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Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II review: Brightest star

13 May 2011 | Read the review | Post your comment
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II review: Brightest star - read the full textIt looks like the point where it all ends. A galaxy outgrowing its own limits. An explosion of energy and speed. An overdose of smartphone power. A phone that makes you love the smell of Android in the morning. The likes of Samsung I9100. Update: Samsung Dive overview added...

 

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Attn to GSMArena :

what about sound quality while recording video in noisy environment ?
(ie: music group/room, bar, concert, windy place, etc... ?)

I'm asking because i noticed that my 2 last samsung phones had such a problem you didn't mention (Tocco Ultra and Galaxy S) or didn't notice, a bit too much noise and the recorded sound is totally distorted/saturated.

And from my own experience, i didn't meet those problems with some other phones/brands.

If you experience that and you got any contact with samsung, please submit them that problem worthing really to be fixed, thank you.

  • Reply
  • 2011-05-14 01:41
  • m86k

Good review, though quite a lot of features were not dealt with in a lot of detail and one missing item that Gsmarena forgot is the SWYPE KEYBOARD...

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  • 2011-05-14 01:38
  • my8{

> In reply to philm @ 2011-05-14 00:49 from mX73 - click to readThe location of both microphones can't provide proper stereo recording.

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  • 2011-05-14 00:55
  • L4xM

There are a few missed points,,at the top is a 3.5mm jack and another microphone for video recording ,,there is one at bottom for speech in fone calls so there is reason why a future update could bring the stereo video record.

Also in video player if you press right touch key beside home button you get options to adjust brightness,colour temp,activate repeat mode,activate outdoor visibility mode,send to bluetooth headset,share video,subtitles support.

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  • 2011-05-14 00:49
  • mX73

After reading GSMArena's review my first thought was "At last a flagship phone that has it all and justifies it's price."
Well done Samsung, you have proven that you have learned from your past mistakes and hence the No 1 spot.
Kudos to GSMArena as well for their(as always)detailed review.
Gotta go and order a Galaxy II for myself now... :-)

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  • 2011-05-14 00:14
  • gIYG

Great review as usual by gsmarena :-)
But just one point: on the 'Performance' page you should also state that the Exynos 4210 SGS2 is clocked 200MHz higher than the LG 2X, this resulting in a certain advantage over the 1.0GHz Tegra2. Still, your results seem to confirm that, even at same CPU clock speeds, Exynos 4210 is faster than Tegra2 although Tegra2 is by no means slow...

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  • 2011-05-14 00:10
  • 0ET9

> In reply to klear @ 2011-05-14 00:01 from vGQR - click to readnot forgetting that, although there was a slight delay, the actual 2.3 gingerbread update was flawless.

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  • 2011-05-14 00:04
  • nxwR

> In reply to Anonymous @ 2011-05-13 23:48 from mS2} - click to readI give you a couple of very important points to think about:

1. Locked bootloader in HTC. Galaxy S2 already has been unlocked by devs in XDA. So, very slim chance of custom ROM for HTC Sensation
2. 1 GB internal memory in HTC vs 16 GB in Samsung. So many apps try to run from the internal memory. Makes perfect sense as the internal NAND is so much faster compared to memory cards. External memory cards does not have very fast write speeds (even if you consider Class 10 cards)
3. People talk about Samsung updates. There has already been 2 updates in UK for Samsung for Camera and auto-brightness. Not sure of other things as nobody seems to have the changelogs. And don't forget original Galaxy (international version) was the first to get the 2.3 update, faster than ANY HTC phones.

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  • 2011-05-14 00:01
  • vGQR

When will gsmarena do proper gps testing? Showing tracks over maps, etc? Who cares about the ttff time only?

The galaxy 1 was a fiasco with a useless gps and now we still don't know if they fixed things in SGS2.

Time for proper GPS testing.

  • Reply
  • 2011-05-14 00:00
  • mV4h

OMG!
It's sooooooo unfair....
I want this phone, but do I???
I have a Galaxy S...
Sometimes you just want a change...
BUT EVERY REVIEW IS AMAZING...
I just want a 'pro' version of this with a keypad for emulators!
Only because gaming is so poor on Android...
:(
ARGH!
Decisions... decisions...
However, what a phone...
NOTHING compares...
The only negative I guess is the build / desirability...
I love the way it smashes the Galaxy S by about 4 times in terms of speed and power...
:)
Got to love Sammy...
HTC Evo 3D anyone?
Doubleshot?

