Welcome to TeCHeck. Today we have a mid range Android device with us. After a successful season with Galaxy Ace, Samsung recently launched Galaxy Ace plus. Are these little tweaks enough to make it the best mid-range handset? Let’s take a look.
Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus has a 3.65 inches display with a resolution of 320 x 480 which generates a pixel density of 158ppi. A 1 GHz processor coupled with 512 MB of RAM, 3GB internal memory with MicroSD card slot to expand memory up to 32GB. The device is 11.2mm thick and runs on Android 2.3.6 with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI.
The UI is easy to use and fast. If you have been using a Samsung device running Android, you won’t find a lot of difference with the latest TouchWiz 4.0. You can have up to 7 home screens and add widgets accordingly. There was no apparent lag while using the phone and the integration of social networking with contacts was impressive.
Samsung is continuously improving their keyboard on the phones and typing a message on the 3.65 inch screen is a cakewalk. The screen is responsive and comfortable. However there is no Swype now, so if you’re a swipe fan you’ll have to download it from the Google Play yourself.
The music player is standard and pretty decent. It supports almost all important and well-known formats and the in-ear quality is good, although the loudspeaker is average. The video player is pretty minimalist too but you cannot play 720p videos. Vide playback is smooth and there’s no lag while playing videos.
The 5MP camera on the back is pretty impressive. For a mid range device, Samsung has done a good job in the camera department. The images look pretty good. However there’s no HD video recording on the phone. You can’t record 720p video as the phone only allows you to record at VGA resolution @30 FPS. It’s kind of a turn off because rivals HTC One V and (upcoming) Sony Xperia U which fall in the same category do offer 720p video recording capabilities.
Web browser is equipped with flash support so you will enjoy web browsing on the phone. You can download apps from Google Play/ Android market and most of them will run smoothly thanks to the 1GHz updated processor.
The 1500 mAh battery lasts for a day on a normal day. It’s not a great battery, but that’s the case with every smart phone these days. You have to charge it every night like every other smart phone in the market, be it mid-range or High end.
So, is Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus the best mid range device? Well, we had mixed experiences while using the phones. The Galaxy Ace Plus is priced around Rs. 15,500 in Indian market. The phone faces tough fight from recently launched HTC One v which is priced at Rs. 17000 and Samsung’s very own Omnia W running windows phone 7.5 which is priced at Rs. 15000. Upcoming Sony Xperia U will mean more trouble for the Galaxy Ace Plus.
If you can spend 2k more and Android is your cup of tea, you should go for HTC One V. HTC One V runs on Android 4.0, has a better processor and a better camera. While someone looking for a decent handset in 15k, Omnia W is Windows phone replacement for Galaxy Ace Plus (Although it comes with 8GB storage with no expandable memory slot)
Make no mistake, Galaxy Ace Plus is a decent device but there are better alternatives available in the market in the same price range. like the HTC One V and Samsung Omnia W.
For a 15k device, Galaxy Ace Plus is still running on Android 2.3.6 with no word on ICS update(It will be updated but there’s no specific date) There’s no 720p video recording in the phone, the display is on the weaker side and the resolution didn’t impress us. The chipset too is outdated when compared to rival devices like HTC One V.
We’ll give it a 3.5 on 5.
Gaurav Awal(Code name D2) is pursuing Engineering. He love gadgets, movies, sports and music and that is most probably the reason that he is a key man who is going to post a lot especially in all the forums he just named. He too is a ‘take it as it comes’ kind of a guy. He, as per me holds the record for watching the maximum number of movies in a week, at least in the group of people I know!
A word from him. ” Hola Guys. I really love feedback and suggestions so you can always let me know if you don’t like any of my posts.
All I want to say is enjoy your stay at OP. We love our readers, you make us feel blessed. Adios- D2″
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