Overview smartphone Samsung S5830i Galaxy Ace Onyx Black
At the end of 2011, the manufacturer Samsung presented to the consumer a new smartphone S5830i Galaxy Ace Onyx Black, which won worldwide recognition and became a real hit in the mobile market. The S5830i is an updated version of the Galaxy Ace released a year earlier, which was also no less popular.
What is the fundamental difference? The manufacturer has equipped the new version with a different processor and an updated video chip. In addition, the menu has been slightly improved, the lock screen has been changed, and this despite the fact that outwardly the devices do not have any differences.
Design and appearance
Before us is a "block" of medium size with a plastic case. The candy bar looks like an iPhone, only a little thicker. The design of the device is quite ergonomic and versatile. It is equally comfortable for both a man's hand and a woman's palm.
The body of the smartphone is entirely made of smooth plastic, and the back panel is made of corrugated soft-touch material.
Below the Galaxy Ace screen is a single mechanical button on the front panel and it is designed to return to the main screen. In addition to the mechanical button, a pair of touch-sensitive keys ("menu" and "back") are located on the front panel of the smartphone. They are large in size, so they are easy to use. The sensor elements of the S5830i are backlit.
The front panel of the device is slightly recessed, relative to the side edges of the case, which forms a kind of side that will protect the phone if you put it with the screen down.
On the left side there is a paired volume control key. Despite the fact that it is not large, it is convenient to use it, since it is pressed moderately tight. On the right side there is a power button for the smartphone and a slot for a microSD memory card, which closes and securely fixes a plastic flap. The upper end provides a headphone jack with a standard 3.5 mm input and a microUSB charger. To connect a mains charger or a USB cable, just slide the plastic plug, which is certainly an advantage in terms of the convenience of implementing the inlet. At the bottom of the smartphone is a microphone and a slot for removing the back cover. The back cover of the Galaxy Ace Onyx Black fits snugly in its place and does not emit creaks due to the fact that it is firmly fixed with fasteners.
In general, the assembly of the smartphone deserves a high mark, because the body has no backlash and does not emit extraneous sound "effects". As for the design, although it does not stand out against the background of many devices of this class, it is classically simple.
Display
The Galaxy Ace Onyx Black has a capacitive display with excellent color reproduction and two-point multi-touch. If we talk about the technical features of the screen, then it can be described as average, since it was considered new and high-tech two years ago and at the moment it will not surprise anyone. At the same time, the color rendering of the display without excessive brightness in colors, as, say, in SAMOLED screens. In the sun, the screen "fades", and even the maximum brightness does not help. By the way, there is no light sensor in the smartphone, so it cannot change the backlight levels depending on the light intensity. While you are talking on the phone, the screen turns off, because the built-in proximity sensor is responsible for this.
It should be added that the viewing angles in the smartphone are good and do not significantly distort the brightness and the picture even with a strong deflection of the screen.
If we talk about the quality and strength of the protective glass, it will be better if you immediately take care of the protective film and a reliable case.
User interface and menus
The Galaxy Ace has a proprietary user interface, the so-called Samsung TouchWiz 3.0 shell.The locked screen of the smartphone displays the date, time and information about events that the user missed (for example, missed incoming or SMS messages). By pulling the shortcut on the screen, you can go directly to the history of missed messages or calls. After unlocking the screen, by shifting the translucent layer to any side, we see the status bar. It is located above the main screen of the device and is intended for timely notification of various actions by means of visual icons. The drop-down menu consists of a line with symbols and is designed to control the wireless module, sound, GPS-navigator, and auto-rotate the screen. The rest of the display space is reserved for some auxiliary elements and widgets. At the bottom of the screen there is a quick launch line with icons for entering the phone book, messages, call list and menu. By the way, unlike widgets and applications, which can be changed or added at will, the icons on the bottom line of the screen are static.
In order to add new elements to the main screen of Samsung S5830i, just hold your finger on the display for a few seconds, after which the auxiliary menu will appear. If standard widgets are not enough for you, you can use Samsung Apps, which will diversify and expand the functionality of your smartphone.
Another advantage of the display in the Samsung Galaxy Ace should be mentioned. As a background image, the user can use not only static images, but also animated images. For lovers of minimalistic design, the function of quickly removing icons from the desktop is intended. To do this, just drag the selected unnecessary item into the virtual basket that appears at the bottom of the screen.
The menu in Samsung S5830i is presented in the form of a 4x4 matrix and consists of 32 icons. Scrolling is cyclical and is carried out by moving your finger in any direction. The user has no right to create his own folders in the main menu, but they can be structured by moving and changing places.
The smartphone has a built-in accelerometer that allows you to change the position of the image on the screen from horizontal to vertical and vice versa. But it's worth noting that menus and desktops will not be displayed in landscape orientation.
Telephone service
To dial a phone number in the Galaxy Ace, it is proposed to use rather large buttons, on which, in addition to numbers, only Latin letters are applied. This means that from the dialing mode it is not possible to automatically search for names entered in the phone book in Cyrillic. However, the smartphone is able to memorize and analyze the order of the entered digits and gives out the phone number that matches them.
