Considering buying

[AndyfromVA]

I'm considering moving from T-Mobile contract to T-Mobile prepaid in August when my contract runs out. I'm looking at large smartphones that are reasonably priced. At this point it looks like either the Lg L9 or the Samsung Galaxy S2. I'm leaning towards the S2 because of the vastly more available storage space for apps. But I have a few questions.

How's the S2's screen? I've read some criticism about screen sharpness and unrealistic colors.
How's the battery life? The S2's battery is less powerful than that of the L9 and I'm concern about it lasting the whole day.
Is the S2 a quick phone? It appears to have a faster processor than the L9 but I've read some things about lag that concern me.
Finally, what about Samsung's Touchwiz? Some folks are OK with it but others hate it.

Thanks.

 

[Atma]

Hi Andy. I moved this to the device comparison forum so any L9 users can chime in too.

I used the S2 for over a year until I recently bought the S4. The S2 is still a great phone.

1 - I had no problems with the screen. I thought it looked fine.

2 - The battery depends on how you are using the phone. I didn't use mine a lot while at work except for email. When I would get home in the evening I would have about 78% left. If you are using it for hours watching videos, naturally it will go down much faster.

3 - I thought it was very fast and with the Jellybean update a few months ago it is very smooth.

4 - Touchwiz, I didn't care for that much on the S2 although I like it on the S4. On the S2, I used Apex launcher and didn't deal with Touchwiz after that.

 

[AndyfromVA]

Thanks for the feedback. Sorry for posting in the wrong place.

 

[Atma]

Sorry for posting in the wrong place.

Its no problem. There is still a redirect in the other forum too so people can still see it there.

With the galaxy s3 and s4 out I would think you should be able to get a good deal on an S2 if you decide to do that.

 

[iTzKPanda]

I'm considering moving from T-Mobile contract to T-Mobile prepaid in August when my contract runs out. I'm looking at large smartphones that are reasonably priced. At this point it looks like either the Lg L9 or the Samsung Galaxy S2. I'm leaning towards the S2 because of the vastly more available storage space for apps. But I have a few questions.

How's the S2's screen? I've read some criticism about screen sharpness and unrealistic colors.
How's the battery life? The S2's battery is less powerful than that of the L9 and I'm concern about it lasting the whole day.
Is the S2 a quick phone? It appears to have a faster processor than the L9 but I've read some things about lag that concern me.
Finally, what about Samsung's Touchwiz? Some folks are OK with it but others hate it.

Thanks.

It's perfectly fine. It's nice and crisp. Blacks are black and the colors aren't too saturated.
The battery life is... a little dissappointing. But have no fear! $20 and you can get ~3000mAh extended battery
ICS messed up the phone (at least Sprint's variant) a bit. But with Jellybean, it's now nice and smooth
That's subjective, all the way through. I love it, others hate it. You'll have to try for yourself. If you hate it that much, there's plenty of ROMs available for the Galaxy S2 for you to flash.

 

[Rxpert83]

If you're unsure if you'll like the screen quality or touchwiz, that's something only you can decide.

I'd suggest going to the store and playing with them.

Personally, I'm not a fan of samsungs screens or touchwoiz, but not everyone's the same. .

You won't know what's right for you til you actually go play with it. :thumbup:

 

[bob60626]

I still like mine! Someone posted that the Home Shopping Network was selling them for two hundred with a case and car charger. My battery life has been consistent and reliable though I will bring a charger if I have a long day ahead of me. I use a data widget to turn off data when I won't be using the phone much and have seen numbers like Atma's after "the work day" (anything from working a sports tournament to parades to going to the rifle range for me).

My most useful accessory is the MHL cable; I've read too many issues with off brand ones, just buy the Samsung adapter. I do wish there was a waterproof case for the phone.