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Original S2 vs Skyrocket

I

iHuman

Newbie
I am about to upgrade my old phone to a new one. I've managed to narrow the phones I want to two phones, the Galaxy S2 or the Skyrocket. I usually use my phone to go on the Internet or play games. Although the Skyrocket has a 1,5 GHz processor, I've heard the Snapdragon processor is actually slower than the Exynos. However, the Skyrocket has 4G LTE, but the problem is that I don't know whether 4G LTE will arrive at my area very soon.

I'd say that LTE will be dealbreaker. I live in San Francisco by the way, if that helps in deciding whether or not LTE will come soon.
 
iHuman said:
I am about to upgrade my old phone to a new one. I've managed to narrow the phones I want to two phones, the Galaxy S2 or the Skyrocket. I usually use my phone to go on the Internet or play games. Although the Skyrocket has a 1,5 GHz processor, I've heard the Snapdragon processor is actually slower than the Exynos. However, the Skyrocket has 4G LTE, but the problem is that I don't know whether 4G LTE will arrive at my area very soon.

I'd say that LTE will be dealbreaker. I live in San Francisco by the way, if that helps in deciding whether or not LTE will come soon.
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Yes, the Snapdragon may be slower, but its clock speed is higher in the Skyrocket, bringing the phones to near parity. I do not think that you are likely to notice any speed issues. I have not. The Skyrocket does have a slightly larger screen (4.5'').

Of course, LTE would be in the Bay Area within 2012. LTE would be the main issue in 2012, as the LTE iPhone is expected to arrive too. So, my guess is that AT&T would be busy trying to match Verizon next year, otherwise it will see all its iPhone business migrating over there!!
 
When LTE shows up, you will already have it. The OG GS2 will not and they will throttle speeds for HSPA+ users to provide bandwidth for new LTE users.
 
u can get the voicemail on ogs2, there's an app by at&t that's compatible, and i'm pretty sure they won't throttle the HSPA+ network, since it doesn't require the same signal. and the LTE will not be available in that many markets. The projected amount of cities are extremely low, and i'm sure the amount they will actually carry out in time will be even lower. But, skyrocket is $150 cheaper, and i plan on keeping this phone for the next 3-4years, unless they invent something that's revolutionary that i need to get it, so skyrocket will be better since at&t and samsung both confirmed ICS update for skyrocket but didn't confirm it for ogs2
 
gmoney5588 said:
u can get the voicemail on ogs2, there's an app by at&t that's compatible, and i'm pretty sure they won't throttle the HSPA+ network, since it doesn't require the same signal. and the LTE will not be available in that many markets. The projected amount of cities are extremely low, and i'm sure the amount they will actually carry out in time will be even lower. But, skyrocket is $150 cheaper, and i plan on keeping this phone for the next 3-4years, unless they invent something that's revolutionary that i need to get it, so skyrocket will be better since at&t and samsung both confirmed ICS update for skyrocket but didn't confirm it for ogs2
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AT&T must expand LTE availability by a huge amount in order to compete for the iPhone 5 business. if it does not, it is dead in the water. Thus, I would expect that until the beginning of the summer of 2012, there will be AT&T LTE in all the major metropolitan areas. Either that, or AT&T will be losing customers to Verizon in a big way.

One may wish to keep a phone for 3-4 years, but this is not realistic. These phones do not survive for that long. My previous phone died one day with the screen becoming inactive despite the continuous reboots. It was only 1.5 years old!!! So, good intentions but we shall see if they match reality.
 
well at&t projects they'll be done by 2013 but i'm pretty sure they won't be on track our they'll be covering only some major cities.and using a phone for more than two years is squarely not that hard,I just switched over from 3gs only because my gf moved to Cali and I wanted a phone that had a built in front cam. if she hasn't moved so far away,I prob would've kept the 3GS since I don't video chat that often,I don't have any apps that require dual core processor
 
iHuman said:
I am about to upgrade my old phone to a new one. I've managed to narrow the phones I want to two phones, the Galaxy S2 or the Skyrocket. I usually use my phone to go on the Internet or play games. Although the Skyrocket has a 1,5 GHz processor, I've heard the Snapdragon processor is actually slower than the Exynos. However, the Skyrocket has 4G LTE, but the problem is that I don't know whether 4G LTE will arrive at my area very soon.

