Samsung Galaxy S II - First Look (video)

[ponyo]

Initial graphics benchmarks for Galaxy S2 looks disappointing. Considering Galaxy S had the best GPU last gen with the SGX 540, I expected Galaxy S2 to continue that tradition. Orion was hyped to be some monster dual core CPU/GPU. Maybe the drivers are not fully mature. Whatever the excuse, Tegra2 spanks it in initial flash and graphic benchmarks. Very disappointing.

Samsung is no longer using PenTile grid so texts on the S-Amoled Plus screen should be clear as the normal LCD. That is good news. It's also good that S2 will ship with 2.3 Gingerbread since the chance of Samsung updating the phone is close to zero.

It's pity that Samsung phones are the only ones with the gorgeous S-Amoled Plus display. It's hard to go back to regular LCD after experiencing AMOLED.

 

[speg]

God that skin is terrible. I'm not sure how much better native 2.3 is but that just looks really amatuer and chintzy.

 

[chocobosandwich]

And it will probably sell millions as well. I'll be one of those, or maybe get the Optimus 3D instead.

If anyone has actually read Atrix reviews, they will know that the screen can look pixelated and the quality of the screen and viewing angles are pretty subpar. BGR even said the Droid X screen looked better. All the idiots raving about qHD need a dose of reality, the reality being there are way more factors to a good phone display besides resolution.

 

[thilanliyan]

After having used a Samsung Wave, and a Nokia C7, LCD screens just don't compare. I'll probably pick up a GS II eventually for that screen.

 

[shabby]

And it will probably sell millions as well. I'll be one of those, or maybe get the Optimus 3D instead.

Its a pity that optimus3d doesn't support the 850mhz and 1700mhz band needed for att/tmobile.

 

[zoiks]

there's hiccups left and right too. sometimes handcent takes ages to load. sometimes the os just gets all bogged down when trying to pickup a call while browsing the web for example...

Engadget mentioned this in their Nexus One review and their Nexus S review.

You know, I have a Nexus S and it's happened to me too. But perhaps only a couple of times. I have a reasonable number of apps. Yes, I don't have live wallpapers running or some stupid shit that would take memory like nuts but I do have widgets like Beautiful Weather and Batt Statt running and like 99% of the time the phone is much more snappier than anything else I've used. And that includes an iPhone4.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

And it will probably sell millions as well. I'll be one of those, or maybe get the Optimus 3D instead.

If anyone has actually read Atrix reviews, they will know that the screen can look pixelated and the quality of the screen and viewing angles are pretty subpar. BGR even said the Droid X screen looked better. All the idiots raving about qHD need a dose of reality, the reality being there are way more factors to a good phone display besides resolution.

So maybe the Atrix didn't use a good panel, but based on the history of the D1, D2, DX, Motorola has used some of the best IPS panels out there. It's close to 100% of gamut unlike AMOLED.

It's easy to say that AMOLED looks great because our eyes love exaggerated colors. Anyway, it's a pity that Moto did screw up the Atrix's display.

On another note, the SGS II actually seems like the phone to get. While Samsung screwed the US phones over, Froyo came out a lot earlier for the overseas version. With finally a quad band version, i think we can just buy this on AT&T. Well I guess that still doesn't solve the 3 other carriers, but at least the feeling that I'm using what the rest of the world uses means that development and ROMs will be far more streamlined.

Oh, plus the Atrix is probably gonna be locked forever....

 

[chocobosandwich]

So maybe the Atrix didn't use a good panel, but based on the history of the D1, D2, DX, Motorola has used some of the best IPS panels out there. It's close to 100% of gamut unlike AMOLED.

It's easy to say that AMOLED looks great because our eyes love exaggerated colors. Anyway, it's a pity that Moto did screw up the Atrix's display.

On another note, the SGS II actually seems like the phone to get. While Samsung screwed the US phones over, Froyo came out a lot earlier for the overseas version. With finally a quad band version, i think we can just buy this on AT&T. Well I guess that still doesn't solve the 3 other carriers, but at least the feeling that I'm using what the rest of the world uses means that development and ROMs will be far more streamlined.

