- Conclusion Get the lowdown
- Features How it compares
- Performance Real world benchmarks
- Differences Technical showdown
- Reviews Word on the street
- Competition Others to consider
- Discussion Answers and opinions
Samsung Galaxy S II
- Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
- 3.5G
- 4.5"
- Dual core 1.5 GHz
#1 in 3.5G phones
Released April, 2011
Rated 80% by by c|net (Sep, 2012)In addition to using the standard touch interface, you can also use the same motion gestures found on the Epic 4G Touch.
Conclusion Check out the Samsung Galaxy S II
First reviewed February, 2012
Features Key features of the Samsung Galaxy S II
1.5 GHz
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich 3.5G
by GSM Arena (Apr, 2011)It certainly isn’t the most compact of handsets but a 4.3” touchscreen phone just couldn’t have been better in terms of ergonomics and handling.
screen size
4.5"
4"
4"
Galaxy S II by Karla-Velarde (Dec, 2012)Is very simple to use when you get used to it, nice camera, very good HD screen quality, is the perfect size for those like me who think that we don't need a phone of the size of a tablet.
Galaxy S II by c|net (Sep, 2012)It's still stuck with the 800x480-pixel resolution, which doesn't look as crisp on a big screen, but we still thought it looked great.
screen resolution
Galaxy S II by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The images captured with the 8MP camera of the Galaxy S II are very good – low noise, plenty of fine detail and the color and contrast are good too.
Galaxy S II by O.-Canto (Dec, 2011)I wouldn't trade this phone for an iPhone, and my wife wouldn't trade her iPhone for my GS2 (but we both thought that the other ones phone seemed really great), so you see, I guess what I can resume from this is that both phones are really good ... the details, well it depends on the user, I guess.
memory
| 0 GB | 2 GB   | 2 GB |
processor
Galaxy S II by c|net (Sep, 2012)Mobile's model of the Android Gingerbread smartphone is slightly different from the other versions in that it features a different dual-core processor, an NFC chip, and support for the carrier's faster HSPA+ 42 network.
camera resolution
| 0 MP | 8 MP  | 20 MP |
Galaxy S II by c|net (Sep, 2012)There's a nice, strong 2-megapixel camera on the front that's great for video chats, but the best lens yet is the 8-megapixel one on the back, which continues to take excellent shots on every Galaxy S II variation we've seen.
Galaxy S II by GSM Arena (Apr, 2011)To match the field of view of the still camera in the 720p mode, Samsung is using the whole surface area of the sensor and combine the information of adjacent pixels into one to get the resulting single megapixel resolution.
Performance Real world tests of Samsung Galaxy S II
cpu speed
Galaxy S II by c|net (Sep, 2012)Though Qualcomm's chip has a slightly faster CPU, we didn't notice a huge difference in speed in everyday use, and in fact the AT&T and Sprint models felt just a touch more responsive.
Galaxy S II by Redneon (Sep, 2012)Just to point out though the battery life isnt all that great as expected, the processor speed and the amazing screen drains the battery quite quickly and also it isnt the best looking phone out there in terms of aesthetics but its super thin super light weight and incredibly fast and feature packed.
browser benchmark
Galaxy S II by wutzel (May, 2012)The plastic is obviously just painted and not chrome color and underneath its black, so this will become unsightly very fast.
Galaxy S II by Shawn-T (Oct, 2011)If you like androids this is a must have...camera is fantastic web browsing is fantastic the speed is fantastic best all around phone I have ever used.
download speed
Galaxy S II by c|net (Sep, 2012)Using Ookla's Speedtest.net, we averaged a download speed of 6.49Mbps, peaking at 9.61Mbps, and upload speed of 0.76Mbps, peaking at 1.59Mbps.
Galaxy S II by c|net (Sep, 2012)Using Ookla's Speedtest.net app, we averaged a download speed of 3.2Mbps and an upload speed of 1.1Mbps.
talk time
515 min
1,350 min
1,020 min
Galaxy S II by GSM Arena (Apr, 2011)The 1650 mAh battery is quoted at 18 hours and 20 minutes of talk time and up to 710 hours of stand-by in 2G networks.
