Well the reason has been given.

[anon(40376)]

Only smart consumers buys samsung phones because we know they make the best hardware period. You can always root and run roms. Its much easier to do than htc phones for now since the boot loader is not locked. You cant change hardware so why limit yourself to sub standard quality controlled, and having the weakest hardware (htc)? Is it because of official support? No thanks they can keep their bloated ota updates.

I consider myself a smart consumer, I don't root and I don't run ROMs, but I had a fascinate for a few days and I would have been better with two tin cans and a waxed string. The phone reception was terrible, it dropped calls constantly. Took it back, got a Moto and never had that problem again.

I live in a small town with a strong signal, but on the outskirts of town (in the desert) it drops and that is where your so-called great hardware failed. And, I'm not the only one. I have talked with others who returned samdung products for the same reason. Some went with Moto, some went with HTC all are happy now.

So, please, don't try and tell me SamDung products have the best hardware. I have heard that before, and strange enough, it has never been shown to be true.

 

[s14tat]

I consider myself a smart consumer, I don't root and I don't run ROMs, but I had a fascinate for a few days and I would have been better with two tin cans and a waxed string. The phone reception was terrible, it dropped calls constantly. Took it back, got a Moto and never had that problem again.

I live in a small town with a strong signal, but on the outskirts of town (in the desert) it drops and that is where your so-called great hardware failed. And, I'm not the only one. I have talked with others who returned samdung products for the same reason. Some went with Moto, some went with HTC all are happy now.

So, please, don't try and tell me SamDung products have the best hardware. I have heard that before, and strange enough, it has never been shown to be true.

Well if you root and run a different radio, i'm sure your problems would have to been solved. I live in NYC so reception was never an issue for me. I will admit that the radio is stronger in moto phones, but that is the only place where the moto is better. Processor, screen, everything else the Samsung blows them out of the water. I'm sure if I was to show you my phone, you would be blown away by how fast it moves and how fast it opens up apps. It will make your Droid X or Droid 2 look like a turtle by comparison.

This is exactly my point about having the best hardware. Just like how the original snap dragon will never beat a hummingbird if the playing field is evened out by running rooted and romed phones, and that is when the htc phones truely feels slow. HTC is the worse offender with crappy quality control but they sure do wow a lot of people with sense that it makes everyone love them. I have no clue why esp when they defend the phone as being built great because its heavy but they are willing to deal with the light leakage on the screen, mis alligned screen, dust collecting under the screen etc etc. Mean while they call samsung hardware cheap because its light and is made of plastic meanwhile we have non of those problems.

P.S. when I say smart consumers It was meant to be sarcastic because us samsung guys are apparently the weird ones for like such crappy phones ( when stock ) but we really see the diamond in the rough. Its like a beast waiting to be unleashed when you root it and run voodoo.

 

[PhoneJunkie]

Only smart consumers buys samsung phones because we know they make the best hardware period. You can always root and run roms. Its much easier to do than htc phones for now since the boot loader is not locked. You cant change hardware so why limit yourself to sub standard quality controlled, and having the weakest hardware (htc)? Is it because of official support? No thanks they can keep their bloated ota updates.

You may want to go on the xda forums and read what people are saying that actually have the SGS2, before bashing other manufacturers and claiming superior hardware. They're having the same issues as every other manufacturer does when releasing a new phone. Screens popping out, overheating, severe lag, charging port issues just to name a few.

Another reason Verizon and Sprint are still negotiating with Samsung, is because they both prefer to deal with HTC and Motorola, because the Samsung CDMA radio in inferior.

Many times those "bloated OTA updates" are to fix software issues that, you know like the Samsung Nexus S that's struggling to maintain reception and make phone calls. It's an update people have been waiting months for. You also forget that very few of the millions of people buying this phone even know what rooting a phone is. So the updates are very important.

 

[Jordan jones]

I guess I'm confused as to why carrier negotiations for the S2 would be any different than any of the other Samsung phones. What needs to be negotiated with VZW with the S2 vs. say the Charge? Does it all boil down to just carrier specific branding/differentiation from other carriers because it's launching across multiple carriers?

My guess is that samsung knows this is the best smartphone out and they do not want the american networks to butcher it and not even market as the best. (they fill they deserve the iphone treatment.)

 

[s14tat]

You may want to go on the xda forums and read what people are saying that actually have the SGS2, before bashing other manufacturers and claiming superior hardware. They're having the same issues as every other manufacturer does when releasing a new phone. Screens popping out, overheating, severe lag, charging port issues just to name a few.