I'd say that LTE will be dealbreaker. I live in San Francisco by the way, if that helps in deciding whether or not LTE will come soon.
Click to expand...

LTE is a deal breaker!
If you buy a phone becuase its barely a "blink of an eye" faster than a phone that has the future of networks built in it, your crazy. The only way anyone can tell a difference in speed is not by the naked eye, but if they run a computer program on the two phones and compare data. And even then its prolly fractions of fractions of seconds in difference... if that. Plus you never know what city you'll be in in the future (LTE), whether its visiting or relocating.
 
so the skyrocket is basically the normal GS2 but just a tiny bit bigger screen and what else? I wish I knew when I bought this that it was a different version than the original S2. I feel duped by Rogers. :(
 
spikeithard said:
so the skyrocket is basically the normal GS2 but just a tiny bit bigger screen and what else? I wish I knew when I bought this that it was a different version than the original S2. I feel duped by Rogers. :(
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The phones are different both in the casing and internal hardware. The buttons are basically in the same places though. Software is pretty much the same with the exception of visual voicemail being included on the Skyrocket. The processers are different, the Skyrocket can access LTE, different batteries, and the skyrocket screen is bigger.
 
spikeithard said:
so its not an inferior phone then is it?
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Inferior? Neither phone is inferior. They are both at the top of the smartphone game (The best AT&T has to offer right now IMO). Just one has LTE and the other doesn't. You can't go wrong if you don't care about or expect to use LTE.
 
I have SII Skyrocket, my wife has the SII. In normal use you can not tell the difference.

Pros of Skyrocket:
1. Switching for WIFI to LTE is very fast
2. LTE download speed is 30+M (better then my FIOS at home)

Cons of Skyrocket:
1. Battery life is worse (barely lasts me a day)
2. Bigger size can make it harder to hold

My 2 cents: Get Skyrocket if you are in a LTE area, otherwise buy SII from Costco or Amazon and save $70-$100 over the sky rocket.
 
psrtx, I have a skyrocket and keep thinking switching to Samsung GSII because of better battery life. I have LTE network in Chicago but a phone that does not last me all day is no good for what I needed to do.

Since you have both, could you please tell me just how much of difference between the two phones in terms of battery life. (In terms of hours if similar usage pattern applies.) Would that be worth the move?

Thanks so much,
Alex
 
tigerelax said:
psrtx, I have a skyrocket and keep thinking switching to Samsung GSII because of better battery life. I have LTE network in Chicago but a phone that does not last me all day is no good for what I needed to do.

Since you have both, could you please tell me just how much of difference between the two phones in terms of battery life. (In terms of hours if similar usage pattern applies.) Would that be worth the move?

Thanks so much,
Alex
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I would not give up LTE speeds because of battery life. First, let me tell you of an awesome combination that I use

JuiceDefender Ultimate
Powerskin for Skyrocket

Yes, the Powerskin for Skyrocket is an $80 addon, but it is worth every penny. When both the phone and the Powerskin are charged, the phone can last comfortably 24 hours with moderate to heavy use. In fact, this morning I started the day at 7 am with lots of use and the phone battery went into 98% power at about 4 pm. My guess is that it would be somewhere near 70% by 10 pm.

Thus, there is no reason really to switch phones because of power issues. Much can be done also by weeding out unneeded routines. For example, you can remove CityID, News and Weather, the Social Hub etc, etc, that suck up a lot of juice without contributing much to the experience.
 
On the Skyrocket you really need to shut down apps running in the background that you are not using (especially games or apps you downloaded from the market). That has been my experience, for example: I do not use Facebook and so I have shut the app off/down. I have seen roughly a 10% to 15% battery life improvement.
 
Thanks guys, appreciate all your tips. I just purchased JuniceDefender Ultimate and was able to get through 12 hours medium use. Looks like Powerskin is the next step. Thanks again!
 
I love my Skyrocket. I live in the Kansas City area and picking up great speed on the 4G LTE network even though AT&T doesn't have it here. I found out from the manager at Best Buy that AT&T is piggybacking off Verizon's 4G network. In some areas around the city, I have gotten up to 48MB download and 12MB upload. So far I have never gotten below 5 or 6 MB download and 1 to 2 MB upload.

