Engadet galaxy s2 review

[Dubthedankest]

My thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy II (kind of addresses why I think iPhone users will stay iPhone users and not jump ship (for the most part) despite iPhone 5 not following the typical summer iPhone release):

1. I saw this phone was coming out but did not really think anything of it as it seems like there are new Android handsets coming out every other day with little to no differentiation between them. In that light, this phone got lost in the shuffle in my mind and I think that's one of the Android platform's (or individual Android handset manufacturer's) biggest disadvantages. It's difficult to cull the crap from the cream of the crop. This looks like a great phone and didn't realize it until this post pointed me to the Engadget review. I had seen the Engadget review but just thought "oh another Android phone."

2. Not a fan of Android and I have invested heavily in the Apple ecosystem so I could never make the switch. To me, Android is just not as refined or mature as iOS. I check in on Android every once in awhile and it's still too rough around the edges and not as aesthetically pleasing to me as iOS. I don't think I'm alone in that feeling. Same goes for the build quality of the devices.

3. 4.3" display? This phone is HUGE. Picture yourself carrying a TV remote around with you all day and talking into it like a phone. That's just way too big. 4" inches is as big as I can go (that's what she said), anything bigger is just ridiculous. I hope Apple stays between the 3.5" and 4" mark; that's a good size (again...).

Again, just my opinions and thoughts on the Galaxy II. Doesn't quite do it for me like the iPhone does.

 

[solowmodel]

I come here to catch up on news, mostly, but do pop into the forums from time to time. I'm not the biggest poster, not by a long shot, but since Android became what it is now, I've noticed the influx of "anti-Apple" members being far more vocal than the "pro-Apple" members, along with a large degree of hypocrisy.

The second a "pro-Apple" member defends their brand, they're flamed, mocked, and called a "fanboi", while the "anti-Apple/pro-Android" (delete as applicable) continues their rant, expressing their opinion like it's fact while mocking the Apple user. It's commonplace on here now, which is why I like to stick to the front page news more often than not. It's embarrassing, from both sides. The overtly pro-Apple members, and the Android fans who for some reason have come here for nothing more than cheap kicks, long in the tooth digs, and to make a general nuisance of themselves.

I love tech, we all do, and I'm very much an Apple user and enjoy my products. I happen to have long thought that the Samsung Galaxy S took an envious glance at the iPhone 3GS design and thought, "You'll do", and it's been a long standing to-and-fro joke between myself and friends who own the Galaxy S, many months before Apple decided to sue.

I've mentioned on here many times, that I personally don't like Android as an OS and I only found one Android skin to be user friendly and intuitive and that was provided by HTC. TouchWizz, having used it on friends Galaxy S and Galaxy Tabs, doesn't feel quite as fluid to the touch as iOS, but that's my preference. The Galaxy SII is one very nice piece of kit, and Samsung have done well to pack what they have into something so thin, although I do think like the Galaxy S before it, it took a little peek into the iPhone 4's dressing room to see what Apple's phone was wearing this year, prior to turning up to the party.

There are far too many threads on here where Android fans slate iPhone users, ridicule them, call them fanbois, and yet cannot see that they themselves are guilty of the very thing they're mocking. It's a phone, buy what you prefer, and go to your own forums and chat with like minded users who enjoy the same products as you, leaving those with different preferences the hell alone. But we all know that's never, ever going to happen is it?

Thumbs up.

 

[Umit]

Hi,

It is so weird to hear that an Apple IOS user would like to go with a Samsung android phone. Really.

Well, i was an android fanboy and i still believe it has a great potential and future. Right now, i still have SGS and want to just sell it and buy an IPhone4. Unfortunately it is not so easy to do here in Turkey because an iphone 4 is approx 1300USD!!!

I'll buy it eventually tho, thats why i came here to register few days ago, because i want to learn more about ios.

I am telling here, i will never ever buy a Samsung android phone! They have nice hardware inside but their software just sucks. You have to flash custom roms to get it faster and you have to do it a lot because people are releasing custom roms every few day. I guess i flashed more than 20 times in last 4 months. It is a boring process. Install the rom, restore the backups and arrange your widgets. If google releases a new version of android, well dont expect it to your samsung phone so soon because you will have to wait it for months.

