Samsung Galaxy Ace Review

The latest addition to the Galaxy family is the Samsung Galaxy Ace GT- S5830, which packs quite a punch considering its middle-of-the-road specification and £199.99 prepay/£25 contract price point.

The Android 2.2 (Froyo) operating system helps this smartphone stand tall next to other mid-range touchscreen devices, such as HTC's Wildfire, which comes with a noticeably slower processor and older version of Android, 2.1 (Eclair).

The Samsung Galaxy Ace is the little brother to the powerful Samsung Galaxy S in many ways.

If you are in the market for a new smartphone, you should check out our buying guide video:

Aesthetically, you'll be forced to play spot the difference if you put it up against the iPhone 4, and will come to the conclusion that the Samsung is generally smaller, lighter and nicer in the hand than the iPhone.

However, in terms of sex appeal, the iPhone 4 wins hands down for its sleek look and feel, since the Samsung Galaxy Ace is a bit too plasticky. Interestingly, although the Galaxy Ace is smaller, the screen size is exactly the same as the iPhone 4, at 3.5 inches.

The screen quality is a low-end TFT, and is poor compared to the Super AMOLED screen on the Samsung Galaxy S, which allows for crystal clear video playback.

There's no HD video recording, but the five-megapixel camera works well as a happy snapper – it has several shot and scene modes, which can be fun to play around with.

Samsung Galaxy Ace review: Design and handling

The Samsung Galaxy Ace measures in at 112.4 x 59.9 and is just right in the hand.

It weighs a mere 113g, but its curvy backside clad in a textured ubbery material makes it feel much more secure in the hand, while also making it easy to feel for in your manbag or handbag. Samsung tells us that this meshed back cover will be featured on future smartphones.

The 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen is responsive, but the light behind the touch sensitive buttons on the bottom times out after six seconds, so if you haven't memorised what's where, it can be quite frustrating.

The frontage looks identical to the Samsung Galaxy S but with the added silver piping.

The top of the phone sports a 3.5mm jack and micro-USB charging socket with a sliding cover for added protection from dust.

There are very few physical buttons on this handset, three in fact, leaving us to rely on soft keys for most of the action. The power button on the right side doubles up as the screen lock and directly opposite on the left side is the volume rocker.

The third button is the main one on the front which takes you back to the Home screen (another similarity to the iPhone). The right side features the microSD card slot with a 2GB card thrown in, which is very small considering the internal memory is a measly 158MB.

It's quite slim at only 11.5mm, but not as skinny as the Samsung Galaxy S which is a tiny 9.9mm.