The Samsung Galaxy S II device took the world by storm in 2011, becoming the UK’s best-selling phone. The S2 held off the challenge from other more established smartphone contenders such as the Apple iPhone for the trophy of the best mobile phone device on the market.
With Samsung set to launch the S3 later in the Spring, it is expected that the Galaxy S2’s price will drop, making it a contender for the best free smartphone on the market. If you are considering purchasing a phone this year, then check out this Samsung Galaxy S II review to find out if this is the device you should be going after.
Mobile phone features
The Galaxy’s large 4.27-inch screen, with a resolution of 480x800px, is one of the first things you notice about the handset. With the iPhone sporting a 3.5-inch display, it’s easy to see why the S2 became such a head-turner when it was launched in April 2011. However for some, the size of the handset may be too large to use in public, however it weighs only 116g, a full 24 grams lighter than the iPhone.
Running off Android Gingerbread, the phone features a front-facing 2MP camera alongside a quality 8MP on the reverse with 3264×2448 pixels. It was the quality of its primary camera that elevated the Samsung Galaxy S II to the forefront of the market.
As with most smartphones, user’s contacts can be personalised with photographs and are connected to other accounts such as email, Facebook and Skype. A nice feature is that contacts can be arranged according to group, making them easy to locate. There is also room for more than a thousand contacts if you require them.
Organise yourself
The device features a standard calendar, which can be used to record appointments. Other organisational features include an alarm clock, Google maps and a World Clock feature, which is particularly useful for globetrotters or people who do business with companies in other countries.
Additional features
There are thousands of applications to choose from in Android’s online Market. These include games of all types as well as educational applications, language software and just about everything else in between.
eBook fans will also find a whole host of applications to support them such as Kindle and Moon Reader. Coming with 16/32GB internal memory and a card slot to boost this up to another 32GB, it’s possible to store hundreds of eBooks on the Samsung Galaxy S II at any one time. This means that book lovers will always have plenty to read while they are on the road. Many of these applications are available completely free of charge and can be downloaded directly onto your device.
Ease of use
This device is among the most user-friendly on the market. When the device is connected to a computer a sharing folder will automatically open. Users simply change the applications stored on their device by deleting them from the folder or dragging and dropping them. Photographs, music and even videos can be added in a mere matter of moments without the need to convert files.
Overall verdict of the Samsung Galaxy S II review
This easy-to-use and stylish device remains one of the best handsets of its kind on the market. The wide range of applications that are available and the fact that the device is compatible with virtually any type of system is a real bonus. The only drawback is that the large size of the device makes it a little inconvenient to use as a mobile phone when you’re on a night out. On the whole, though this device scores an impressive four out of five.
Mobilesplease rating: 4 out of 5
The Samsung Galaxy S II is currently available as a free handset at Mobilesplease, where you can compare all the best mobile phone deals.
After years of owning iphones, me and my wife got Samsung S2’s. Best phones we have own to date.. It solved a lot of irritating usability problems that we suffer with iphones.. We even use most of the apps that we used in our iphones since the app companies make the apps for both Android and Apple.. I used ISyncr and transfer all my music and playlists to my Android. The Android has a lot better bluetooth device so it sounds great every place and in my vehicle. I never got my iphones to sound decently on my vehicles.. Great screen..!!!
Got my GalaxyS2 6 months ago, the first few months worked fine. Then started freezing and hanging up a few times a day, after I talk on the phone and try hang up it would be frozen, or mid text it would freeze, had to take out battery many times to restart it – only for it to freeze as I tried restarting. I only downloaded 2 or 3 apps, Sent it in, Samsung did a software upgrade and just got it back after 6 weeks. A day later, it was worse than before. Freezing mid text constant, couldn’t even finish a message and I’d have to pull out the battery (turning the power off wasn’t an option as the freeze wouldn’t allow it), did this way too many times – finally had to use someone else’s phone. Trying to view pictures from the camera and the “my files” pics cause the phone to freeze – again could only take battery out. After a couple days it was okay again, of course it wouldn’t duplicate the errors when I tried taking it back in. That was not even a week and it’s back to doing the same thing. Just this evening in the last 2 or 3 hours, had to take battery out too many times to count, I’m trying to charge it right now – it rebooted itself 6 times, then started making what I guess you could call as a “tremor” sound, like it’s stuck in a seizure. Had to take battery out to make it chill out. Now I try charge it again and it shuts right down, no power even to see that the battery lights are on to charge – took battery out again to fix the problem, and the charging lights come on, left it for a while, then try turn it on and it freezes and goes black with no power at all again. Have to restart this process, battery out, etc. I’ve done this about 3 times already, finally got too annoyed so I’m leaving it sit there. Still not charging though, not sure how to fix this…
On top of it, battery won’t last 10 hours. It’ll have 3/4 battery life when i go to bed, then dies in the middle of night. I charged it overnight, unplugged it at 730 this morning, by 5pm it was dead – I haven’t even used it b/c I had class all day. I have a juice defender to save battery life, don’t have many apps, shut off all the apps/wifi that I can, but it still doesn’t hold charge. Has been this way most of the life of this phone.
This is my 3rd Samsung (first 2 weren’t androids), my last two I had nothing but problems with now, swore I wouldn’t buy a Samsung after my last one but thought the galaxy would be great. I truely wish I went with the IPhone.
If yours works, that’s awesome, you didn’t get a dud phone! This is just the problems I’ve been having with my phone. That’s what I get for buying a new phone coming out with not many reviews and problems out yet.