Another reason Verizon and Sprint are still negotiating with Samsung, is because they both prefer to deal with HTC and Motorola, because the Samsung CDMA radio in inferior.

Many times those "bloated OTA updates" are to fix software issues that, you know like the Samsung Nexus S that's struggling to maintain reception and make phone calls. It's an update people have been waiting months for. You also forget that very few of the millions of people buying this phone even know what rooting a phone is. So the updates are very important.

I am on xda developers as well, you are seriously stretching the truth if you are comparing the build quality issues samsung has to htc's. Also you speak of verizon and sprint preferring to deal with HTC and Moto as a fact. Where is the proof to your claim? As I mentioned, I am aware that the radio in the fascinate is not the best but it was never weak and I still get the same download speeds as htc phones, the only phone that gets consistently better reception and gets better download speeds are motos. If the radio is the problem than how come the gsm counter parts ( t mobil and at&t )also are not announced? Also most of verizon's updates causes more problems than the fixed. The developers do much better running the leaked versions that samsung leaks rather than wait forever for official updates from verizon ( which ironically still has the same issues but we have BING!!! hooray !!! ) A stock fascinate is pretty pathetic, it makes me sad to see it stock all bloated, binged and touchwized up.

edit: Hows that bootloader doing btw that the ceo promises to unlock for you guys? Sorry for rubbing it in. As you can see I've had it up to my head from all the htc and moto fan boys making fun of samsung phones that I decided to play their games..... No samsung is not paying me either, they should though.

 

[RecalcitrantRon]

Samsung probably put its foot down on differentiation of the hardware when it comes to their flagship device and the US Carriers are balking. Like most of you, this is the phone I want to replace my Pre. Superslim, lightweight skin, excellent battery life, it has everything I want or need and nothing I do not (ie crappy 3D).

 

[Wicell]

I guess I'm confused as to why carrier negotiations for the S2 would be any different than any of the other Samsung phones. What needs to be negotiated with VZW with the S2 vs. say the Charge? Does it all boil down to just carrier specific branding/differentiation from other carriers because it's launching across multiple carriers?

This phone has launched in Europe and what not, it's a huge seller, all the US phone companies want it, but they all want carrier specific changes made to it, just like what they did with the Galaxy S series where each provider had a certain twist on the device and verizon having.. bing... That is my guess, I'm guessing negotiations are dragging because Samsung doesn't want to change an already amazing device.

 

[Croak]

Canada will see an AT&T compatible version in less than a week, the straight up 9100. People will be selling them for less than $600 on Craigslist less than a week after that. Plenty of history to back this up.

The Canadian "grey market" vendors are already price slashing the I9100, it was $800 last week, they're all in a dive to be below $700 this week, and they'll probably go lower than that in the next few days, trying to blow out inventory before the cheaper Bell units kill the market.

No direct help for those of you on the subsidy tit, or those of you on a CDMA carrier, I know. For the AT&T folks, the option of turning your upgrade into an iPhone and selling that isn't a horrible one.

And as the guy above said, Samsung probably doesn't want to repeat the "four devices, four carriers" fiasco that was the Galaxy S last year in the US. A lot of the customer satisfaction hits Samsung has taken is due to having to support four models, four carriers, four different upgrade certification process, and four different production lines to do quality control on the hardware. Apple doesn't have to put up with that kind of ****, RIM didn't have to put up with that kind of ****, Samsung is probably (correctly) thinking they don't have to put up with that kind of **** either.

 

[Droid800]

I am on VZW and bought a DINC with a 1 yr contract last May. I have been eligible for an upgrade since March and want a phone with a bigger screen, dual-core and LTE. I also want something that can have data and voice simultaneously. I am running CM7 on my DINC which is the only thing keeping me sane. I even tried to switch to ATT on an Infuse as it is pretty close to the GSII but my crappy credit screwed that up. VZW needs to step up their handset game!

I am convinced that all this is artificial scarcity with VZW to give certain phones an exclusive window. They gave the Thunderbolt a window as the only LTE phone. Now I fear the Bionic will have an exclusive window as the only Dual-Core LTE phone thus probably giving us a 3G only GSII if we get it at all. I don't want a Bionic if it is going to be locked and force me to run their crappy Blur. If it is unlocked and the screen doesn't suck and it isn't too heavy then I am in. That's a lot of if's...

If you want an LTE GSII, you'll be waiting until after the holidays, probably until around this time next year.