Oh, plus the Atrix is probably gonna be locked forever....

There are issues with superAMOLED, sure, but many of them can be overlooked because of the deep blacks and far superior contrast. The saturated colors is a problem, as well as the blue tinge, but those are less hardware defects and more design choices. Samsung wants to emphasize the contrast, so they blow up the colors. AMOLED should be capable of that 100% gamut as well. The blue tinge seems more precautionary than necessary when it comes to the general lifespan of the display. Hopefully these two things will be fixed with the Galaxy S2, as I couldn't really tell with the videos whether they were still apparent. They did fix the penTile, which I found annoying on the Galaxy S. That, coupled with the over-saturation, really made me consider getting a super LCD phone. I do love IPS screens too, and owned an Asus V6va, one of only a handful of laptops with IPS screens, back in the day. But that contrast and dark blacks just really kills it.

 

[Judgement]

So maybe the Atrix didn't use a good panel, but based on the history of the D1, D2, DX, Motorola has used some of the best IPS panels out there. It's close to 100% of gamut unlike AMOLED.

It's easy to say that AMOLED looks great because our eyes love exaggerated colors. Anyway, it's a pity that Moto did screw up the Atrix's display.

On another note, the SGS II actually seems like the phone to get. While Samsung screwed the US phones over, Froyo came out a lot earlier for the overseas version. With finally a quad band version, i think we can just buy this on AT&T. Well I guess that still doesn't solve the 3 other carriers, but at least the feeling that I'm using what the rest of the world uses means that development and ROMs will be far more streamlined.

Oh, plus the Atrix is probably gonna be locked forever....

I think the Atrix is dead to me and since I need a new phone in the semi-immediate future it has left me looking at the Galaxy S2. I never really had any interest in the docking stuff - even before the pricing was announced it seemed gimmicky and not something I would have any practical use for (although if it was being listed at an OK price I would have probably ended up with it... just never used it)

But what has deterred me (when it was announced I was almost positive I would pre-order the Atrix):

1) questionable PenTile display
2) shitty camera/video
3) completely locked down and comes loaded with bloatware
4) not shipping with 2.3

5) All of the above I could have lived with I think... the display is probably good enough, I rarely use the camera, 2.3 will show up eventually, but I haven't seen one review/preview that didn't run speedtests that had results slower than current 3G devices. I know HSPA+ isn't even released yet and it probably wont be in most areas for awhile, which means the majority of the users (including myself) will be counting on 3G speeds for the majority of their time using the device.

That kinda ruined it for me. I wont pay for a device with 4G in its name (without LTE capabilities) that is running at *significantly* slower network speeds than older 3G devices. Maybe it is something that can be fixed in a firmware update/patch and wont even be an issue at release, but what if its not?

I guess it's a balancing act... but right now I'm thinking I'd rather deal with Samsung's lack of updates than a locked down phone running 2.2 & loaded with carrier garbage you cant remove, a pentile display, and shitty network speeds. A slightly higher resolution isn't enough to save it for me.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Ok, you won't pay for a device with 4G in its name without LTE. Do you realize that's gonna be a problem for most GSM providers?

Verizon and Sprint HAVE to move to 4G because their 3G speeds are far too slow. Most of the world is upgrading to LTE, but it's not in a 3-6 month timeframe kinda deal. They're slowly rolling it out and if you look at all the devices coming out, they're gearing for 14.4 or 21mbps HSPA, not 4G.

In essence AT&T and T-mobile have no choice but to use a fake 4G thing to compete. But the reality is you're not going to have real 4G LTE phones for a while.

So you can chastise the Atrix for having fake 4G, but this is how life is in the GSM UMTS world. Our 3G can be upped to 21mbps easily, so providers aren't going to go to full LTE for a while anyway. And even then, remember AT&T's initial 3G deployment? You're gonna get shit coverage for a while and rely on 3.5G HSPA a lot.

BTW, I think Samsung's lack of updates is more of a problem with the US phones simply because it needs to make 4 fucking separate updates for our 4 phones. The SGS overseas gets decent updates. It's not the best, but honestly it's better than my Motorola Milestone which is STILL waiting for the official 2.2 update.

