Is the Samsung Galaxy Ace any good?

[stopthenoise]

At the moment I've got a samsung jet on PAYG. I really want a better phone but my budget is non exsistent really tight. I've seen the galaxy ace on a contract for £7.50 a month with 175 mins, 5000 texts and 250mb of data. The calls and texts are more than enough for me but in non tech speak how much is 250mb? I would only be using the internet for facebook and ebay mainly. And what is the Ace like? What can it do? The jet that i've got now is pretty basic but has a good camera which i like.

[Caerlaverock]

I love mine. Had it for about a year and still going strong. It doesn't have a huge amount of memory on the phone so if you install a few really big apps it will struggle. The camera is great. It has a radio. Where did you see that contract it is really good?

[Caerlaverock]

Actually that deal is fantastic, I pay 13 a month for 100 data 50 mins and 250 texts

[stopthenoise]

It's at carphone warehouse but not sure which network. I'm with tesco mobile at the moment and have just seen that they do it for £12.50 a month but with 500 mins, 5000 texts and 500mb of data. You say the memory isn't very big but I assume it takes a memory card too?

[Caerlaverock]

Yes it takes a memory card so you are ok for photos etc. some big apps install on the phone and can't be moved. Face book for example is huge, so I justnremoved it and use the browser.

[Caerlaverock]

And you can't use flash on it

[stopthenoise]

That's a really good tip. Hmmm..am really considering it now! Have just googled some reviews and no one seems to have anything bad to say about it, apart from battery life but that's not really a problem. i pay £10 a month now on PAYG for an ok phone so it seems a no brainer! One thing that worries me is the data allowance. How much is 250mb? I don't want run up a huge bill going over it. But i suppose I could cap the contract so there's no scary bills.

[stopthenoise]

Sorry to sound uber thick but whats flash?

[Caerlaverock]

I use mine to check email etc but don't watch videos. I manage on 100mb . I think 250 is enough if you are careful about using wifi when poss.

[Caerlaverock]

You need flash to use alot of webpages. You won't be able to watch iplayer for example.

[PropositionJoe]

Just set your internet-using apps to update only when you open them, not to update in the background. 250mb is plenty for email, mumsnet and Facebook. Just don't use YouTube out of the house (assume you have wifi at home?) The carphone warehouse contract is with talkmobile which runs on the vodafone network. It's a good phone and a great deal.

[stopthenoise]

Thanks for the advice. When you download apps does this come off your allowance? And only internet using apps would come off the allowance right? I'm thinking about when playing games on it for DS, this would be ok? Sorry for all the questions!

[Caerlaverock]

Most games are played just in the phone so you won't us your allowance. You can turn the data off if you want to be really sure and only turn it on when needed

[stopthenoise]

Ok that's good to know. It's looking very appealing now!

[PropositionJoe]

When you download apps just make sure you do it over wifi

[NetworkGuy]

watching iPlayer with a 250 MB or even 500 MB allowance would be likely to get through all the data in one go... a 30 minute TV programme may be about 300 MB. (I use Three and can easily use 750 MB in a day, hit 2700 MB one day recently [monitoring someone's security webcam for them])

Worth checking whether Quidco.com or TopCashBack.co.uk (?) offer a sum of cash when you go to Carphone Warehouse via the cashback site.

Also CPW owns mobiles.co.uk and e2save.com (and possibly others - perhaps see HotUKdeals.com to see if other firms are listed, and then check small print about the firm to see if CPW owns it). so check if they have 'cash back' deals to make the overall cost lower than 7.50/month

Some of them require you to send them a set of monthly statements from the network, at intervals (so you get maybe 50 quid cash back, spread out after 3, 9, and 15 months of paying the network)... just add reminders on the phone about sending in the statements on time, else they won't pay the cash back!

(Think it was on mobiles.co.uk I saw the cashback deals, as alternative to TVs, games consoles etc... obv costly items like TV etc would be for contracts at 25/35/45 quid a month)

[bigTillyMint]

I am interested in an ACE as a present for DH!

I have a Galaxy II and 1GB of data a month. I barely use 100MB so 250 would be fine for light usage. And most of the games are downloaded onto the phone - just don't let him play on the ones which need internet access!

[Theas18]

Dunno. Have looked into it or DH and am under whelmed. E has a galaxy y which is a generally good little phone but very short on working memory - many apps can't be moved to the memory card. I think the ace would be very much the same.
No flash I ability to use I player etc

[NetworkGuy]

Actually, the amount of space for Apps is slightly better in the Galaxy Y than the Ace but I'd still value the Ace higher.

A few differences ( extracted from data on *>
GSM Arena

[NetworkGuy]

Would still suggest going to Carphone Warehouse website via cash-back site Quidco or TCB to see what they will give when someone is signing up for a contract via CPW. May drop the effective cost per month from 7.50 to 6 quid over the life of the contract.

[Theas18]

Network guy could you suggest a phone that might suit my DH. i think he probably needs an S2 but he thinks it's way to big- he keeps it in a trouser pocket all day. THe y is ideal size but just under the spec he needs.

(I can't really help as I have a note and it's fab! I couldn't function without a phone that " did everything" LOL)

[1sassylassy]

Good comparison site here,obviously you can use the boxes at the top to compare any two phones.
FWIW I have the Ace and it suits me just fine.

[NetworkGuy]

Theas18 when I looked at the CarPhone Warehouse page I saw they also have the Sony Xperia Tipo (which I have been keeping my eye on for a while).

www.carphonewarehouse.com/special-offers/super-value-smartphones


Sony used to use their own storage but now use microSD (like most others) and the Tipo has a 3.5mm earplug socket, so can be plugged into lots more with no adaptor needed.

Comparing *> Tipo and Galaxy Y

[NetworkGuy]

The site 1sassylassy mentioned did the same sort of comparison in one go!

see link

NB it compares thickness of 12mm with 13mm but it should say 11mm (and does on the overall measurements shown on next line).

Also, it mentions Bluetooth but not everyone needs to care about that... personally I also look for phones with FM radio in them, but that's just something I am interested in...

[BehindLockNumberNine]

I love the look of the Galaxy Ace and I think it does pretty much what I need. So I am seriously considering it too. Dh mentioned the Ace 2. Is it worth the extra money?
I want a half-decent camera, an easy keyboard (nothing fiddely with teeny buttons) on a touch screen, easy text messaging.
Does the Ace 2 do these things any better than the Ace?

[LoonyRationalist]

I have an Ace 2 & I love it, does everything I want on a phone.
I think it does have more internal memory than the Ace though - the internal memory issue is what forced me to upgrade from my beloved HTC Desire.

The Iplayer app is great and can be moved to sd card, is currently using only 1.46mb of my phone's memory.

Just had a look at a comparison - you would struggle to get many apps installed on the Ace - it only has 190mb phone memory & apps seem to be growing in size all the time. Would be fine for day to day use as a phone with a few apps but you wouldn't get many games on there for example.

When I changed my phone I changed to a 100mb data package (from a 500mb one) Only once in the 24 months of my previous contract did I exceed 100mb & that was when my home broadband was down for a week! I only use email/internet when out & about & turn off data when not using it.