Android is a nice open system but it has stability issues. Go to google and search gingerbread call delay bug. This was the last straw that made me decided to switch.

Well, what are the other reasons that made me decided to switch?
1. Much and much cooler apps! I saw few photography related apps and i just loved it!
2. Simplicity. Yes i love widgets but i want simplicity. I guess i can click to weather app to see the forecast.

Do you think i dont have enough reason to switch because i just listed 2 reasons? Well, go buy a samsung phone and see what i am talking about. And happy call delay bugs.

 

[Drag'nGT]

We all admit that iOS needs an update. Will Apple ask their users what they want? Probably not. I get when Apple says "they asked people" what they want.

More importantly... this phone is new and the iphone is well.... not. The next iphone will get the A5 dual core sexiness and more ram. The screen is still awesome as it is but I could see Apple bump up the size without changing the phone size. But the question is what impact will that have on the retina display and app developers.

I also vote that the phone gets a little bit thicker if that gives us 3 more hours of battery life.

 

[Peterg2]

you noticed that to, eh?


+1. you have to have plastic on a cell phone. the other option is glass that shatters when it takes a bump. if the next iphone has a plastic back, you'll hear praise from the mountain tops that "apple did it right".

No you don't. Look at the Nokia N8 which is almost all aluminum - And Nokias, for all their current weaknesses, have great RF performance, better than any iPhone I have had.

 

[Hal Jordan]

My Galaxy S2 arrived yesterday and I have to say I'm very impressed. So much so that my iPhone 4 is on eBay right now.

I've had all the iPhones and a fair few androids (Hero, Desire, DesireHD). Each time I've ended up back with the iPhone. This time the Galaxy S2 is in a different league to the other androids. The build quality (although in parts plastic) seems top notch. No creaks etc, zero lag watsoever and the screen is awesome, and that's coming from the retina display.

Overall this combinded with my iPad is the best combination out there for me right now.

Congrats. I really hope Tmobile gets this phone.
BTW, when the Galaxy Tab 10.1 comes out with it's amazing 1280x800 PLS LCD and very competitive price, the iPad may end up on Ebay as well.

 

[BlindMellon]

No you don't. Look at the Nokia N8 which is almost all aluminum - And Nokias, for all their current weaknesses, have great RF performance, better than any iPhone I have had.

they must have the antennas tucked in the top and bottom (that are plastic). the antenna can't be behind metal.

'course the iphone's antenna is mostly on the outside, so they could make the back out of anything they wanted to i suppose.

 

[Wafflausages]

I'd make the switch. The only thing keeping me to my iphone is the extreme amount of all-around third party support for the thing

 

[Peterg2]

I'd make the switch. The only thing keeping me to my iphone is the extreme amount of all-around third party support for the thing

I really need quality of construction. Samsung plastic really irritates me. I do like HTC and Nokia build quality. iphone quality is superb superficially but a plain glass back is assine and the antenna design... I am on my second phone now with Proximity Sensor problems - QC is the *****. I will wait a few months and then probably make the jump - to an HTC unless Samsung decide to drop the cheap-feeling plastic.

 

[CBarstow7]

How does it compare with iPhone 5?

Sent from my GTablet-TnT-Lite using Tapatalk

 

[jellybean]

With all this talk about the iPhone's shatterific glass design vs Samsung's plasticy design, it's interesting that HTC are making their phones with a unibody aluminium design. I picked one up the other day and damn it felt rock solid. I'm surprised Apple didn't do this with the iPhone to match their MacBook Pros. (I know the original iPhone was aluminium, but was it "unibody"?) I'm interested to see how the HTC Sensation will compare to the Galaxy S2, because it seems similar spec-wise but with the unibody design, and their new lockscreen interface looks awesome. iPhone 5 better be good.

 

[aohus]

Well it seems like everyone here is gushing over the device. I'm an android enthusiast, and I'm gonna play devil's advocate and talk up iOS and the iPhone series. Here we go..

- Samsung's lack of updates. History shows us that Samsung is always late to the party when it comes to OS updates.