Moto is only half decent in the US because it's sucking on VZW and now AT&T to survive. It will make a half decent effort to upgrade US users. But everyhwere else? Eh.

Give it a few months though. By the time the iPhone 5 arrives, I hope the modders have been able to give some decency to the Atrix. I'm not expecting an unlocked bootloader like I told people last year who got prematurely excited with the Dx, but hopefully some workarounds to at least get custom ROMs (no custom kernels obviously) out the door to eliminate some of the bloat.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I'll keep spreading the Gospel.

DO NOT GET A SAMSUNG PHONE!!!!!!!

I'm with you. It's literally "release a phone and forget about it." No updates, no support, nothing. Completely dependent on the modding community to save your ass.

 

[Judgement]

Ok, you won't pay for a device with 4G in its name without LTE. Do you realize that's gonna be a problem for most GSM providers?

Verizon and Sprint HAVE to move to 4G because their 3G speeds are far too slow. Most of the world is upgrading to LTE, but it's not in a 3-6 month timeframe kinda deal. They're slowly rolling it out and if you look at all the devices coming out, they're gearing for 14.4 or 21mbps HSPA, not 4G.

In essence AT&T and T-mobile have no choice but to use a fake 4G thing to compete. But the reality is you're not going to have real 4G LTE phones for a while.

So you can chastise the Atrix for having fake 4G, but this is how life is in the GSM UMTS world. Our 3G can be upped to 21mbps easily, so providers aren't going to go to full LTE for a while anyway. And even then, remember AT&T's initial 3G deployment? You're gonna get shit coverage for a while and rely on 3.5G HSPA a lot.

BTW, I think Samsung's lack of updates is more of a problem with the US phones simply because it needs to make 4 fucking separate updates for our 4 phones. The SGS overseas gets decent updates. It's not the best, but honestly it's better than my Motorola Milestone which is STILL waiting for the official 2.2 update.

Moto is only half decent in the US because it's sucking on VZW and now AT&T to survive. It will make a half decent effort to upgrade US users. But everyhwere else? Eh.

Give it a few months though. By the time the iPhone 5 arrives, I hope the modders have been able to give some decency to the Atrix. I'm not expecting an unlocked bootloader like I told people last year who got prematurely excited with the Dx, but hopefully some workarounds to at least get custom ROMs (no custom kernels obviously) out the door to eliminate some of the bloat.

I don't really care about the naming conventions - if they want to call whatever they're using 4G to make shit clearer for consumers to understand its w/e - but at least get the speeds on the device up to par with the shit that's already on the market (their own 3G devices) before advertising it as such. I could be overreacting - I guess we will know next week since the Atrix release date was bumped up.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I don't really care about the naming conventions - if they want to call whatever they're using 4G to make shit clearer for consumers to understand its w/e - but at least get the speeds on the device up to par with the shit that's already on the market (their own 3G devices) before advertising it as such. I could be overreacting - I guess we will know next week since the Atrix release date was bumped up.

Well there's something definitely wrong with the Atrix seeing how Engadget reviews couldn't get it to go fast enough for Speedtest. The iPhone 4 was creaming it.

so we weren't getting an accurate picture of HSPA. I'd say its software, but those who use t-Mobile 4G say it's damn fast don't they? And plenty of people on Spring WiMAX have shown that their speeds can range from anywhere from just about as fast as AT&T 3G to double the speeds. It's not impressive either.

Just as long as AT&T doesn't charge a "4G fee" for this crap, and you shouldn't worry. The last thing we'd want is a "4G fee" for fake 4G 😀

 

[Imported]

I was considering the Galaxy S II as my first Android phone but it looks like Samsung is a company to avoid.. Are there any other Android phones someone would recommend? A 4.3" 720P screen would be amazing to have. I was also considering the Atrix but hearing the screen isn't that great is pretty disheartening. Something thin is also a bonus.

I'm coming from an iPhone 3GS and looking for something non-Apple. Also don't mind switching carriers.

