Hello everyone,
I have been using the Samsung Galaxy S2 since April of 2012 and thought it would be good to share my experience. I realize the S5 is on it's way, but aside from the S2 I'm hoping to give an insight into the Galaxy as a serie as well. Also, because of the previously mentioned reason the S2 might drop in price even more than it already has over the last 2 years. Therefor making it an attractive phone for people who want to upgrade to a smart phone without having to make a big investment. For these main reasons I believe a review of the S2 still has benefit for other people.
Performance:
The phone has enough memory to process anything you're doing at an amazing speed. Having multiple tasks running should slower the system down, but to this date I have never noticed anything of the sort. I also like to watch movies on the phone and never had so much as a hick up while playing. An even stronger argument to support the stability of this phone is the fact that I had my phone running for 6 months straight without so much as a reboot. I did not notice any decrease in performance and the only reason I choose to restart was because the lockpad was bugging out and not displaying the 'key maze' properly anymore.
The S2 as a media device:
This is where the Galaxy really shines. I use the phone daily to watch things on YouTube, watch my TV shows, movies and listen to music. Needless to say the phone has a lot to live up to when it's being used that many hours a day. The sizable display of 480 x 800 pixels is perfect when it comes to watching your shows during work breaks as I do and is even acceptable if you want to watch a movie while traveling a long distance.
Vacations are something everyone goes on and forms the perfect challenge for a phone. I was able to put the S2 to the test on my vacation. If you're anything like me you'll dread the days without access to your shows, movies and of course a 24/7 internet connection. I happened to go on vacation to Portugal while living in The Netherlands. This ment being far away from home with no reliable source of internet nor access to my shows or movies. I had 16 GB of space on my SD card and 16 GB of internal space available and I managed to cram it chock full of Smallville, Lee Evans and Eddie Izzard (aside from my 5 GB of music which is my default setting for any phone I use, hehe). I ended up having to charge my phone every day, which is not unusual for any kind of smart phone, but I did get a lot of enjoyment out of it.
The negative:
Nothing can truly be 100% positive or amazing. Anything in life has a downside and the S2 doesn't deviate from that format. I do have to admit it's a small point of criticism, but I didn't want to leave it out.
When you search the internet for most experienced problems with an S2 you will eventually end up with a problem related to the USB port. I've had such a problem as well; my S2 wouldn't connect to my PC via USB anymore. Windows (any version) would say it didn't recognize the device and just plain ignore it. This resulted in me not being able to move music and videos around, not even with Samsung Kies. I ended up submitting a support ticket on the Samsung website (which I normally stay clear of, because you end up with automated responses anyway) out of sheer desperation. Samsung (or rather their tech support) did not fail to live up to my low expectations as I got the reply to try it with Samsung Kies (even though I had written them that I had already tried that) and gave me the advice to visit one of their shops to ask for help.
In the end I used a different USB cable to see what would happen and voila! The problem was somehow solved. To this day I have no clue why my old USB cable suddenly gave out (as it still seems to charge and the connection isn't unstable at all), but all I know I can now access my phone again. And that is all that matters.
To support the above I have to mention that my girlfriend had to return her S2 to the store for repairs 3 weeks after purchase. Those problems were USB related like with mine, but in her case the phone would not even charge. I believe the repairform said the USB port was deformed or shorted out even though she did nothing strange to it. Although the latter must be the most used sentence by any customer ever.
Conclusion:
I did make sure to check the reviews on the later Galaxy models, the S3 and S4. I also happen to have family who use those models and their experience has been nothing but positive so far. So if you're looking for a reliable phone that is affordable and gives you plenty of options, then the Samsung Galaxy S2 is an option you definately want to keep in mind. The Galaxy as a series actually sells itself because most of the user experiences are so positive (comparable to the iPhone). I have grown very fond of my Galaxy and needless to say I will be staying with the series when my phone subscription ends in April of 2014. I intend to upgrade to the latest Galaxy model available at that time.
