Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 review
Review: January 2015 | ||
![]() Rating: In a nutshell: The Samsung Ace 4 is a competent, compact Android phone that doesn't cost too much. It comes with a 4.3 inch display, a quad-core processor and 4G. But it's outperformed by rivals that offer better screens, superior cameras and longer battery life. |
Design & looks
The Galaxy Ace 4 is the latest cut-price Samsung to hit the shops. It's a smaller, cheaper version of the Galaxy S5 Mini and it's hard to spot much of a difference in design. It's a compact and lightweight phone with a solid, but plastic build, and classic Samsung looks.
Having a smaller size means that the screen is smaller too. At 4.3 inches, it's only a fraction smaller than the S5 Mini, but the number of pixels is around two thirds less, and that means that the screen isn't as sharp as most other phones at this price. It's a nice bright screen however, with saturated colours from the AMOLED display.
Quad-core speed
The Ace 4 has a quad-core processor running at 1.2GHz, which is typical for phones at this price. 1GB of RAM is standard too. This set-up is sufficient for running the user interface and powering everyday apps, but it isn't a great platform for demanding 3D games.
The onboard memory is just 8GB, but with a microSD card slot you can add an additional 64GB of storage for apps, music and video.
The Ace 4 comes with Android KitKat 4.4 installed, plus Samsung's TouchWiz user interface modifications.
5 megapixel camera
The rear camera on the Ace 4 hasn't been updated since the Ace 3. It's a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash and it can record HD 720p video. This is a weakness of this phone model, as almost every other phone at this price offers a better camera.
A second front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera can record video and take selfies.
4G connectivity
The Ace 4 is a 4G phone, as well as supporting 3G and GSM bands. It also has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB and NFC, and has a standard headphone jack.
Battery life
The Ace 4 is supplied with a 1900mAh battery, which is enough for up to 11 hours of use. It will be sufficient for lighter users, but we wouldn't recommend this phone for very heavy users.
Conclusion - so so
The Galaxy Ace 4 is an upgrade to the Ace 3, and it brings some welcome new features. But technology is filtering down rapidly from flagship phones to this price range, and the Ace range isn't really keeping up. We're not impressed by the screen quality, nor the camera, nor the battery life of the Ace 4.
For the same money you could choose the Motorola Moto G with its HD screen and stronger battery life. You could opt for the superior Sony Xperia M2, with a bigger screen and a much better camera. And you could even push the boat out for the stunning LG G3 S with its designer looks, large HD display, excellent camera and outstanding battery life.
There's really too much choice on offer to settle for the Ace 4.
Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 features include:
- Android 4.4
- 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, autofocus, 4x digital zoom, HD video recording
- 1.3 megapixel front video camera
- Display: Super AMOLED, 16 million colours, 480 x 800 pixels (4.3 inches) capacitive touchscreen
- Music player
- Integrated handsfree speaker
- AGPS and GLONASS with Google Maps
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, instant messaging, email, chat
- Processor: Quad-core 1.2GHz
- Memory: 8GB plus microSD memory card slot (up to 64GB), 1GB RAM
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, 3.5mm audio jack, NFC
- LTE 4G support (bands 1, 3, 7, 8, 20), triband 3G (850/900/2100MHz) HSPA+, quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz)
- Size: 129 x 66 x 9.1 mm
- Weight: 126g
- Battery: 1900mAh battery
- Talk time: 11 hours
- Internet use: 12 hours
User questions
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Where does the sim card go?
Asked by Rose
from Usa
on 24th Aug 2018
How do you download photos to microsoft 8 computer?
Asked by bernie
from england
on 27th Apr 2016
My phone is asking for a pin for my voicemails. I have never been asked for one before,can anyone help?
Asked by Jenny
from England
on 29th Mar 2016
Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 user reviews
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