Samsung Galaxy S2

The Samsung Galaxy S2 is by far the best smart phone released in 2011.  Even the much anticipated iPhone 4S couldn’t touch the specs and performance of this amazing device. But what makes the Samsung Galaxy S2 such a fantastic phone?  Let me tell you…

Lets start with the basics, but first i need to point out that this is the Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic 4G touch version of the phone, found on the Sprint network.  You may find that some other models of this phone vary slightly.

Samsung Galaxy S2

The Samsung Galaxy S2 is a big phone.  Despite being big, it still manages to be surprisingly thin, and incredibly lightweight. The Samsung Galaxy S2 is in fact so lightweight, that the ‘flimsy’ feel to it is one of the largest complaints of this phone.  Don’t be deterred by this though, the Galaxy S2 is far from flimsy, it has  a high quality plastic case, and the tough Gorilla Glass. In drop tests the Galaxy S2 actually protects the phone much more effectively than the iPhone 4S. The overall size of the phone is 5.11 x 2.74 x 0.38 inches wighing in at 4.6 ounces.

What really makes the Samsung Galaxy S2 is it’s large clear super AMOLED plus 4.52 inch screen that is bright, clear and low power consumption. it has an 800×480 resolution, which is a little low compared to the competition, but not noticeably so. From personal use, the screen of the Galaxy S2 is very clear, sharp and bright, it stays visible even during daylight and quite easily blows past smart phone screens out of the water.

Inside the Galaxy S2 things get even better. A 1.2 ghz dual core, 1 gig of ram, and 16GB of built in internal storage make this phone a powerful device by itself, but compare it to the competition (including the iPhone 4S) and you can see just how far ahead of its class the Samsung Galaxy S2 really is!

The battery can last well over eight hours talk time and 10.5 days standby, and is a lithium ion 1899mAh beast that will help power this phone.  From personal usage, which includes heavy data use, I tend to need to charge this phone on a daily basis, but this does include everything from watching movies on the go via 4G, to checking my emails and playing games.

Feature wise the Samsung Galaxy S2 comes with everything you would expect, including Siri like voice usage, apps, flash compatibility, web browser, GPS navigation and all the applications you can download.  One thing worth mentioning is that although the Samsung Galaxy S2 has 16GB of internal memory, only 2GB is available for your ‘system’.  The system file is also where many app files are stored, this means that if you install a large number of apps, you may find yourself limited when it comes to installs.

The Samsung Galaxy S2 uses Gingerbread 2.3 (maybe upgraded to ice cream sandwich)  which is a beautifully crafted OS.  My favorite feature of this operating system is the ability to add ‘widgets’ straight on to my dashboard screens. This means for the information I need on a regular basis, I don’t even have to load apps anymore, the information is right there where I need it.

One thing that will capture any budding photographers attention is the 8 Megapixel camera, any budding YouTuber will also fall in love with the front facing camera, which while not high-res, is great for taking videos of yourself talking.  You can also use this camera to do live video chat, and with the 4G network this works incredibly well.

Yes, one of the big benefits of the Samsung Galaxy S2 is it’s true 4G connectivity.  You need to have a 4G network for this to really work, some carriers have what amounts to “3G plus”, which is actually quite a bit slower.

This smart phone has more than just a 4G connection. It also works with 3G, WiFi, WiMax, Bluetooth and of course GPS. This wide range of connectivity means that it is actually pretty hard not to get a data connection.

All in all the Samsung Galaxy S2 is absolutely everything you could want in a phone, it is large but thin, tough but light, fast and powerful.  If you are looking for an iPhone 4S alternative, this is it.

Don’t forget to buy a Samsung Galaxy S2 case though!