Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 and Galaxy Mini 2 set for MWC

Samsung has announced that it will launch two new phones in the Galaxy range at the Mobile World Congress exhibition in Barcelona next week. The Galaxy Ace 2 and Galaxy Mini 2 are both upgrades of existing handsets, adding faster processors, more memory and larger screens. Both will be available in the UK from April. They will join an already massive line-up of Galaxy handsets, from the premium Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy S2 to the budget Galaxy Fit and the Galaxy Tab tablets.

The Galaxy Ace 2 is slightly heavier than the original Galaxy Ace, trading extra height and width for a slightly thinner body. Inside, the single core 800MHz processor is replaced by a dual-core model and there’s a healthy 768MB of RAM along with 4GB of storage. The screen uses Samsung’s PLS technology – much like that used in the amazing SyncMaster S27A850D business monitor. It’s larger too, up to 3.8in from 3.5in, bringing with it a larger 480×800 resolution, up from 320×480. The camera retains the same 5-megapixel sensor, but it can shoot video at 720p now and there’s a new front-facing camera for making video calls.

The Galaxy Mini 2 is the budget handset of the range, and it’s a tiny bit smaller than its predecessor, the Galaxy Mini, all around. It uses a single core 800MHz processor, up from the original Mini’s 600MHz chip, and it also includes more RAM and storage space. The screen is slightly larger, and has a far more practical 320×480 resolution than the barely-adequate 240×320 of the original.

Both phones get a Bluetooth upgrade too, up to version 3.0 from version 2.1, although it’s not clear whether they both support the full V3.0 +HS specification, which lets Bluetooth piggy-back on the phones’ Wi-Fi for faster data transfer. Both also support Wi-Fi direct, the ability for two supported devices to communicate directly without having to first join a Wi-Fi network.

Sadly, neither will ship with Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” installed; instead, they’ll both run Android 2.3. Samsung hasn’t yet announced whether they will receive an OS upgrade or not.