 

[liquidblue]

Coming out of lurker mode to say don't buy this if you expect a working phone out of the box. I didn't listen to the articles about Samsung's track record of updates and after reading ATT and Samsung would be releasing updates and fixes "soon" I bought two... I've had to replace both at least twice for random shutdowns and no gps. Running custom roms and still no gps. Official 2.2 at this point is too little too late.

 

[ponyo]

Coming out of lurker mode to say don't buy this if you expect a working phone out of the box. I didn't listen to the articles about Samsung's track record of updates and after reading ATT and Samsung would be releasing updates and fixes "soon" I bought two... I've had to replace both at least twice for random shutdowns and no gps. Running custom roms and still no gps. Official 2.2 at this point is too little too late.

Slow official update bothers me less than defective hardware. SGS has defective GPS. Period. Samsung should be forced to recall all SGS sold worldwide and replace it with working GPS version.

I think Samsung should have made the S2 thicker and used bigger battery. While I appreciate thin, functionality > form. Until other companies can match Samsung cutting hardware and its gorgeous S-Amoled Plus screen, I'll continue to consider Samsung phone despite their horrible US support track record.

 

[JJChicken]

I was considering the Galaxy S II as my first Android phone but it looks like Samsung is a company to avoid.. Are there any other Android phones someone would recommend? A 4.3" 720P screen would be amazing to have. I was also considering the Atrix but hearing the screen isn't that great is pretty disheartening. Something thin is also a bonus.

I'm coming from an iPhone 3GS and looking for something non-Apple. Also don't mind switching carriers.

Samsung makes great phones, I recommend you to reconsider. Who cares if they don't have a good track record on updating Android firmware - for most uses you don't need to update your firmware. A phone is used (primarily) to make calls, surf the net, take photos and play some mindless games. A galaxy s 2 will do excellent in this regard - best screen on market, great camera (by the looks of it) and good build quality (most other android phones are subpar compared to samsung build quality). Plus, its thin so it will fit nicely in your pocket.

I don't see why anyone wouldn't get a samsung, how can you argue against the best screen in the market for this year. From what I know, only samsung phones will have SUPER AMOLED. If you want OS updates, just hack the phone. Win-win IMHO.

 

[Strk]

Samsung makes great phones, I recommend you to reconsider. Who cares if they don't have a good track record on updating Android firmware - for most uses you don't need to update your firmware. A phone is used (primarily) to make calls, surf the net, take photos and play some mindless games. A galaxy s 2 will do excellent in this regard - best screen on market, great camera (by the looks of it) and good build quality (most other android phones are subpar compared to samsung build quality). Plus, its thin so it will fit nicely in your pocket.

I don't see why anyone wouldn't get a samsung, how can you argue against the best screen in the market for this year. From what I know, only samsung phones will have SUPER AMOLED. If you want OS updates, just hack the phone. Win-win IMHO.

I don't think the software updates are that big of an issue so long as Samsung doesn't mimic Motorola with the locked bootloader. I think most people who have issues with updates are ones who are most likely to screw with the phone regardless of being updated.

However, the broken GPS does bug me. Their fixes make it so it only sort of works. For the cost of the phone, it should work. Other companies manage just fine, so why can't Samsung? Hell, it works just fine on the Nexus S and Focus. Let's hope it works on the Galaxy S 2.

 

[JJChicken]

I don't think the software updates are that big of an issue so long as Samsung doesn't mimic Motorola with the locked bootloader. I think most people who have issues with updates are ones who are most likely to screw with the phone regardless of being updated.

However, the broken GPS does bug me. Their fixes make it so it only sort of works. For the cost of the phone, it should work. Other companies manage just fine, so why can't Samsung? Hell, it works just fine on the Nexus S and Focus. Let's hope it works on the Galaxy S 2.

Yeah I didn't know about the broken GPS, until just now. That's pretty fvcked up. But it depends if a consumer wants that functionality. If they don't, then it shouldn't be an issue. If they do, then obviously it will be.

 

[vshah]

dual core doesn't solve anything. it really is just the software.

yup, pinch lag is nonexistent with adw launcher / cyanogen mod on my nexus one.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

yup, pinch lag is nonexistent with adw launcher / cyanogen mod on my nexus one.

off topic question but when you pinch lag, does it sometime stutter first?

