Samsung Galaxy Ace
Product Type: Samsung Smartphone
Newest Review: ... phone due to my terrible memory however I have tried this twice on the Galaxy Ace and for some reason it doesn't alert me of remind... more
Yes, it is ACE!!
Samsung Galaxy Ace
Member Name: linzeelou
Product:
Samsung Galaxy Ace
Date: 17/05/12
Rating:
Advantages: Very easy to use
Disadvantages: Headphones
When it came to changing my contract and phone last year, I had no idea what I wanted. This was going to be the first time I would have an android phone so I knew that I wanted something easy to use and as silly as this may sound, I had acrylic nails at the time so I needed something easy to text with. After a sales woman let me play with quite a few dif-ferent phones, I went with the Samsung Galaxy Ace, which seemed to do everything that I wanted. As I am on a contract, I didn't buy the phone outright but it does cost me £35 a month which includes 600 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited internet.
The Phone
After signing my new contract agreement and getting the phone home, it was time to open the box. Inside the small box you get: the phone, a charger, USB cable to use to connect to a computer as well as two different covers. One of the covers is black and one is white. I have the white back on mine and used to get asked if I had an IPhone all the time which bugged me for a bit. Still, it looks nicer and different compared to the black back so it was nice to have a choice instead of having to buy something. Also, as with all phones, you get instruction manuals which I have never looked at!
Before you can really use the phone, you are supposed to charge it up for a couple of hours. However, I couldn't wait to play with it so I stuck the charger in and started having a bit of a mess around immediately. I can't resist when I have a shiny new toy to play with. Turning on the phone is easy; there is a button on the top right hand side of the phone. This button also puts the phone into sleep mode and wakes it up again when pressed.
On the left hand side of the phone is where you can adjust the volume of both calls and in phone functions. I barely ever use this as I always have calls set to loud and any games etc. on silent. On the bottom of the face of the phone is one more button which always takes you back to the home screen when pressed.
Features
Calling & Texting
Although this is an Android phone and does a lot of snazzy things, it also does the most basic as well. I use my phone a lot for both calls and texts due to being away at university so I needed to make sure it was easy and quick to use. When someone calls you, a really big green button will appear on the screen and this is how you answer. Unlike some other phones, it is really difficult to disconnect a call on this one if you didn't want to but there is still that option should you want to use it.
For making calls, it is just as easy. On the home screen in the bottom left hand corner, there is a little green phone symbol which is where you can make calls from. If you press this, it will come up with logs of your past calls and texts etc. then you can just swipe to the right over a name to call them from here. However, if you want to call someone that isn't in your log, you can use the phonebook, which is situated next to the call button on the home screen. The same way of calling is used from this part of the phone. All you need to do is swipe over the name and you will begin to call them. While sound quality is great for the majority of the time, I do have a slight problem with signal in my flat so sometimes my calls do get disconnected. This is my provider's fault though rather than the phone's.
As I mentioned earlier, I needed something that I could text with that would work well with my nails. This is definitely the phone for that. In the same way as making calls, if you want to send someone a message, you can use both of the previously described ways but instead of swiping to the right, you do it to the left and the phone will come up with a mes-sage option. Also, from the home screen you can go into your messages and either reply to an old message or construct a new one.
For texting, I use a 3x4 keyboard instead of QWERTY. The 3x4 keyboard is much like you would get on an old style phone and as I have been using that for so long already, I have found it hard to switch. There is also on option for handwriting styles on this phone which means you can pretend to write real words and it makes up the word into text format for you. I really hate this though as it doesn't always pick up the right words and it takes a lot longer to construct a text. Predictive text is always turned on for me and this phone does it so well. I haven't had too many texts sent where the phone has gotten the word wrong. If you like to be grammar conscious, this phone also has the option to automatically put full stops in for you which was something that I really liked.
Battery Life
I'm a bit on the fence with what I think about the battery for this phone. I generally have to charge mine at least once a day, if not more, depending on what I'm doing but then I do use my phone a lot. If I am only texting all day, the battery lasts quite well with it only needing to be charged again at night. However, if you are someone (like me) who plays silly games like Angry Birds for hours on end, you will find that the battery runs down very quickly.
There are ways to make the battery last longer though. If you turn down the brightness of the screen then that helps as does having Wi-Fi turned off. The internet is definitely the cause of this battery running down so quickly so if you leave things turned on in the background all day, e.g. Facebook or Twitter, it will gradually run down the battery life. As I don't do anything of these things to help the battery, I tend to carry my charger around with me at all times, especially when I'm at work so that my phone never dies on me.
Internet and Apps
The Samsung Galaxy Ace connects to the internet extremely well. There has only been one or two occasions where I haven't had phone signal at all where I couldn't get online. I have never had to use a Wi-Fi connection on this phone as the connection is already so good. As this is only a phone though, some web pages are slightly harder to navigate compared to being on a PC. Some websites have different versions for phones and PC and because of this, some of my favourite sites are a pain to visit on my phone.