The list of incoming and outgoing numbers displays not only the call history, but also those numbers to which you have sent messages. All these data are presented in a long list and are divided by day. The picture assigned to the contact is displayed to the left of the number and name. From the same call list, you can create a new contact or add information to an existing one by going to the additional menu.
The Samsung S5830i Galaxy Ace Onyx Black has a "blacklist" function that will save the user from calls from unwanted numbers.
The phone book of a smartphone is not limited to a certain number of memory cells, which can be extremely useful. Also, the list of contacts is supplemented by kinetic scrolling and a quick search bar. By touching it with your finger, you can select the letter with which the name of the required subscriber begins. By the way, looking at information about a contact, you can see not only basic general data, but also additional information, including the history of messages and calls or correspondence in social networks. When you click on the picture assigned to the subscriber, an additional panel opens, which allows you to quickly call him, send an SMS or e-mail.
Creating a new contact automatically provides many fields to identify it and save detailed information. The first step is to select the type of storage (smartphone or SIM card). As for the information about the contact itself, the user has the opportunity to specify the last name, first name, patronymic; family prefix, name suffix; phonetic surname, first name and patronymic; mobile, home, work and all types of faxes; email and chat addresses; ringtone; postal addresses; organization; additional data.
Text messaging and email
Incoming SMS messages are sent to one general list, by opening which you can view the entire dialogue with the subscriber. In a new message, the user can add not only his own typed text, but also extracted from applications (calendar, tasks, etc.). In addition, you can create MMS messages using the memory data of your smartphone. In this case, an attachment can be either a text with a picture, or a video or photo from a camera.
Samsung Galaxy Ace offers the user two virtual keyboards for entering a text message. The first is the standard layout, which can be observed in all devices of this manufacturer. The second one is provided by the Swype application and at first glance looks almost the same as a regular keyboard. The difference lies in the more convenient shape of the buttons, as well as in the ability to enter text not only by touching a specific button, but also by drawing simple lines from one letter to another. This keyboard option will increase the speed of typing during correspondence.
Among other things, the device is able to memorize new words entered. In cases where several interpretations of the keys involved are possible, the smartphone will provide a list of available words. You can turn on audio to enter punctuation marks. Change the text input language by swiping up on the left of the keyboard. As for the sound signal that notifies the user of a new incoming message, it can be selected only from the list of available ones. You cannot install your own melody for this, however, the Android operating system has extensive capabilities and this limitation is surmountable for it.
Media capabilities
For viewing photos, pictures and video files, the Samsung Galaxy Ace provides an animated gallery, where all content is divided into folders and stored on the phone's internal memory or on a memory card. In addition to the fact that files can be transferred by any of the available methods (Bluetooth, MMS, e-mail), they can also be uploaded to social networks. The gallery has a built-in photo editor that can crop pictures and make some changes to them.
The design of the main window of the media player in the Samsung S5830i smartphone is practically no different from the standard design of the player of all Android devices. For ease of use, the player's navigation window provides four tabs: artists, albums, all tracks, playlists.
During file playback, the bottom of the screen displays basic information about the current track, and when you click on this data, a window opens, which provides several virtual keys for adjusting the type of playback (shuffling tracks or repeating them) and a place for cover art.
The audio capabilities of the smartphone are expanded thanks to the built-in FM receiver.
The camera built into the Samsung Galaxy Ace has a resolution of 5 megapixels and is equipped with an LED flash and autofocus. If we talk about the quality of the images obtained, then they are no different from the photos taken by any other device with the same camera. The clarity of the images in bright daylight is decent, the color rendition is not distorted. If you shoot in poor artificial light, then there are "noises". Among the main camera settings are the choice of the scene (portrait, landscape, night, text, etc.) and the type of shooting (panorama, series of shots, etc.).
The quality of the captured video leaves a mediocre impression, since its maximum resolution is 320x240 pixels (QVGA). In this regard, the videos are not clear enough when viewed on screens with a larger diagonal.
Among the additional multimedia capabilities of the smartphone, it should be noted the presence in it of the AllShare utility, which allows the device to remotely, within WLAN access, use media files stored on a PC. In the same way, this program makes it possible to organize work with information stored in the smartphone's memory and make it available to other devices within the home Wi-Fi network.
To view documents in the Samsung S5830i, the ThinkFreeOffice software package is installed, which will allow you to open files of various formats and types, as well as provide an opportunity to upload them to on-line resources.
Battery
Perhaps in terms of performance or some parameters, the S5830i Galaxy Ace smartphone is inferior to the latest innovations in the mobile device market, but in terms of battery life, it is at its best. Even if wireless Internet access is periodically used, if the 3G mode is active and music is played for an hour a day, the battery lasts for two days. This is possible thanks to the energy-efficient software and the device's less power-hungry display.
Summing up the review, we can say that the Samsung S5830i Galaxy Ace smartphone makes a good impression, considering it in terms of price-quality and performance-ergonomics.
