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Battery Life
Surpassing the tumultuous one day hump that plagues a number of smartphones with ease, the 1,500mAh lithium-ion battery incorporated within the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 will keep your mind at ease ahead of a heavy day's use or less taxing weekend away with the 7.5 hour estimated talk time and 640 hour stand-by time both running near enough true to the mark.
Whilst the dual-core innards of the Ace 2 provide a more taxing, power-hungry environment for the battery, increasing the life source from the 1,350mAh offering found in the original Ace, Samsung has counteracted the increased drain with a bit to spare. On a negative front, the Ace 2 takes a considerable amount of time to charge.
We're expecting both of these points to improve significantly when the Jelly Bean update turns up, so check back in a few weeks if battery life is one of your concerns pre-purchase.
Connectivity
Moving across to the handset's connectivity options and the Ace 2 is again a classic example of the uniformity of Samsung's, and the wider industry's, collection of similarly specced Android devices, with no surprising inclusions or omissions standing out on the device.
Playing host to the usual selection of options, the Ace 2's reasonable 3G options and impressive Wi-Fi offerings line up alongside 14.4Mbps HSDPA connectivity.
Elsewhere, Bluetooth 3.0 and a microUSB port offer alternative methods of transferring data to and from the handset.
This microUSB connector also offers simple means of syncing the handset with a PC with users offered the option of using the computer to simple charge the device or alternatively set up file transfers. The Ace 2 can also act as a wireless hotspot for other Wi-Fi enabled devices.
Maps
As with all of its Android filled rivals, the Galaxy Ace 2 plays host to Google's iconic and hugely popular Google Maps software allowing you to track your location and find your way using handy point-by-point directions whether travelling by car, foot or public transport.
Fast to lock on to a GPS signal, the Ace 2's mapping abilities are impressive with accurate, quick to update location data available through the app menu located Google Maps service.
Apps
Again benefiting from its Android innards, access to the Google Play store ensures Ace 2 users have access to the more than 600,000 Android applications in one centralised, easy to navigate and search location.
One of the first Android handsets to launch following the rebranding of Google's application outlet, the former Android Market appears as the Google Play Store direct from the box without the need to enter and update the service to receive the latest app-based shopping experience.
For those not taken with the Google Play Store, Samsung offers its own alternative to the standard Android outlet in the form of Samsung Apps, a retail service that piggybacks off the Google service to provide a selection of Android apps at prices that can vary greatly from those on the Play Store.
A prime example of the random, and often higher pricing structure of the Samsung Apps outlet is made apparent on all too frequent a basis with even the likes of the London underground TubeMap app from MX Data lining up pricier from the manufacturer's software store compared to on the user friendly Android market.
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