Samsung Galaxy S2 Review
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Review: April 2011 |
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Phone rating: 
In a nutshell: The Samsung Galaxy
S2 is Samsung's flagship phone for 2011 and is the first Samsung
phone to be powered by a dual-core processor. The Galaxy S2
runs Android version 2.3 (Gingerbread) and has an incredible
4.3 inch Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen. Other highlights include
1080p Full HD video recording, an 8 megapixel still camera and
a secondary front-facing camera for making video calls.
Best buy: *Free* with free line rental from Dialaphone
(Black) or Dialaphone
(White).
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Back in June 2010 we reviewed the Samsung
Galaxy S and proclaimed it the best phone on the market today. And
the thing is, it probably still is the best phone on the market. Until
now, because the best phone in the observable universe just got better!
You'd think that the best phone couldn't get much better, but Samsung
have entered some kind of crazed accelerated development programme and
have introduced loads of improvements over the original Galaxy S. The
first thing you notice is the absolutely incredible screen. This has
grown from a huge 4 inches to a mega-enormous 4.3 inches, matching the
HTC Desire HD and making this the biggest
screen on any phone. The poor old Apple
iPhone 4 has just 3.5 inches of screen. But it's not just size that
counts. The Galaxy S2 introduces a new technology called Super AMOLED
Plus, which is eye-popping in its brightness and clarity. The Super
AMOLED display of the original Galaxy S was leagues ahead of most smartphones,
so to leap forward to yet another generation of display technology is
mightily impressive. It's certainly a match for Apple's Retina display,
even if the S2's resolution of 480 x 800 pixels isn't quite the highest.
The surface area of the phone has grown to cater for the enlarged screen,
but the phone still rests in the hand nicely due to its incredible thinness.
At just 8.5mm, it's the thinnest smartphone on the market (the iPhone
4 is a flabby 9.3mm). Below the screen you'll find a single home
button flanked by two touch-sensitive buttons for Menu and Back. It's
a minimalist design that gives you everything you need. At 116g the
phone is pretty light for such a high-powered beasty, and that's thanks
to the plastic construction. It lacks the high-end feel of a metallic
case, but avoids the reception problems that have plagued the iPhone
4 and also to some extent the HTC Desire
S. Something called Gorilla Glass is used to protect that all-important
Super AMOLED Plus display.
The operating system is the latest version of Android - 2.3 (Gingerbread).
Android is our top choice for smartphone OS, and global sales of Android
phones seem to be overtaking iPhone quite decisively. The number of
apps available has exceeded the 100,000 mark and is continuing to grow
rapidly. Android 2.3 is combined here with a new version of Samsung's
TouchWiz user interface - version 4.0. Along with various home screen
customisations and Swype text input for faster typing on the QWERTY
keyboard, this introduces a number of hubs into the user interface.
The Social Hub, which we've seen on previous Samsung smartphones brings
together contacts, calendar and email with Instant Messaging, facebook
and twitter. Reader's Hub is a platform for ebooks and magazines, with
access to over 2000 newspapers in 49 languages and featuring interactive
features like page curling effects. Music Hub is a combined music player
and Music Store - we'll have to see how that works out. Perhaps more
interesting is the Games Hub where you can download premium HD games
(and some free games) optimised for the S2's dual-core processor, Super
AMOLED Plus screen and 3-axis accelerometer and gyroscope sensors. The
phone also comes preloaded with social games - We Farm, Safari, We Rule,
We City. Being an Android phone, the S2 comes with pre-installed with
all things Google, including Google Maps 5.0, Gmail, YouTube, Google
Calendar, Google Talk and Picasa integration.
The headline grabbing feature of the S2 is its dual-core processor.
It isn't the first dual-core phone to be released (that was the LG
Optimus 2X) but it's the most highly anticipated. Anyone who's experienced
the instantaneous response of the single-core Galaxy S might question
the need for a faster processor, but the 1.2GHz dual core processor
opens up new possibilities in video - particularly the Full HD video
recording capability and the enhanced gaming experience.
It's logical then to talk about the camera next. This has been dramatically
improved, with an 8 megapixel sensor and an LED flash (which was incomprehensibly
missing from the original Galaxy S.) The camera has plenty of features
taken from Samsung's digital camera range, including autofocus, touch
focus, face detection, smile shot and image stabilisation. As already
mentioned, the video camera has been uprated so that it can now record
at Full HD resolution - that's 1080p format. Only the LG
Optimus 2X can match that, and the Samsung does a better job with
a sharper, more detailed picture quality. A secondary front-facing video
camera is available for making video calls. There's a pre-installed
image and video editor too.
The media player brings a great deal of functionality to the table
and is capable of playing DivX and XviD format movies. The Super AMOLED
Plus screen and the dual-core processor are a match for any video you
might want to watch. 5.1 virtual surround sound is also supported. There's
also an FM radio with RDS for listening to music on the move. Naturally
a 3.5mm headphone socket lets you plug in your choice of headphones,
and you can also connect the phone to a Full HD TV via DLNA and play
movies or even games on a big screen.
Another area where Samsung have taken a great leap forward is in internet
connectivity. The Galaxy S2 has an uprated implementation of HSPA enabling
downloads of up to 21 Mbps where a network supports it (3
have just rolled this out.) That's faster than home broadband! This
really is a phone created by speed junkies. And when it comes to web
browsing, the fast internet access combined with a crisp, large display,
multi-touch zoom and the super-fast Android web browser with Flash support
and BBC iPlayer compatibility make it top dog.
Signal strength and call quality are good too (hey, it's a phone as
well?) and battery life is excellent. For a device with so many features,
you'll probably be playing with it all day and night, but Samsung have
recognised the need for a monster battery and have stepped up to the
mark. The S2 has a 1650mAh battery, which is the largest we've seen
as standard in any mobile. Amazingly it doesn't seem to add any great
weight to the phone (have Samsung secretly captured an alien spacecraft
and stolen their technology?) Nevertheless, as any smartphone user knows,
overnight battery charging will be required for the first couple of
months at least. Once the battery - and the user - have been properly
conditioned, the battery may last 2-3 days. That's pretty good going.
We're totally in awe of the Samsung Galaxy S2. To our minds, this is
without question the best phone on the market today. The only reason
not to buy it is the cost. But as of June 2011, it's available for free
on contract for around £30 per month, which is gallons less than
the iPhone 4. There will be more dual-core phones released later in
2011, and the next iPhone of course. But if you want our opinion, you
should choose the Galaxy S2 - you won't have any regrets.
Features of the Samsung Galaxy S2 include:
- 8 megapixel camera with LED flash, autofocus, face detection, smile
shot and 4x digital zoom
- Full HD video recording (Up to 1080p)
- Display: Super AMOLED Plus, 16 million colours, 480 x 800 pixels
(4.3 inches) capacitive touchscreen with auto-rotate
- Music player
- Stereo FM radio with RDS
- MP3 & WAV ringtones
- Integrated handsfree speaker
- AGPS with geo-tagging and Google Maps
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, instant messaging, email
- Personal organiser functions
- Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)
- Memory: 16GB plus 4GB MicroSD memory card (up to 32GB)
- Connectivity: Dual channel Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, USB 2.0, 3.5mm
audio jack, DLNA, TV-Out, NFC
- Internet: Layar Reality Browser, Chrome-Lite web browser with Flash
support, GPRS, EDGE, 3G, HSPA (21 Mbps download)
- Quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900), dual band 3G (900/2100)
- Size: 125 x 66 x 8.5 mm
- Weight: 116g
- Battery: 1650mAh battery
Samsung Galaxy S2 User Reviews
Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this
phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so
please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive
language, and please, no advertising!
Average rating from 285 reviews: 
Reviewed by Damian from UK on 15th Apr 2013
I have had this phone more or less since they launched it.
The phone, on the whole, has been very good, although on 3 occasions
an update has forced me to send it for repairs, I think I have a Friday
afternoon model.
I am now considering a replacement and the only thing that discourages
me from getting an S4 is Samsung's software.
Kies is totally rubbish, Kies Air is less rubbish and I generally use
Airdroid.
Tonight I added 10 albums to my PC music library, I cannot add these
to my S2 in bulk, whichever software I use wants me to send it track
by track.
To top that off, when I connect my S2 by USB the Kies software doesn't
find it. This is not a new phenomenon it has been bugging me for years.
