Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 now available from Three

The Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 is available now from the admirable men and women of the Three network, bringing with it a 3.8-inch screen, a dual-core processor and a 5-megapixel camera for free on contracts from £22 per month.

For that 22 quid, you'll get the phone for free, along with 500 minutes, 5,000 texts and 250MB of data. That's only going to be enough data to check your email every so often, so I recommend going for the £27 per month plan -- that'll snag you 1,000 minutes, 5,000 texts and as much data as you can possibly get through.

A better alternative would be to buy the phone on pay as you go for £230. Then add a £15 month-by-month SIM for 3,000 texts, 300 minutes and unlimited data. That's a good system if you ever decide to back out of your contract or want to flog your new blower to get something new.

The 3.8-inch screen offers a resolution of 480x800 pixels. That's the same resolution as last year's excellent Galaxy S2, but it doesn't have the same Super AMOLED Plus technology, so don't expect it to be as bright or as vivid. The previous Ace offered only 320x480 pixels, so you can expect a much more crisp display on this new boy.

Under the hood is an 800MHz processor, which might not sound like much, but it's dual-core, so it should be able to tackle all your essential apps without having a heart attack. It won't be as blisteringly fast as the quad-core Galaxy S3 promises to be, but we found it to be perfectly nippy in our hands-on.

The Ace 2 doesn't sit right at the bottom of the bargain bin, so if you're really strapped for cash but still want Android smart phone features, you might want to check out the original Ace, which you can get for free from £13 per month.

What do you think of the Ace 2? Would it have a home in your pocket or are you saving your pennies for the supercharged S3? Let me know in the comments below or over on our Facebook page.