In the App store, which has now changed its name to Play Store, you can find all kinds of good things to do and to have on your phone. While a lot are free, there are also a lot that you have to pay for, although this is something I have never done. The first Apps that I downloaded were Facebook and Twitter. At the time of getting this phone, I was blogging so I wanted to be able to get online and see what was going on at all times. Apps like this are free and don't take up too much memory on your phone.
It's the Apps like Angry Birds or Words with Friends that take up the space. In other words, you can't have an unlimited amount of games on this phone unless you buy a new, bigger memory card than the 2GB one you get to begin with. As much as I love having these games, I haven't bought a new memory card as I haven't needed one yet. I think three versions of Angry Birds is more than enough for now.
The Apps can be automatically updated which the phone will advise you of at the right time. I like this feature as it means that I don't have to mess around with my phone or do anything myself.
Music
If you want to connect your phone to a computer, you can drag and drop music files straight onto your phone in the easy to use music player. Music can be organised into dif-ferent folders and playlists which is a great idea. I used this feature to begin with when I got this phone but again, playing music on it tends to kill the battery. I also now have a Classic I-Pod so I never need to use my phone for this. In comparison to an I-Pod, the sound quality is rubbish. You can also only use the Samsung headphones provided which I thought was a real shame. On loudspeaker, the sound quality is so bad that I refuse to ever use it now. However, with headphones, the sound is ok and easy to listen to although I always forgot to take the right headphones out with me so I barely ever used this.
The Samsung Galaxy Ace does have a built in radio although I have never used this.
Camera
The camera is one of the things that I love most about this phone. My old phone's camera was pathetic and didn't even have a flash so I barely ever used it. Luckily, this camera is great. The camera is 5MP and can be used for both pictures and videos.
Once in camera mode, taking a picture is really easy; just point and shoot. There is a little camera icon on the screen which you press in order to take your photo and while this is ok to use, it could be better with the button being someone more comfortable to use. To zoom in or out, you use the volume buttons on the side of the phone which took me some time to figure out. One thing that I really love about this camera is the share option. From the picture screen, it is so easy to share your photos to Facebook and Twitter or you can even share them by sending them in a text message to someone else. I use this feature a lot especially if I'm out shopping and want to show people if I've found something amazing.
Overall
As you can see, I love my phone. Something that I haven't mentioned yet though is the size. It isn't the slimmest phone in the world but it isn't like a brick either. The phone fits really nicely in my hand whether I am using it for texting or holding it for ages when playing games. The 3.5 inch screen makes everything really easy to see and I don't think that it needs to be any bigger than this. I'm not too bothered about a phone looking extremely pretty anyway as long as it does what it needs to and doesn't break down on me.
The Samsung Galaxy Ace does so much (more than I have mentioned) and I am always finding new things to do on it, even after having it for a year. I love being able to have the internet in my pocket and being able to play really stupid games while I'm at work. My phone keeps me in touch with my long distance boyfriend at all times which is fabulous. I couldn't be without this now and will definitely get a Samsung again when it is time to up-grade.
The Phone
After signing my new contract agreement and getting the phone home, it was time to open the box. Inside the small box you get: the phone, a charger, USB cable to use to connect to a computer as well as two different covers. One of the covers is black and one is white. I have the white back on mine and used to get asked if I had an IPhone all the time which bugged me for a bit. Still, it looks nicer and different compared to the black back so it was nice to have a choice instead of having to buy something. Also, as with all phones, you get instruction manuals which I have never looked at!
Before you can really use the phone, you are supposed to charge it up for a couple of hours. However, I couldn't wait to play with it so I stuck the charger in and started having a bit of a mess around immediately. I can't resist when I have a shiny new toy to play with. Turning on the phone is easy; there is a button on the top right hand side of the phone. This button also puts the phone into sleep mode and wakes it up again when pressed.
On the left hand side of the phone is where you can adjust the volume of both calls and in phone functions. I barely ever use this as I always have calls set to loud and any games etc. on silent. On the bottom of the face of the phone is one more button which always takes you back to the home screen when pressed.
Features
Calling & Texting
Although this is an Android phone and does a lot of snazzy things, it also does the most basic as well. I use my phone a lot for both calls and texts due to being away at university so I needed to make sure it was easy and quick to use. When someone calls you, a really big green button will appear on the screen and this is how you answer. Unlike some other phones, it is really difficult to disconnect a call on this one if you didn't want to but there is still that option should you want to use it.
For making calls, it is just as easy. On the home screen in the bottom left hand corner, there is a little green phone symbol which is where you can make calls from. If you press this, it will come up with logs of your past calls and texts etc. then you can just swipe to the right over a name to call them from here. However, if you want to call someone that isn't in your log, you can use the phonebook, which is situated next to the call button on the home screen. The same way of calling is used from this part of the phone. All you need to do is swipe over the name and you will begin to call them. While sound quality is great for the majority of the time, I do have a slight problem with signal in my flat so sometimes my calls do get disconnected. This is my provider's fault though rather than the phone's.
