Samsung Galaxy Ace is focused on style and affordability. Credit: Samsung
Focused on style and affordability, the latest Galaxy-branded smartphone offers an attractive balance of features and performance.
Samsung is pitching the Galaxy ACE Style at what it calls “young social consumers,” and as such the handset comes preloaded with ChatOn, Samsung’s social messaging app, and a host of advanced camera features.
However, surprisingly, while the rear-facing lens is a good 5-megapixel unit that can capture stills and moving images in HD, the front-facing selfie lens — because let’s face it, that’s what it’s for — is only a VGA unit. Still, Samsung says the low resolution will make images even easier to share.
At 4 inches, the screen is a generous size and inside, a 1.2GHz, dual-core processor and 512MB of RAM run the show; plus there’s 4GB of internal storage (expandable to 64GB via microSD card).
So, from a specifications perspective, this is a mid-tier phone but one that is expected to be competitively priced. Samsung announced the global availability of the phone on Tuesday, but has yet to confirm prices.
That said, it is expected to cost no more than $300 unlocked and, as it will come with KitKat — the latest version of Android — and the option of a dark grey or cream finish, it could well prove an attractive proposition to younger consumers looking for their first branded smartphone or for parents considering a high-tech birthday present that won’t be low-tech within 364 days.
Samsung is right to court the next generation of smartphone users, especially the style- and image-conscious, but as decent as the Galaxy ACE Style sounds on paper, it will have to offer something more than Galaxy branding and affordability if it really wants to compete with the Moto X and Moto G handsets, both of which offer superior specifications, similar, if not better, pricing and a host of personalization and customization options.
For example, in the U.K., which is already approaching smartphone saturation, the Moto G accounts for 6 percent of all new handset sales thanks to its combination of style, performance, customization and affordability.
