Samsung announces the Galaxy Ace 3, its new entry-level Android smartphone with an LTE option

Sidestepping the fanfare and press events typically associated with Samsung product launches, Samsung’s revealed another addition to its Galaxy family. As we saw teased just hours ago, it’s the Galaxy Ace 3, Samsung’s latest (humbly specced) smartphone, arriving in 3G (1GHz dual-core processor) and LTE (1.2 GHz dual-core processor) options. Both devices house a 4-inch (480 x 800) LCD display, placing the new device just beneath the Galaxy S4 Mini in Samsung’s 2013 smartphone pecking order. Despite those pretty underwhelming technical points, the company’s has managed to cram in some of its latest software additions like S Translator, S Voice, and Smart Stay into its diminutive new phone.

There’s Android 4.2 underneath, while a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash resides on the back. 8GB of built-in storage rounds out the device, with user-accessible storage of around 4GB on the 3G model and 5GB on the LTE one. Don’t worry, there’s also storage expansion up to 64GB through microSD. We’ve added it to our to-do list for Samsung’s incoming London event — it’s going to be a busy evening.

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy Ace 3