Samsung need to sort this out, they make great products but if the end
user experience is rubbish they will dip out to Apple.
I have been anti iPhone for a number of years but if Samsung maintain
this sh%t I may just jump ships!
Rating: 
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Reviewed by Robert from London on 15th Feb 2013
If you can still find this phone, buy it!!
Samsung Galaxy S2 + extended 2000 mAh battery + Samsung Jelly Bean ROM
is simply superb and the most affordable powerhouse phone money can
buy today.
I will be keeping this phone for another year or two. ;)
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Reviewed by Freddy from UK on 22nd Nov 2012
Just a quick review to you guys that wonder how this phone stands the
test of time.
I got this phone the day it came out, so i've had it for nearly 18 months,
I had the HTC Hero before this, and that did't stand the test of time,
was so slow/unresponsive by the end of the contract I ended up slamming
it against a table.
Speed - Still lightening quick, haven't rebooted the system since i've
had it (2.3 Gingerbread), it took months for it to have a little fit
where i'd asked it to do something too quickly and took a couple of
seconds to catch up. I began to wonder if it ever would have a slow
down, but does it every now and then more recently i'd say once a week
for about a second.
Sensitivity - Still very responsive, and calibrated perfectly (the hero
used to think i'd pressed an inch over on the other side of the phone
sometimes)
Battery - I'm unsure on whether i've got too many apps running or haven't
set up battery options properly, but my battery lasts just about a day
of moderate use (music walking to and from work - 1hr, 1hr - phone call
at least followed by an 1hr here or there browsing the web.)
Durability - I never bought a case for the phone, I don't like them,
so it's been braving the elements from day 1. I'm quite clumsy sometimes
(as you can probably tell from the way i've typed this review up) the
phone has been drop quite a few times even on it's face from waste height,
and hasn't even got a crack or suffered from it. I have had it out in
the pouring raining trying to change songs (it was impossible to) but
it never suffered water damage either, so it's top notch in that area
too.
Verdict: I'm so happy with this phone still, I don't think i'm gonna
be happy to upgrade as easily as I have done in the past, most of my
old phones were knackered by upgrade time and I was counting down the
days, however with this i'm considering just keeping it and selling
the upgrade, or keeping it as a festival phone perhaps. You can't go
wrong with this phone. My mates girlfriend just got a contract on this
for 600mins, 1GB internet and unlimited texts at £19 per month, and
this in my opinion is a phenomenal deal!
Hope that helps!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Matt C from England on 15th Nov 2012
Well, I thought it is about time I put in my review of this phone since
I bought it based on reviews on this site.
I should highlight now that I am not a power user, and there are a lot
of features on this phone I have simply never needed to use. I came
from an iPhone 3G so getting to grips with Android took a little while,
but overall I think it is a good OS. However, it does seem to lack the
simplicity of iOS and whilst iOS feels very linear, it just works. As
an overall experience, I have to say iOS is a lot more user friendly,
and a lot easier to get on with. I appreciate the lure of Android for
power users, but for people like me a lot of the ability of Android
is lost.
I have used the phone for just over a year now, and in that time it
has been near faultless.
I have always used a faux leather flip front case, so my screen is still
like new, which is nice. I have dropped it quite a few times and although
the case has seen better days, the phone itself is still going strong.
However I have had 13 months out of a £3.50 case which is an achievement!
The screen is superb on this phone. Granted, by todays standard it is
last gen quality but I have never had an issue with it. Throughout a
year of use it has remained responsive and I have not suffered the 'pink
tinge' problem that some users were reporting back when I bought it.
All of the buttons still work, although I think the 'home' button has
developed a fault recently. I have never had the OS lock up, or any
of the other random problems that some have reported. I should note
that my phone is on an O2 contract, and whilst I have never had any
issues with the OS, I find that system updates for this phone have been
pretty non-existent through my network. Having never bothered with Kies,
I expect that is partly my own fault but my partner uses a Desire HD
and she has had around 3 updates in 18 months (On Vodafone) without
the need for proprietary software. I have had none at all on the S2
in 13 months of use :( However, that is not a failing of the phone as
far as I am aware, but of the network.
I have also never suffered from poor signal as others have. Both telephone
signal and wi-fi have been consistently good and I am more than happy
with the reliability. On that note, call quality has also been consistently
good, and even though the phone has been dropped a few times on hard
surfaces, both the earpiece speaker and mic still function fine. The
loud speaker is ok, but a little quieter than other phones I have used.
However it is still perfectly functional and does the job, albeit not
quite as well as other phones.
A big issue for this phone has always been battery life, and because
of this I prepared by purchasing an upgraded battery! However, it is
still in my cupboard at home, unopened. For my personal use, I have
found the battery is lacking in some circumstances, but my lifestyle
means I have rarely been caught short. I accept that for other users,
battery life has been worse, but for my use it has been acceptable.
I tend to charge my S2 once every 1.5 - 2 days. However if I have had
a mad browsing session or have been playing heavily on a certain game
involving a catapult and irate poultry, it soon depletes! But seeing
as my wi-fi is always on at home, and I have emails synching regularly
too, the battery lasts long enough for me. I have found tweaking screen
settings has helped, as well as restricting social networking sites
and turning off haptic feedback.
Internet connectivity and browsing has always been flawless, and fast.
However, I find there are a few issues at the moment with the web browser
occasionally locking up. I think, though, this may be down to some unwanted
bloatware rather than any fault of the phone. The browsing experience
is quite fluid once you get used to it, and you can add and manage favourites
with relative ease. One thing that is frustrating, though, is that you
can't close down the browser completely without using task manager.
When only one browser window is left open, it would be nice to be able
to close it and exit to home screen. But you can't, so your browser
is always open in the background unless you close it via task manager.
Another element of the browser that I think could have been tweaked
is the downloads page. Once you have viewed a download and deleted it
from your list, it does not delete the file from the media folder. It
would have been nice to have the option to delete both for those occasions
where you download something only to decide you don't actually want
it. It just means having to delete things manually, but it would have
been nice if they could have incorporated a menu where you get the choice
to delete the actual media at the same time. All in all, though, these
are very minor gripes. One final point to mention is that I use wi-fi
when at home and during longer browsing sessions the phone gets quite
warm. It concerned me to start with because I wondered if it was going
to cause any damage, or premature screen burn out but thus far I have
seen no ill effects but I accept that at only 13 months old there is
time for it to develop some yet.
One major gripe that I currently have, though, revolves around non-removable
programs, one in particular. I am, of course, talking about voice talk!
I think my 'home' button may be faulty now because even after only one
press, voice talk opens and is doing so with annoying regularity at
the moment. Suffice to say I wanted to remove it, but can't. I could
live with that if I could just turn it off, but alas I can't. For a
supposed fully customisable operating system, I find that curious and
a bit annoying.
One thing I have used quite a lot is the camera, and I have to say for
a phone camera (and a Samsung one at that) it is pretty respectable.
It has plenty of settings and takes some good quality snaps. Browsing
the media folder is easy as is sharing media via social networks or
MMS/email. OK, it is no DSLR, but it is better than my partners 10mp
Samsung compact digital camera. Video recording is great if the light
is good, but in low light conditions it gives very noisy footage. I
can't really complain though as it is a phone, not a camcorder! Although
the phone comes with editing software, I have never used it so I cannot
comment on that.
Texting is quite easy, but then I only use the standard Samsung keyboard.
I tried the 'swype' and keypad sweeping settings and found it to be
unreliable and clunky - more of a marketing gimmick than a real-world
feature. I daresay I could have kept at it, but if it isn't broke, don't
fix it, right? A point I want to make here is how fragmented some of
the OS options are. For instance, in messaging you can set many options
for SMS, MMS etc, but there are no settings for input which would lead
you to believe there are none. So you have to exit and go to the main
system settings in order to change that. Except you don't, you just
have to press and hold the screen in your message field and an input
menu opens. There is yet another menu in the keyboard itself for changing
predictive text and other options. Being new to Android, I have always
felt it is counter intuitive to have so many fragmented options menus,
but as I have become more experienced I have become more familiar with
how Android and Touchwiz work so I have reached a state of competence.
That said, why can't all the settings for messaging be in one place?
Finally, this phone will not let you send SMS messages greater than
3 messages long. I have no idea why. Anything longer than 3 messages
gets automatically converted into an MMS, and there is no way of changing
it that I could find. As with everything else though, these things are
minor gripes, but if they were addressed they would go a long way to
making the experience a little more enjoyable.
