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Samsung Galaxy S2 (Professional Review)

S

stbutt

Newbie
Before i begin, i would like to mention that i am an experienced smartphone user. My portfolio consists of some of the best phones. SE p800, SE p910, SE K750, SE K800, SE K850, SE K810i, Nokia N80, Nokia N95 8GB, HTC Hero, HTC Desire, Samsung Galaxy S, HTC Desire HD, SE Xperia Arc.
I would like to start off by stating that S2 is a gorgeous phone. The build quality is very good in comparison to the S1. The size and shape of the phone is just perfect. Not too wide and not too narrow. It is an extremely thin and light handset.
The display of the S2 is the best i've ever seen. In term of pros it has all of them. Excellent Brightness, Colours, Viewing Angles, Blacks, and battery efficiency. If there was a drawback, it would have to be the resolution. Even though that the S2 uses more subpixels than the S1, i still feel that this handset should have come with a QHD display.
The Hardware on this phone is the best i've come across. Blazing Fast CPU, Huge Ram, and when u combine that with the latest version of Android u get a superphone not a smartphone. Ofcourse u still have Touchwiz 4.0 UI to deal with. Personally I think it's a huge improvement over Touchwiz 3.0. I can fulfil all my needs with this interface after a playing around with it a bit. The only cons i would declare are that the keyboard word predictions are very annoying and not as good as the HTC lineup. The response and typing accuracy is actually better than HTC though. Butter that is probably down to GingerBread in the S2.
The Browsing with or without Flash is super fast and excellent.
The camera is a league above HTC' s attempt. And the camcorder is just out of this world.
The S2 plays any file format with any resolution without a snitch. The.sound is excellent through the Headphones, and also decent through the speakers. I Would like to have seen stereo speakers on a handset with such brilliant multimedia capabilities.
The GPS is faultless on the S2. After thorough testing i would say it is the best i've seen.
Gaming on this phone is a mixed bag so far. I've tried all the premium games in the gaming hub. They seem to work fine. But non of the newer gameloft games are compatible yet. Hopefully this will be sorted out soon. It is down to the new GPU in the
S2.
Call quality on this phone is second to non. Infact is is better than HTc's lineup due to the noise cancellation mic and excellent reception. The S2 can fully voice dial with a A2DP Headset, aswell as hear callers name through it.
Battery power is the most important aspect of any smartphone. I must say i am impressed with S2 in this department. It can easily last a day with heavy usage.
Conclusion.
This is the best handset in the market right now. But whether it will remain at the top spot remains to be seen. If HTC have sorted out battery consumption issues, aswell as improving the washed out displays, and rubbish cameras of their previous handsets then we might have a new contender in the name of HTC Sensation. My main concern with HTC Sensation is the 768mb Ram. With a display running at HD resolution, and a 1.2 GHZ Dual Core Processor that is not enough ram. The Desire HD struggled with the same amount of ram with second generation 1GHZ processor. Anyway i leave u guys with a tough choice to make. I hope i made it a bit easier with my review.
 
