Samsung's Galaxy Ace 2 is more high-end than its last-gen siblings, thanks to its 800MHz dual-core processor and 3.8-inch WVGA screen

We were blown away by the success of the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 last year. Don't get us wrong, we thought it was a great handset, but within weeks of reviewing it, everyone around town was rocking Samsung's stylish budget mid-range offering. Since then, the phone market has changed.

Sharp screen; Speedy processor; Solid camera

Uninspired design; Gingerbread; Small internal memory

Sitting firmly between entry-level devices and the mid-tier market, the Ace II X is a solid, though far from cutting-edge, mobile device. It features a 4-inch screen at 480-by-800 pixels, a 1-GHz processor, 4GB of storage and Android Jelly Bean.

The Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 offers some welcome improvements to the original model with its beefed up processor and larger screen, plus its rather impressive camera. It's a shame that it's using an old version of Android but it still offers a pretty good spec for the price.

Dual-core processor; decent camera

Older version of Android; boring design

The original Ace was a very decent phone for its bucks last year, and the Ace 2 is quite on the way to cover that ground this year as well. It has a decent size screen with good resolution, slightly underclocked yet dual-core processor, and 5MP cam with flash plus a front-facing camera.

Excellent call quality; Easy one-hand operation

Camera is very slow to focus; Only about 1GB of user-available memory

A compact, easy to use smartphone with most mod cons

Good size screen and clear display; easy to use; Android OS

Camera could be better; small memory

This is a pretty good phone it's not the best phone out there but it's decent. Apps work good except big apps sometimes lag like jetpack joyride but for the price it's a good phone. The calling quality is really good.

I have had the Galaxy ace 2 now for just under a week and am already growing increasingly frustrated with it. Most of the features are great (in particular the swype method of texting), and the format of the applications etc is fine.

Only had ace2 for 48hrs it wont let me answer calls.manager at everything everywhere says I have a faulty thumb, its not phone fault. cust.svcs not interested, now diverting all calls to PAYG is only way of answering but stuck in 2yr contract!

My husband has this phone and he hates it. He has lived with it for a couple of months and finds it complicated and not user friendly. I have tried to help him with the issues, but I even find it difficult. With the Iphone 4, I have no problem usually.