One feature that I found out about by complete accident is this phone
can be used as a turn by turn satnav! Granted, it kills the battery,
but when your actual satnav dies unexpectedly when you are in the middle
of London, it is a really nice surprise to find out your phone can do
the job just as well! I was actually speechless that it worked so effectively,
and got me to my next appointment on time. I have used it several times
since and although it works brilliantly in major cities, it is a little
more hit and miss in countryside areas. That said, as a backup I think
it is an awesome feature.
I have never used this phone for music, so I cannot comment on that
element.
Emailing is a fairly nice experience, and the phone has the built in
ability to view .pdf, .doc and .xls files and the ability to edit the
latter two as well. I use a Blackberry as a work phone, and the S2 surpasses
it for it's ability to open complex documents. I also like how the S2
synchs with my mailbox so if I delete something on my phone, it removes
it from the servers inbox too. However, I use my S2 with a Hotmail account
and have never been able to get it to work with the junk folder. There
is a list of all the folders that I have in my account, but if I select
junk, it says 'refreshing' but nothing ever loads. This is a little
frustrating as sometimes I get important emails come through that go
to junk and I would like to be able to access that folder in the same
way I do my inbox without having to use the internet browser to log
into my account. Overall, though, emailing is a good enough experience
and the phone handles things competently.
Apps are easy to come by, and the Play store is easy enough to navigate.
However, I feel that a lot of apps want unreasonable access privileges
to my phone, and because of that I am very selective with what I install.
The previously mentioned title involving irate poultry is one example.
Initially the app only wanted basic access rights, but as soon as the
next update came out it was asking for a lot more. Why does a game I
play need to know my GPS location? Why does it need to know who I am
talking to on my phone? I don't believe it should need any more access
than phone state so that it can allow incoming calls etc. I didn't update
because of these unreasonable 'rights'. What frustrates me about the
Play store is that some of the main titles are not available to buy.
They are free 'ad supported' apps that are nothing more than a front
to mine personal data from people in my opinion. I am very careful with
what I install on my S2, and other than a couple of apps, it has remained
pretty much as it was when I had it.
Every day elements of this phone are also present and functional. Calendar,
alarm clock, calculator etc. There appears to be a bug with my phone
where if I press my clock display it will not open the clock menu. I
had to put a separate shortcut on my home page for the clock to access
it. It's only a little niggle, but one I believe should not be there.
Overall, I have been really happy with this phone. It has taken some
getting used to but it is a brilliant phone for the money when compared
to it's closest rivals. At the time I bought it, it was over £200 cheaper
than the iPhone 4S and did everything the 4S did and more. This was
bang for buck the best phone on the market and whilst it is dated now
it still packs a mighty punch for it's current price and is still £200
cheaper than the 4S. I would recommend the S2 to those who want a versatile
phone but do not want to pay the earth. Granted it is not a top spec
phone by todays standards, but for the money it is a great choice.
I have decided to give the Nexus 4 a try and see if I can finally settle
into Android. I will be keeping my S2 as a backup though as although
it feels less intuitive to me than my 3G, it has not only been reliable
but also extremely useful.
Rating:
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Reply by S21 from UK on 15th Nov 2012
You've said it all, Matt! Thanks for taking the time to write such a
detailed review.
Reviewed by roger.stark from israel on 13th Nov
2012
the.best.phone.of.them.alleven.better.than.samsung.3
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Reviewed by shelly from uk on 22nd Oct 2012
Amazing phone, i love it! i have got in the pink and it looks soo nice,
super fast.Was using the blackberry 9790 before and that seems so slow
now.
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Reviewed by Sumant from UK on 21st Sep 2012
Amzing fatures and definitely the best phone on market before S3 although
a real awful battery life. I am into 15th month of my contract of 18
months and I have to recharge battery after 6-7 hrs of use . Intemittently
disconnecting HD screen interface.
Overall big bang mobile but as usual a very very poor batter... characteristic
of samsung. Disappointment.
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Reviewed by ace from Jamaica on 6th Sep 2012
Such a device.I am walking around with my laptop.and phone all in one
a give the SII a 5 ratings
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Reviewed by rahman.M from uk on 4th Sep 2012
All rounder Galaxy s2 Android is a very good quality light weight truly
smart phone.Get it enjoy it.I used it for seven months no complain.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Sam from Kenya on 31st Aug 2012
I bought the S2 phone two months ago, Good phone but i cant upgrade
to ICS with kies, The phone also keeps hanging time and again. who has
an idea?
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Reviewed by MEL HARRIS from UNITED KINGDOM on
25th Aug 2012
BEST PHONE I'VE USED AND I'VE RECOMMENDED IT TO ALL MY FRIENDS.
I'M DISABLED AND HAVE POOR HAND MOBILITY,THIS PHONE IS IDEAL FOR ME,I
CAN TEXT,E MAIL AND SURF THE NET,WHERE I WAS PREVIOUSLY UNABLE TO DO
WITH A LAP TOP.
DOE'S TEND TO JUMP ALOT STILL WHEN U ARE TYPINGREVIEWS THOUGH,BUT I'M
SURE SAMSUNG WILL SORT THIS GLICH OUT EVENTUALLY.
HAVE TRIED THE GALAXY 3 BUT COULDN'T GET ON WITH THE SMALL KEYS
Rating:
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Reviewed by Adam from UK on 23rd Aug 2012
I had a Galaxy S2 on Vodafone, and apart from Vodafone's terrible service
the phone was amazing!! When I moved to o2, I stupidly got a HTC One
S, which was awful. After only a few weeks I sold this and bought (as
a last minute replacement) a Sony Xperia P - whilst this started off
well, just like the HTC did, it's really not that great and after only
another few weeks I have made the decision to sell this, and buy a new
Galaxy S2.
I was considering the Galaxy S3, but it's just a little too big for
my liking. I compared the specs of the S2 (even though I knew them already)
with my fiancee's Xperia S, and for all of the benefits of the Sony,
there were ten for the Samsung.
After years of being a Nokia fan, I am well and truly a Galaxy S2 fan.
Rating:
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Reviewed by freddy from Costa Rica on 19th Aug
2012
Simply amazing phone fast light and stetics kick others phones off
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Reviewed by Mardave from Flintshire North Wales on
1st Aug 2012
I am very disapponted with this phone as the screen keeps blackening
out, and keeps moving around from up right to sideways when browsing
through internet and making phone calls. Not ideal phone for hard of
hearing as the volume not very clear on speaker mode. Difficult to hold
as it to streamline (to thin) as you are catching the side buttons,
which turns off and altering the volume as well. It's going back and
out comes again my Blackberry 9780 as it is a better phone
Rating:  Reply
Reviewed by Paul from N.Ireland on 26th Jul 2012
Brilliant phone. Great design and very fast. Works well on ice cream
sandwich 4.0 and can't wait for Jellybean 4.1. Well worth buying
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Reviewed by Jade from UK on 17th Jul 2012
This is the worst consumer product I have ever bought. I have had three
in a row which have been faulty and Orange now refuse to replace with
a different model until their "diagnostic system" says so.
Oftenhave to turn it off and back on again just to make a phone call,
and the same to receive email. The dictation ("tap and speak") does
not work at all. The screenlock does not work, so if the phone cannot
be carried in your pocket without a case as you end up randomly calling
people. I have never had a whole days battery life out of it - if I
have been out for the whole day there is no chance of using the phone
on the way home. If using frequently (eg for internet) battery will
not last past lunchtime.
I was persuaded into buying this phone by staff in an Orange shop -
worst purchase ever as I can't now get out of my contract of get a different
phone. Should come with a warning.
"Sywpe" texting function is absolutely rubbish - inputs words which
are nothing like what you have written and so you have to check carefully
and it takes ages to text.
As a result of having this phone, I will never buy another Samsung product,
and will switch to another network as soon as I can get out of my Orange
contract.
Rating: Reply
Reply by Mardave from Flintshire North Wales
on 2nd Aug 2012
If Orange your network provider can't sort you out with your phone,
I'll would change your network provider to Three as they very good and
helpful. Good luck
Reply by evohicks from UK on 27th
Sep 2012
I have often heard of problems with these phones using Orange software,
a mate at work also has problems with it rebooting etc... I have had
2 Galaxy S2's now, (Sold 1st one to get the white one) both have been
perfect, also I have family members using them with no problems. I admit
there are problems with software etc but there are lots of phones out
there running fine.
