some of which I know are Samsung ACE, Samsung Wave II, HTC Wildfire S. Samsung ACE stands a clear winner for its value for money as well as the OS, Android. If anyone is considering any one of this three, blindly go for Samsung Galaxy ACE. Priced at around rs. 14250 in Mumbai.