I think I'm returning the SGS2

[J240]

Well, i've had this phone for almost the full 20 days, but I just don't see enough improvements over my mytouch 4G to justify the purchase and the extended 2 yr contract. I miss the LED light and the way web pages automatically moved the words to fit the screen when you zoom in or out... I cannot for the life of me get the words to move on the browswer of the SGS2, it just zooms in the whole page (even after changing the options). There are probably apps for that, but here are my other gripes.... The network speeds are the worst! I thought getting a more capable phone, the network speeds would improve but they haven't and I think it's almost worse on this phone. I have only seen 4 full bars on the SGSII a handful of times... I struggle to get 1.5 down even with 3 bars most of the time. I don't know how it's possible but it seems like signal is worse on this brand new phone than my old HTC. I know i'm just complaining here and i'll probably get flamed for it, but I have to wonder if i'm the only one that has experienced this? Tmobile isnt the best as far as signal strength (especially building penetration) but I don't like any other carriers offerings except the Nexus or the Note and NO WAY I'm going to AT&T. To get faster speeds I think I will eventually have to switch to Verizon... but Tmobile is now getting LTE starting next year and my city is usually in the first 3 rollouts, it seems - so that skews things quite a bit. I know these threads are usually quiet on tmobile phones, but I just thought i'd put some of my issues out there to see if anyone else has experienced these problems. I've been with Tmobile for ten years now (since Voicestream days) and this is the very first time i'm heavily considering leaving. All the major carriers have great coverage in my city so I don't know what to do. It's a sad day.

Someone talk me off the ledge or have some advice? Should I wait for LTE? Or switch carriers?

 

[J240]

Oh, and did I mention my screen is blue and the lockscreen only comes up maybe half the time (what's the point of setting one if not for full time security?). I know every phone has its bugs, but maybe I just got a completely faulty device?

 

[laraiza]

Jump hurry do it now but leave ur phone on the ledge All joking aside, is ur phone rooted and r u running a custom rom? As far as signal quality goes T-Mobile is just that T-Mobile. Ur phone may be faulty with the lockscreen issue but stock my phone was okay but after rooting and installing Juggernaut 5.0 and faux123 latest mainstream kernel it rocks. Every once in a while my data hangs but I just turn it off then back on with my notification toggle. At&t and Verizon will gouge u on price and I moved from sprint and know for a fact they r slower speed wise. Actually I'm on T-Mobile value plan and I'm paying $115 a month for four lines. I'm happy where I'm at.

 

[J240]

Thanks for the input. Yeah, the price is good (i'm on a value plan also), but not if my phone is practically worthless while I am at work for 8 hours a day where I use it most. I just wonder if Verizon would be any better (signal wise), if so, it might be worth the price, I just don't like the 98% of the droid line. And no, I am stock. Friday is the 20th day so I have to figure this all out before then. Did some speed tests last night next to my mytouch and got the exact same results, so i'm thinking it's not worth the extra two years and $400 i'll end up spending for this phone. I don't even notice speed performance from the dual core over it. I WILL miss the big beautiful display... but so far, leaning towards taking it back and rooting ye ole' mytouch until I figure out what carrier I want to stick with. Honestly, tmobile has the best offerings (handsets and plans) but I just don't know if I can wait like this for another year before LTE. Decisions decisions!

For example, just did a speedtest here at work: .34 mbps up and .05 down (on a bar or two of "4g") :'(

 

[dobiegillis]

I have a mytouch 4g as well as my gsii and have to say that my gsii performs better. I don't have the issues you describe. The HTC worked fine but could get a little bogged down sometimes and that doesn't happen with the Samsung.


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[taylorz_412]

I have Verizon and always have service no matter where I go


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[J240]

Well here's an update... At work, where I get especially bad signal no matter what phone I use (see above post), the guy behind me has a Razr on Verizon.. So for comparisons sake, I asked him to do a speed test. He obliged, and while i'm right next to him getting .30 down and .02 up - he is getting 11 down and 12 up. I was shocked. I know I just read the article about only 5% of Verizon's customers are on LTE, and imagine how the network will be when the iPhone users get LTE... but still... Until Tmobile GREATLY improves the network in my area... I returned my SGS2 and it looks like for the first time in ten years I might really be switching carriers. Hopefully when Tmobile comes out with LTE (and it will penetrate buildings better than it does now), I can switch back. They definitely have the best plans and some of the best offerings around. I'll always be keeping an eye on the threads to see everyone's reactions to LTE and Tmobile's improvements.

 

[Jeremytallman]

Yeah, the data speeds, especially in buildings, are Terrible. I can barely step inside the front door of a building without losing 4G, or even having the phone search for any data Period!

What is even better is being next to someone on AT&T and they have fast data. Hmm, thought T-Mobile was supposed to have network usage agreements with them post No-Go on the Merger. :-\

It is so bad, even my wife notices it, and many times in the past, with other phones, she thought I was just complaining.

LOVE the phone, other than the need for a bit more battery life; but not sold on the data speeds. We use WiFi wherever we can (home, work, friends, church, etc.).

