Samsung Galaxy S2 – Review
I’ve been using the Samsung Galaxy SII as my primary device now for a few days and I love it. It looks older than the Galaxy S3 – notably so. It may not be fair to compare them – they’re in very different price point positions. And it’s a great, great phone. I reckon it’s better than the iPhone4S.
I’ve been using a BlackBerry – mostly because of work – for the last several years. I moved to the Gal SII with some hesitation about losing the optimised email capabilities and robust plastic of the BlackBerry family. I have been re-educated and I’m so glad I made the move.
Samsung Galaxy S2 – How It Looks
The form factor is a great size. The Gal S2 fits nicely in your hand, feels strong and, possibly most important of all, wasn’t too big for my pocket.
Concerns about the battery life were unwarranted. I got a full working day out of it no worries. Importantly, you can charge the battery charges from any Micro USB – I have a few lying around which made that convenient.
I find Apple devices far more finnikity when it comes to charging from non Apple adapters.
Samsung Galaxy S2 – Speed
The device is SUPER fast. I found I could whistle around it with no screen update delay. One of the first moments I played with it stuck in my mind.
I loved it when I speak in to it, and asked for directions to my house. It understood me straight away and mapped a route there – and then shows me 3D Google maps to get there. BlackBerry never did that !
Samsung Galaxy S2 – Audio / Visual
I watch a lot of films and listen to music and radio. The Galaxy was fantastic in every regard. Easy to use music player for mp3s, it played my .avi video files easily and I streamed the ABC news to my car ( a free Android app from the ABC ) in the mornings on the way in to work.
With that in mind, I especially love the expandable memory on the device. So much cheaper and flexible than buying it built in to the product. One of my least favorite things about iPhones is how much they charge for the extra memory.
The screen struck me as reliable. The glass didn’t go as far as the corners which means it’s less likely to break when dropped. I did have a mate with a Galaxy S2 who dropped it on the face and it broke.
Samsung Galaxy S2 – Software
I like the onboard TouchWiz software from Samsung. HTCs do come with more software installed which saves you the hassle of downloading it. Not everyone knows the best apps to buy and HTC show you the way a bit better than Samsung.
The Galaxy S2 I used and still have runs Android 2.3 ( Gingerbread. ) It’s good but of course, now, I’ve seen better on the S3 with Ice Cream Sandwich / Jellybean. As with any new piece of technology, it’s difficult to go back. You feel like you’re missing out.
The Galaxy S2 is upgradable to ICS but I haven’t installed the new software – my view is that most people never do – and I want to review this device as visitors to the Whatphone site will experience it.
Samsung Galaxy S2 – Camera
One notable area of difference that I’ve experienced with a number of Gingerbread phones is the camera shutter speed. There’s a good half second delay between hitting the button to snap and the picture being taken.
But then, the shots are pretty good ! Here are some ( the standard ones I always take for Whatphone ) that I took on the beach.
Remember, these are cropped images, not the full quality you’d get from the Samsung S2.
Samsung Galaxy S2 – Summary
I feel like I’ve gushed about it. It wasn’t perfect. The back of the device was very thin and felt ‘plastiky’. So think that I worried about snapping it – especially the clip in tabs used to secure the back in place when I was setting it up and changing SIMs / SD cards in and out.
It gets slightly warm when it’s working hard or you’ve on the phone for a long time.
But all in all, the Galaxy S2 is a fabulous device. In my view, it might be the best Smart mobile phone available for the money right now. You can check out the pricing yourself on the Samsung Galaxy S2 product page.
JUL 12
Written by:
Kurt Hands
Need more info on the Samsung Galaxy SII ? Click here for the Samsung Official website Galaxy SII information