Joining the smartphone set

My Christmas present to myself was a smartphone. All year I've been configuring and connecting peoples Apple iPhones and Android smartphones. It was time that I got one myself. I didn't want to spend too much money on something that I might not like and use. That put iPhones out of my choice and budget.


There are now a number of budget Android-based with varying amount of facilities, screen size and resolution. I wanted one with a reasonable sized screen so that I could see it and with as many of the gizmos that would fit into my £150 budget. I reviewed and examined models from manufacturers such as HTC, LG and Samsung. My son has a Samsung Galaxy S2 and I was impressed with that, though not its price.

Together we settled on a Samsung Galaxy Ace for £140 from Phones4U. It has a 3.5" screen, 5MP camera with LED flash and GPS, Bluetooth, 3G and wireless connectivity. I seemed to get on with it straight away. I configured the wallpaper, ringtone, transferred my SIM card plus contacts, email and downloaded a couple of news reader apps. Plus Angry Birds game of course. I did have problems in connecting it to any PC even after I downloaded the Samsung Kies desktop application and USB drivers. Only by turning off the USB debug (Settings -> Applications -> Development) then restarting the phone did this connection work correctly. Not mentioned in the manual or FAQs.

I'm impressed by the size, quality and ease-of-use of this smartphone and it will definitely have a place in my pocket from now on.