Samsung Galaxy S II Plus review: Golden oldie

Display

The Samsung Galaxy S II Plus employs the same 4.3" SuperAMOLED Plus screen as the original Galaxy S II. This means you can count on excellent viewing angles, sky-high contrast and reasonable brightness levels.

The Galaxy S II Plus display has pretty decent image quality

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
Samsung Galaxy S II Plus	0	206	∞	0	358	∞
LG Optimus L9	0.13	128	981	0.47	477	1019
Samsung Galaxy S III mini	0	221	∞	0	385	∞
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III	0	174	∞	0	330	∞
Samsung I9070 Galaxy S Advance	0	185	∞	0	326	∞
Samsung I9103 Galaxy R	0.51	407	806	0.92	785	858
Sony Xperia J	0.22	289	1290	0.41	562	1359
HTC Desire X	0.18	226	1273	0.33	421	1275
HTC Desire V	0.33	340	1027	0.48	506	1054
Sony Xperia tipo	-	-	-	0.75	561	751
HTC Desire C	0.23	186	814	0.5	360	723
HTC One X	0.15	200	1375	0.39	550	1410
Sony Xperia U	0.35	287	831	0.55	515	930
Samsung S7500 Galaxy Ace Plus	0.27	239	873	0.6	528	888
Samsung I9001 Galaxy S Plus	0	251	∞	0	408	∞

The WVGA resolution is stretched a bit thin on the 4.3" display, making for a pixel density of just 217ppi, but it's by no means too bad to look at. Of course, those 720p and 1080p monsters of a screen look way sharper, but this one is pretty crisp, too. And because it uses a traditional RGB matrix instead of PenTile, there's no need to worry about the crosshatch pattern either.

Sunlight legibility is nothing short of great, too. Check out how the Galaxy S II Plus did in our dedicated test.

Contrast ratio

• Nokia 808 PureView
  4.698
• Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
  3.419
• Samsung Omnia W
  3.301
• Samsung Galaxy S
  3.155
• Nokia N9
  3.069
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  2.970
• HTC One S
  2.901
• Samsung Galaxy S II
  2.832
• Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
  2.801
• Huawei Ascend P1
  2.655
• Nokia Lumia 900
  2.562
• Samsung Galaxy S III mini
  2.422
• Motorola RAZR i
  2.366
• Apple iPhone 4S
  2.269
• HTC One X
  2.158
• Nokia N8
  2.144
• Apple iPhone 4
  2.016
• Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
  1.955
• Samsung Galaxy Camera
  1.938
• Sony Xperia V
  1.792
• Sony Xperia U
  1.758
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  1.691
• HTC One V
  1.685
• LG Optimus Vu
  1.680
• HTC Desire V
  1.646
• LG Optimus 3D
  1.542
• Nokia Asha 302
  1.537
• Nokia Lumia 610
  1.432
• Gigabyte GSmart G1355
  1.361
• HTC Desire C
  1.300
• LG Optimus L7
  1.269
• LG Optimus L9
  1.227
• Meizu MX
  1.221
• Samsung Galaxy Pocket
  1.180
• Sony Xperia tipo
  1.166
• Samsung Galaxy mini 2
  1.114

You can find more information on our display test here.

We also put the Samsung Galaxy S II Plus screen under our microscope to show you its display matrix.

Overall, the display is good, though nowhere near as impressive as it was when the Galaxy S II launched.

Handling

Overall, the Samsung I9105 Galaxy S II Plus is a phone of commendable ergonomics. Slim and lightweight, it's pretty easy to handle and slips comfortably into pockets. The grip has been somewhat compromised compared to the original, in favor of the arguably more up-to-date styling of the current Galaxy generation.

Despite the downgraded grip, the Galaxy S II Plus still handles nicely