Samsung Galaxy Ace review

This is my first post anywhere on reviewing a smartphone, or any piece of hardware, for that matter.

The Samsung Galaxy Ace (S5830) is a mid-range Android smartphone released by Samsung as part of their "Galaxy" product line. It's one of only two phones with an 800MHz processor inside it, along with the Samsung Galaxy Gio.

I've been using this phone for a couple of months now and due to a lack of articles and post ideas, I might as well review it. Here it goes:

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Since it has been a long time since I've used this phone, I cannot really remember what my initial reaction was. I can tell you I was extremely gleeful and giddy inside because I have always wanted a smartphone, a phone with a touchscreen, or an Android. Sure enough, my father suddenly came up to me and asked me to look at an Android catalog.

It is remarkably easy on the hands. I've seen more than several reviews that it's more of a delight to handle compared to the iPhone (I've never touched an iPhone device before, so I can't know for sure). The touchscreen was also very responsive.

But as I got used to it, I noticed a few dodgy features here and there; the Home button, although elegantly designed, is rather clumsy on your fingers. The Menu and Back buttons are equally dodgy, but I blame that because I'm rather used to physical buttons.

Performance is what you'd expect from an 800MHz phone: laggy. Not severely laggy, but laggy nonetheless. I constantly found myself waiting impatiently for something to load or become responsive, only to freeze again at a touch of the screen.

The screen, although responsive, feels very un-technological (for lack of a better word). It feels like an ordinary piece of plexiglass you'd encounter in a butcher-shop, the one separating you from the meat display. It'll either become irritatingly smudgy and slippery, or irritatingly squeaky-clean and difficult to drag your finger across.

PLUSES

• Incredibly comfortable to hold. No more worrying about how to hold it properly, or finding a position in your hands that doesn't feel awkward, the Ace is a delight to grab on to. It's like a sea cucumber: it melts in your hand, adjusting to how you hold it. But, with the Ace, your hand melts into the device's shape, which is equally dandy.
• Very responsive touchscreen. The feature I like most here. The screen is very responsive to finger touches, but doesn't respond at all to any other. You could tap with a random stylus, a toothpick or even your finger, it won't respond. It really fits to a touchscreen, not a tapscreen.

MINUSES

• Bloatware, crapware and the option of either keeping it, or not removing it. I know this is a problem with all modern smartphones with their carriers, but it has to be posted in here. Although the Ace is far down the list of smartphones with the most useless bloatware courtesy of providers, it still doesn't hurt to at least have the option to delete it.
• Not a pleasant touch experience. I'll cover this hardware- and software-wise. From a hardware aspect, it's quite a shame that the Ace doesn't boast its big brother's AMOLED screen. My dad owns a SGS, and the difference is a lot. My screen smudges, then when I clean it, it's hard to swipe on. It's almost never comfortable to use, frequently requiring the repression of the urge to get a piece of cloth to clean it.
• Touch, wait, touch, wait... 800MHz is clearly superior to 600MHz, but even for a 800MHz, it seems remarkably slow. Opening up the dialer -- which is arguably the most important function of a smartphone -- takes 3 seconds. THREE FUCKING RIDICULOUS SECONDS. Same goes to Messaging, Logs, Contacts and just about every other vital functionality of the Ace.
• The requirement to replace ALL the default apps. Relating to the previous one, because of its lag, almost all applications will need a replacement. That takes Megabytes. Megabytes takes money. And not everyone has those anymore.
• Too similar to the iPhone. I wanted an Android, not an iPhone. Then why the fuck did I choose the Ace? Because I didn't know what the iPhone looked like before I purchased it. But that's probably my problem.
• For it's features, it's expensive. I bought it for Rp. 3,000,000. Which is roughly $300, maybe subtract a few bucks? But, seriously, it's just a Galaxy Gio with a 5MP camera. The Gio won't cost you $250.
• The lack of memory and storage capacity is underwhelming. Although it has 150MB of internal storage, most of that is taken up by the bloatware that comes with it. In the end, you can only get somewhere around 80MB to 50MB.
  RAM is disappointing, too.

CONCLUSION

I won't be recommending the Ace anytime soon (can't say the same thing for Samsung, though). I can honestly say that the Ace is a failure of a product. It's cons obviously outweighs it's pros.

If you want a productive phone for multimedia, don't get an Ace. If you want a productive phone for your business, don't get an Ace. Seriously, I can't think of any situation where the Ace would be suitable.

Sorry, Samsung.