stbutt said:
Before i begin, i would like to mention that i am an experienced smartphone user. My portfolio consists of some of the best phones. SE p800, SE p910, SE K750, SE K800, SE K850, SE K810i, Nokia N80, Nokia N95 8GB, HTC Hero, HTC Desire, Samsung Galaxy S, HTC Desire HD, SE Xperia Arc.
I would like to start off by stating that S2 is a gorgeous phone. The build quality is very good in comparison to the S1. The size and shape of the phone is just perfect. Not too wide and not too narrow. It is an extremely thin and light handset.
The display of the S2 is the best i've ever seen. In term of pros it has all of them. Excellent Brightness, Colours, Viewing Angles, Blacks, and battery efficiency. If there was a drawback, it would have to be the resolution. Even though that the S2 uses more subpixels than the S1, i still feel that this handset should have come with a QHD display.
The Hardware on this phone is the best i've come across. Blazing Fast CPU, Huge Ram, and when u combine that with the latest version of Android u get a superphone not a smartphone. Ofcourse u still have Touchwiz 4.0 UI to deal with. Personally I think it's a huge improvement over Touchwiz 3.0. I can fulfil all my needs with this interface after a playing around with it a bit. The only cons i would declare are that the keyboard word predictions are very annoying and not as good as the HTC lineup. The response and typing accuracy is actually better than HTC though. Butter that is probably down to GingerBread in the S2.
The Browsing with or without Flash is super fast and excellent.
The camera is a league above HTC' s attempt. And the camcorder is just out of this world.
The S2 plays any file format with any resolution without a snitch. The.sound is excellent through the Headphones, and also decent through the speakers. I Would like to have seen stereo speakers on a handset with such brilliant multimedia capabilities.
The GPS is faultless on the S2. After thorough testing i would say it is the best i've seen.
Gaming on this phone is a mixed bag so far. I've tried all the premium games in the gaming hub. They seem to work fine. But non of the newer gameloft games are compatible yet. Hopefully this will be sorted out soon. It is down to the new GPU in the
S2.
Call quality on this phone is second to non. Infact is is better than HTc's lineup due to the noise cancellation mic and excellent reception. The S2 can fully voice dial with a A2DP Headset, aswell as hear callers name through it.
Battery power is the most important aspect of any smartphone. I must say i am impressed with S2 in this department. It can easily last a day with heavy usage.
Conclusion.
This is the best handset in the market right now. But whether it will remain at the top spot remains to be seen. If HTC have sorted out battery consumption issues, aswell as improving the washed out displays, and rubbish cameras of their previous handsets then we might have a new contender in the name of HTC Sensation. My main concern with HTC Sensation is the 768mb Ram. With a display running at HD resolution, and a 1.2 GHZ Dual Core Processor that is not enough ram. The Desire HD struggled with the same amount of ram with second generation 1GHZ processor. Anyway i leave u guys with a tough choice to make. I hope i made it a bit easier with my review.
Click to expand...

Hi can i just say that is one good review :). im definitely going to get myself one as soon as i sell my desire HD! IMO it hasnt been as good as people make it out to be. and if the S2 is even better..... i will fall in love :). personally i wont bother with the sensation, HTC have put me off via the desire. I actually prefer the NEXUS ONE at the moment.

thanks again for the review. I just want to make sure, did they get rid of that horrid S1 file system that lagged more than call of duty online with a slow net connection lol.
 
The file system has been changed from the original Galaxy. The S2 is a lag free phone. By the way butt is my surname. It is a cast in my culture. I forgot to mention one horrible thing about the S2. The screen lock. But i managed to modify it by downloading a brilliant app called widget locker from the market.
 
stbutt said:
The file system has been changed from the original Galaxy. The S2 is a lag free phone. By the way butt is my surname. It is a cast in my culture. I forgot to mention one horrible thing about the S2. The screen lock. But i managed to modify it by downloading a brilliant app called widget locker from the market.
Click to expand...

Nah the lock screen can be modified easily plus i will root mine when i eventually get it. plus i will use launcher pro :D :D. sooo any more negatives?? ive read about how the wifi signal is really bad in strong areas?? :eek:
 
vengance007 said:
Hi can i just say that is one good review :). im definitely going to get myself one as soon as i sell my desire HD! IMO it hasnt been as good as people make it out to be. and if the S2 is even better..... i will fall in love :). personally i wont bother with the sensation, HTC have put me off via the desire. I actually prefer the NEXUS ONE at the moment.

thanks again for the review. I just want to make sure, did they get rid of that horrid S1 file system that lagged more than call of duty online with a slow net connection lol.
Click to expand...

desire put you off? how?? just wondering....
 
daivik said:
desire put you off? how?? just wondering....
Click to expand...

