SpecEagle review · Samsung

Galaxy Ace review: A hugely popular entry Android that brought smartphones to the masses.

SpecEagle Editorial·Feb 2011·$300
Overall
34/100
Class rank
#25 of 26
Tier
Budget
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

Android for the masses.

The Galaxy Ace was one of the phones that democratised Android — an affordable, iPhone-styled entry smartphone with a decent 5 MP camera that sold in huge numbers across emerging markets. It introduced millions of people to their first smartphone.

01Display

44/100

44/100 is one of the weaker display results among budget phones of 2011 — 15 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

TypeTFT LCD
Size3.5 inches
Resolution320 × 480 px (HVGA)

02Camera

46/100

46/100 is one of the weaker camera results among budget phones of 2011 — 11 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

Main5 MP, autofocus, LED flash
VideoVGA

03Performance

36/100

36/100 is one of the weaker performance results among budget phones of 2011 — 15 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

ChipsetQualcomm MSM7227 800 MHz
RAM278 MB
Storage158 MB · microSD

04Battery

56/100

56/100 is one of the weaker battery results among budget phones of 2011 — 12 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

Capacity1,350 mAh (removable)
Standby~ 640 hours

05Build

50/100

50/100 trails the 53-point cohort average for budget phones of 2011.

06Value

56/100

56/100 — right at the average for budget phones of 2011.

What works
  • Affordable gateway to Android.
  • 5 MP autofocus camera was good for entry.
  • Removable battery + microSD.
  • Sold enormously worldwide.
What doesn't
  • 278 MB RAM was cramped even then.
  • HVGA screen.
  • 800 MHz single-core.
  • Limited app storage.
Cross-shop it against
LG Optimus One P500
$200 · score 64/100

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 26-phone cohort of budget devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .