Galaxy S2

[gorilla]

I've searched but I don't see a review of Samsung's latest (and greatest?) Galaxy phone, the S2 (or is that the SII?).

As some of you will be aware, I lost (https://talk3g.co.uk/showthread.php?8981-I-lost-my-phone) my Nexus S (me bad!) but the kind folks at (evil) insurance company decided that the Nexus S was discontinued and so I would have to make do with a Galaxy S2 (worth £200 more - recession, what recession?). #win

I plan to do a proper review, but in the meantime let me just say that first impressions are good. It feels better in the hand than the Nexus S and has a gorgeous screen.
I plan to root it later and load stock android, so my review will be on how the hardware handles stock android and not touchwiz (which to be fair isn't as bad as HTC Sense).

[DaveC]

This might be useful as a basis http://www.eurodroid.com/tag/samsung-galaxy-s-ii/

[Ben]

Good stuff, can't wait to hear how your experiences pan out.

The handset is to be banned from sale in the EU in 7 weeks time according to today's news... get it while you can! ;) Only patent Apple could make stick was on how images are displayed, though, so I'm sure a software update will come out before then to negate the judgement.

[gorilla]

I'll curtail the review in light of the link DaveC provided (a good read).

Let me put my thoughts into perspective. My Android journey began with the HTC Desire (I feel a benchmark product) followed by the equally good Nexus S. Both of these handsets are perfectly usable and if I had not used the S2 I would still be trumpeting the Nexus S as one of the best phones around.
Having used the ZTE Blade as an interim phone over the last couple of weeks I've come to appreciate the importance of hardware to Android. Yes the Blade is a good budget phone, and it can be rooted and can run custom roms and yes, it can run the latest OS (2.3.5) but it can be sluggish. This is not a criticism because for a £100 I feel that it is a bargain, but it will demonstrate the difference between a budget handset and a premium handset such as the S2.

My first impressions of the S2 were good. It is really thin and surprisingly light (it will fit and stay within a shirt pocket without adding much bulk).
The screen is just marvellous - the best I've seen on any phone, even compared to the iPhone 4.
Initially I thought TouchWiz (the crap Samsung cripple their version of Android with) was ok and didn't really notice why people complained about it so much, but then I realised I had no data connection. Yes, the stock firmware wouldn't let me connect to the three network.
I was planning on rooting the phone anyway and I will always run a custom rom that is as close to stock Android as possible, but this major bug convinced me to speed this process along.
I rooted it using this guide (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1103399) which worked simply enough even if I had to use windows and install (so many) updates and Kies. I installed the custom rom DevNull (http://forum.oxygen.im/viewtopic.php?id=102).

I spent one day with the stock firmware and very few of the Samsung apps seemed to work - perhaps because I had no data connection, but I can see why there are a few complaints about this handset. Anyway, spend 15 minutes to root and install a custom rom and you will not look back.

Running DevNull this handset really does fly. The kindle app is a good test i.e. do you notice the page turn? On the Blade the kindle app was sluggish and turning pages was painful at times almost like an actual book page turning over! No such delay on the S2, the page turns and the screen refreshes instantly.

It's too early to rate battery life, but I got a full working day out of it yesterday despite the phone constantly trying to locate a signal. I suspect if I was to watch a movie on it, the battery would drain quite quickly.

The camera looks good and I plan to test that out when I go on holiday.

Memory: the S2 comes with 16GB built in and lots of room for apps, but also has expandable MicroSD up to 32GB.

Sound: With headphones on it's really loud. I mean LOUD. I don't think I've had a portable music player with such oomph. The built in speaker is also pretty decent (perspective needed here - it's a phone speaker!) but obviously suffers with the standard issues. Still, it's better than the N95 which if I remember, had a good speaker.

I mentioned in a previous post that the ZTE Blade had a nice size of keyboard. Well you can forget that as I'm as fickle as Robbie Keane (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/aug/16/the-fiver-arsenal-robbie-keane). For my hands this 4.3" screen has the perfect keyboard for me. I was instantly typing at a fast pace and may not use swype (which used to be my favourite keyboard).

I note the rumours about the court orders preventing the sale of these phones, but I also saw a rumour site that showed that the US version of this handset would have a redesigned case to stave off Apple. Well I'm sorry, anyone who thinks this handset resembles an iPhone clearly has never actually held one. Apart from the S2 being substantially bigger and lighter, it looks nothing like an iPhone. Yes, it has a 'home' button but even that is different to the iPhones.

Apple fanboys will probably find it difficult to migrate to Android and as such there will be negative reviews about this phone. Android users will love this phone. Even if you didn't root it, I suspect that the S2 would compare favourably to every other standard Android handset. Of course the fact that you can root it, unlock it and tinker with the OS is just a bonus for me.
Buy this phone!

[Hands0n]

Nice review Chris. The only thing that puzzles me is why you couldn't get it to work on Three until you rooted and ROM'd it. Wasn't it SIM-free?

Everything I read about the Galaxy S II is complimentary about it. So it looks like Samsung has got themselves a bit of a winner on their hands.

[Ben]

Yes, nice to hear your first impressions - a fantastic bit of hardware to be running the latest flavours of Android on I'm sure.

