Review: Samsung Galaxy S II (GT-I9100)
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3 Reviews:
| Review by | SlashGear |
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| Submitted on | 2011-10-17 21:48:33 |
| Make no mistake, the Samsung Galaxy S II could very well be the best Android smartphone on the market today. Several iPhone users we showed it to said it was the first Android device that could turn their heads from Apple’s range, though the iPhone 5, expected to debut in the latter half of this year, should make for a strong incentive for existing owners to stick with iOS. The HTC Sensation will bring the main Android competition when it arrives later in 2011, with its qHD display a key differentiator from the Samsung. However, it will have to prove itself against the Galaxy S II’s battery life, screen quality and camera, and that’s no easy challenge. Is it perfect? No, of course not. While we like some of Samsung’s tweaks – the Kies air app is surprisingly useful, for instance – we’d prefer to see a clean Gingerbread install rather than TouchWiz. How much of a delay that UI modification will force on future Android OS updates remains to be seen, and some changes – such as the keyboard – are frankly backward steps. There are also some annoying teething pains, such as the Video Maker app being unable to handle the Galaxy S II’s 1080p footage. They pale in comparison to the Samsung’s strengths, however. The display belies its WVGA resolution with Super AMOLED Plus technology that manages to be both frugal and visible outdoors, while the dual-core 1.2GHz processor does a similar balancing act with power use and performance. Together they add up to a smartphone with brilliant battery life and the most future-proof hardware we’ve seen to-date. Layer on top of that a great camera, fulsome multimedia support, broad connectivity and a wafer-thin design, and we’re running out of reasons not to buy the Galaxy S II. Samsung has upped not only its game but the benchmark for smartphones in general. | |
| Review by | PCMag |
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| Submitted on | 2011-10-17 21:47:04 |
| Rating | 9 |
| Pros: Fast. Beautiful screen. Incredible battery life. Cons: HDMI out requires an adapter. Bottom Line: The Samsung Galaxy S II combines a state-of-the-art dual-core processor with a terrific screen and amazing battery life to make it the top smartphone available right now. | |
| Review by | Engadget |
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| Submitted on | 2011-10-17 21:40:29 |
| Rating | 10 |
| For a handset with such a broad range of standout features and specs, the Galaxy S II is remarkably easy to summarize. It's the best Android smartphone yet, but more importantly, it might well be the best smartphone, period. Of course, a 4.3-inch screen size won't suit everyone, no matter how stupendously thin the device that carries it may be, and we also can't say for sure that the Galaxy S II would justify a long-term iOS user foresaking his investment into one ecosystem and making the leap to another. Nonetheless, if you're asking us what smartphone to buy today, unconstrained by such externalities, the Galaxy S II would be the clear choice. Sometimes it's just as simple as that. | |
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