Galaxy M and Ace Plus Rebellion Ships Take Aim at Apple’s iPhone Deathstar
Image Credit: Google

Breaking from the flagship Galaxy Nexus' assault on Apple's main iPhone base, Samsung has unveiled two new low-price devices aimed to conquer the affordable smartphone market.

The Galaxy Ace Plus

Galaxy M and Ace Plus Rebellion Ships Take Aim at Apple’s iPhone Deathstar
Image Credit: Samsung

Confirmed for a UK release on Wednesday the Ace Plus looks to target the same market as its predecessor the Galaxy Ace.

Despite carrying the Ace moniker, the new Plus model does look markedly different from its predecessor, ditching the iPhone 4 style of the original Ace - though not straying to far from the Apple garden - replacing it with a design more akin to the 3GS.

As well as a slightly larger 3.65 inch screen the new Ace is more powerful, housing a 1GHz single-core processor. Unfortunately, as well as the upgraded spec, Samsung's release suggests several of the Ace's weakness are going to be carried over onto the Plus. Chief among the offenders listed was the device's poor screen resolution, which remains underwhelming at 320 x 480 pixels - meaning it will be fuzzy around the edges.

Worse still, the nifty looking unit will be launched with the outdated Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and a 5-megapixel camera.

Galaxy M

Galaxy M and Ace Plus Rebellion Ships Take Aim at Apple’s iPhone Deathstar
Image Credit: Samsung

Revealed on Wednesday, the Galaxy M seeks to separate itself from the Ace Plus offering consumers an improved Super AMOLED display on a shoe-string budget.

Though, currently without a confirmed price or European release date, the M is reportedly in the same £200 to £300-ish bracket as the company's existing Galaxy Ace. Despite its reportedly humble price tag the device is set to pack a 4-inch screen with the same AMOLED tech used in Samsung's older semi high-end devices like the Galaxy S and Wave - though not the cutting edge tech used in the S2.

Additionally, seeking to make the device look more expensive than it is, Samsung has tweaked its design model, with images of the M showing it to be more akin to the Galaxy S2's design. At just 9.9mm thick and planned to be available in three different colours - silver, pink and 'blue black' - the unit is one of Samsung's more interesting looking budget phones.

Unfortunately, past this the device's listed spec is pretty standard, with a less impressive 1GHz single-core processor, a piddly 3-megapixel camera and - worst of all, like the Ace Plus - running on the outdated Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system.

A Change of Tactics?

Following the influx of new budget Samsung devices being announced, industry analysts have come to question whether the new range could be indicative of a wider change in strategy by the Korean tech giant.

Most market share reports suggest that, while Android is beating iOS overall, Apple remains the dominant power in high-end smartphone sales.

Apple's latest smartphone, the iPhone 4S, broke all the company's previous opening sales records. After its release Apple reported that the device had broken then one million pre-orders mark in its opening 24 hours before scaling up to break the three million mark by the end of its first week.

While Samsung are yet to release any firm Galaxy Nexus sales records most industry sources, citing the device's initial volume drop bug, have issued reports suggesting the handset came nowhere close to challenging the 4S success.

Citing the Nexus theorised under-performance, many commentators have suggested, while the company will continue to release high-end devices, Samsung may be re-focusing its efforts onto the Android dominated budget handset market.

Check back at the International Business Times UK later in 2012 for full reviews of the Galaxy Ace Plus and M.