Samsung Ace: Video First Look

By Dieter Bohn
Posted on March 4, 2008 11:49 AM
Filed under Featured, Reviews, Smartphones
Tags: samsung ace sprint yaqkwms
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I take back anything bad I've ever said about the Samsung Ace - it's not bad at all. A straightfoward, EVDO Windows Mobile 6 QWERTY Smartphone sounds fine, add in the fact that you can slap a SIM card in, reboot, and have it work on GSM makes it better. All the standard Samsung add-ins are here: their small apps, the jog wheel, the weird proprietary connector. Keyboard's a little clacky, but otherwise is second only to the Q9 in this category of YAQKWMS.

If I had to knock the Ace, I'd say the biggest downside is that the GSM radio is locked. Meaning that if you want to actually use it you have to set up a wonky international plan with Sprint. It would have been much better to just be able to purchase pay-as-you-go SIMs internationally. Hopefully getting this sucker unlocked won't be too difficult.

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Comments (6)

Do you/did you notice the screen was a tiny bit smaller compared to the Q9? I thought they were the same, but the specs on Phonescoop said 2.3", not the 2.4" of the BJII and the Moto Q9's.

Posted by bubbatex | March 4, 2008 2:53 PM

Hey, let me look...

yeppers - it's the same size at the original blackjack, but slightly smaller than the BJII and the Q9 series.

Still, it's not too bad, still 240x320.

I am seriously starting to wonder why I can't have a higher resolution screen. Don't we live in the future and stuff?

Posted by Dieter Bohn | March 4, 2008 3:31 PM

no Dieter, only you and Mala live in the future......

If my 2nd Q9c has dust under the screen problems again, I might try one of these.

Posted by bubbatex | March 4, 2008 3:55 PM

lol, bubba

I can't believe the GSM portion is locked, gah. I had assumed it would be unlocked for some reason, though it doesn't surprise me too much either.

Some day: CDMA, EvDO; GSM, HSDPA + GPS

I don't care if it's as thick as a today Treo either, lol.

Posted by Malatesta | March 5, 2008 6:19 PM

WM is one of the reasons to blame for the screen resolution. And a rectangular screen is best fit with 320x240.

Posted by mikecc | March 9, 2008 6:31 PM

The Sprint ACE's GSM radio is SIM *Unlocked* (just like all Sprint CDMA/GSM devices including the BlackBerry 8830).

I think the reviewer was led to this assumption because they tried an AT&T SIM and it didn't work (I got this from the video review). I suspect that is because the reviewer was sitting in a domestic US GSM network at 850MHz/1900MHz. All of the "global" Sprint CDMA/GSM devices I know work on the international GSM bands of 900/1800 and on the CDMA bands of 800/1900.

So, if you were to go to an International GSM market (900/1800), you can put in a local market prepaid or postpaid SIM to acquire voice and data service. The Sprint SIM included in the device would also work and keep your same phone number, but the reviewer is correct that you would be required to activate an International plan with Sprint and be charged their roaming carriers' voice and data rates.

Please let me know if your experience has been otherwise.

Posted by pwuerslin | March 24, 2008 11:33 AM