T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II Initial Impressions

T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II Initial Impressions

The FedEx man brought me a lovely little gift yesterday: The T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II. This is the last stateside arrival of the Galaxy S II family. The review will take a bit to get out the door, so until then I figured I'd whet your appetite with some initial impressions.

   

First of all, this thing is big. Really big. I have to say though, I love the design of it. It feels sturdy and very well made. Like Samsung really knows what they're doing. The plastic back has a wonderful texture to it that almost makes it feel like leather. I think I like it better than cold, slippery aluminum. The 4.52 inch screen is bright and beautiful, but the extremely low pixel density means everything is gigantic.

  

The T-Mobile variant (codenamed "Hercules") is the odd man out in the SGSII family. T-Mobile saw fit to swap out the 1.2GHz Samsung Exynos processor for a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon, which has moar gigahertz but a crappier GPU. The two gigahertz numbers aren't directly comparable, so I'll have to play attention to performance in the review. Expect benchmarks.

    

This beauty is also equipped with NFC (unlike the Sprint variant), so hopefully, someday, it'll have Google Wallet support. Right now only Nexus S 4G owners get to live in the future. Speaking of software, this thing is packed with garbage. It comes with 3 and a half pages of apps; I've got my work cut out for me.

The full review will be coming in a few days. I'm going to go get to work. In the mean time, enjoy the photos and feel free to ask any questions you would like addressed in the write-up.

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Samsung Nexus Prime set to dwarf iPhone 4/5?

Yesterday the news broke that Samsung accidentally announced itself as partner for the next flagship “pure Android” device. The Nexus Prime – if rumors are to be believed – will play host to an incredible array of specs. With a 4.5″ Super AMOLED display and processing power supplied by a 1.5GHz core chip, this robot is going to be a beast. (That is, of course, if the speculation is correct.)
With a screen that size and a processor that powerful it is set to dwarf the current iPhone and possibly the iPhone 5 in almost every way conceivable. (Unless Apple files a lawsuit and gets a block on sales in place.) We know that the next iPhone will have the A5 processor, which is dual-core, that’s a given. We don’t know how powerful it is – since Apple keeps it secret – but it’s almost certainly not 1.5GHz. What about display size? The current iPhone’s 3.5″ screen is already looking a tad small compared to its biggest rivals. If the Prime does have a 4.5″ display, that’s an entire inch of difference. Even if the next Apple handset sports a 4″ screen, it’s still tiny compared to the Prime’s purported specs. Granted, a 4.5″ display is certainly pushing in to the realm of too big, but, who wants to carry a device that looks puny and weak against the top Google-dog?

What do you guys think? Will the iPhone 5 be a pace setter? Or will it be blown away by the Prime? (Talking performance here, not sales.) A lot will come down to how will Ice Cream Sandwich holds up in the real world. iOS 5 is going to be tough to beat (since it’s stolen the best parts of all the other major phone OSes.)

 

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Samsung Galaxy S2 to be Unveiled in U.S. August 29

Samsung Galaxy S2 to be Unveiled in U.S. August 29

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While the world worries about the Galaxy R, a cheaper alternative to the Galaxy S2, and the countries it will launch in first, we in the U.S. are still looking for the Galaxy S2. It launched elsewhere in the world months ago (even our neighbors up north have it) and Samsung has shipped millions of them in the few months it's been available. So, when is USA going to get some Galaxy S2 action? August 29, apparently!

Samsung today sent out invites for a 'major product launch' in New York City on August 29. Considering the monster specs that the Galaxy S2 is packing, we can only assume that the big fuss is for the U.S. launch of the S2. The invitation also features a telltale 'II' emblazoned on the front. Subtle, Sammy, real subtle. The event itself is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET, so mark your calendars and we'll bring you the latest on pricing, carrier and release dates when the day comes.

For those of you that need reminding, the Galaxy S2 boasts a dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel camera (1080p@30fps), a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, up to 32GB of storage, and Gingerbread (AKA Android 2.3).

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Say hello to the Android smartphone of the year so far: The Samsung Galaxy S2.

Say hello to the Android smartphone of the year so far: The Samsung Galaxy S2.

Android based phones are coming thick and fast this year. So much so, that it is going to make actually choosing one a bit of a minefield. At least that's the case if you haven’t clapped eyes on Samsung’s flagship phone for 2011, the Galaxy S2.

Anyone who is looking for a super-powered mobile phone is going to get it here with the Galaxy S2, which features a beastly 1.2 GHz dual-core processor running of a generous 1GB of RAM. That’s theoretically faster than the super speedy iPad 2 and should give users all the power they are ever going to need.

Obviously a higher spec CPU makes for a power-hungry phone, especially when you consider that the Galaxy S2 screen size has jumped from the original 4-inches to 4.3-inches. Thankfully there is no need to worry about charging in the middle of the day thanks to the display technology which is a Super AMOLED Plus screen that uses a fraction of the power used by a conventional LCD screen and will ensure a least a day’s worth of heavy smartphone use.

To top it all off, there is a monster 8-megapixel camera with LED flash on the back and a 2-megapixel shooter on the front.

All of this will be housed in a ridiculously thin casing that, at just 8.49 millimetres, makes the Galaxy S2 the thinnest phone in its class, even eclipsing the iPhone 4.

The phone will also be running Android Gingerbread, the latest version of the operating system for smartphones and this will provide a silky smooth user interface as well as allowing for the Galaxy’s newest feature called Near Field Communication (NFC).

NFC is an innovative new communications protocol that functions as a data exchange between devices and NFC tags once they are within four feet of each other. This might not seem like a big deal but it will, in the future, facilitate for instant transactions (just wave your phone at the counter and walk out) or even a full medical history that updates itself after every doctors visit or treatment.

It’s heady stuff and is unlikely to become a part of everyday life for another couple of years but if electronics giants like Samsung, Nokia, Sony and Apple are including it in their future plans, expect to see this one fly.

For our money, the Samsung Galaxy S2 is the must-have Android phone of the year so far. As to when Samsung actually get around to releasing it is anyone’s guess and but we reckon that Samsung is going to drop this Apple-baiting bomb very near to the summer launch of the iPhone 5.

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Samsung Galaxy S2 to Feature Super AMOLED Plus, to Be Unveiled at MWC 2011?

Samsung Galaxy S2 to Feature Super AMOLED Plus, to Be Unveiled at MWC 2011?

The only reason we might have questioned the presence of Samsung’s latest display technology, Super AMOLED Plus, from showing up in the next version of the Galaxy S is that there is a chance the manufacturer will have once again moved on to an even newer screen. It looks like that won’t be the case, and the latest whisperings indicate the even more brilliant version of the original Super AMOLED will be on board for the Galaxy S2. The S2 will also receive NFC support and most likely Android 2.3.

While very little is known at the current moment, word is we may not have to wait too long to get some first impressions of the follow-up to one of last year’s biggest phones. MWC 2011 in February should be the place where Samsung initially unveils their next generation of Galaxy Androids
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