- iOS still beats Android OS when it comes to maturity of apps. I'd have to say the killer apps are done right on iOS platform.

- Galaxy S II won't be out until Q3 2011 in the U.S. (mid to late summer, possibly early fall). By then, we could possibly have more information on iPhone 5.

- Developers still prefer to develop on iOS than Android OS. And in the grand scheme of things, customers on iOS are more developer friendly as iOS customers tend to buy more so than Android users, which helps make iOS ecosystem thrive.

- Face it, for the mainstream consumer at large, iOS is still easier to use than Android OS. Learning curve is higher on Android OS.

- And of course, the dark horse, iOS 5 and iPhone 5. We will see what Apple has to offer later this year, but c'mon, folks on this thread ditching Apple because they're too slow to update? I am very optimistic as to what Apple has to offer, namely their iCloud, and iOS 5 rumors.

Apple innovates. Have faith in Apple. Lets all remember that if there never existed an iPhone, the pace of innovation could have been possibly much slower in the mobile industry.

 

[Faux Carnival]

iBoys, watch South Park. And don't buy the Galaxy S II, it is that easy.

 

[BlindMellon]

With all this talk about the iPhone's shatterific glass design vs Samsung's plasticy design, it's interesting that HTC are making their phones with a unibody aluminium design. I picked one up the other day and damn it felt rock solid. I'm surprised Apple didn't do this with the iPhone to match their MacBook Pros. (I know the original iPhone was aluminium, but was it "unibody"?) I'm interested to see how the HTC Sensation will compare to the Galaxy S2, because it seems similar spec-wise but with the unibody design, and their new lockscreen interface looks awesome. iPhone 5 better be good.

the HTC Sensation does seem like a cut above the rest.

funny all these hot new phones coming out and even the macrumor forums are full of talk about them. apple is really going to look lame if the next iphone is just a refresh of the current year old device.

 

[maclaptop]

Times Continue To Change...

I've carried at least two phones for years, I'm a mobile phone enthusiast. Period.

In the UK on business presently, I've just had the pleasure of trying a Galaxy S II.

The experience in a word? WoW!

Challenge yourself to set aside preconcieved notions, it's that great.

Yes indeed, things are changing in very exciting ways.



Oh, and this phone, is coming home with me.

And soon by its side will be an iPhone 5.

The very best of two worlds

 

[itsmemuffins]

My Samsung GSII Review…

Take one iPhone 4 remove all premium materials and replace with flimsy plastic.

Next put it under a steam roller.

Take one iOS 4 and basterdise it to within an inch of it's life, half bake and call it TouchWize 4.

Next, take an already out of date Android OS and call it the latest and greatest. Promise that Samsung will update the OS to the even more latest and greatest very soon after release.

Fail to deliver on said promise for at least another 8 months. Release the update that has already been superceded twice since.

 

[iOS v Android]

Take one iPhone 4 remove all premium materials and replace with flimsy plastic.

Next put it under a steam roller.

Take one iOS 4 and basterdise it to within an inch of it's life, half bake and call it TouchWize 4.

Next, take an already out of date Android OS and call it the latest and greatest. Promise that Samsung will update the OS to the even more latest and greatest very soon after release.

Fail to deliver on said promise for at least another 8 months. Release the update that has already been superceded twice since.

This is the negative fanboys that people dislike. First of all it has faster parts then the current iPhone. It has a longer battery life. It is thinner uses a faster processor (pretty much an A5). It also will be releasing with an up to date android OS. I for one agree touch wiz is ugly and when i buy one that will be the first thing I take off if I wanted an iPhone I would have an iPhone.

 

[itsmemuffins]

This is the negative fanboys that people dislike. First of all it has faster parts then the current iPhone. It has a longer battery life. It is thinner uses a faster processor (pretty much an A5). It also will be releasing with an up to date android OS. I for one agree touch wiz is ugly and when i buy one that will be the first thing I take off if I wanted an iPhone I would have an iPhone.

Negative? You mean accurate don't you?

So you're comparing it to an almost year old phone?

There is already a newer Android OS.

Let's see what the next iPhone will bring and then we shall see the superiority of the GSII.

After all the current GS couldn't best the iPhone 4.