 

[colbysbb]

It's got to be LTE for it to compete. No one is going to upgrade their device to out dated technology. If samsung wants this phone to hit in the US like it did overseas, it will have to include "4G." Plain and simple.

 

[Jordan jones]

It's got to be LTE for it to compete. No one is going to upgrade their device to out dated technology. If samsung wants this phone to hit in the US like it did overseas, it will have to include "4G." Plain and simple.

4g lte is still a very virgin technology. Right now it is horrible power consumption which is why the current lte phones have such ****y battery life. I think it will be a while before samsung allows it in their flagship phones.

 

[Droid800]

It's got to be LTE for it to compete. No one is going to upgrade their device to out dated technology. If samsung wants this phone to hit in the US like it did overseas, it will have to include "4G." Plain and simple.

It won't. It isn't possible without destroying the form factor.

 

[gitit20]

This is in no way true The 4g Chips are no larger then there 3g counter parts LTE WiMax and HSDPA+ are all about the same size perfect example of this is the Samsung Vibrant 4G its the same size and shape as the Vibrant 3g but one has a newer 4g radio even the motherboard are the same size and look almost the same I had a customer who upgraded to the newer v4g but wanted the same color as his old one i simply took the mother board out of the 4g housing and placed it in the 3g housing no problems what so ever there for has no effect on form factor...

So i am wondering how you came to your conclusion?

It won't. It isn't possible without destroying the form factor.

 

[anicholas7]

What these manufacturers should start doing is selling directly to the general public. If the American carriers wont compromise with Samsung then we should have the opportunity to buy directly from Samsung. Then we could use our upgrade from Verizon or who ever you use to get a new phone then sell it to subsidize the full cost we would pay for the GSII. I would actually prefer this then to have Verizon screw it all up with their bloatware.

 

[fldude99]

You'll only be getting 2g speeds. Not worth buying unlocked version. Just wait for the next big thing. I just went with the htc sensation and couldn't b happier. Htc is going to show love to their products for a period of time while Samsung will give u an update in a year then forget about u. I loved my vibrant but only because of team whiskey. By the time the galaxy s2 comes out, we'll be talking about quad cores awesomeness.

How do you figure that? The intl version is compatible with ATT 3G bands including HSPDA

 

[droidbeat]

I'm waiting for the SGSII to hit before switching to VZW. VZW needs to be reasonable with Samsung on providing a clean standard handset. No SGSII on VZW, no VZW. Waiting...

 

[dbuss]

Samsung US sales declined because they don't know customer support after the sale. We all know how they were about OS updates. How long has the Evo had 2.3 and epic still waiting and remember the 2.2 update what a mess. I am proud owner of htc evo3d and don't intend to buy a samsung phone again.

Help me out here, should I wait for a Sprint GSII, or just get the EVO 3D? I like the specs of the GSII, but if there is garbage support, or lack up software upgrades? I might wait for the upcoming Nexus Prime.

 

[Cubfan]

There will be (so called) 4G on Sprint and AT&T. Highly doubt we'll see an LTE version on Verizon.

 

[Schwack]

Canada will see an AT&T compatible version in less than a week, the straight up 9100. People will be selling them for less than $600 on Craigslist less than a week after that. Plenty of history to back this up.

Croak, which Canadian company matches att bands? I checked Rogers and Telus and their 3g is 1900. Isn't att 2100?

The reason I'm asking is that I'm in the States with att and have been waiting (like the rest of the country) for this phone. I've been tempted to get the Euro version on Amazon but don't want to spend over $600 for the phone. So I thought I'd wait for US release AND getting the phone with NFC capabilities.

 

[Antiochasylum]

Canada will see an AT&T compatible version in less than a week, the straight up 9100. People will be selling them for less than $600 on Craigslist less than a week after that. Plenty of history to back this up.

Croak, which Canadian company matches att bands? I checked Rogers and Telus and their 3g is 1900. Isn't att 2100?

The reason I'm asking is that I'm in the States with att and have been waiting (like the rest of the country) for this phone. I've been tempted to get the Euro version on Amazon but don't want to spend over $600 for the phone. So I thought I'd wait for US release AND getting the phone with NFC capabilities.

As a SGSII owner, I must say the phone is out of this world. Quit complaining about it coming to the US, it will eventually, just wait. Either that switch to ATT, and buy it from newegg or Amazon. Simple.

No one knows when it will come or in what form factor, however the size and weight are ******ed. Everyone says "its so light" And as far as NFC, really? I had the nexus S and never once used it anywhere, seemed like a PITA honestly.