We switched from Sprint because of the overall better plan we got and I got tired of NO simultaneous voice and data and their current "4G" was a non-starter for me. Hoping T-Mobile gets their network roll-out going (current "4G" + LTE), or may have to go back, after years away, to the Dreaded AT&T.

If AT&T actually roll out their "shared data pool" plans we may jump. That would be more reasonable, hopefully, as I use more data than my wife every month.

 

[neatodude]

Going to return mine too if no fix for the fit text to screen comes up.

 

[Ohgeez10]

Well, i've had this phone for almost the full 20 days, but I just don't see enough improvements over my mytouch 4G to justify the purchase and the extended 2 yr contract. I miss the LED light and the way web pages automatically moved the words to fit the screen when you zoom in or out... I cannot for the life of me get the words to move on the browswer of the SGS2, it just zooms in the whole page (even after changing the options).

"Browsr Text Wrap: Out of the box the Galaxy S2 doesn?t automatically reflow the text in the webpage if you zoom in. But if you just goto settings and check the ?auto-fit pages? option, all is well again."

 

[bipoler#AC]

Speeds are all relative I wish people would stop isolating their experience as definite. I GET great data speeds because I researched what carrier works best for "me" not because of what is expected by what they advertise but the real world experiences. So if your not satisfied why stay?

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

 

[J240]

"Browsr Text Wrap: Out of the box the Galaxy S2 doesn?t automatically reflow the text in the webpage if you zoom in. But if you just goto settings and check the ?auto-fit pages? option, all is well again."

That option never changed anything for me because if the ads are spaced far out, it would still fit the whole page to the screen, thus making the text still too small to read and definitely didn't resize the words to fit the screen like HTC Sense does.

 

[J240]

Speeds are all relative I wish people would stop isolating their experience as definite. I GET great data speeds because I researched what carrier works best for "me" not because of what is expected by what they advertise but the real world experiences. So if your not satisfied why stay?

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

Exactly why i'm leaving. I always had great speeds with Tmobile, hence the 10 years of loyalty. But now that other carriers/LTE are way ahead in terms of speeds, what i'm getting isn't even comparable anymore. So, I guess it is just time to move on. Looks like they finally received my SGS2 and refunded my money this weekend - now I can switch! Also, customer service has completely gone down hill since they started outsourcing - another one of the many reasons I enjoyed Tmobile so much that has been ruined. I wish them the best of luck in the future, esp with LTE, but they really need to step their game up in terms of service, speeds, and coverage if they want to stay around, (or reduce to the likes of a Metro/Boost, etc carrier). As always, just my opinions. Thanks for the feedback everyone!

 

[naldonnis]

I don't know why your phone is not rapping text. Mine does it with no problem, no root and or rom. I double tap to zoom in and it wraps the text. Now as far as speeds go the gs2 I've been having some data problems ever since the last update. I used to get 12 down and 3 up without any issues, but now it stutters and sometimes I'll be lucky to get 1 or 3 down. I'm just waiting it out because I know the next update should fix it. In my area Verizon lte is on par with T-Mobile hspa + so I have no complaints.

 

[TerrorCandii]

I've had my SGS2 since it came out. I haven't really had the issues most describe. For signal, I've never had a problem with my 4g, even at work where my co-worker(AT&T iPhone4S) complains he never gets signal. Bigger screen, better game selection, better audio....as a daily alltime, ontime gamer, this phone even has a sweet battery time. Wish there was a way I could help others with their woes. My setup has this phone running high on benchmark, and stable on every end. Hmm...let me know, maybe I could be of some assistance.

°*TerrorCandii™ Gaming*°

 

[blooper]

also, you have to make sure the "time out" option is set to "immediately" in the lock screen settings.

 

[Mellimel22]

Yeah, the data speeds, especially in buildings, are Terrible. I can barely step inside the front door of a building without losing 4G, or even having the phone search for any data Period!

What is even better is being next to someone on AT&T and they have fast data. Hmm, thought T-Mobile was supposed to have network usage agreements with them post No-Go on the Merger. :-\

It is so bad, even my wife notices it, and many times in the past, with other phones, she thought I was just complaining.

LOVE the phone, other than the need for a bit more battery life; but not sold on the data speeds. We use WiFi wherever we can (home, work, friends, church, etc.).

We switched from Sprint because of the overall better plan we got and I got tired of NO simultaneous voice and data and their current "4G" was a non-starter for me. Hoping T-Mobile gets their network roll-out going (current "4G" + LTE), or may have to go back, after years away, to the Dreaded AT&T.

If AT&T actually roll out their "shared data pool" plans we may jump. That would be more reasonable, hopefully, as I use more data than my wife every month.

I be on the phone and online on 4G so what are u talkin bout

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

[Mellimel22]

Oh my bad u said u couldn't get 4G well I do in Chicago lol

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

[XFonz07]

This phone is awesome, what are you thinking?

 

[303kush]

Get the blaze 4g. Same exact specs. 4inch screen. I have no issues with it what so ever. Only difference between the two is the gs2 has a 8megapixel camera and the blaze 4g has a 5 megapixel camera. Don't really see any difference in picture quality though