As I mentioned earlier, I needed something that I could text with that would work well with my nails. This is definitely the phone for that. In the same way as making calls, if you want to send someone a message, you can use both of the previously described ways but instead of swiping to the right, you do it to the left and the phone will come up with a mes-sage option. Also, from the home screen you can go into your messages and either reply to an old message or construct a new one.
For texting, I use a 3x4 keyboard instead of QWERTY. The 3x4 keyboard is much like you would get on an old style phone and as I have been using that for so long already, I have found it hard to switch. There is also on option for handwriting styles on this phone which means you can pretend to write real words and it makes up the word into text format for you. I really hate this though as it doesn't always pick up the right words and it takes a lot longer to construct a text. Predictive text is always turned on for me and this phone does it so well. I haven't had too many texts sent where the phone has gotten the word wrong. If you like to be grammar conscious, this phone also has the option to automatically put full stops in for you which was something that I really liked.
Battery Life
I'm a bit on the fence with what I think about the battery for this phone. I generally have to charge mine at least once a day, if not more, depending on what I'm doing but then I do use my phone a lot. If I am only texting all day, the battery lasts quite well with it only needing to be charged again at night. However, if you are someone (like me) who plays silly games like Angry Birds for hours on end, you will find that the battery runs down very quickly.
There are ways to make the battery last longer though. If you turn down the brightness of the screen then that helps as does having Wi-Fi turned off. The internet is definitely the cause of this battery running down so quickly so if you leave things turned on in the background all day, e.g. Facebook or Twitter, it will gradually run down the battery life. As I don't do anything of these things to help the battery, I tend to carry my charger around with me at all times, especially when I'm at work so that my phone never dies on me.
Internet and Apps
The Samsung Galaxy Ace connects to the internet extremely well. There has only been one or two occasions where I haven't had phone signal at all where I couldn't get online. I have never had to use a Wi-Fi connection on this phone as the connection is already so good. As this is only a phone though, some web pages are slightly harder to navigate compared to being on a PC. Some websites have different versions for phones and PC and because of this, some of my favourite sites are a pain to visit on my phone.
In the App store, which has now changed its name to Play Store, you can find all kinds of good things to do and to have on your phone. While a lot are free, there are also a lot that you have to pay for, although this is something I have never done. The first Apps that I downloaded were Facebook and Twitter. At the time of getting this phone, I was blogging so I wanted to be able to get online and see what was going on at all times. Apps like this are free and don't take up too much memory on your phone.
It's the Apps like Angry Birds or Words with Friends that take up the space. In other words, you can't have an unlimited amount of games on this phone unless you buy a new, bigger memory card than the 2GB one you get to begin with. As much as I love having these games, I haven't bought a new memory card as I haven't needed one yet. I think three versions of Angry Birds is more than enough for now.
The Apps can be automatically updated which the phone will advise you of at the right time. I like this feature as it means that I don't have to mess around with my phone or do anything myself.
Music
If you want to connect your phone to a computer, you can drag and drop music files straight onto your phone in the easy to use music player. Music can be organised into dif-ferent folders and playlists which is a great idea. I used this feature to begin with when I got this phone but again, playing music on it tends to kill the battery. I also now have a Classic I-Pod so I never need to use my phone for this. In comparison to an I-Pod, the sound quality is rubbish. You can also only use the Samsung headphones provided which I thought was a real shame. On loudspeaker, the sound quality is so bad that I refuse to ever use it now. However, with headphones, the sound is ok and easy to listen to although I always forgot to take the right headphones out with me so I barely ever used this.
The Samsung Galaxy Ace does have a built in radio although I have never used this.
Camera
The camera is one of the things that I love most about this phone. My old phone's camera was pathetic and didn't even have a flash so I barely ever used it. Luckily, this camera is great. The camera is 5MP and can be used for both pictures and videos.
Once in camera mode, taking a picture is really easy; just point and shoot. There is a little camera icon on the screen which you press in order to take your photo and while this is ok to use, it could be better with the button being someone more comfortable to use. To zoom in or out, you use the volume buttons on the side of the phone which took me some time to figure out. One thing that I really love about this camera is the share option. From the picture screen, it is so easy to share your photos to Facebook and Twitter or you can even share them by sending them in a text message to someone else. I use this feature a lot especially if I'm out shopping and want to show people if I've found something amazing.
Overall
As you can see, I love my phone. Something that I haven't mentioned yet though is the size. It isn't the slimmest phone in the world but it isn't like a brick either. The phone fits really nicely in my hand whether I am using it for texting or holding it for ages when playing games. The 3.5 inch screen makes everything really easy to see and I don't think that it needs to be any bigger than this. I'm not too bothered about a phone looking extremely pretty anyway as long as it does what it needs to and doesn't break down on me.
The Samsung Galaxy Ace does so much (more than I have mentioned) and I am always finding new things to do on it, even after having it for a year. I love being able to have the internet in my pocket and being able to play really stupid games while I'm at work. My phone keeps me in touch with my long distance boyfriend at all times which is fabulous. I couldn't be without this now and will definitely get a Samsung again when it is time to up-grade.
Summary: A great phone