Nokia must look at the Android developer community and absolutely weep. Towards the end of Symbian, as far as I can tell most of those forming the Symbian buzz were either paid or bribed to be there! That said, it's not like Symbian ever really had the shackles taken off of it like with Android.

[Hands0n]

I learned yesterday that the Galaxy S II is HSDPA+ compliant. Now that is going to be great news for "all you can eat" data customers (typically T-Mobile and Three at the moment). My own experience of HSPA+ is that of 9.2Mbps (downlink) from a mast that typically gives me 5Mbps fon HSPA. That is a very healthy gain and at least 4Mbps faster than I can get from my ADSL2 supplier.

[gorilla]

I thought I would provide an update since I've had this phone for a few weeks now.
First things first: this is a quality piece of kit, make no mistake.

However, I am running a stock Android RoM (DevNull) and with this installed the phone is fast, responsive and the battery easily lasts a full day (I charge it every night, but I guess I could get 36-48 hours without a charge).

As you know, I like to tinker with various ROMS on Android, but with the Galaxy S2 my experience has not been good with any ROM bar stock AOSP. This is in complete contrast to the HTC Desire and the Nexus S.

What does this mean? The stock Samsung firmware is horrible (Not surprising then that they have hired the CyanogenMod guy). As you recall from my posts above I had trouble with data connection. I've also discovered that when I've tried the stock Samsung firmware that I get lots of apps force closing (you'll know all about this if you have an iPad 2 - meeeooowwww!!). I realise that this is because the stock firmware is so bloated that it basically eats all of the 1GB of RAM, thus rendering the device pretty much useless.
Just to clarify, I'm not doing anything that could be construed as dodgy here, this is standard Samsung firmware and legitimate apps downloaded from the Market.

I've also tried other ROMS that "improve" on the Samsung experience, but these too have their own faults and all of them are at least twice the size of DevNull (or stock AOSP).

Needless to say I understand why Nicky sold the phone after only a short time. If I didn't know how to root and install custom ROMs I too would have sold this phone.

Why then do manufacturers ruin a perfectly good operating system?

Android 2.3.5 is perfectly stable, has great battery performance and combined with the hardware found on the S2 makes for a really great experience.
Oh I know, HTC Sence and TouchWiz add a layer of Apps and widgets that improve the user experience. Er, no!
If I want those apps and widgets, I can get better equivalents from the Market.

If we compare this to the iPhone, which comes with very little out of the box, users coming to iOS from another ecosystem will have to spend a long time investigating various apps and trying to get it set up so that it works for them. If Apple can allow people to do this, why can't Samsung?

Manufacturers should at least offer a version that is pure Android, a bit like how you can pay Dell to remove the crapware from their PCs.

To end on a positive note I would say that if you've seen this phone, like it and want it, go ahead and buy it, but make sure you root it and install AOSP. It'll be the best 15 minutes you ever spend.

[Ben]

I don't know about *lots* of apps force closing on iPad 2, I don't have that problem anyway, but ok :p

It seems to me that with Android manufacturers have started doing what the mobile operators tried to do in the noughties. If only they would make their primary objective to improve the user experience, rather than purely to do whatever it takes to differentiate themselves, then they might actually get somewhere.

I didn't like stock Android on my Nexus One, so I do think the manufacturers have room to add out-the-box customisations. They're just going about it in entirely the wrong way.

[miffed]

I keep looking at the SII , I have been running the iOS5 betas since Beta 6 , and I'd absorbed all the new bits , it had already started to feel a bit "same-ey" , unless the iPhone 5 sweeps me off my feet in a Hardware sense , I won't be upgrading ( famous last words I know)

I have been generaly unmoved by Android, I loved my Dell Streak - but I think that was more down to Hardware & Form factor than anything else

Had my Nexus S for a couple of months now , and I have to say that running stock 2.3.5 I was not really that impressed , it is only since using CM 7.1 with the Nertarchy Kernal Overclocked to 1.4Ghz that this changed ,and suddenly I have a device that feels as snappy as the iPhone ! (possibly snappier ?) ...This taught me that Android CAN be good (something that I wasn't convinced about before ) and since o2 owe me an upgrade (Which I was keeping to one side for iPhone 5) I am entertaining the idea of using that upgrade to get SGSII

I was guessing that I'd get similar performance with a standard SGSII to that I am getting from my Overclocked Nexus S ? I am getting a Quadrant score of about 4300 , but having read you post I am starting to think perhaps this would not be the case ? and that an upgrade to a better ROM / Kernal would be essential ?

I have this voice in the back of my head saying "Wait for the Galaxy Note" ...as this sounds like EXACTLY my kind of device ! the fact that no one else on the internet thinks it is a pointless misfit makes it absolutely MADE for me !!

[gorilla]

You wont be disappointed with the S2, it is a snappy phone even on the awful Samsung firmware, but yes you will want to root and load a custom rom to give it that edge. I don't overclock (perhaps the rom does?) so I imagine that you can get even better performance of you choose to overclock. On DevNull my quadrant score is 4300 or 4400 (can't quite recall at this time).

However, at this stage the S2 is quite old so you might be better waiting for the Nexus Prime to see what standards it will set.