Samsung Galaxy S II Review

Posted by Kimble Young on 09/8/11 • Categorized as Reviews

Tech Radar has done a stellar job, as usual, of reviewing the new Samsung Galaxy S II (or 2). Overall the review and most of the others around the blogosphere have been highly positive.

The Specifications

General     2G Network     GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network     HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
Size     Dimensions     125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm
Weight     116 g
Display     Type     Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size     480 x 800 pixels, 4.3 inches
- Gorilla Glass display
- TouchWiz UI v4.0
- Multi-touch input method
- Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate
- Touch-sensitive controls
- Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
- Gyroscope sensor
Sound     Alert types     Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
Loudspeaker     Yes
3.5mm jack     Yes
Memory     Phonebook     Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Call records     Practically unlimited
Internal     16GB/32GB storage, 1 GB RAM
Card slot     microSD, up to 32GB, 8 GB included, buy memory
Data     GPRS     Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 – 48 kbps
EDGE     Class 12
3G     HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps
WLAN     Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth     Yes, v3.0+HS
Infrared port     No
USB     Yes, v2.0 microUSB (MHL), USB On-the-go
Camera     Primary     8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, check quality
Features     Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization
Video     Yes, 1080p@30fps, check quality
Secondary     Yes, 2 MP
Features     OS     Android OS, v2.3 (Gingerbread)
CPU     Dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 proccessor, Mali-400MP GPU, Exynos chipset
Messaging     SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS
Browser     HTML
Radio     Stereo FM radio with RDS
Games     Yes
Colors     Black
GPS     Yes, with A-GPS support
Java     Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
- NFC support (optional)
- TV-out (via MHL A/V link)
- SNS integration
- Digital compass
- MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player
- MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player
- Organizer
- Image/video editor
- Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)
- Google Search, Maps, Gmail,
YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration
- Adobe Flash 10.1 support
- Voice memo/dial/commands
- Predictive text input (Swype)
Battery         Standard battery, Li-Ion 1650 mAh
Stand-by     Up to 710 h (2G) / Up to 610 h (3G)
Talk time     Up to 18 h 20 min (2G) / Up to 8 h 40 min (3G)

Pros and Cons

Pros

Fast and responsive
Clear screen
1080p video recording

Cons

Flimsy case
Poor keyboard layout
Samsung’s preloaded software

Summary

A powerful phone for sure and the start of the above 1ghz dual core war that will be followed up by successors like HTC, LG and the iPhone 5. Currently available through all major providers - Optus, Telstra, Three, Virgin and Vodafone.

For the full fifteen page review of the Samsung Galaxy S II head on over to Tech Radar.

General	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
	Announced	2011, February
	Status	Available. Released 2011, April

Size	Dimensions	125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm
Size	Weight	116 g

Display	Type	Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	480 x 800 pixels, 4.3 inches
		- Gorilla Glass display - TouchWiz UI v4.0 - Multi-touch input method - Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate - Touch-sensitive controls - Proximity sensor for auto turn-off - Gyroscope sensor

Sound	Alert types	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

Memory	Phonebook	Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
	Call records	Practically unlimited
	Internal	16GB/32GB storage, 1 GB RAM
	Card slot	microSD, up to 32GB, 8 GB included, buy memory

Data	GPRS	Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 – 48 kbps
	EDGE	Class 12
	3G	HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	Yes, v3.0+HS
	Infrared port	No
	USB	Yes, v2.0 microUSB (MHL), USB On-the-go

Camera	Primary	8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, check quality
	Features	Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization
	Video	Yes, 1080p@30fps, check quality
	Secondary	Yes, 2 MP

Features	OS	Android OS, v2.3 (Gingerbread)
	CPU	Dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 proccessor, Mali-400MP GPU, Exynos chipset
	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS
	Browser	HTML
	Radio	Stereo FM radio with RDS
	Games	Yes
	Colors	Black
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
		- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - NFC support (optional) - TV-out (via MHL A/V link) - SNS integration - Digital compass - MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player - Organizer - Image/video editor - Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF) - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration - Adobe Flash 10.1 support - Voice memo/dial/commands - Predictive text input (Swype)