Checked out the S2 at Sprint store; will pass

Zorachus

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Went to the Sprint last night, they had the Galaxy S2 in the back room, and let me play with :)

I am a big Android fan, having owned the Nexus-One...EVO 4G...EVO-3D ( for just two weeks )...Nexus-S 4G right now.

First impressions, the device is razor thin, and very light, I could not believe how thin it was, and the large screen was amazing, but the thinness was shocking and cool. But after a couple minutes with it, I think TouchWizz 4.0 is just ok, much prefer stock Android. And it did lag a little here and there. I keep reading how this phone is butter smooth always, and never once slows or gets choppy. BS, it did lag. Going between live wallpapers and adding some widgets I saw some lag, which I did not expect. But really wasn't that bad, but still I did not expect any chop at all.

The screen, is huge, and is very vibrant with great bright colors with deep blacks. I have the Nexus-S 4G so I am familiar with this style screen, I know the S2 is the next gen version. But the resolution is just not right for such a large screen, it does look pixelated, and a little blocky. I can see once the new phones come out this Fall with the new 1280x800 res screens, the S2 will look very dated, like a HDTV next to a normal TV.

Bottom line, I think the S2 is a great phone, but only for those with old phones that need an upgrade from two years ago, if you have a phone from the last year or so; EVO 4G, Nexus-S, there is no point to upgrade, just wait there are much better devices coming, and coming very soon.

My overall opinion is that, yes the S2 is cool, but it seems late to the party, and that it will be eclipsed by better devices very fast. Not next year, but in the next couple of months. Samsung should have brought this to the U.S. back in April like the international version, but now 5 months later, I just can't confidently purchase this device, with knowing what is coming so soon this Fall.
 

xt04

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Thats kind of the nature of the Android beast. There's always going to be something better spec-wise down the pipeline. Specs dont really tell the story of the entire package though. Yes some of the new phones will push HD resolutions (at least we assume, since those phones are vapor at this point), but will that translate to higher quality panels? Color clarity? What about battery life? What about performance with those new resolutions?

Hell, a decent portion of the Android phones out can't properly handle 800X480 without lag, much less full HD res. There's still alot to think about.

If you always wait for whats coming a few months down the line, you'll never buy a phone.
 

JayWill

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Right on man. You gave it a good go and decided to pass. That's what it's all about in the end. Good luck with your next device. I have a strong suspicion it'll be the next Nexus when it hits Sprint. ;)
 

Cory Streater

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No! Please take all that back :p. Honestly the member reviews are the one's that are most important to me, so thanks for sharing your thoughts. Hopefully we end up in total disagreement :)
 

Zorachus

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I understand the thought pattern of you can always wait for the next best thing, and end up with nothing, because you are always waiting.

But...that is not true if something better is just around the corner. Like if your an iPhone fan, you'd be an idiot to replace your iPhone3GS with the iPhone4 right now, if the iPhone5 is just a month out.

I feel the U.S. Galaxy S2 is too late to the party, which the party started in April, this phone is 5 months too late in my opinion. We know there is the "Prime" coming to both CDMA and GSM carriers this Fall, it will be a significantly better device, with the all new Android 4.0 "Ice Cream" and amazing new screen tech. Plus HTC has a new next generation device due out early October with HD screen.
 

g_schrage52

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Gotta be honest Zorachus. With all the the threads you have started/contributed too, no one can be too surprised by this decision. You looked for any sorta thing you could to find a way to not buy this phone. I'm not *****ing at you, because i'm in the same boat and i've thought the exact same stuff. I'm actually headed to Sprint now to check it out. I think the screen is too big and this will be the test I guess. I'm just on a Pre- and getting desperate! I would not rule out the iphone 5 either for myself as Ive used their devices and they are very clean/smooth/etc.