Reviewed by Sam from Kenya on 16th Jul 2012
Bought the galaxy S2 one week ago. Its so exciting, beautiful and very
fast How do i upgrade to ICS?
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Reviewed by b atkin from england on 5th Jul 2012
Could love the phone if it had a user guide for operating. the system
. Any help out there would be usful
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Reply by Mobile Phones UK from UK on
6th Jul 2012
Link
to official user guide.
Reply by S2 User from England on 10th
Jul 2012
You can download the ICS manual from Samsung's official website for
free... Samsung then support... Check it out !
Reply by Pete Jackson from U.K. on
7th Aug 2012
Try Samsung H/O very helpful, have just agreed to send a user guide
to me. I belive that a manual should be sent out with every phone, for,
if like me this is your first android phone then it can be a daunting
experience setting up what is a great phone
Reviewed by sam son from uk on 25th Jun 2012
This is the most comftable and lightest mobile ever .
Its so powerful user friendley and such a big advantage for everyday
use i recommendec this outstanding device to anyone
Rating:
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Reviewed by maureen from great britain on 20th
Jun 2012
I like this phone i have not come across any problems really just wish
i could write on the screen with something apart from my finger.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Peter from UK on 2nd Jun 2012
The S2 which I have had for over a year now will run ICS 4.0.3.
As I have installed it onto my phone via my PC and Kies.
I only found out that it would install after going to a 3G shop to get
a Xone phone for my wife and saw that a staff member had put ICS 4 onto
the Galaxy SII they had on display for people to play with.
It seems to run even better than it did with the old android 2.3
as mine had a problem with rebooting by its self.
Rating:
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Reply by Peter from UK on 6th Aug
2012
Hi Just an update to my post on this great Phone. I am using my laptop
to write this update which is now setup to connect to the net via my
Galaxy SII which is running as portable WIFI hotspot as my 3g dongle(1gig
per month limit) has run out. I am really impressed with the speed it
runs at, way faster than any dongle. plus its not dropped out in the
2hrs I have been surfing the net. It never crossed my mind to use my
phone this way but I will be using it now! when I am away from home.
plus you dont need to be a network wizard to set it up.
Reviewed by rich from uk on 24th May 2012
samsung galaxys 2 the best phone ive owned so far, can do most things
with, customise, great phone.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Jamie from UK on 17th May 2012
I've had this phone for six months now and I absolutely love it! It's
enormously customisable - I change the look of it almost daily or whenever
I get bored. I think other reviewers have dealt with the camera and
internet, so I won't go into those. For people who are complaining about
the battery life, that's one of the prices you pay for having a powerful
phone with a bright display. I bought a more powerful battery than the
one supplied, and it will get me through nearly three days if I don't
touch the phone or comfortably through one day if I spend most of the
day playing with it. I also make sure that I have a battery saver app
and also change the settings so as to minimise battery use when I'm
not making calls or playing with it. There are endless fun apps in the
market, and with the price dropping due to the forthcoming S3, you'll
be getting an absolute bargain if you choose this phone.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Cuspchild from Barbados on 16th May
2012
I have the G2 for the past month, and I am very pleased with the phone.
I also have the iPhone 4s, but prefer to use the G2, however I have
two issues.
1) I cannot update to ICS. The phone is running Android 2.3. Checking
on software update it states there is no update available. When I go
on Kies it states my phone cannot be updated through Kies. How can I
get the latest update to ICS?
2)I notice photos taken with the camera have a greenish tint and colours
seem over satuarated
Any suggestion to my two issues?
Rating:
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Reply by S from England on 7th Jun
2012
Try un-installing Kies from your computer & reinstalling I had the same
problem.....
Reply by rock from uk on 23rd Jun
2012
you can download a offical samsung rom from a web site for ics 4 as
kies does not always work
Reviewed by dawn from uk on 12th May 2012
Had the s2 for a week. Bought it sim free on o2. I have to say, it's
a great phone. It's super fast and has an amazing screen. Call quality
is great. I also prefer touchwiz to HTC sense (never thought I would
say that). Battery life seems pretty fair, bout a day and a half, moderate
use. Samsung keyboard is totally pants tho, first stop was smart keyboard
pro on google market! Really wish Samsung would make a phone of this
spec/quality with a smaller screen. I tried the galaxy W, but it was
handicapped by a ridiculously small RAM. I'm a girl with small hands,
one handed texting isn't really an option with the s2. It feels more
like a mini tablet than a phone. That's OK tho, as this is my backup
phone, got a BB for the real stuff. Oh, the camera is great too. So,
not really a pocket friendly phone but a gorgeous bit of tech. Def a
smart investment, s3 is looming but s2 is smaller, future proof and
will only get cheaper. Win win.
Rating:
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Reply by dawn from uk on 14th May
2012
Just a note of warning. My s2 is the NFC version, some cases and the
Samsung extended 2000 mah battery pack do not fit this phone. It's a
tad larger than the original s2.
Reply by Robert from South Africa on
29th Jul 2012
Hi Dawn, You'll be happy to know that the Galaxy Ace 2 is out...it is
basically a Galaxy S2 with a smaller screen (3.8"). I've also got the
Galaxy S2 and while it's a fantastic phone, also too big for my liking.
I can't wait for the Ace 2 to be available in SA!
Reviewed by Bill from England on 12th May 2012
It's a good phone but why are all the good phones so expensive. I've
used mainly SE phones up to now but as android levels things out I thought
I would give Samsung a go.
Nice screen brighter and more colourful indoors but in sunlight I can't
say it seemed that much brighter than a high end SE. At first I thought
the phones WiFi connection was poor as it only showed a couple of bars
compared to my old SE's full rack. Then I realised as I re-downloaded
a lots of apps that the WiFi connection never missed a beat. While the
SE connection had kept dropping despite showing as a better connection.
I think someone somewhere explained that the Samsung WiFi connection
display is not in any way poorer it's just more truthful.
It was also good to see that some basic software was present like a
file manager and a voice recorder.
One big plus I have to say is the camera. Very clear and sharp even
full size on a PC screen. That's one thing SE have to work on. I found
their 8mp pictures less sharp than one of their 5mp ones. Over compression
is the problem there I believe which is a shame.
All in all the phone functions well with a good signal and clear sound.
Easy to connect to a PC but Kies is nightmare software. Much better
to use MyPhoneExplorer. So either find the drivers (SAMSUNG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones.exe)
on the net or do what I did. As I regularly do back up images of my
PC it was simple just to download and install Kies, find the required
file, then reload the earlier image. Very necessary as Kies installs
lots of things besides itself.
The only thing I haven't tried is NFC which sounds more like a northern
version of one of our favourite takeaways. I'm hoping that will catch
on later this year. I think NFC has a lot of potential for much more
than just paying bills and the like. Could be interesting.
Rating:
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Reply by Bill from England on 24th
May 2012
I take back what I said "I can't say it seemed that much brighter than
a high end SE." Using it today in the bright sunshine on the end of
Bournemouth pier taking pictures it was obviously easier to see the
screen than my previous high end SE phone. Even played a game and I
definitely couldn't do that without struggling to see things on my old
mobile.
Reviewed by Dina from Scotland on 11th May 2012
I am very disapponted with this phone as the screen keeps blackening
out. one simple example - when I dial 123 for answerphone, the screen
blacks out and I cannot press 1 to listen to my calls, without having
to switch on and off (maybe several times). It often blacks out when
I'm on a call and there is no way I can see the 'end call' button. I
mostly use the phone for making/receiving calls, checking emails, google.
This is the second S2 I have had, the first was replaced by the firm
for exactly the same reason.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by pizzed off wityh samsung from uk on
10th May 2012
rubbish signal on these,its a great phone apart from that but whats
the point if theres no reception ,also callers complain i sound like
im in a tin or something.
rubbis
Rating: Reply
Reply by Mobile Phones UK from UK on
11th May 2012
Are you using some kind of case? What network are you on?
