Samsung Galaxy S II

ongarite · 12-02-2011 2:38pm #1

Someone in Korea accidently released all the info on this new phone 2 days too early but at first glance it looks fantastic.

Android 2.3
4.3" RGB Super AMOLED screen
1GHz dual-core processor
HSPA+, Bluetooth 3.0 & 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi.
1970mAh battery
Weighs 116g (4.09 ounces) and is 8.49mm thick, which makes it one of the thinnest and lightest phones ever.

Breezer · 12-02-2011 4:02pm

I'm liking the look of that battery an awful lot.

The phone itself looks a lot like an iPhone 4 (don't say every touchscreen phone looks the same, come on, it's far more iPhone 4 than HTC Desire for example), but that's no bad thing.

The interface looks good, sort of WP7-ish but still very much Android.

But what has Samsung (and SE for that matter) got against search buttons?? And I hope there's a bit more metal in it than the original Galaxy S, the plastic in that put me right off.

I'm planning on upgrading from my Hero spring/summer, I'll be keeping an eye on this and the rumoured DHD2. Reckon it's gonna be one or the other.

cgordonfreeman · 13-02-2011 3:17pm

Nice. This is what the nexus S should have been.

Hecklar · 13-02-2011 4:48pm

Is it tomorrow its supposed to be properly announced? I'd be very interested in seeing a few more pics and specs. could be my new toy.

eager123 · 13-02-2011 5:45pm

this looks fantastic! anyone know when it will be available in Ireland, in particular on O2??

dots104 · 13-02-2011 6:55pm

they got there hands on it over on engadget

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/13/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-official-tegra-2-4-3-inch-super-amoled-plu/

thomasj · 13-02-2011 8:53pm

the samsung galaxy 2 was unveiled in Barcelona tonight!

heres a video from engadget
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-qtOza3FVw

Oafley Jones · 13-02-2011 9:13pm

Fantastic battery capacity, let's just hope that it actually translates into longer use times. I thought the 1500mAh in the SE Arc was impressive. Let's hope that HTC follow suit and quit putting miserable batteries in their products.

thomasj · 13-02-2011 9:24pm

Breezer wrote: »

But what has Samsung (and SE for that matter) got against search buttons?? And I hope there's a bit more metal in it than the original Galaxy S, the plastic in that put me right off.

I'm not sure but the Nexus S which is a Samsung phone has 4 capacitive buttons including search.

I'm not sure why i presume this is a trend for the galaxy s. I hate the menu button. I reckon they should have had 4 soft buttons

LukeS_ · 14-02-2011 2:15am

Yeah the buttons thing isn't really a trend. SE are actually starting to put the search button on their phones that previously hadn't got it. As far as I'm aware the new Play, Neo and Pro have search buttons.

Oh btw, it's a 'Super AMOLED Plus' screen.

Zagato · 14-02-2011 2:23pm

Breezer wrote: »

But what has Samsung (and SE for that matter) got against search buttons??

I have heard that if you hold the menu button, the search box pops up.

I am, like yourself, looking to upgrade my Hero to this or whatever HTC will have to offer. For me the pluses for this one are: NFC (ok I'll probably never use it, but it's a very gadgety thing to have) and the battery, although I'm not sure it's quite as big as suggested by the OP. Samsung Galaxy S certainly seems to have better battery life than the Desire HD. And thirdly the screen sounds pretty good

Downsides for this phone are Touchwiz (would probably get rid of it anyway), is bound to have a slightly cheap feel as it is so light, and poor PC software/upgrade support from Samsung.

Let's see what HTC present us with!

Goodshape · 14-02-2011 3:16pm

Lack of search button is annoying. I have heard others say they never use it but personally, I use it all the damn time. Not having that button would have me thinking twice about this phone :-/

Hecklar · 14-02-2011 3:23pm

what do you mean by search button? as in a dedicated one beside the others on the front? if you hit that menu button in the bottom left theres a search button right there, if im not mistaken. Surely that cant be a gripe for people? its ridiculously easy to search on a Galaxy S.

Goodshape · 14-02-2011 3:34pm

Hecklar wrote: »

if you hit that menu button in the bottom left theres a search button right there, if im not mistaken.

What if I'm inside an app? There's no search button in the context menu of the browser (for one example).

Just seems like a silly omission. Particularly for developers, who can no longer rely on a standard set of buttons and have to clutter their context menus with sometimes-duplicate functionality.

thomasj · 14-02-2011 3:50pm

Why is touchwiz looked upon so negatively? Does it really badly affect the ui?

Just wondering is there a notification widget on touchwiz (ie missed calls, new message, new email) I hate the way the android notification bar is hidden IMO at the top.

Oafley Jones · 14-02-2011 4:01pm

Argghh. No fm radio. There had to be a catch for me.

superfish · 14-02-2011 5:57pm

looks the exact same as my galaxy s not much better spec either think il hold on till the next one comes out

Zagato · 15-02-2011 2:09pm

Anyone seen any official detail on how much RAM it will have?