I am not very happy about all the apps that are constantly running in the background that I have to shut down only to have them fire back up and run my battery down. That part is some of the most irrirtating thing I have found. Otherwise, it is great.

I am now pondering whether or not I should root it. What are the pro's and con's of rooting?
 
tigerelax said:
psrtx, I have a skyrocket and keep thinking switching to Samsung GSII because of better battery life. I have LTE network in Chicago but a phone that does not last me all day is no good for what I needed to do.

Since you have both, could you please tell me just how much of difference between the two phones in terms of battery life. (In terms of hours if similar usage pattern applies.) Would that be worth the move?

Thanks so much,
Alex
Click to expand...

Honestly, I am not sure how much better the battery life is, for one I use it a lot more then her. But I don't think she has every run out of battery while I have. After about a month, battery on my phone (SkyRocket) seems to last longer (30% at end of day) but that could be because I am tinkering less with it.

I would keep the Skyrocket its just such a fast phone. Just charge it up each night.
 
i didnt know the screen was bigger than the regular S2 but I am glad I got the skyrocket. bigger the screen the better :)

.....although I hate tablets.. weird eh? haha
 
psrtx, thanks for the reply.

It was the applications I installed since I just got the phone and has installed many many apps, which turns out to be the root of my battery problem (has less than 15% after 12 hours). After I cleaned up everything and started out, being very careful what app to install, yesterday I was at 17% with modest use after 17% hours of modest use. Today after installed juice defender, I am at 85% after 5 hours of use. It is great. Thanks everyone!
 
I had a GS2 then got the Skyrocket the day it came out. Returned that after 48hrs because all I got was the same lousy 2MBps and 2000ms pings that I have been getting from ATT for years (no LTE here yet). Ended up getting the T-Mobile GS2 (identical in every way to the SR except no LTE and works on BOTH AT&T and T-Mo faux 4G). Getting 9-15MBps & 30ms pings on T-Mo and under 2MBps on AT&T. Dumped AT&T after probably 20 years and took the T-Mo $30 new prepaid plan and loving every second.

The difference between 9-15MBps (T-Mo) + 20-999MBps download speeds with ATT LTE on a cell phone browser or streaming movies is zilch except for bragging rights.
 
MisterEd said:
I had a GS2 then got the Skyrocket the day it came out. Returned that after 48hrs because all I got was the same lousy 2MBps and 2000ms pings that I have been getting from ATT for years (no LTE here yet). Ended up getting the T-Mobile GS2 (identical in every way to the SR except no LTE and works on BOTH AT&T and T-Mo faux 4G). Getting 9-15MBps & 30ms pings on T-Mo and under 2MBps on AT&T. Dumped AT&T after probably 20 years and took the T-Mo $30 new prepaid plan and loving every second.

The difference between 9-15MBps (T-Mo) + 20-999MBps download speeds with ATT LTE on a cell phone browser or streaming movies is zilch except for bragging rights.
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Thanks for chiming in! I been wondering about ya!

This is a prime example of differences in area..Tmo is just plain horrible here in Dallas, att has awesome coverage but it appears to be opposite up in your area
 
pokey89 said:
I love my Skyrocket. I live in the Kansas City area and picking up great speed on the 4G LTE network even though AT&T doesn't have it here. I found out from the manager at Best Buy that AT&T is piggybacking off Verizon's 4G network.
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:eek: Talk about a misinformed employee. The 2 networks aren't compatable ans AT&T`s LTE network was functioning several weeks before Verizon rolled there's out in KC.
 
Mr. Ed said:
Thanks for chiming in! I been wondering about ya!

This is a prime example of differences in area..Tmo is just plain horrible here in Dallas, att has awesome coverage but it appears to be opposite up in your area
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Hi cuz! :) Hope the wedding was "successful" and all went well.

AT&T voice coverage here is flawless but their DATA is horrid. The slow speeds (1-2MBps SHOULD be usable) aren't as much the issue as the ping time. In all my years with ATT over literally dozens of devices data has been useless.

So basically I got the .2 inches I so desperately wanted back from my Infuse :) and as an "extra" got amazing data speeds and "LAN like" ping times PLUS cut my bill from $68 to $29 a month.
 
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