Samsung S5830 Galaxy Ace Sim Free Smartphone

I bought this phone from Vodafone as a replacement for my absolutely woeful BlackBerry Torch 9800. I had previously had a HTC Desire Z and I knew I wanted to go back to an Android phone, due to the large selection of apps (unlike BlackBerry). If you want an inexpensive phone with a good camera, Android and a touchscreen, this is probably your best bet. I really like the phone, it is extremely user-friendly (the touchscreen text-messaging took me a while to become accustomed to, but altering the XT9 settings helped me massively). Samsung is a reliable brand, this is my fourth Samsung model and I've liked all of them. The screen is bright, clear and the widgets on the home screen are really handy (news, weather, Facebook, Twitter etc). However, as has been mentioned in previous reviews - things like this really sap the battery life, which isn't the best. However, there are a few neat little tricks to enhance your battery life.

1. Change your background to one with dark colours, the brightness will affect the length of your battery life.

2. Only download apps you're actually going to use! It seems common sense, but when I actually looked at the apps I'd downloaded, I realised I wasn't using half of them and they were draining my battery life.

3. Go into settings>wireless and networks>mobile networks>use only 2G networks. If you're out and about i.e. at work or in a meeting, whereby you're not going to be using your internet for anything, TURN OFF 3G. It's an unnecessary battery drainer. You'll still be able to receive and send texts and calls, and apps such as Kik and Whatsapp will also still work (albeit at a slower rate if you wish to send pictures etc). Turn it on when you want to browse the internet, and if you can, set up your wi-fi at home. This uses significantly less battery than connecting via 3G.

4. settings>location and security>uncheck "use wireless networks" and "use GPS satellites". All this does is finds your location when you wish to check yourself in on Twitter/Facebook or use your map apps. When you try to check yourself in or use Maps, your phone will automatically pop up saying "you need to turn on your GPS to do this" and you can click the link which will open your settings to allow you to do so, rather than leaving them running in the background constantly. MASSIVE battery drainer.

5. Most importantly, settings>Accounts and sync>uncheck "background data". If this box is checked, your phone constantly searches the internet for updates to your apps, (which you can do yourself manually in the Play Store). When you click on the Play Store link, it will pop up "turn on background data to enable browsing", then you check the box. Once again, rather than leaving it running constantly - which also means you may exceed your mobile internet allowance if it's not unlimited - your battery will feel much better!

6. If you're like me, and check Facebook and Twitter periodically, log out when you're not using it. Having them running in the background drains battery considerably. I personally find it really annoying when I get notifications from them anyway, so logging out is no skin off my nose.

Now that I've made these changes, I regularly take photos, constantly use Kik Messenger, text, make calls, log in and out of Facebook and Twitter a few times a day, and just generally mess around on my apps like Angry Birds, PicsArt, Amazon Kindle, check emails on Gmail app and Hotmail app etc, and it's great. My battery now lasts around a day and a half to two days, which is ideal for a smartphone.

Hope this helps!

I bought this phone from the Carphone Warehouse rather than from Amazon, and I think it's a great phone. My last phone worked on android and since I broke it, I wanted to get another android. The Ace is a good android phone, with most of the pre-loaded apps being rather useful and the camera on it is, in my opinion the best I've seen on a phone. It has options to change the focus mode and has a macro feature, great for taking pictures of objects close-up. The camera also has a feature allowing you to take panoramic shots, continuous shots and a smile shot feature, which recognises a smile and takes the picture when it detects one. It really is like a digital camera all packed into a sleek, good-looking and light phone.

The music player is rather good and reaches a decent volume. There is also an FM Radio which I think is a nice addition and I've used it a few times. If the pre-installed apps aren't for you then there is an endless array of apps buyable and free from the app market which you can get onto from your phone.

The text messages are set up as a thread rather than individual messages, much like the message set-up on an iPhone. I myself find this very useful, though there is no option to re-send failed messages, so re-typing a failed message is rather annoying, especially if it's a long one, though this is only a small inconvenience. Initially when the phone is new, the keyboard is set out in a QWERTY format, though this can be changed to a normal phone key pad (1=abc 2=def.. etc) in the message settings.

There are only a few drawbacks to this phone. One is that the phone occationally turns itself off, which can be rather irritating if you're waiting on a phone call or a text. This has happened a few times to me but it is only really a minor inconvenience and you just need to switch the phone back on again.

The other drawback is the horrendous battery life. Though this can be expected if you're running android apps and playing music/using the camera etc. Obviously using the android features on the phone uses more battery power than just the phone itself. If you buy this phone and use the apps on a daily basis, be prepared to charge the phone every night, or every other night if you aren't using the apps. This isn't really a major inconvenience in my eyes, though everyone is different. Overall, I think a short battery life can be expected on this type of phone.

Those are really the only bad things I can think of about this phone, and the positives majorly outweigh the negatives. If you're thinking about buying this phone, I would 100% say go for it. Great for someone who wants an iPhone without the expense. It even looks a little bit like an iPhone, and is just as good. It's a brilliant little phone, with a sleek, thin design, and it feels light. I was really happy with this phone, and would recommend it to anyone, as I'm sure they'd be really happy with it too.

- Laura

This phone delivers a great user experience, especially if you use Google services (i.e. search, Gmail, G+ , Picasa Google Talk etc). Granted this is not unique to the Samsung phone but rather generic features of android phones.
In terms of the handset itself the screen is excellent , although not as good as an Iphone's (to be expected at the lower price point). Battery life is a little disappointing but that is really nitpicking at what is otherwise a fine piece of equipment.
It sits nicely in the hand, is very light and the form factor is just right for carrying around with you all the time. It uses a standard micro-usb port to charge up which is a plus.
Accepts SD cards - I moved the SD card from my old Nokia Symbian phone over to the Ace , and was pleased to see that it automatically found all my music, video and photo files.
Works extremely well as a phone , unlike some other smartphones. Voice clarity is great and the phone dials quickly without delays.
Overall the user experience is very good - no noticeable lag during day to day use.
Highly recommended!!