I think battery is supposed to be 1650mAh

Oafley Jones wrote: »

Argghh. No fm radio. There had to be a catch for me.

Where did you see that according to these specs it does, but don't know how reliable they are, hence my original question.

Gryzor · 15-02-2011 2:34pm

these are apparently the specs, also a comparison against the galaxy s

Zagato · 15-02-2011 2:46pm

Up for pre-order £515 at Handtec, £480 at Clove.co.uk,

Lots of conflicting specs out and about still. On Clove just saw that there is no HDMI out, bit of a bummer for a phone that records 1080p - but then looked at Expansys which says it does, but also says it has a 1.2GHz Exynos processor so feel less likely to believe them

Oafley Jones · 15-02-2011 2:49pm

Zagato wrote: »

Anyone seen any official detail on how much RAM it will have?

I think battery is supposed to be 1650mAh

Where did you see that according to these specs it does, but don't know how reliable they are, hence my original question.

Can't remember where I saw it but there's no mention of an fm radio on samsungs own website. I'm hoping that this might be a case of regional versions and that the euro model will have it.

dunleas · 15-02-2011 3:04pm

Oafley Jones wrote: »

Can't remember where I saw it but there's no mention of an fm radio on samsungs on website. I'm hoping that this might be a case or regional versions and that the euro model will have it.

spec on clove.co.uk suggests it has an FM radio. I agree if the lack of flash on the Galaxy was a killer for me then the lack of an FM radio on the II would be a repeat offender

cullenswood · 15-02-2011 4:32pm

Oafley Jones wrote: »

Argghh. No fm radio. There had to be a catch for me.

deal breaker for me too. looks like I will be sticking to HTC so!

smcnena · 15-02-2011 5:22pm

No FM radio? If that is true, that is ridiculous:(

I wonder when we can expect to see it here................soon I hope. I m holding of on an upgrade on the hope that new dual core phones from htc/samsung will be available here by Q2

BeardyFunzo · 15-02-2011 5:56pm

the lack of a radio won't bother me, but the lack of a flash will... i like having a torch on my phone!

Gryzor · 15-02-2011 5:58pm

BeardyFunzo wrote: »

the lack of a radio won't bother me, but the lack of a flash will... i like having a torch on my phone!

it has a flash...

Zonda999 · 15-02-2011 6:17pm

It would want to too, the lack of any sort of flash on the original almost ruins the camera feature IMHO, even if the flahs would have added slightly to the slim factor

Breezer · 16-02-2011 3:39am

Breezer wrote: »

I'm planning on upgrading from my Hero spring/summer, I'll be keeping an eye on this and the rumoured DHD2. Reckon it's gonna be one or the other.

Not at all impressed with HTC's lineup. And the more I look at the Galaxy S2, the more I like it. I think my decision's made

Out of interest, anyone here think this is an ugly phone? I've seen a few people saying it. Beauty must be in the eye of the beholder because I think this looks fantastic, and I really didn't like the original Galaxy S. If anyone thinks it's not a looker, would you mind sharing why?

Brian · 16-02-2011 9:13am

smcnena wrote: »

No FM radio? If that is true, that is ridiculous:(

What next, no floppy drives in PCs?

Oafley Jones · 16-02-2011 11:03am

Baza210 wrote: »

What next, no floppy drives in PCs?

You've chosen a poor analogy. The floppy drive was replaced with technology that did the job better. Not having a phone with fm forces the user to use the likes of streaming apps such as pandora. While this has it's place it's a poor substitute in many cases for an actual radio.

Goodshape · 16-02-2011 11:56am

Actually, I thought his analogy was pretty good

Desire has an FM radio as far as I can remember.. but I've never actually used it. Last time I wanted to listen to radio it didn't even cross my mind to open the FM Radio app and start scanning for a signal. I just went straight to the market, downloaded the 98FM streaming app and that was that. Nicer interface too.

Each to their own though... like I said, it'd be the no-search-button that'd turn me away. A totally non-issue for most people I'm sure.

ongarite · 16-02-2011 12:02pm

TuneIn Radio is free and many times better than the FM radio app on the Desire.

cullenswood · 16-02-2011 12:04pm

ongarite wrote: »

TuneIn Radio is free and many times better than the FM radio app on the Desire.

yes, but you are using data and need to be in a 3g area for good coverage, which is not always the case if you were commuting

Oafley Jones · 16-02-2011 12:56pm

ongarite wrote: »

TuneIn Radio is free and many times better than the FM radio app on the Desire.

I use tunein on average for two hours a day. It's this reason that I won't buy another phone without fm radio. It uses data it's a battery hog and it's absolutely useless if you're trying to listening to commentary at a sporting event. It does have it uses but for local and national radio it's a poor substitute.

angel01 · 16-02-2011 1:01pm

I think the phone looks too big, It is impressive but a bit too large and that would put me off the phone to be honest.