Reviewed by michelle from ballymena on 28th Apr
2012
I have a samsung s2 in white an love it the battery great pictures are
great i bought this outright on pay an go an cost me 449 but have one
downside internet takes ages to work on it other than that its great
Rating:
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Reviewed by s70lky from england on 22nd Apr 2012
Galaxy s2 and outstanding phone having owned it for seven months.l did
some times think it was a bit slow at times,going in to contacts. After
upgrading to ice cream sandwich the phone got much faster. And connecting
to samsung kies got alot more easy and face recognition is so cool,
definitely the best phone on the market
Rating:
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Reviewed by joan from ne245ej on 22nd Apr 2012
very good phone singnal very good
Rating:
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Reviewed by Lizzo from UK on 21st Apr 2012
Samsung Galaxy is a dead loss. Signals are poor, fair or just not there
at all. I can't access Virgin Media email. Why wasn't I told that all
servers may not be available Orange? The phone was pushed as the best
thing since sliced bread. I can only give it one star as the very thing
I wanted it to do it won't, my email. I try to access BBC i-player,
it tells me to switch to Wi-Fi when the phone is ON Wi-Fi. I couldn't
recommend this phone to anyone. It's a disappointment.
Rating: Reply
Reply by FT from UK on 25th Apr 2012
Stop moaning about the phone when you have a network issue take it up
with Orange. Don't moan about a network carrier then give the phone
poor marks! I upgraded to ICS 4 lost my email (NTLWorld) until I manually
entered the IP info on the connections setting not the phone fault but
Vodafone. I would suggest you make sure your connections settings are
correct go back to your network provider and make sure they give you
all the details you need the automated text i got to update the WAP
and MMS settings were wrong again not phone problem.
Reply by SnarlingRabbit from United Kingdon
on 28th Apr 2012
Have you tried ringing Samsung? Agree, Orange tech staff haven't a clue
when it comes to smartphones these days. You could try getting through
to their busines section (few more brain cells). Android phones are
still a bit techy and require some degree of knowledge to operate. I
think this phone would be flawless if it had hTC Sense.
Reviewed by lee from england uk london on 21st
Apr 2012
First can i say iv had this phone a month i also have a iphone 4 which
iv had since launch
first the good points
the phone looks good screen is big its very light
Then we turn it on
Screen is bright and nice to look at os runs fast apps open quickly
internet is the best iv seen on a mobile phone full flash full internet
also the 4-3g connection is also the fastest iv seen on a phone everything
data runs fast reception is good (t mobile uk)
the reason for 2stars is that the battery is the worst iv ever seen
on a phone out of the box i always do the factory hours charge before
turning on as i did to this phone but the battery only last more than
a day if you only use phone to make calls everything else even a 2hour
a day user will need a charge its terrible so many features such a good
phone ruined by a rubbish battery plus the recharge system is the most
backward iv seen on a phone (meaning) when you charge it will charge
at 5% an hour it just about allows normal use while charging if you
for example are watching a video online the battery will run down fast
really fast plug in charger and it will still run down iv only ever
seen this when a phone is used as a wifi hotspot not normal use of data
but this phones battery and slow recharge system cant handle it this
is why its a 2stars
as such a feature rich phone you would feel that they would give it
a ok battery even current standard would have made this phone a 4-5
as everything else is perfect but i fail to see how any type of user
can be ok with these flaws as its impact on the phone are clear for
all to see
thanks for reading this review
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Reply by lee from uk london on 22nd
Apr 2012
Update also the phone gets so hot when in use (phone calls data) so
hot be warned iv tested this on 4 sg s2s as two the battery times eveb
with turning wifi 3g brightness etc everything you would want the phone
for leaving it with screen off total time 23 hours 46 mins (in effect
thats stanby time with everything off) Heavy users stay away midium
user stay away low users buy a cheaper phone that has most features
and most problems this would be better example (samsung galaxy w) thanks
for reading
Reviewed by TommyC from UK on 21st Apr 2012
Superb phone, previously owned a BB9700 which was everything I needed
until upgrading to the SGS2, what a difference. Everything is super
quick - apps, internet, gaming, and email. Touchscreen does need a bit
of getting used to and you have to research the whole set up of the
phone as to get the best battery life/performance comprimise, however
there are plenty of forums with good tips - this is more like a pocket
computer than a phone!
Call quality is excellent, never dropped a signal. Have not regretted
for a second leaving the BB behind...
Rating:
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Reply by Laura from UK on 23rd May
2012
I've literally just purchased the SGS2 a couple hours ago, and it's
on its 24 hour charge at the moment! I was wondering if you could possibly
recommend where you got the research on battery life/performance compromise?
I'm a heavy user and will find any tips on preserving battery life a
big help! Thanks :)
Reviewed by Ian from UK on 20th Apr 2012
An unbiased Review:
Owned my S2 for 4 months now - here's my opinion (previously had iPhone
and HTC Android):
Good:
Performance - Have to say as a piece of kit it is fantastic. Everything
snaps open and closed - I've never had any delays with any applications
or using the browser (I have good Wi-fi / 3G where I live) and it blows
the iPhone and previous Android phones I've used away - no comparison.
Display - brilliant screen. Best I've ever used (prefer it to iPhone4
although some people disagree).
Value for money is outstanding - £10 per month cheaper than an iPhone
with a better contract.
Touchwiz - previously used HTC Sense and was skeptical with this but
find I prefer it to Sense now. Overall I like Touchwiz as it's simple
and not intrusive.
Okay:
Size wize I'm neutral - love the fantasic big screen (indoors - not
so good in outside light) but I think it's just a bit too big as a phone
- awkward to handle one-handed.
Messaging software (either the built-in one or 3rd party like Handcent
SMS) is average - I find editing texts difficult and no where near as
good as the iPhone - this needs improving.
Google Play (Market) - okay but not outstanding. However this is rapidly
improving but has a long way to go to equal the Apple App Store. Lots
of free stuff though.
Battery - won't last more than 2 days if you play games / use browser
but that's okay - my iPhone was the same.
Bad:
It's too thin and slippery - a good case is a must as I found it would
slip out of my hand without one (use a Case-Mate Tough which is brilliant).
Heat - gets a bit hot if you play some games for a long time (as my
son does quite often!). Must be the graphics chip as it's the graphics
intensive games that do this. Not a showstopper though.
Summary:
Absolutely brilliant as a mini-computer/tablet.
Average as a phone/texter.
So if you want more of a computer than a phone I think it's the best
smartphone out there for price/performance (until next weeks new model
of course!)
Overall I give it 4 out of 5 (to put that into context I wouldn't swap
back to an iPhone).
Rating:
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Reviewed by Vlad from England on 17th Apr 2012
Has any of you guys and girls managed to get latest ICS 4.0 for yours
SII? It was announced that sim free version will get and update from
19 of March, I tried but Kies still saying NO, also annoying thing is
that O2 and 3 are already rolling with new ICS update.
Oh and the phone is great, could be better if TouchWiz 4 is not wasting
a battery like mad.
Rating:
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Reply by s70lky from england on 22nd
Apr 2012
Yes upgraded ice cream sandwich my phone is on the 3 network And updated
through samsung kies.on 21/4/12 have heard that the orange network will
be ready in the next few days if not now, and the rest of the networks
very soon.
Reviewed by Joe from UK on 17th Apr 2012
I highly recommend this phone...best phone ever.....
Rating:
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Reviewed by ali from uk on 9th Apr 2012
ive had the samsung galaxy s2 for about five months its a great phone
apart from it gets very hot when on call and internet i get sore heads
when the phone gets hot orange have replaced the phone and battery on
several ocations i think 4 batteries and about 10 handsets all the same
for that i can only give this phone a 1. can anyone help what should
i do ive asked orange to let me change my phone to something else they
wont let me do that as im 5 months into my cantract
Rating: Reply
Reply by king from uk on 11th Apr
2012
I have been using this phone for quite a while and m having a issue
that it heats up while playing games m getting a replacement so let
c how duz dat go
Reply by lizzo from uk on 21st Apr
2012
I agree, the Galaxy is a dead loss. I don't want to use it for games
but I did want it for email. The phone was recommended by Orange who
did not tell me that some Internet providers aren't accessible. Orange
have not been at all helpful, in fact the manager of my local outlet
was downright rude. Like you they won't allow me to change the phone
I am 8 months into my contract. The Consumer Protection Act doesn't
seem to apply to mobile phone companies.
Reply by JK from UK on 6th Jul 2012
Legally, Orange have responsibility if you inform them within the 1st
6 months. After the initial 6 months, the buyer has to prove it existed
at the time purchase if I am right. Think it is the Supply of Goods
and Services Act-products have to be of satifactory quality and fit
for purpose. RE: Internet and internet providers, there may be an issue
of misrepresentation, but I am not completely sure about that.
