The name is Ace.

Tempting as it is to write about all the new Androids that could run circles around the iPhone, not everyone is willing to splurge on an S2, arguably the best phone available now. When budget is part of the consideration, it is the Samsung Galaxy Ace that comes to mind.

Many iPhone fanatics have put down the Ace, claiming the iPhone is waaay better. But of course! Ace was built as a midrange and frankly, for it to be compared to the iPhone is actually quite a compliment. It does have some of the iPhone good look though. OK, I'll admit it. Even as a Samsung fan, the Ace looked like it was deliberately modeled after the iPhone but for the record, I most certainly think the S2 is not. That has its own distinctive design and Apple is suing simply because they can't take the competition (IMHO).

Designed to reign in the midrange, Samsung's answer to the Optimus One already beats the LG handset by the size of its screen. The 3.5" screen is also protected by Gorilla Glass, making it highly resistant to scratches. Take a search in youtube and you will find plenty of video trying to prove that. Users jabbed freely at the screen with knife and key without leaving a scratch. But it's also funny how in some of these video the users tried to prove the screen is scratch resistant but barely touch the screen because they are too afraid to actually scratch it. Ignore them please.

While the size and Gorilla glass is impressive for a mid-range, its resolution is an average HVGA. It looks OK really but there may be some high end games it is unable to support. For games it does support, its graphic accelerator assists its 800MHz processor to run the game smoothly. That 800MHz sounded like it beats the Optimus One's 600MHz but it doesn't have the 512MB of RAM that Optimus has. Both handsets reportedly have the same chipset except that Samsung overclocked the Ace to achieve greater speed, which may affect the stability of the processor. There are some, though not many complaints of the phone switching off on its own.

Imaging is definitely one of Ace's strength with its 5MP camera producing above expectation photos which is possibly the best in its class. As usual with Android, camera offers plenty of options, including a close-up in which the Ace really shines. Too bad this excellence is not carried through to the low res video recording. Connectivity has the essentials covered like 3G and Wifi with even DLNA thrown in to allow streaming of contents to compatible HDTV.

With its good look and capable camera, the Ace is a great entry for Android. Anything lower than that, in my opinion, is too much of a compromise. Try a Galaxy Mini or Gio you will enjoy the experience and soon be itching for more. With the Ace, at least you will be contented for much longer.

The Ace launched at RM999 but can now be obtained for about RM800.