  • Reply
  • 2011-05-14 00:00
  • HKye

> In reply to Anonymous @ 2011-05-13 23:49 from mS2} - click to readThanks...bad news for me...have to put more money under my pillow every month...

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  • 2011-05-13 23:56
  • mwng

> In reply to Anonymous @ 2011-05-13 23:39 from TkPZ - click to readSamsung probably had two options when designing the phone. 1 add metal to the casing but it would have to be thicker, or 2 make the casing plastic and thinner. They chose 2 because a phone this thin made of metal would over heat affecting performance and literally burn u. The plastic which is of an excellent quality by the way prevents u from burning your hands and enables it to remain cool. Mobile-review website confirms this in their assessment. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I can appreciate why some people like metal on their phones but Samsung made what it felt would be the popular choice which some will like and some not.

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  • 2011-05-13 23:54
  • 0CD}

Nice review!!! Hell of a nice phone!!! But you could have saved yourselves a lot of writing if you only had writen "The Galaxy S II, the phone that beats the cr@p of every other smartphone to date"... I'm just sayin'... lol!

  • Reply
  • 2011-05-13 23:50
  • G2GS

> In reply to klear @ 2011-05-13 23:49 from vGQR - click to readAmen to that :)

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  • 2011-05-13 23:50
  • mS2}

> In reply to Zapatazuparta @ 2011-05-13 23:47 from mwng - click to readI heard the Tegra version with Super Clear LCD will be not be sold in Europe. Europe, North America and East Asia are getting Exynos with Super AMOLED Plus Version, and the rest of the world (Africa, Middle East, Latian America and so on) are getting the Tegra Version

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  • 2011-05-13 23:49
  • mS2}

haters gonna hate..we know what this phone is capable of. All HTC/SE/Apple fanboys, please move to your own forums. Just look at the review and the conclusions:

"We just cannot see beyond the new Samsung flagship if we’re to name the ultimate smartphone." - gsmarena
"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." - engadget (9/10)
"The Samsung Galaxy S2 has not only set a new bar for smartphones in 2011; it's smashed the bar, recreated it in its own image and put it out of reach of the competition." - techradar
"But if you're after a one-word summary of the Samsung Galaxy S2: awesome." techradar (5/5)
"Verdict - Of course you should buy this phone" - Electricpig (5/5)
"...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." - Slashgear

Not all these sites can be wrong, is it? Take it or leave it. punk!

  • Reply
  • 2011-05-13 23:49
  • vGQR

The best smartphone to date period. There will always be personal preferences in people and some people would prefer other phones over this but Galaxy S II is definitely the best phone right now. HTC Sensation? hmm with 768MB RAM compared to Galaxy S II's 1GB and qHD against SA+, I think Galaxy S II is a tad better.

  • Reply
  • 2011-05-13 23:48
  • mS2}

I read someware this baby costs 600Euros in Belgium.
May be it's better to wait galaxy S i9103 the dual core tegra version
with super clear lcd...may be it will be cheaper..

  • Reply
  • 2011-05-13 23:47
  • mwng

> In reply to Smat @ 2011-05-13 23:39 from 0CD} - click to readI said nothing against the rules, and everyone that read my post that's not a Samsung fanboy KNOWS that. I just want a explanation, so I will not "infringe" the rules again.

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  • 2011-05-13 23:45
  • L4xM

> In reply to Smat @ 2011-05-13 23:32 from 0CD} - click to readNever said that processing power isn't usefull, but I'm sure that will be no visible difference between 1.2Ghz and 1.5Ghz running the Android OS. I just don't think it's really usefull.
About the 1080p, you have a point and I have to agree with you.
Not sure if so many people would chose Galaxy SII over Arc, the core Android experience is just the same and I just doubt that there's too much difference for the normal user.
You say that I'm trying to influence other not liking the phone "through peddling garbage", but in my opinion, all this absurd processing power is "peddling garbage", I rather have a phone with solid functionality and decent build quality, that I can usually like a phone (without a tablet-like screen). All I said here was just my opinion and you should respect that.

  • Reply
  • 2011-05-13 23:43
  • L4xM
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