As an FYI P3droid said last night the NP isn't going to be what everything thinks. He is NOT going to be getting it and I assume that's because its not a true Nexus device with Verizon doing what Verizon does to phones!
 

bustaone

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BS, it did lag. Going between live wallpapers and adding some widgets I saw some lag, which I did not expect. But really wasn't that bad, but still I did not expect any chop at all.

The screen, is huge, and is very vibrant with great bright colors with deep blacks. I have the Nexus-S 4G so I am familiar with this style screen, I know the S2 is the next gen version. But the resolution is just not right for such a large screen, it does look pixelated, and a little blocky. I can see once the new phones come out this Fall with the new 1280x800 res screens, the S2 will look very dated, like a HDTV next to a normal TV.

Bottom line, I think the S2 is a great phone, but only for those with old phones that need an upgrade from two years ago, if you have a phone from the last year or so; EVO 4G, Nexus-S, there is no point to upgrade, just wait there are much better devices coming, and coming very soon.

So you're saying that the phone 'lagged' to change live wallpaper? Christ man, every device in the world will do that type of thing when you do that.

And how exactly can the screen look dated in one month? The new panels aren't going to be noticeably different.

Just seems like this is your 'schtick', and likely just can't afford it ;-)
 

Latteart

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I strongly believe the next Nexus will be little more than what they just released on O2 in Europe. A SGSII X with bumped up specs: 1.5Ghz processor, LTE, ICS, and maybe an HD screen.
 

Slingbox

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This device is a beast....A little late to the game in US but still the best available Today.
The new Nexus will be sweet but is it really worth waiting for?
Some have their hearts set for fall release hmm Wake up!
Past US device release history doesn't lie that sucker may not be available till 1st Q 2012.....no carrier availability is sured up Ask Verizon users that were waiting for GSII.

Anyway those that want to sit on the sidline have fun & enjoy the Epic GSII show :)
 

nkd

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good you have an opinion, but seriously. I bought the phone yesterday. Pixelated? common now that is just pure bs, I am holding the phone right now. The screen is sharp as hell. lag? I haven't noticed any, I dont know what exactly you mean by changing wall papers, I mean all phones have a little stutter here and there, it is the OS, the hardware is more than powerful enough.

I would have loved little higher res, but if you say the screen lookes pixelated you are just hating on the phone, this thing does not look pixelated. I think you might have meant to say the text is not as sharp as it should be, that is a given with the resolution and the screen size.
 

slave

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I just got back from the sprint store also, and they had sold 3 as the doors opened, none where pre orders, plus they had quite a few folks on the way in the door to buy it.

I don't get all of this Sense love, I think it is a hunk of crap. Touch Wiz wins because of 1 key: MY FILES. No searching which splintered files the Evo puts files into. Plus how about only playing MP4 with out an app to play more. My Epic played AVI out of the gate, for my wife, we had to convert everything.

How about those washed out HTC colors? I love having black, my wife hates all the shades of gray on her almighty Evo.

As of 11am, she is going to throw her Evo in the garbage before she'll use it again, and since she is on her 4th one, that's about what it's worth. She has my Epic, I have the E4GT, and couldn't be more happy.
 

Tyndall

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Getting mine tonight. There will always be another pretty face right around the corner, but this face is plenty beautiful to me. I'm excited and cannot wait to upgrade from my Nexus S 4G.

P.S. As an aside, the Nexus S has only been out on Sprint since early May, yet is down to $29.99. W.T.F. I think the Nexus has got to be the best dollar for dollar deal in Mobile right now. At that price point, how could I say NO to my daughter when she wanted to upgrade? Wow.

P.P.S. I love my Nexus S, but the Epic Touch cleans it's clock.
 

Thunder82

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good you have an opinion, but seriously. I bought the phone yesterday. Pixelated? common now that is just pure bs, I am holding the phone right now. The screen is sharp as hell. lag? I haven't noticed any, I dont know what exactly you mean by changing wall papers, I mean all phones have a little stutter here and there, it is the OS, the hardware is more than powerful enough.

