- 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
- 4.3"
- Dual core 1.2 GHz
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 December, 2011
Features Key features of the Samsung Galaxy S II
1.2 GHz
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich 3.5G
Rated 80% by by c|net (Sep, 2012)There are a very helpful photo editor and video maker, plus an FM radio that you can use if you plug in headphones.
screen size
4.3"
4.8"
3.8"
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 Flet (Oct, 2011)I'm glad ATT went with the 4.3" screen, not too big but big enough to watch a video and see all the details, and fit enough web page on there to actually read for a bit without scrolling all over the place.
screen resolution
Galaxy S II by GSM Arena (Apr, 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 GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)With a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU and a powerful GPU, the Galaxy S II for T-Mobile can run every Android app designed for phones.
Galaxy S II by Adam-Kotschi--Adam-J.-Kotschi (Jan, 2012)It uses a 1.2GHz Dual Core Samsung processor that is very quick and snappy.
camera resolution
| 0 MP | 5 MP   | 8 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 Fer (Oct, 2011)Overall the phone is great, the phone is really fast, the screen is gorgeous, and its customization capabilities are great as well.
Galaxy S II by The Verge (Oct, 2011)Some basic benchmark tests mirrored that experience, too, showing that the Snapdragon is very fast, but not always consistent; I got Quadrant scores as high as 3,802, but as low as 2,200.T-Mobile’s super-fast HSPA+ 42 network is a selling point by itself (AT&T’s "4G" doesn’t even compare), and even though 42Mbps was but a pipe dream, I got impressive results.
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
900 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 -
Enables payment by phone and other wireless communications -
850,000 apps (Android Market) -
2.1 Mb/s -
66 x 125 x 8 mm -
Micro HDMI -
8 MP -
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich -
116 g -
1920 x 1080 @ 30 fps -
Listen to music and news from local radio stations -
16 GB -
8 mm -
999 ms -
64 ms -
Play games and use applications that take advantage of device rotation -
Share your cellphone's data plan with other devices -
78.4%
cons
-
10,020 min -
Doesn't support the fastest, most reliable networks -
Apr, 2011
Reviews Word on the street
 |
|
|---|---|
 |  
|
 |
|
 | Rated by 450 users at amazon.com Rated 80% by by Wessam-Mesieha (Nov, 2011) Rated 20% by by Johanna (May, 2012) |
Screen
Samsung Galaxy S II GSM | 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 GSM | by GSM Arena (Apr, 2011)They are actually developed in cooperation with Accuweather and display the current weather conditions on the whole screen.
Samsung Galaxy S II GSM | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The bigger screen is a welcome addition to the feature set, along with the freshened up design.
Carrier
Samsung Galaxy S II GSM | Rated 80% by by c|net (Sep, 2012)You get plenty of extra apps on here too, like Amazon.com's Kindle app, Quickoffice, Kies Air (a Wi-Fi-based PC-to-phone sync manager), MOG Music, a Mini diary, NFS Shift, Social Hub, MyAT&T, AT&T Code Scanner, AT&T FamilyMap, AT&T Navigator, AT&T Ready2Go, and AT&T Live TV.
Samsung Galaxy S II GSM | Rated 75% by by The Verge (Oct, 2011)Latency was alarmingly high, often at over 500ms, but I tested other T-Mobile phones as well and that issue seems to have more to do with the network than the phone.4G speeds are pretty battery-crushing, too, and unlike on the Epic 4G Touch there’s no easy way to turn it off.
Samsung Galaxy S II GSM | Rated 100% by by Miguel-WestPalm (Oct, 2011)But the phone it is just great working perfect with my AT&T 3G sim card.
Video
Samsung Galaxy S II GSM | Rated 20% by by JohnIt has a 8MP 1080p rear camera with flash, a very crisp, clear, 4.3 inch screen, supports gsm 4G hspa+ and it is very light feeling compared to other cell phones.
Samsung Galaxy S II GSM | Rated 80% by by c|net (Sep, 2012)It's able to capture 1080p movies; video quality was also pleasing.
Samsung Galaxy S II GSM | 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 GSM | 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 GSM | Rated 100% by by Esc.Siri aside, the life on the iPhone 4S will completely outdo the SGS2 by far.
Samsung Galaxy S II GSM | Rated 60% by by Russ (Oct, 2011)Coming from the iPhone world, I'm used to being able to go to one place to sync my music and podcasts from my PC to the phone.
Network technology
Samsung Galaxy S II GSM | Rated 80% by by c|net (Sep, 2012)I wouldn’t recommend doing so, though, since the Galaxy S II 4G features the same Android software, 4G, a much better camera and display, plus faster performance for $60 more.
Samsung Galaxy S II GSM | Rated 100% by by hjch (Feb, 2012)LTE is a hot stuff nowadays, but LTE is a very new technology.
Samsung Galaxy S II GSM | 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.
Competition What else you should consider
 | 1 | LG Nexus 4 Rated the best by consumers LG Nexus 4 vs Samsung Galaxy S II |
 | 2 | LG Optimus L9 Better than usual battery capacity LG Optimus L9 vs Samsung Galaxy S II |
 | 3 | Samsung Galaxy S III Most built-in storage Galaxy S III vs Galaxy S II |
 | 4 | Samsung Express Galaxy Longest battery life during active use Express Galaxy vs Galaxy S II |
 | 5 | Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 6-way tie: Has a removable battery Galaxy Ace 2 vs Galaxy S II |
 | 6 | HTC Desire X Smallest HTC Desire X vs Samsung Galaxy S II |
 | 7 | Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE 3-way tie: Is 4G Galaxy Victory 4G LTE vs Galaxy S II |
New duel?
Let the battle continue or dare to compare.
Popular Questions
September 9, 2012
Does the galaxy S III support iPhone apps?
I want a smartphone for the following reasons: - stay connected with friends, share pics, browse net and most importantly, Apps. I wanted to know if the galaxy phones support apps of sites i...
Beginner I
4
Answers September 8, 2012
Long battery time, processing power and ram
I would like a phone that is capable of doing the duties similar to my iPad for emails and assignments in my business degree. I want plenty fast processing power and storage
Visitor
3
Answers September 17, 2012
Does the Galaxy S2 or Xperia S have a better quality screen?
I am looking for a phone which has a great quality screen so I can watch YouTube videos. The Galaxy S2 screen looks like it is brighter and has better quality. Is this true? would anyone help...
Visitor
2
Answers Unanswered Questions
- 7 discussions
- View more
January 6, 2013
Pictures, websurfing, emails, and future small business
Tell us more! Are you a pro business user or tech-savvy gadget geek? Need super long battery life? Tonnes of games? Smart auto-complete for billions of txts? Help our community of experts help of...
Visitor
0
Answers December 21, 2012
How to turn on the flash sensor on samsung galaxy s2
How to turn on the flash sensor on samsung galaxy s2
Visitor
0
Answers September 9, 2012
International support?
I will be doing some traveling to Europe. Will both of these phones work there?
Visitor
0
Answers 
