After months of research I zeroed in on the Galaxy ACE. I brought it for 13.5 K from a local dealer here in Hyderabad.
Initially was inclined towards the Galaxy Pop which was available for 8.5 K. But with the smaller screen and 600 MHz processor didn’t feel its going to do justice.
ACE was perfect with a 800 MHz processor, 3.5 " screen and Android OS 2.2
What I liked:
Andrioid OS 2.2 was good, though people complain about issue of poor battery performance which is indeed true(waiting eagerly for the official 2.3 Gingerbread release by Samsung).
millions of free Apps for Android, I am loving them.
GPS is excellent, got a lock on the sattelites in less than a minute
Wifi and Bluetooth are also very easy to use and very reliable.
The screen size is decent for a smart phone, not to big and not to small
Weight is ideal and light.
The size is adequate and fits in the hand perfectly
looks are good, very similar to an Iphone
I did played couple of games(Raging thunder & Cricket Fever) and there was no lag whats so ever. Angry birds was fun and you do get addicted to it. My suggestion stay away:-)
What I disliked:
Battery performance is poor, need to charge daily but I guess thats common with any smartphone which is always on GPRS, browsing net, calls and listening to music. Installed Advanced task killer with which unused apps can be killed. Heard Gingerbread(Android 2.3) is better in managing battery life. The battery indicator is never accurate. So dont get fooled by it, shows 100% and next goes to 70%. Suggest to install an battery indicator app.
The headphones feel cheap, Samsung could have thrown some good quality headphones. Luckily it has a 3.5 mm jack so you could use headphones of your choice.
There are only 2 buttons, 1 for volume+ / - and the other for phone on/off. No buttons for answering calls and for camera.Bit annoying but you will get used to it.
Overall verdict is a good value for money phone. Cannot and should not be compared with 20K+ phones in terms of features which many tend to do. If your budget is around 15K go for it.
Phone comes with a 2GB card, I exchanged it for a 4 GB card by paying 150 xtra
One more thing, I haven’t used it with 3G so cannot comment on its performance.