I would have loved little higher res, but if you say the screen lookes pixelated you are just hating on the phone, this thing does not look pixelated. I think you might have meant to say the text is not as sharp as it should be, that is a given with the resolution and the screen size.

Couldn't agree more regarding the screen, it is hardly pixelated. I had an iPhone 4 for 10mo and in my opinion, this screen is superior.

Also, people waiting for the Prime (especially sprint subscribers) are fricken nuts. There are ZERO sound rumors for this phone. Beyond that, look how long it took the GS2 to make it to US carriers. This hardware will be seen unlocked overseas before it is seen subsidized over here.
 

Cobravision

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I have the Nexus-S 4G so I am familiar with this style screen, I know the S2 is the next gen version. But the resolution is just not right for such a large screen, it does look pixelated, and a little blocky. I can see once the new phones come out this Fall with the new 1280x800 res screens, the S2 will look very dated, like a HDTV next to a normal TV.
No one has confirmed that the Prime will come with a 1280 X 800 screen. In fact, the new rumors are that it will not be at that resolution, it will be a dual core TI OMAP and not Exynos. But in the end, all of this information, including release date, are rumors. There is no factual evidence or certainty that something awesomer will come out the next month or two. There is no evidence or certainty that this device will be better than the Epic Touch. Keep in mind that the Evo 4G was supposed to be old hat after the newest phone came out, but it was able to go toe to toe with the new phones month after month.

Bottom line, I think the S2 is a great phone, but only for those with old phones that need an upgrade from two years ago, if you have a phone from the last year or so; EVO 4G, Nexus-S, there is no point to upgrade, just wait there are much better devices coming, and coming very soon.
What is "very soon"? Two months? Three months? Four months? And I think it's very presumtuous to say, "much better". Again, the Evo 4G was a top of the line category phone well into 2011. It is speculative FUD to claim that there will be a "much better phone very soon", and if that's the only reason to wait, your reasoning is very shaky.
 

wiesman2613

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I just walked out of the sprint store and this phone doesn't live up to the hype. It is thin and light but I thought the colors on the phone were washed out. I even went to the settings and tweaked them and even at the highest setting the screen was much dimmer than my evo.

Where I really noticed the colors was on human skin. I pulled up ESPN.com on both the gs2 ad then my evo and the gs2 peyton Manning's skin was very reddish on the gs2 and on my evo it looked normal. The resolution on my evo also seemed better. Now I do have my phone rooted and the miui rom installed which has very clean graphics; there are also has some screen enhancements built into the rom.

I just don't get what all this hype about the super amoled screens is about. I expected to be wowed by the new technology but walked out of the store disappointed.
 

Slingbox

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I just walked out of the sprint store and this phone doesn't live up to the hype. It is thin and light but I thought the colors on the phone were washed out. I even went to the settings and tweaked them and even at the highest setting the screen was much dimmer than my evo.

Where I really noticed the colors was on human skin. I pulled up ESPN.com on both the gs2 ad then my evo and the gs2 peyton Manning's skin was very reddish on the gs2 and on my evo it looked normal. The resolution on my evo also seemed better. Now I do have my phone rooted and the miui rom installed which has very clean There are also smell screen enhancements built into the rom.

I just don't get what all this hype about the super amoled screens is about. I expected to be wowed by the new technology but walked out of the store disappointed.

Colors washed out dimmer then EVO What are you talking about lol
You need to get your eyes checked
 

Tyndall

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Where I really noticed the colors was on human skin. I pulled up ESPN.com on both the gs2 ad then my evo and the gs2 peyton Manning's skin was very reddish on the gs2 and on my evo it looked normal.

Haven't you heard Samsung's newest Motto: "More human than human"? ;)
 

xt04

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As far as screen pixelation, the OP may be referring to the way the GS II renders text. its definitely not as sharp as say the Photon, or some of the other qHD phones.

Where SuperAMOLED shines is photo/video consumption IMO.
 
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