Desire HD to be more clear. imo the s-lcd is nothing special and the battery life.... please i dont want to get started on that. im no android noob either. also the phone being creaky was common especially with the back cover, a kid could remove it with pure ease. dont get me wrong it was a decent phone, just not as good as people made it out to be.

:)
 
vengance007 said:
Nah the lock screen can be modified easily plus i will root mine when i eventually get it. plus i will use launcher pro :D :D. sooo any more negatives?? ive read about how the wifi signal is really bad in strong areas?? :eek:
Click to expand...


You must have different WiFi up your way. Works just fine downunder. Maybe you need to turn phone upside down :rolleyes::D
 
vengance007 said:
Desire HD to be more clear. imo the s-lcd is nothing special and the battery life.... please i dont want to get started on that. im no android noob either. also the phone being creaky was common especially with the back cover, a kid could remove it with pure ease. dont get me wrong it was a decent phone, just not as good as people made it out to be.

:)
Click to expand...

thanks. Was just wondering, because (the Desire had it's flaws...battery, internal app storage etc.) but it was generally looked upon as pure awesomeness.

I just think they're holding onto this "alaminium-unibody design" too long. Need to be more innovative. But what does it for me was the battery, RAM and storage. (no matter what people say about 'it not being a final product')
Because, the has a screen that guzzles more energy, and a smaller battery (by a 100mAh or so) but 100 out of 1600 - it's only 6% but every little bit helps) I've also heard the overclocking and underclocking is very intelligent in that it drops to 200mhz when your not using it (or something like that)
 
daivik said:
thanks. Was just wondering, because (the Desire had it's flaws...battery, internal app storage etc.) but it was generally looked upon as pure awesomeness.

I just think they're holding onto this "alaminium-unibody design" too long. Need to be more innovative. But what does it for me was the battery, RAM and storage. (no matter what people say about 'it not being a final product')
Because, the has a screen that guzzles more energy, and a smaller battery (by a 100mAh or so) but 100 out of 1600 - it's only 6% but every little bit helps) I've also heard the overclocking and underclocking is very intelligent in that it drops to 200mhz when your not using it (or something like that)
Click to expand...

Yeah your right with the over and underclocking of the cpu. it drops to 200mhz wen ur not usuing it and under usage it goes bck up to stock speeds or some cases over 1ghz. i just for the life of me dont understand why such a small battery???? its a nightmare thats why i went to a nexus one tbh. battery does 1day and a half on average. desire HD done about 12hours if ur lucky! i know they learned they're mistake and will but a bigger battery in the sensation but im done with htc until they change their screens and as u said they body designs,getting a bit.... common now :). to me the sensation looks like the desire HD and the new sense doesnt excite me the slightest, never really been a fan. :D

BTW daivik hows ur S2 coming along?? :D
 
daivik said:
thanks. Was just wondering, because (the Desire had it's flaws...battery, internal app storage etc.) but it was generally looked upon as pure awesomeness.

I just think they're holding onto this "alaminium-unibody design" too long. Need to be more innovative. But what does it for me was the battery, RAM and storage. (no matter what people say about 'it not being a final product')
Because, the has a screen that guzzles more energy, and a smaller battery (by a 100mAh or so) but 100 out of 1600 - it's only 6% but every little bit helps) I've also heard the overclocking and underclocking is very intelligent in that it drops to 200mhz when your not using it (or something like that)
Click to expand...


DHD was the best phone available (yes battery life was appalling) - until I bought the SGS2.... However Sense is miles better than TouchWizBang. And Kies is a dog. Also design of SGS2 is hardly original - looks like IP3 apart from the cheap plastic back.

Design aside. Performance is awesome and battery life is much better than recent HTC's including Desire and DesireHD.

I'd like something a bit more original looking though - however weight and size is amazing for what it can do. Makes you wonder whether we will be using a phone more like paper in the not too distant future - see the recent artcile on BBC?
 
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