Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 review

Maps

As with every Android device, the Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 comes packing Google's stunning mapping application. It has helped lead to the demise of dedicated sat-nav devices; they're more the preserve of long-distance driving and for users who are out and about all the time.

For small drives, and even for the longer distances, the Google navigation option is more than sufficient. The 4-inch screen is less so, with 5-inch flagships being far better options, if only for the added screen space.

The Google mapping option is almost unparalleled. The GPS and GLONASS - Russian-developed tech similar to GPS - mean that location lock on was as swift as ever, and route planning was extremely quick.

As for the general mapping app, the dual-core processor was generally smooth with zooming in and out and rotating, only struggling when use was really demanding. There are so many features packed into the Android Google mapping app, all being pulled in from the desktop version.

Apps

When it comes to apps, you will probably have guessed that, with the Android OS behind it, the Google Play Store is where you will most likely be heading for all your app needs. Samsung has bundled in its own app hubs, should you decided that Google's offering just isn't your cup of tea.

In reality, it's understandable that an OEM would bundle in their own app store, but given how well populated the Google Play Store is, it's unlikely the Play Store will get much use.

It's a little disheartening to be honest, as the apps have clearly had some thought put into them - they are as visually attractive as the Play Store, and come with the same levels of functionality.

The Play Store is broken down into easy to navigate sections: Games, Apps, Music, Movies, Books and Magazines. Each section is then broken down further, to make it easy to navigate. This is aided with large images, making it a visually pleasing experience to browse the Play Store.

When it comes to bundled apps, don't go expecting to find a raft of S-branded apps. There is no S Health, for example. What you do get is S Planner, S Voice, S Translator and Memo (no longer called S Memo).

S Planner is a fancy title for the calendar. It is a very visually busy app, but comes with many features to warrant its inclusion over the standard Google calendar. Things such as pinching to zoom through timings (day, week, month, year) are smart, yet the processor seemed to lag a little, with a noticeable delay between times.

S Voice is Samsung's answer to Siri, and in tests seemed to work well enough. It isn't as charming or capable as Siri is, but as a voice assistant it works well enough, and did most of what we asked it to, so we can't knock it too much.

S Translator and S Memo are pretty self explanatory, with the former being a translator app, and the latter being a memo-taking app. We thought that the S Translator was a very nifty app, with the ability to listen to your voice, and then speak translations.

This is something that we can see being very useful when abroad, especially if you can grab access to the Wi-Fi.

The Tripadvisor app also comes pre-installed, so you can search for bad reviews of the holiday you've just booked, alongside a file manager.