Specifications:
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II, released in April of 2011.
Size:
125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm (4.93 x 2.60 x 0.33 in)
Display: 480 x 800 pixels, 4.3 inches
Weight:
116 g
Memory:
Card slot: microSD, up to 32 GB
Internal: 16/32 GB storage, 1 GB RAM
Camera:
8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Video:
Yes, 1080p@30fps
For the full feature list check out:
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9100_galaxy_s_ii-3621.php
U.A.
This is where the Galaxy really shines. I use the phone daily to watch things on YouTube, watch my TV shows, movies and listen to music. Needless to say the phone has a lot to live up to when it's being used that many hours a day. The sizable display of 480 x 800 pixels is perfect when it comes to watching your shows during work breaks as I do and is even acceptable if you want to watch a movie while traveling a long distance.
Vacations are something everyone goes on and forms the perfect challenge for a phone. I was able to put the S2 to the test on my vacation. If you're anything like me you'll dread the days without access to your shows, movies and of course a 24/7 internet connection. I happened to go on vacation to Portugal while living in The Netherlands. This ment being far away from home with no reliable source of internet nor access to my shows or movies. I had 16 GB of space on my SD card and 16 GB of internal space available and I managed to cram it chock full of Smallville, Lee Evans and Eddie Izzard (aside from my 5 GB of music which is my default setting for any phone I use, hehe). I ended up having to charge my phone every day, which is not unusual for any kind of smart phone, but I did get a lot of enjoyment out of it.
The negative:
Nothing can truly be 100% positive or amazing. Anything in life has a downside and the S2 doesn't deviate from that format. I do have to admit it's a small point of criticism, but I didn't want to leave it out.
When you search the internet for most experienced problems with an S2 you will eventually end up with a problem related to the USB port. I've had such a problem as well; my S2 wouldn't connect to my PC via USB anymore. Windows (any version) would say it didn't recognize the device and just plain ignore it. This resulted in me not being able to move music and videos around, not even with Samsung Kies. I ended up submitting a support ticket on the Samsung website (which I normally stay clear of, because you end up with automated responses anyway) out of sheer desperation. Samsung (or rather their tech support) did not fail to live up to my low expectations as I got the reply to try it with Samsung Kies (even though I had written them that I had already tried that) and gave me the advice to visit one of their shops to ask for help.
In the end I used a different USB cable to see what would happen and voila! The problem was somehow solved. To this day I have no clue why my old USB cable suddenly gave out (as it still seems to charge and the connection isn't unstable at all), but all I know I can now access my phone again. And that is all that matters.
To support the above I have to mention that my girlfriend had to return her S2 to the store for repairs 3 weeks after purchase. Those problems were USB related like with mine, but in her case the phone would not even charge. I believe the repairform said the USB port was deformed or shorted out even though she did nothing strange to it. Although the latter must be the most used sentence by any customer ever.
Conclusion:
I did make sure to check the reviews on the later Galaxy models, the S3 and S4. I also happen to have family who use those models and their experience has been nothing but positive so far. So if you're looking for a reliable phone that is affordable and gives you plenty of options, then the Samsung Galaxy S2 is an option you definately want to keep in mind. The Galaxy as a series actually sells itself because most of the user experiences are so positive (comparable to the iPhone). I have grown very fond of my Galaxy and needless to say I will be staying with the series when my phone subscription ends in April of 2014. I intend to upgrade to the latest Galaxy model available at that time.
Specifications:
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II, released in April of 2011.
Size:
125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm (4.93 x 2.60 x 0.33 in)
Display: 480 x 800 pixels, 4.3 inches
Weight:
116 g
Memory:
Card slot: microSD, up to 32 GB
Internal: 16/32 GB storage, 1 GB RAM
Camera:
8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Video:
Yes, 1080p@30fps
For the full feature list check out:
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9100_galaxy_s_ii-3621.php
U.A.
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