Hands on: Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus review

Hands on: Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus review
Galaxy Ace Plus - old name, new phone

It's been a relatively quiet MWC 2012 for Samsung since the company decided to hang fire on the Samsung Galaxy S3 and ditched its press conference but it has managed to bring a few phones that we hadn't yet seen.

Not least the Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus, which launched at this year's CES and brings a bit of an update to the handset with the Ace name.

Where the original Samsung Galaxy Ace offered Android 2.2, a 3.5-inch screen and an 800MHz processor, the Galaxy Ace Plus comes with Gingerbread (Android 2.3), a 3.65-inch screen and a 1GHz processor.

Samsung galaxy ace plus

So when it comes to looks, the two are very similar. The Ace Plus comes with 'metallic points of interest' that may well be metallic to look at but are actually very plasticky to touch and attract fingerprint smudges like nobody's business.

Samsung galaxy ace plus

The 3.6-inch screen isn't bad, although it suffers the same smudge-based woes and images and text have a tendency to look a little pixelly.

Samsung galaxy ace plus

This being a Gingerbread phone, there are a few buttons to play with. Samsung insists on putting the power/sleep button on the side of the handset which confuses us no end, and there's a home button and volume slider too.

Samsung galaxy ace plus

On the back you'll find a 5MP camera and a smart but uninspiring mesh-effect back plate.

Samsung galaxy ace plus

The Galaxy Ace Plus is not the slimmest handset we've seen this MWC but it's not too chunky for a mid-range Android.

Samsung galaxy ace plus

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.