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.

Samsung Galaxy S II

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