 

[iApples]

This is the negative fanboys that people dislike. First of all it has faster parts then the current iPhone. It has a longer battery life. It is thinner uses a faster processor (pretty much an A5). It also will be releasing with an up to date android OS. I for one agree touch wiz is ugly and when i buy one that will be the first thing I take off if I wanted an iPhone I would have an iPhone.

Why are you on an iPhone sub forum then? Why don't you go to an android forum where everyone will praise your posts? I hate all android phones because of the lack of updates. (yes I've owned a few) If you find a few glitches and bugs, you're pretty much stuck with them.

Everyone also makes the phone seem like the latest and greatest, but in reality it's not. Android phones still lag. Even with all 'good' hardware it has. Why? Because the device doesn't optimize the hardware as well as it should. My old iPod Touch 2G runs smoother than most Android phones. And the battery life is garbage. I was forced to purchase two batteries just to get through my 7 hour work day. (No time to charge the phone, and I use it a lot for my job). It just made no sense for me to keep the phone.

If someone doesn't like an android device, it's in their opinion, and it doesn't make them a 'fanboy'. I could say the exact same thing about you. Why are you on a forum about Apple and posting in the iPhone section if you hate the device? No one really cares about your (or anyones) opinion on an android phone. If we cared, we wouldn't be here in the first place.

I don't understand why Android fans have to make their phones seem like the latest and greatest. Do you have some sort of insecurity issues?

It's a damn phone. Use whatever phone you think is best for you and then move on with your life. Stop with the crap that no one cares about. This topic isn't even iPhone related, so it doesn't belong here in the first place.

Right now there's a bunch of insecure people on an android forum waiting for you to post why the android phone is better than the iPhone. I'd suggest you go do that.

 

[Funkymonk]

Take one iPhone 4 remove all premium materials and replace with flimsy plastic.

Next put it under a steam roller.

Take one iOS 4 and basterdise it to within an inch of it's life, half bake and call it TouchWize 4.

Next, take an already out of date Android OS and call it the latest and greatest. Promise that Samsung will update the OS to the even more latest and greatest very soon after release.

Fail to deliver on said promise for at least another 8 months. Release the update that has already been superceded twice since.

you sound like a jealous hater. you give apple users a bad name brochacho

 

[itsmemuffins]

you sound like a jealous hater. you give apple users a bad name brochacho

What exactly do I have to be jealous about?

And why hater? My post is 100% accurate even with the couple of flourishes.

 

[Bawstun]

Your post cannot be accurate because it is full of opinions. To each their own.

I for one have always praised iOS over Android operating systems. I have tried both on and off many times. I always reverted back to iOS - but it really is OLD now. It's the same icon arrangement, the same basic OS nearly 4 years later. 4 YEARS. Think about that. Sure, they add MMS, copy and paste (way too late btw), a few other things like HDR option in the camera, maybe some multitasking and push...but it is the same. Bigger screens and faster processors seem to be the trend.

For everyone hating on the 4.3 inch screen and saying 4 inches is as big as a phone should be...uh, 0.3 inches, seriously. It isn't that much of a difference.

Anyway - I still contend this is the first phone that has made me want to switch from my iP4 since I got it 10 months ago, and that's impressive. Can't wait to go into a store and see if I like it. The Android OS is decent enough now (years after it was introduced) that it's nice enough. The app market still sucks, but I don't do many apps anyway. Texting and phone calls. Maybe I'm old school.

 

[Faux Carnival]

iOS is outdated, period. You still can't unlock into apps. (At least into missed calls or messages) Still the same look. No customizability, you can't even skip squares and leave spaces between apps. An ancient notification system, bla bla bla... Anyway, we shall see soon enough.

 

[SilentLoner]

My other half who isn't tech-savvy/ interested in tech (who had the original Galaxy S) said its like mine! It looks exactly the same as my phone and she has an iphone 4.


Take that as what you like

 

[iOS v Android]

There is nothing wrong with being pro apple. What makes you a fanboi is when you have to be anti-everything else.

I like android but at the same time I don't walk around saying "death to iOS" or "burn in hell apple" Android meets my needs more then iOS if iOS starts to meet my needs i may switch.