It stutters on my Milestone like something has to be loaded into memory, but then its smooth when you try it afterward again and again. The first time is always the delay.

Unfortunately smooth on Milestone = 30fps, not 60fps.

Yeah I didn't know about the broken GPS, until just now. That's pretty fvcked up. But it depends if a consumer wants that functionality. If they don't, then it shouldn't be an issue. If they do, then obviously it will be.

Oh come on. GPS is pretty important. So much is location based now. Google maps, etc etc. Sure getting approx location is nice, but it's gonna be annoying as hell like when I forgot to check the GPS button when using Foursquare for 2 weeks. LOL. Pain in the ass. Anyway, it was a software issue. I blame half of it on the fact that there were 4 US versions of the SGS phone.

Getting an unlocked SGS2 should be fine. If they screw with that, then yes, I'll agree Samsung is the devil.

Slow official update bothers me less than defective hardware. SGS has defective GPS. Period. Samsung should be forced to recall all SGS sold worldwide and replace it with working GPS version.

I think Samsung should have made the S2 thicker and used bigger battery. While I appreciate thin, functionality > form. Until other companies can match Samsung cutting hardware and its gorgeous S-Amoled Plus screen, I'll continue to consider Samsung phone despite their horrible US support track record.

I'm curious about the form factor. At 9mm things get a little thin. I hate holding my iPod Touch 4G without a case. The case gives it a decent grip. I might have to resort to a grip with this? Unfortunately the cases I've noticed for non iApple products haven''t been that great. As much as a ripoff incase is, their slider cases are godlike. We'll see if something good comes out or even if a 4.3" phone makes it easier to hold despite the thinness.

Another issue I do have is the plastic build. Again. 118g light. Feather light. I'd prefer a solidness to it. Shrug. We'll see right?

 

[vshah]

^ nope, no stutter at all. the only time it stutters is if i set my sleep profile to 128/128...when waking the phone everything lags for maybe a second so if i pinch during this time, it will lag. that's the only time it lags.

 

[Strk]

Well there's something definitely wrong with the Atrix seeing how Engadget reviews couldn't get it to go fast enough for Speedtest. The iPhone 4 was creaming it.

so we weren't getting an accurate picture of HSPA. I'd say its software, but those who use t-Mobile 4G say it's damn fast don't they? And plenty of people on Spring WiMAX have shown that their speeds can range from anywhere from just about as fast as AT&T 3G to double the speeds. It's not impressive either.

Just as long as AT&T doesn't charge a "4G fee" for this crap, and you shouldn't worry. The last thing we'd want is a "4G fee" for fake 4G 😀

Those could be real numbers for AT&T's 4G though. You have to look at more than just the moniker. AT&T's HSPA+ is only rated for up to 6mbps, which is actually slower than their regular HSPA speeds.

T-mobile's initial HSPA+ is rated for speeds up to 14.1mbps and is now moving up to 21mbps (only the revised Samsung Galaxy S works up to those speeds though). Verizon's LTE speeds are rated similarly to T-mobile's.

 

[Kabob]

I'll keep spreading the Gospel.

DO NOT GET A SAMSUNG PHONE!!!!!!!

I'm with you, I've got a Samsung Fascinate and unless Samsung drastically changes their customer support practices this will be the last device I buy from them.

HTC seems to be where it's at.

 

[ebolamonkey3]

I think the Atrix is dead to me and since I need a new phone in the semi-immediate future it has left me looking at the Galaxy S2. I never really had any interest in the docking stuff - even before the pricing was announced it seemed gimmicky and not something I would have any practical use for (although if it was being listed at an OK price I would have probably ended up with it... just never used it)

But what has deterred me (when it was announced I was almost positive I would pre-order the Atrix):

1) questionable PenTile display
2) shitty camera/video
3) completely locked down and comes loaded with bloatware
4) not shipping with 2.3

Well, just got my Atrix today, and I honestly think all the complaint about the display is exaggerated. It looks great to me.