Reviewed by rayraysworld from England on 6th Apr
2012
The Samsung Galaxy S2. "the best phone you can get", I was told. Well,
I hope not because I want a better one.
I do like the phone but there are many things I don't like about it.
Sadly, some of these gripes would be the same with other similar phones.
Firstly, having to download the ghost-like programme Kies to be able
to transfer info is a massive thumbs down and is the main reason why
I will NEVER EVER (EVER) buy a Samsung phone ever ever again.
I have had many phones over the years and it's always been a simple
case of linking my phone to my PC with a USB and dragging the pics or
whatever over. Oh No.....that's too simple for Samsung. So I plugged
in my phone and......nothing. You have to download Kies! It wouldn't
work! And it's so difficult to use....and I'm no computer novice either!
I have tried to use KIES loads of times now and even had a friend round
to help and he fixes computers for a living and he couldn't do it either!
So I used Bluetooth to transfer photos but it just saved them on my
pc as thumbnails so the pics were tiny and would blur if expanded! Rubbish
system and if you are not a PC expert, I would stay away from Samsung
phones.
In the end, I went to the Dropbox website, put my pics on there and
then transferred them onto my pc which is a pain in the butt. As for
music, I have to transfer music from my pc to an old Sony Ericsson phone
I have and then Bluetooth the songs over to my S2! Not that the music
player is any good anyway.
The ON/OFF button!
It's directly opposite the volume button so you can accidentally turn
your phone off when adjusting the volume as you naturally hold it on
the sides. Rubbish!
Music Player......I can't get it to play music for very long despite
going into the settings and playing with it. One song or so and it switches
off automatically. Not ideal for listening to music while shopping or
walking!
The Camera
Not a bad camera but one thing.........I can't take photos silently.
The shutter sound is a nightmare. I sat there trying to take some pics
of some birds feeding and when i took my first pic, the shutter sound
frightened them off. I can see no way to silence it.
One thing that is also a problem with all the new 'smart' phones is
that if you are looking at a web page and you lose your signal you will
lose the page. On older phones, the page would be retained. Very smart
huh?
And if the battery is low, you can't use the camera!!! what a nightmare!
On all my previous phones, I have still been able to use the camera
even just before the battery was about to die.
I am going to give this 3 as it is a good phone and the apps are good
and the games are good but I don't need to write about the good things
as every reviewer before has been praising it to heaven.
The thing is....I say it's a good phone but all the good things about
it are being done just as well by other phones. Personally, I can't
wait for my contract to end so I can get a better phone. Looking at
the reviews before this one, you can see why i believed the hype.
If this is one of the best phones on offer, God help us.
Rating:
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Reply by Bill from England on 13th
May 2012
Why use Kies at all. Just install the usb drivers like you would do
for any other phone and then you can copy back and forth to your PC
with ease. If you want to sync stuff with your PC then use the very
good MyPhoneExplorer. All phone companies seem to make awful PC software.
Sony's is the same. When I had a Sony phone again I used MyPhoneExplorer.
It's all pretty simple stuff and easy to do a search and find. The driver
file you want to search for is SAMSUNG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones.exe
it's 23meg. My version is 1.5.4.0 (the latest) and is digitally signed.
Reviewed by king from uk on 5th Apr 2012
Received this phone yesterday and this phone is simply the best even
compared to android tablets the browser is amazing. i would recomend
to every1 whoeva wants gaming, browsing, smartphone device
Rating:
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Reviewed by jack limrisa from england on 3rd Apr
2012
great phone ! :)
Rating:
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Reviewed by Paul Holliday from England on 3rd
Apr 2012
well im well pleased with mine ive got it in white so much better looking
i think what a phone its amazing and i get two days battery nearly already
only had it a week cant wait to see what the 3 is like but to be fair
id be happy with this its light powerful slim and well fast id deffo
recomend it to anyone from tangentman in Derbyshire
Rating:
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Reviewed by tony from uk on 30th Mar 2012
Battery life is terrible. Any phone calls at all deplete it at an alarming
rate.
Size wise, it must be right on the limit in respect of what is practical
to carry in your jeans pocket. In my view, actually too big.I have to
take mine out of my pocket whenever I sit down,which increases risk
of leaving it behind somewher or someone stealing it when you're distracted.
Lots of problems with echo on phone calls if you have a cover on. You
then have the dilemma, lose it for a week whilst the fix is carried
out (which doesn't always work) or use a pouch to protect it.... which
increases the bulk.
I moved rom a Blackberry Curve to this phone about 2 months ago. I had
no issues at all with the Blackberry, other than the screen size.
The Samsung is easy to navigate round and is very user friendly. I have
to admit the size of it is my main concern. If you want a gameplay/web
surfing size screen it fits the bill and is probably worth the compromise.
If these aren't on your priority list, get something a bit smaller.I
wish I'd stuck with Blackberry!!!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Andy E from UK on 29th Mar 2012
I am a novice user of smart phones having finally decided at the age
of 64 I had better join the 21st century. I am a capable PC Windows
user. I am in awe at what these phones can do, and as a novice I clearly
cannot compare this with another phone. I think it's great. My two gripes
are battery life - admitedly I'm using it a lot at the moment as you'd
expect but even so getting through a day without charging is not possible
if you turn on too many things. Second as a novice user the Samsung
guide (both written and videos) are pretty useless. When as I am you
have NO idea how to use such phones it has proved a challenge although
I'm getting there. Great fun and display OK even in bright sun.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Najim from London on 28th Mar 2012
I was originally hoping to get the iphone however what interested me
most about the G2 was the fact that it is open source meaning I am not
restricted. I have had the G2 for nearly 6 months and it really is a
mini computer you can get any app or games for free without having to
jail break. You can give yourself root permission allowing you to run
the latest Ice Cream Sandwich well before it has even released. I can
run any emulator and all the roms as I please. Heres a tip to you people
out there check out "omnio" google it and get the phone from there.
It will be unbranded so you save some money and bloatware. In regards
to the battery life well you can make the phone easily last 3 days by
using one core (turning the second off), disabling accounts and lowering
brightness. or you can drain the battery in 3 hours by switching everything
on. Take into account that white pixels require more energy to power
than the other colours in the spectrum. I love this phone it has brought
me hours of entertainment
Rating:
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Reviewed by Mark from UK on 25th Mar 2012
I have now owned and used the S2 for a few months. I always check out
the latest reviews before deciding and have found this site to be one
of the best places to go if you are looking around.
Nearly everyone i know has an iphone and i just wanted to try something
different so finally decided on the S2. Got a great deal as well which
when i compared it to iphone deals was pretty amazing!
Moving past the deal though the real question (as deals are always out
there) must be whether the phone actually lives up to the reviews and
reputation! I for one say it does.
I don't think i could be more pleased with this phone. Of course there
will always be varied opinions flying around but overall this phone
is simply superb.
The screen is amazing, takes great pictures, excellent HD movies, access
to the internet almost anywhere, very slim even though being full of
features, good to look at, lightweight and very unnoticeable hiding
in your pocket, responsive and so on. If i max out and use as many applications
as possible the battery does suffer but that will be the case on any
phone or item with a battery. Works fine for me.
I would seriously be shocked if anyone didn't enjoy using this phone.
Yes, as a phone it works brilliantly too which is quite amazing considering
what is packed in there!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Naz from UK on 25th Mar 2012
Best phone ever made.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Davis john from India on 25th Mar
2012
it is a good phone in the world market .
But one thing ? How long it will last?
Rating:
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Reviewed by charlene from England on 20th Mar
2012
been using this phone for a week and i must say I LOVE IT. i can say
im a total convert of qwerty keyboard user to touchscreen texting queen
HAHA. however, is it possible to rename the name of music files on the
phone/ kies? They are often mismatched and it's very annoying. anyways
i still love this bad boy!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Lesley from England on 19th Mar 2012
Well what can I say ... OMG this phone is the business , I have always
used apple iPhone since it's concept , not any more , I borrowed my
friends galaxy S2 it is fabulous , I have now changed over to the galaxy
S2 , I must say to any other IPhone users look at this phone go into
a shop , borrow a friends it is fantastic .
Rating:
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Reviewed by ozziejohn from UK on 18th Mar 2012
Hi everyone, I don't yet own the S2 but am buying in the next 2 weeks.
I'd like to comment on the negative remarks ref the battery life of
the S2.
