Checked out the S2 at Sprint store; will pass

[Zorachus]

I have to pay full retail price to get the phone. Which I can. But not sure I want to spend. $500 on the S2 just to replace my Nexus-S. 4G.

It is a great phone don't get me wrong. Bit not worth $500 over my N-S is just my point.

 

[Latteart]

And HERE WE GO.............

 

[h4ldol]

I have to pay full retail price to get the phone. Which I can. But not sure I want to spend. $500 on the S2 just to replace my Nexus-S. 4G.

It is a great phone don't get me wrong. Bit not worth $500 over my N-S is just my point.

I think your rationale for not wanting the E4GT (in your first post) is reasonable and well-stated. I might consider waiting for the Nexus Prime also if it does have LTE and is coming out in the next month (my Evo 4G is on its last legs). Still, it's tough to wait for something that may be great when there is a device out now that is very good.

 

[Zorachus]

The S2 is a great phone but in my opinion a worthy upgrade for people on older phones. It did not seem like a night and day upgrade to my rooted Nexus-S.

I rather hold my $500 until November and see what is out then. If nothing new then I might jump onto the S2 at that point.

 

[Cobravision]

The S2 is a great phone but in my opinion a worthy upgrade for people on older phones. It did not seem like a night and day upgrade to my rooted Nexus-S.

Yeah but... imagine a rooted Epic Touch. That might be amazeballs.

I rather hold my $500 until November and see what is out then. If nothing new then I might jump onto the S2 at that point.

Truthfully, if I recently paid full price for a Nexus S, I wouldn't even consider upgrading to any phone at this time.

 

[Slingbox]

Yeah but... imagine a rooted Epic Touch. That might be amazeballs.


.

hehe thats why I went with it.
Hardware is the best available add some custom rom into the equation this thing will be king.

 

[bustaone]

I have to pay full retail price to get the phone. Which I can. But not sure I want to spend. $500 on the S2 just to replace my Nexus-S. 4G.

It is a great phone don't get me wrong. Bit not worth $500 over my N-S is just my point.

So what you're saying is that it's not worth 500$ upgrade.. which has nothing to do with most of your original comments.

"the screen will look like a regular TV next to a HD TV" that type of statement is just stupid.

 

[Zorachus]

Compare am iPhone3G next to an iPhone4 there is a huge difference that is very noticeable. I think the Prime screen next to the S2 will be similar difference. On 4.5" screen the resolution on the S2 is just not right to me why didn't Samsung at least go qHD ?

And then with Ice Cream just a month or so away I would rather wait that short amount of time first to see if Sprint will get a new high end Android 4.0 phone ?

 

[Gekko]

i just checked out the SGS and compared it to my EVO. my observations -

1. SGS is a very nice device - build quality feels great and device is very thin.
2. the device was slightly taller than my EVO yet the extra display size was barely noticeable.
3. the whites on the SGS were washed out and kind of brownish compared to my EVO. this made the display look less vibrant. i set them both with auto brightness "on" - perhaps if i changed this setting it would be different.
4. i was not a fan of the SGS "lower" resolution. my "smaller" 4.3" display EVO could fit more text of a web page on the screen - for the same web page. the same "CNN" page on the SGS had significantly less of the web page displayed. i prefer more text etc. that is smaller than less text etc. that is larger.

 

[goitsme48]

Went to Sprint store this morning to check out S2... I will pass based on resolution alone.. Rest all is great.. a bit large but I will get used to... Resolution is bad for this screen. I have Nexus S 4G and to me this would not be major upgrade. I will see what iPhone 5 has to offer... OP, I know exactly what you mean by "lag" in this context.. I felt exactly the same.

 

[Slingbox]

Compare am iPhone3G next to an iPhone4 there is a huge difference that is very noticeable. I think the Prime screen next to the S2 will be similar difference. On 4.5" screen the resolution on the S2 is just not right to me why didn't Samsung at least go qHD ?

And then with Ice Cream just a month or so away I would rather wait that short amount of time first to see if Sprint will get a new high end Android 4.0 phone ?

huh qhd lol.
Z your way off not sure whats up with you today.
When it comes to Ice cream Epic GS2 will get it as well in many forms.
Samsung & Rom ports

 

[ninjataint]

I am pretty sure all the phones with beefy processors and ram will get ICS.

My question is the battery life on the prime, unless they do something significantly different, it will be the same or worse with that screen.

I really can't see how you could be disappointed with a galaxy s 2.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[Zorachus]

Sprint's original Epic 4G still never officially got Gingerbread update yet. And the entire S1 line in the U.S. has a bad history of support. I am sure it will be better for this new S2 line.

I truly think the Sprint S2 is the #1 top Android phone available anywhere. But for me on a rooted Nexus-S it just doesn't feel like major upgrade, more of a side grade to me.

 

[cacherpaderp]

I have 20/15 vision and I cannot see the pixels. Lag when changing wallpapers??? This guy is clearly a hater and has probably never held the phone in his hands. I cannot believe him at all.

 

[Cubfan]

A coworker bought one, and I wish I were more excited about it. Seemed speedy enough, yes. But the thrill wasn't there... no wow factor for me. And I'm very skeptical about Samsung's support of phones it releases.

The phone just feels so "been there, done that." And I agree that there's some excitement just around the corner with HD phones coming next month, and likely ICS perhaps middle or late next month, Novermber at the latest. I know there are some who say that if you keep waiting, you'll never buy a phone, but we're not talking months away here. We should start seeing some really exciting announcements in weeks. Verizon didn't pass on this phone for no reason.

