Samsung galaxy ace duos specifications and review

Specifications:

GENERAL	2G Network	CDMA 800 / 1900
		GSM 900 / 1800
	3G Network	CDMA2000 1xEV-DO
	Announced	2012, February
	Status	Available. Released 2012, February

BODY	Dimensions	112.4 x 59.9 x 12.5 mm
	Weight	125 g
		- Touch-sensitive controls

DISPLAY	Type	TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	320 x 480 pixels, 3.5 inches (~165 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
		- TouchWiz UI

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

MEMORY	Card slot	microSD, up to 32 GB

DATA	GPRS	Yes
	EDGE	Yes
	Speed	Rev. A, up to 3.1 Mbps
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	Yes, v3.0 with A2DP
	USB	Yes, microUSB v2.0

CAMERA	Primary	3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels
	Features	Geo-tagging
	Video	Yes
	Secondary	No

FEATURES	OS	Android OS, v2.2 (Froyo)
	Chipset	Qualcomm MSM7627
	CPU	800 MHz
	Sensors	Accelerometer, proximity, compass
	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email
	Browser	HTML
	Radio	Stereo FM radio with RDS
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
	Colors	Black
		- MP4/H.264/H.263 player - MP3/WAV/eAAC+ player - Organizer - Document editor - Image editor - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration - Voice memo/dial - Predictive text input (Swype)

BATTERY		Standard battery, Li-Ion 1650 mAh
	Stand-by	Up to 300 h
	Talk time	Up to 7 h

MISC	SAR US	0.43 W/kg (head)     0.73 W/kg (body)
	SAR EU	0.23 W/kg (head)
	Price group

Review:

Samsung launched the Galaxy Ace DUOS (GT- S6802), Dual SIM GSM phone with Dual SIM Active feature in India in June. The design and the features are similar to the single SIM version, Galaxy Ace. Samsung launched the Galaxy Ace DUOS (GT-I589) in India back in February with Dual SIM GSM + CDMA support. You saw the unboxing of the Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos last month, here is the complete review of the device.

Design and Build Quality

This sure looks like a pair of ducks but a good player can play it as an ace. And it's got nothing to do with luck. You cannot always hold the best cards but you can try and make the best of the cards you're dealt. And they may as well be SIM cards.There’s not much that has changed here – this phone has the exact same looks as the Ace with the addition of an extra button for dual SIM configuration. The same 3.5-inch screen has been retained with a pixel resolution of 320 x 480. The look and the feel is exactly like the S5830.                                                                                                                                                                                 

Features and Performance

Interface

With the addition of a second SIM card slot you get more icons on the top of your screen and some more settings in the connectivity options. But still the phone is powered by the same 800 MHz processor with 158 MB of internal storage and 278 MB RAM. It’s got Samsung’s TouchWiz UI onboard and is sadly one of the slower phones in the market at this price range. Not too impressive on the spec front, either, but in terms of plain usage, with time, the phone tends to get frustratingly slow making multitasking an absolute no brainer. 

We put it through a few synthetic benchmark tests as well and here are the results. In AnTuTu, the Duos got a score of 1626 points, which puts it well below the HTC Explorer, but above the LG Optimus Net – two phones that are much cheaper than this one. In Linpack, we got a single thread score of 9.49 points and a multi thread score of 8.418 points. 

Media

The one thing we really loved about the Duos was the media department. The same interface look that we saw on the Wave Y Young is present on the Duos as well. Custom enhancements, 5.1 channel sound and a good pair of in-ear headphones means that you’ll be rocking to the tunes. Format support is limited, just like the original Ace, but you have third party apps to counter that problem. The Ace Duos was unable to play 720p videos, but that’s a limitation you’ll have to live with. 

Connectivity

Here’s where the Galaxy Ace Duos stands out from the other Androids in the market. Err, did i just say stand out? This section more or less exposes the shortcomings of the Duos. Firstly, it’s got dual SIM card support, which means you can slot in a primary CDMA card and a secondary GSM or CDMA card slot.