I'm sure that the negative commentators will have used their phone as
soon as they got it out of the shop! The battery will then expire after
a short period of time and they will re-charge.
THIS IS NOT THE CORRECT WAY!!!
When you receive your phone it is MOST IMPORTANT to give it the correct
INITIAL charge which is......a MINIMUM of 16 hours, I personally charge
mine for 24 hours.
Then use the phone till it expires and charge it for a further 16/24
hours, use it till it expires and charge it for a further 16/24 hours...3
cycles of charge/discharge.
You can then revert to a normal charging cycle and your phone will not
have battery problems.
Hope this helps future users and provides some kind of consolation to
the negative commentators.
Bye for now.............ozziejohn.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Claire from England on 18th Mar 2012
I have had this phone a week and LOVE it! The screen: amazing, rich
and vibrant colours and great touch response. The speed: Really quick,
responsive and can run multiple apps and it does not seem to slow down.
The size: a nicely sized screen, ideal for videos but ultra light. I
have bought a gel case for mine and even with that on it is still unbelievably
light but not tacky feeling. The design: Well thought out, looks gorgeous,
sleek and sophisticated and easy to use. I like the menu and home screen
personalisations so I can have my phone exactly the way I want it. Good
free apps (as always with android), great camera, great music player
and I do virtually EVERYTHING on my SGS2; send and receive email, access
the net and social networking sites, take pics and vids, create mini
movies, listen to music, the alarm wakes me up of the morning and I
even use it as a diary, store shopping lists and bill payments on there
and much more. I'd be lost without it. The battery life is good for
droid phone; make sure you charge before using the first time to avoid
problems. also there are onboard features to preserve battery life such
as powersaving mode so I dont know why some whinge about it. The back
FEELS flimsy when taken off but is very robust. I have invested in some
screen protectors and a case which you can pick up cheap from play.com,
amazon and ebay.
I had the Galaxy S before this and thought that was hard to beat but
the Galaxy S2 has done it. I couldnt recommend highly enough, far better
than the iphone 4s!!
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Reviewed by DJS from England on 15th Mar 2012
Mate this phone is the most amazing phone ever Yeh. Top PHONE
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Reviewed by Kelly from England on 13th Mar 2012
Hi, ive had this phone a while now and i do like it. People are complaining
about the battery life but i charge mine and it can last about 5 days
so ive no complaints there! Takes good pictures and videos. Same problem
as somebody else though as sometimes the gallery doesnt work and gets
stuck on the loading page but all in all i cant complain really.
ONE THING WHICH DRIVES ME MAD AND IF ANYBODY CAN HELP PLEASE TELL ME:
I cant seem to attach photoc to messages or send a picture from my gallery,
the message gos but the receiver never receives it, my mum has the same
problem with hers too. Any advice on how to send pictures to people
from your gallery by messages? Thanks
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Reply by ifti from england on 13th
Mar 2012
Use gmail
Reply by SiFi from UK on 19th Mar
2012
If you are sending photos to someone who will only be viewing them on
their phone it is best to send them as small photos (640x480 pixels)
as some phones will be limited by the size of photo they can view or
attachemnet size they can receive. If that works then you can increase
the size next time you send to that person, to see where their size
limit is. If you are sending photos to someone who can view them on
their computer then there is no need to reduce photo size. Another factor
to consider: have you enable MMS(Multi-Media Message Service) sending
on your phone? Your SIM card / service provided will normally activate
this within a few minutes of your phone being switched on.
Reviewed by Tom from England on 12th Mar 2012
I've had this phone for four months now and it has been absolutely amazing!
What really strikes me still is the Super Amoled Plus screen. Normally
with new tech the wow factor wears off quickly. However, with this phone
I am always in awe of it each I pick it up. It is though I am looking
at it for the first time each time!! It's just that good because the
screen is so full of life, colour and personality!!
And this is just the screen alone! The Music player (have also downloaded
Poweramp music player - amazing options like increased bass now), Camera,
Google maps, internet access, call quality, speed and interface are
all exceptional. Battery life is good also. There's just too much that's
good about it to mention here.
For anyone who has the White GS2 I would recommend the Case Mate Barely
There matt black case cover. The matt black really compliments my white
phone. It makes the silver camera stand out and makes the phone look
really sophistated. Overall this is a world class device and rightly
the winner of best phone for 2011.
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Reviewed by Tony M from England on 11th Mar 2012
Had the Samsung GS2 for 2 weeks now....and waw what a piece of kit.I
could start to tell u how amazing the phone is, there isnt enough space
on here?
Thinking about getting a new phone, don't even contemplate anything
else...... you'll know what i mean when you get it.
ENOUGH SAID
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Reviewed by john from uk on 11th Mar 2012
brilliant phone 1 problem when you listen to your music on your headphones
it just goes off pain in the xxxx
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Reviewed by Stuart from England on 8th Mar 2012
I purchased a cover and screen protector for my Galaxy S2 from Ebay.
I have never experienced any sort of echo whilst on a call on my phone
(incidentally the cover is black silicon and covers around the screen's
edge and the back of the phone entirely and cost £1.99)
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Reviewed by terry g from united kingdom on 7th
Mar 2012
Just traded my old nokia n8 for galaxy s2, really pleased but the one
thing my nokia does i cant make the galaxy do it, namely send a text
message to 50 plus people in my group it will only do the first 10 in
the list, any ideas please
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Reply by Mark from GB on 10th Mar
2012
have you tried adding the people too a group and then send a text too
the whole group?
Reviewed by Robert from Philippines on 4th Mar
2012
I bought Samsung GT-I9100 Galaxy SII...it's really awesome, a perfect
smartphone I have ever used. The UI is nice you will never ever regret
buying it inspite the fact it cost that much. It's really a "smart"phone!
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Reviewed by cheryl o'shea from england on 1st
Mar 2012
i have had this phone for about 4 months now and it is amazing everything
about it is fantastic. its fast on internet, light, brilliant camera
and video camera all i can say is AMAZING
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Reviewed by Colin from Scotland on 1st Mar 2012
I have to echo (Pardon the pun) previous review by Keith over the persistent
problem I have had with the S2. An echo developed with my first handset
and when i received a replacement the problem persists not only with
mobile to mobile calls but also to landline calls. It would appear to
relate to protective covers of which I have purchased many different
types all of which suffer the same problem- infuriating call receivers.
i am loathe to return or get another phone as like the other reviews
state this is an outstanding phone if only Samsung would get their act
together and acknowledge/address this fault.
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Reviewed by Keith Watts from UK on 28th Feb 2012
I may love the phone having just got it, but it has a major fault regarding
call echos when any case is fitted. These are heard by the third party.
What's more, Samsung admit this to be a known problem. I report as following:
Having received 2 Galaxy S2's this week (one for my partner, one for
me) both have the echo problem. After talking to a helpful T Mobile
support member, I spoke directly to Samsung. As a consequence, I have
just finished a long and detailed call with Samsung. The following are
direct quotes, made contemporaneously during a conversation with Samsung
support regarding the echo problem.
I was informed by the Samsung staff member, “This is a known problem.”
When asked what Samsung intends to do about it, this received the following
response, "We are still investigating the problem but doesn’t
work with any case.”
When pushed further I received the following statement “until
we develop a case that works with the phone there is nothing we can
do about.”
I naturally argued that, by definition, this was a phone fault. I return
to the quote above., "This is a known problem".
Call was logged at 1320hrs today , I also have a reference number.
I have suggested a firmware settings update allowing the noise reduction
system to be user switched off permanently This, as reported by others
and tested by me, will eliminate the symptoms (although the technology
problem will still exist).
Does this technically mean that the phone is not fit for purpose,I feel
so.
If we want to get this addressed, please Samsung Phone Support on 0330
726 7864 I am told that his number is a standard rate call.
Please feel free to qote me in any press.
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Reviewed by gypsyking from france on 25th Feb
2012
Hhe phone for 2 months now. Amazing handset, great screen, very fast
android system. This is definately an iphone contender. Tell me something?
Does anybody else think the call quality is below par? I have tried
to remove the case I bought and also the screen protector after a colleague
thought this improved the issue. I have also visited a voda shop and
they said there is no history of any issues, although they changed my
sim card. I am loathed to send this back because I will get a nearly
new handset in replacement which I feel is not right. There is definately
a hardware issue with this. There must be other people with this isssue.