Our analysis How does it stack up against its top 10 competitors
pros
-
3.5 mm -
Android Market (Android) -
Capacitive -
8 MP -
OLED screens are typically higher contrast and use less power -
Many games and videos on the Internet require Adobe Flash -
Enables payment by phone and other wireless communications -
1.5 GHz -
Micro HDMI -
4.5" -
1920 x 1080 @ 30 fps -
Listen to music and news from local radio stations -
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich -
8 MP -
Play games and use applications that take advantage of device rotation -
Share your cellphone's data plan with other devices -
999 ms -
16 GB -
64 ms -
9 mm
cons
-
10,020 min -
Doesn't support the fastest, most reliable networks -
206 ppi -
Apr, 2011
Reviews Word on the street
 |  
|
|---|---|
 |
|
 | Rated by 518 users at amazon.com Rated 20% by by AS (Feb, 2012) Rated 100% by by J.-Biggiotorres--Designer (Dec, 2011) |
Carrier
Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The Samsung Galaxy S II for AT&T had great in-call quality and the sound was crisp and loud.
Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile | Rated 100% by by Miguel-WestPalm (Oct, 2011)But the phone it is just great working perfect with my AT&T 3G sim card.
Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The Snapdragon S3 chipset of the T-Mobile Galaxy S II is a sharp departure from the beast which the Exynos is well known to be.
Screen
Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile | Rated 100% by by Rod (Dec, 2011)It has an excellent screen size with a very bright high resolution.
Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile | Rated 100% by by Adam-Kotschi--Adam-J.-Kotschi (Jan, 2012)The screen is a large, bright 4.3" Super Amoled Plus variety and is simply fantastic to look at.
Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The image editor handles the basics like image rotation, cropping (no resize though) and adjusting brightness/saturation/contrast..
Network technology
Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile | Rated 100% by by hjch (Feb, 2012)LTE is a hot stuff nowadays, but LTE is a very new technology.
Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile | Rated 80% by by c|net (Sep, 2012)In real life, page load time was acceptable for 3G-roughly 15 seconds for a mobile-optimized page and 30-60 seconds for a much more graphically rich site.
Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile | Rated 60% by by Chris-Macias (Mar, 2012)The device can handle multi-tasking beautifully, and picks up GPS signal much faster than my Inspire 4G.
Video
Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile | Rated 100% by by Devin-Johnson (Dec, 2011)This phone is perfect great pictures clear hd video.
Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile | Rated 100% by by Merdith-Roach (May, 2012)Other than that this phone is blazing fast, and my netflix movies are beautiful to watch.
Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile | Rated 80% by by c|net (Sep, 2012)Video was equally sharp and smooth when capturing and playing back 1080p HD video.
Apps
Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The Social hub we’ve seen before – it combines you email accounts with social networking (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn) and IM accounts (Gtalk, MSN and Yahoo)!
Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile | Rated 80% by by J.-Haggardthis phone comes with its own voice commands integrated with Vlingo and and the phone will talk to you if you say "check schedule", it plays music, sends txt and emails, writes memos, etc all with the power of your voice.
Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile | Rated 80% by by c|net (Sep, 2012)The video editor is particularly great, since it makes it easy to piece together clips with different effects and music, all from right on your phone.
Competition What else you should consider
 | 1 | LG Nexus 4 Rated the best by consumers LG Nexus 4 vs Samsung Galaxy S II |
 | 2 | Samsung Galaxy S III Most built-in storage Galaxy S III vs Galaxy S II |
 | 3 | Samsung Galaxy S4 Better than usual battery capacity Galaxy S4 vs Galaxy S II |
 | 5 | Samsung Express Galaxy Longest battery life during active use Express Galaxy vs Galaxy S II |
 | 6 | Motorola RAZR XT910 Is waterproof Motorola RAZR XT910 vs Samsung Galaxy S II |
 | 7 | LG Optimus L9 4-way tie: Supports FM radio LG Optimus L9 vs Samsung Galaxy S II |
 | 8 | Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE 4-way tie: Is 4G Galaxy Victory 4G LTE vs Galaxy S II |
New duel?
Let the battle continue or dare to compare.
Unanswered Questions
- 7 discussions
- View more
March 6, 2013
Samsung SII echo problem
Has anyone experienced the echo problem with the S II which people on the other end of the line hear? It seems to be a real problem with this model but no one has mentioned it here which makes me...
Visitor
0
Answers January 27, 2013
Just starting out with new flat phone
Right now I have a samsung flip phone by verizon (7 years old) Im thinking about getting the new samsung galaxy proclaim with the straight talk from wallmart. Being new to these larger phones, I...
Visitor
0
Answers 