Both SIMs can be active at the same time, so that’s good as well, but here’s the important part - there is no Internet access for the GSM SIM card. So, the only thing you can do with your secondary SIM card is make voice calls and send text messages. Downer, right? Yes, because that in itself greatly limits its target audience. Unless you’re going to be sticking to your CDMA card as your primary one, you don’t really have a valid reason to buy this device. It’s also important to note that though the other dual SIM phones (like the Spice Mi-350n) I reviewed didn’t support GSM + CDMA, they did have Internet access for both. Now, back to the regular stuff. The phone comes with Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi and GPS. The dedicated dual SIM button let’s you quickly configure your network and SIM options. 

If you’re using Internet on CDMA, though, you’ll be happy to know that the Duos comes with EVDO Rev A, which in English means 3G CDMA. Yes, it’s super fast on CDMA, but has no data connectivity on GSM. Another big problem we had with this phone was locking on to Wi-Fi signals. Just like the Sony Tablet P, the Duos had problems in staying connected to Wi-Fi from a set point, where other phones had absolutely no problem. In call quality is fairly loud and the loudspeaker does a good job as well. As far as browsing is concerned, you won’t be able to play flash content. 

Software

It runs on Android 2.3.6 (Gingerbread) with the Samsung TouchWiz UI. The home screen is similar to the other Samsung Gingerbread phone with a weather widget, clock, and number of widgets. You can add up to 7 home screens and long press to add shortcuts, widgets, folders or change the wallpaper. The top status bar shows 2 signal indicators, the one with shaded is the one used for primary data.                                                                              You can just swipe anywhere to unlock the screen when locked. You can also set patter lock, PIN lock or password lock from the location and security, under settings menu. The drop down notification bar has shortcuts to toggle WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, Sound and Auto rotate. You can also switch to SIM 1 or SIM 2 as primary or secondary SIM cards which would let you access data. It also includes find my mobile features that alerts you, when you change SIM card and remotely wipe the data.

There is a total of about 3GB of internal memory (2.15GB mass memory and 900MB for apps) , better than the original Ace that just had 160MB, additionally you can add a microSD card up 32GB. According to the specs sheet, it says 512MB RAM but the task manager shows just 397MB.

Camera

Surprise, surprise! The original Galaxy Ace had a 5 mp with LED flash, but this one comes with a 3 mp shooter. The one thing that’s common is that like the previous shooter, this is equally bad in terms of quality. While low light snaps are an absolute no go, even outdoor shots are at best, average. Why the downgrade, Samsung? The video quality is limited to a meagre 320 x 240 resolution.Over all poor camera from the point of view of 3MP.

Battery Life

The Ace Duos comes with a 1650 mAh battery and under normal usage, your battery will last you about three fourths of a day. In our loop test with only one SIM card running, we managed to get eight hours of total usage, which is pretty average considering, other phones (like the Xperia Pro) came with a 1500 mAh battery and showed a better chart. Video playback clocked in at seven hours and forty minutes. 

Conclusion

The Dual SIM active feature is definitely a feature that stands out among other Android phones. This is also packed with features but Samsung could have added at least a 1GHz processors to improve the performance. The 1300 mAh battery for a Dual SIM phone, instead of 1650 mAh in the Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos I589 (GSM + CDMA) is disappointing. With both the SIMs active and 3G enable in one SIM, you can hardly make it last throughout the day. After lot of criticisms about the price, now the price is down to Rs. 12,000 which is good for those who are looking for a Dual SIM active phone.

Pros

• Dual active SIM

• 3 GB of internal memory

Cons

• There is no LED flash and front facing camera
• No out of box Android ICS
• Mediocre Processor
• Average battery Life

Total stars: 2 out of 5

PRICE IN INDIA: APPROX 12000 INR