I use tune in radio quite a bit, I use it on my way to and from work and no major issues with it. I never use the FM Radio on the Galaxy S (as I need to use the earphones that came with the phone and they are shocking!)

john.martin · 16-02-2011 1:41pm

Panic over - LED flash and RDS FM radio included...

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9100_galaxy_s_ii-3621.php#

Some lineup....

fionny · 16-02-2011 2:07pm

Race is on for the networks to stock it... I hope they dont do the usual lark of getting it late...

See Nexus S only being announced by Vodafone and O2 now when its been outdated already.

john.martin · 16-02-2011 2:15pm

Sim free all the way - saves money in the long run not having to sign up to a 'Smart Phone' plan...

Zagato · 16-02-2011 2:17pm

Yeah, I agree, but get in quick Clove price gone up to £528 since yesterday (-I'm sure they can still change this after you pre-order it, mind you)

fionny · 16-02-2011 2:19pm

I disagree, the cost simfree is madness where as there is a lucrative re-sale value on smartphones.

Example, I currently own a HTC Desire bought for 180euro on 1 year contract with Meteor... my contract is nearly up in time to buy a Galaxy S2 from probably around 200euro on another 12 month contract.

I can get my desire unlocked and sell its second hand on ebay for around 290 euro... rinse and repeat...

I already did the same thing when I owned an iPhone 3g...

john.martin · 16-02-2011 2:29pm

fionny wrote: »

I disagree, the cost simfree is madness where as there is a lucrative re-sale value on smartphones.

Example, I currently own a HTC Desire bought for 180euro on 1 year contract with Meteor... my contract is nearly up in time to buy a Galaxy S2 from probably around 200euro on another 12 month contract.

I can get my desire unlocked and sell its second hand on ebay for around 290 euro... rinse and repeat...

I already did the same thing when I owned an iPhone 3g...

Minimum o2 Smartphone rates of €45/month for 150 minutes - i use 1000+ minutes per month and my bill is around €40-50 / month - happy to buy simfree and also not wait until Christmas for this phone...!!

fionny · 16-02-2011 2:35pm

Fair enough if your a heavy heavy user I use meteor at the moment as they are the best value by a long shot and am on the 35euro Tarrif.

If i I had 500GBP spare id buy the phone now but alas like most people these days im fecken broke.

john.martin · 16-02-2011 2:43pm

fionny wrote: »

Fair enough if your a heavy heavy user I use meteor at the moment as they are the best value by a long shot and am on the 35euro Tarrif.

If i I had 500GBP spare id buy the phone now but alas like most people these days im fecken broke.

o2 Clear (€24.90) - Unlimited calls to O2 & Irish Landline works out very well for me i also add GPRS 250mb (i think for around €7.50/month) - might be worth a look... http://www.o2online.ie/o2/shop/plans/

fionny · 16-02-2011 2:45pm

Ohh I need a gig data minimum for my smartphone plan's

john.martin · 16-02-2011 3:06pm

fionny wrote: »

Ohh I need a gig data minimum for my smartphone plan's

Do you really use that much data each month on your phone...?

fionny · 16-02-2011 3:40pm

I regularly use 300-400 megs a month and sometimes up to 700megs,

never been over the gig mark though. Dont see the point in having a smartphone if your cant have push emails, facebook feeds, regular browsing and app downloads and maybe the occasional song too safely.

john.martin · 16-02-2011 4:47pm

fionny wrote: »

I regularly use 300-400 megs a month and sometimes up to 700megs,

never been over the gig mark though. Dont see the point in having a smartphone if your cant have push emails, facebook feeds, regular browsing and app downloads and maybe the occasional song too safely.

Fair enough - i use my phone (N97) for email browsing ect and have great difficulty using 50meg - i do use the wireless in the house & office but only automatically download the headers for each email so i can select which ones i want to read in full... suppose each to their own...

Gryzor · 16-02-2011 6:11pm

Youtube, streaming music, installing\updating apps....wouldn't be long going through the mb's over the space of a month.....

1gb should be a minimum, most people will never go over it, but at least you don't have to skimp or wonder how many mb's this or that will use....

angel01 · 17-02-2011 12:42pm

I only over 1gb easily over the course of a month, if you believe people only use 250mb, you are listening to the tripe of O2

Brian · 17-02-2011 6:52pm

Most I've managed is 3 GB and that was downloading a couple of podcasts every day.

I'm on Meteor Bill Pay Lite so €10 plan + €15 for 10 GB

fionny · 18-02-2011 10:20am

Ill leave meteor if 3 gets the Galaxy S2 first, in some ways im hoping they do as Im getting a bit tired of Meteors lack of 3g coverage, although im not looking forward to the awful indian call centres 3 use.

I really hope the networks bulldoze on fast with this.

Samsung Galaxy S II

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