Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 Review on Design, Specs and Connectivity

Key Features

• 3.8in 480 x 800 pixel screen
• Dual-core 800 MHz processor
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS
• 5MP camera with 720p video
• microSD slot

Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 - Design, Specs and Connectivity

The Samsung Galaxy series has become the shining star in the Android smartphone firmament. And while the Samsung Galaxy S3 may have stolen all the attention so far this year, there are plenty of cheaper options in the series, too. The Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 costs around £240 without a contract, and sheds some of the budget burdens of its predecessor.

Design and Specs - What's new?
The Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 is aimed at the same sort of audience as the original Ace - those not quite willing to pay top dollar but who want a phone that doesn't miss out any major features. However, its specs have been given a big bump-up since last year's model.

The screen is bigger, has been graced with more pixels, and the phone's engine room works a lot harder. With an 800MHz processor and a weeny 278MB of RAM, the first Ace was a bit of a wimp. But armed with 768MB of RAM and a dual-core 800MHz chip, this is something else.

The inoffensive black design is very familiar, though. It's not out to make a statement or get people drooling, but it won't attract derision either. The front of the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 is topped with toughened glass and its rear by a textured black plastic battery cover. Some of the hallmarks of a "lower cost" phone are clear here. There's no grace to the seams that run around its sides, it's not super-slim at 10.5mm and - the dead giveaway - the camera housing arrangement on the rear looks particularly perfunctory.

A lack of character may be no big problem at this price for many, but it is a little disappointing when the aluminium-bodied HTC One V made a better job of it recently. And the Sony Xperia U has a much more distinctive look, even if it too doesn't feel all that high-end in-hand.

Hardware
Slightly drab and a little chunky, the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 is no jaw-dropping beauty, but there are plenty of neat concessions to usability. The volume control and power buttons are placed on opposite sides, so you won't accidentally press the wrong one in blind use and the microSD is kept on the outside behind a plastic flap.

Memory card hot-swapping is supported, so there's zero need to turn the phone off when changing memory cards. There's 4GB of internal memory to get you started, but a microSD is a must as only about 2GB is user-accessible.

Just below the screen are touch sensitive soft keys and a clicky select key similar in design to those of its Ace series brothers. The soft keys light up with a cool blue hue, but are visible when unlit too. And, thankfully, the select button has been made a little more squat than before - a little sleeker-looking than the dumpy rectangle of the previous model. The new design is much more Samsung Galaxy S3-like.

Connectivity
The most obvious missing on-body bit is a dedicated video output, but with Samsung's MHL-to-HDMI adapter you can output video directly (we're awaiting the final word on compatibility). On the wireless front, NFC is the one bit we miss. Samsung does make versions of the Galaxy Ace 2 with the wireless payments standard, but it isn't present in our review sample. Just about everything else is, though.

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and HSPA mobile internet are all bog-standard in an Android phone, but Wi-Fi Direct and proper integrated DLNA support shouldn't be taken for granted quite so readily. Wi-Fi Direct lets the Galaxy Ace 2 transfer files to another compatible device without needing an actual internet access point.

For DLNA, Samsung provides AllShare. This is an app that lets you stream music, movies and photos to another Samsung AllShare device, such as a TV or Blu-ray player. It helps to soften the disappointment at not having a (now increasingly rare) HDMI video output