Look at the Vigor (TB2?) and the rumored Prime, and even the iThingy. There will be others that will make this one look half-a-year old, I'm afraid. I agree with Zorachus on this.

That being said, the camera is a pretty sizable upgrade to the Evo I'm using. Just wish it did 720p video with 60fps, as this 30fps stuff is too jittery for me. My next phone will have an impressive camera like this. And if no new one comes out in the next month or so, this one could be the one.

Other things I like are the buttons on the notification shade (like CM7), wifi file transfer (but there are free apps that do this), wifi calling, and the screen is very nice, but I'm not all gaga about it like the reviewers. Who gets a thrill by looking at their screen on the edge? Viewing angles... dumb. I also noticed that the auto-brightness seems wonky.

So I'll give it a few more weeks or another month. If nothing better comes along, this will be my phone... maybe.

 

[Cobravision]

Compare am iPhone3G next to an iPhone4 there is a huge difference that is very noticeable. I think the Prime screen next to the S2 will be similar difference.

Yeah, not even close. The IP4 had 4X the pixel density of the IP3. Unless the screen is rocking a 1600 X 960 resolution, it will not make the same kind of leap in pixel density. But then again, show me any real hard evidence that the Prime will have resolution higher than qHD. The new rumors are indicating the screen will be neither 1280 X 720 or 1200 X 800. Also, a 4.52" WVGA screen has a higher pixel density than the low res 480 X 320 IP3 screen, which was noticeably pixelated under any circumstance. When you start out with 165ppi, any improvement is going to look good. The Epic Touch is has 206ppi, which is just slightly under the Evo 4G ppi. It's already good looking.

On 4.5" screen the resolution on the S2 is just not right to me why didn't Samsung at least go qHD ?

I suspect keeping the same resolution as the 4.3" model had to do with ease of updates as well as keeping equivalent benchmarks. There's going to be a resource hit for the higher resolution, and in the end, the uninformed would squawk that the 4.52" model was slower if it had qHD.

 

[AZDROIDX]

A coworker bought one, and I wish I were more excited about it. Seemed speedy enough, yes. But the thrill wasn't there... no wow factor for me. And I'm very skeptical about Samsung's support of phones it releases.

The phone just feels so "been there, done that." And I agree that there's some excitement just around the corner with HD phones coming next month, and likely ICS perhaps middle or late next month, Novermber at the latest. I know there are some who say that if you keep waiting, you'll never buy a phone, but we're not talking months away here. We should start seeing some really exciting announcements in weeks. Verizon didn't pass on this phone for no reason.

Look at the Vigor (TB2?) and the rumored Prime, and even the iThingy. There will be others that will make this one look half-a-year old, I'm afraid. I agree with Zorachus on this.

That being said, the camera is a pretty sizable upgrade to the Evo I'm using. Just wish it did 720p video with 60fps, as this 30fps stuff is too jittery for me. My next phone will have an impressive camera like this. And if no new one comes out in the next month or so, this one could be the one.

Other things I like are the buttons on the notification shade (like CM7), wifi file transfer (but there are free apps that do this), wifi calling, and the screen is very nice, but I'm not all gaga about it like the reviewers. Who gets a thrill by looking at their screen on the edge? Viewing angles... dumb. I also noticed that the auto-brightness seems wonky.

So I'll give it a few more weeks or another month. If nothing better comes along, this will be my phone... maybe.

Glad some people don't get offended by the OP's opinions, I rarely post but I do plenty of reading on these forum. And people's opinions do matter. Actually more than damn reviews, there will always be people that love or hate a phone. I for one agree with you both on GSII, like the GSI it was late to the states and will be forgotten just as fast without support. Living in AZ, I can care less about Sprint since their crap ass WiMax isn't here anyways. My Tbolt is holding up fine, and I'm waiting for the next BIG thing on VZW. And it ain't the Bionic! Well not enough to get rid of my Tbolt and kickstand! Holding on to my 2 upgrades for now.

 

[rkirmeier]

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.

I couldn't DISAGREE more! I have an EVO 4G and have run my share of ROMs from CM6/CM7 to Fresh and Synergy ROMs. The EVO was a great phone but the Epic Touch is so much better in every possible way. Just paying with the demo for 5 mins made my EVO feel heavy and old when I went ot use it again. I can understand someone who may not have much money and already has an EVO saying they will pass because the EVO is not a bad phone but the Epic Touch is amazing, everything I expected and then some. Best $200 I spent on a phone ever!

 

[rkirmeier]

All those *****in about the resolution need to quit being babies. If you put this phone next to an iPhone 4 the screens have the same visual quality. No visible pixels or resolution issues. That the great thing about SAMOLED plus screen. It's simply outstanding. This phone will hands down beat the Iphone 5. Also, I wouldn't get too excited about ICS! Honeycomb is nice but it's not real smooth and seeing how GB and HC will be merged I can't see them addressing the performance issues in the initial ICS release, hope I am wrong. Not sure what else you need in a phone! 10 times better then my EVO 4G and the Prime is simply not going to be that much better...

 

[9eater]

Just got back from Sprint near my house. I played with the demo s2, let me say the screen colors are amazing. I really like the the resolution on the phone. But honestly that's the only thing I liked. I brought cash in hand thinking if I like and see that it beats my phone which is an Evo 3D I would purchase it. But honestly other than the screen its running the same android build as my Evo and I just don't see enough reason to switch. Don't get me wrong phone is super thin and looks beautiful. But in reality my Evo does everything I need it to do and more. I'm just gonna wait for now and keep my evo 3d. But that screen is beautiful on the s2. Size is allright I prefer 4.3, but those color were beautiful. Touchwiz is ehhhhh, but nothing a custom theme wont fix.