It is a pity becausse i love the handset, but is not to good if you
cannot use it for its primary function.
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Reviewed by Al from Scotland on 25th Feb 2012
This phone is the dog's and no mistake. Never mind the Apple tat...
This is the future!
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Reviewed by Tim from South Africa on 20th Feb
2012
Had the phone for 7 months now and it has never given me a headache
or increased my blood pressure. Has only crashed and restarted once
since I've owned it but I'm sure it was down to a buggy app. I've also
tried really hard to make the system laggy by running it with as many
processes as possible, but with no success.
The only small gripes I have is the battery life. Its not excellent
but with the right amount of conditioning and optimizing, it makes it
quite bearable. Bought an extended 1900mah battery which helps. Also
when using the camera's flash at night, there is a purple tint on the
side of the picture. And if I want to be really picky I'd say the wifi
signal receiver isn't the strongest.
All in all, superb phone. Can see myself with this phone in the years
to come
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Reviewed by salim from INDIAN on 19th Feb 2012
GOOD
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Reviewed by nitesh from india on 18th Feb 2012
Hi,i am using this phone since last 2 month.this is one of the best
phone i ever had.thank
You SAMSUNG.
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Reviewed by George from Surrey - England on 17th
Feb 2012
Fantastic phone, a lot better than the iPhone due to the smoothness
it has whilst navigating through the phone. The screen is the best screen,
in my opinion, of all of the touch phones out there. I haven't seen
better yet.
Apart from the perfect clarity of the screen, there is little to be
disappointed about. The interface is superb, the applications all run
smoothly and are really nice to use.
Only problem is the music program. When playing music, the background
is an image of flowers with a pinky-orange background, I don't use the
music on the phone, not because of this, but because I have an iPod
Touch. The Touch screen on the iPod touch, is NO WHERE NEAR that of
the Samsung Galaxy S2 :)
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Reviewed by Noland from USA on 16th Feb 2012
I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 and I have had problems with the phone signal
inside a building. I had a HTC G1 and the phone would work in numerous
places inside the building. the Samsung will not do that. I have to
be at a certain point to get the signal I need to talk to someone. For
a phone so expensive and 2 years newer you would think that would not
be a problem. Well in my case it is a problem.
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Reviewed by Gary from UK on 15th Feb 2012
If Volkswagen made phones, this would be it. Perfect phone. Been a nokia
guy for years. Just love this phone and the Gingerbread operating system.
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Reviewed by caroline from uk on 15th Feb 2012
my screen is so sensitive which is annoying. When i hold the phone to
my ear it cuts off many times when I answer calls. Can anyone advise
me? Thanks
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Reply by Sue from UK on 16th Feb 2012
check the settings you have on answering and finishing calls. Go to
settings, call and the answering/ending bit, you can use different keys
to turn off and on, may work better for you.
Reviewed by Mark from United Kingdom on 14th Feb
2012
The Galaxy S2 has a big screen, and a nice camera. And you can probably
get it for a chunk less than an iPhone, due to Apple's airtime/hardware
pricing policy.
HOWEVER, here is a list of things I really don't like about the phone
and the Android apps for it:
-Swype is more of a pain than it is useful: despite repeated tinkering
with the speed vs accuracy scale, its accuracy is poor enough to require
such careful Swyping that it takes me twice as long to type a sentence
with Swype as it did with an old numerical keypad. Additionally, 50%
of the time, predictive text chooses words which have yet to ever appear
in my vocabulary.
-The phone randomly crashes every week or two, and will not do anything.
-The battery lasts at absolute maximum 2 days, and that's with screen
timeout set to 30secs, wifi turned off, virtually no web/email usage,
virtually no talk time, and Advanced Task Killer installed and set to
auto-kill all apps at maximum frequency. By contrast, a friend has wifi
on all the time, uses it regularly for web access and does not have
Advanced Task Killer installed, and he has bought an extra battery as
he cannot go out for a NIGHT OUT with only one battery - it does not
last.
-The search button on Google on the web browser does nothing. Press
it, and I get the brief highlight to register that I've pressed it,
but nothing else happens. No search. Press it as many times as you like.
To google something I have to go to Images, run an Image search, then
click "Web".
-1/3 of the time, dragging the screensaver all the way from one side
of the screen to the other will still not unlock the screen.
-Over 50% of the time, images upload sideways: 90 degrees anti-clockwise
from the correct orientation. It doesn't matter how many different ways
around I try uploading it, I'm stuck with a sideways image. So in order
to reliably upload images, I have to email them to my computer and upload
from there.
-Sometimes, the Gallery will refuse to open. It gets stuck at the Loading
screen.
-Sometimes, when I take a picture with the camera held in portrait orientation
(double-checking with the reticule that this is definitely the case),
when I go to gallery the image is in landscape orientation.
-Reading or marking emails as read/unread or deleting emails or saving
drafts in the Gmail app does not register these changes with Gmail itself.
So when I go into Gmail through a computer, the drafts are not there
and the read/unread/deleted changes have not been made.
-Just now I was writing an email, using the Gmail app. Holding down
backspace deletes word by word rather than letter by letter, which is
quite useful. So I did that, until it had deleted the words I didn't
want, then I let go. It wouldn't stop deleting. It backspaced through
half of my rather long email, before pressing random letters stopped
it.
I was sucked in by a big screen and nice camera.
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Reviewed by goli from uk on 7th Feb 2012
this is worst phone i have never seen in my life it has poor battery
life and poor touch pad
Rating: Reply
Reply by Andy from UK on 11th Feb
2012
I have it and it is amazing
Reply by Jpd from Yorkshire on 11th
Feb 2012
Try reading the description above or RTFM. Battery needs conditioning
by charging frequently in the early days. Duhhh!
Reply by Ian from UK on 14th Feb 2012
Well I've had mine for 4 weeks and battery life is excellent. I always
charge overnight and it has no problem lasting all day with heavy use
(Wifi, 3G, email, music etc) and a couple of days with light use (calls,
SMS).
Reply by Carlos from uk on 22nd Feb
2012
Try reading in detail the manual online forums etc, to establish and
then rectify any quieries you are encountering with the Samsung Galaxy
s2. Which in the opinion of the experts, critics and many millions of
users around the World have voted this phone as the no.1. It currently
holds the best smartphone award/s in the uk!...
Reply by mii from UK on 12th Mar 2012
JPD I have had mine since Sept 2011 and my battery sux too. needs charging
after about 8 hours of light to medium use and I always charge mine
overnight. I think it must be a battery prob as battery life is so variable
Reviewed by Visigoth from England on 7th Feb 2012
I've had this phone for a while now and whilst being a bit of a technophobe
I've forund it really easy to get along with after 4yrs with N95. Texts
are really easy once you've worked out the T9 predictive text and added
your own short cuts. The camera has more features than my hand held
cybershot and takes brilliant snaps and pin sharp videos. The screen
is superb and crystal clear, yes it uses the battery heavily but then
this is more of a computer with phone rather than a phone with a computer
I've bought the extended life batery and it lasts 2 days easily. From
and old git with a N95 to full touch screen phone user this was an easy
transition. I'm really pleased with my S2 and think it was worthwhile
jumping to a full touch screen phone. I think some users want everything
yesterday and have no time to read a user manual so as to work out what
this phone actually do.
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Reviewed by Oliver from UK on 5th Feb 2012
Riddled with problems:
I have gone from an i-phone to this and I would not recommend anyone
else to do the same transition. Firstly the battery life is poor, even
when spending time making sure all applications are closed.
Also I find it rather annoying that the texting is so unintuitive that
you have to press shift then i then cycle through the punctuation to
get to ' then press m to get I'm (which you use rather a lot in messaging),
rather than simply typing i then m, which you could do on the i-phone.
The camel-back-breaking straw for me has been incessant problems with
the usb connection, which cuts out every 5 seconds. I was looking forward
to not having to bother with i-tunes but now I miss it.
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Reviewed by Ruben from UK on 5th Feb 2012
Hmmm where do I start? I've only had the phone two days, so I feel like
I'm still only scratching the surface, but from what I've seen and experienced
so far I can honestly say I'm very impressed.
I was torn between this and the Desire HD, but in the end went with
this and think I've made the right choice.
It's super responsive, the double tab zoom with 'Auto Fit Pages' option
set for web browsing makes scrolling and reading websites a breeze,
the camera is pretty sweet, although I'd have possibly preferred a button
integrated within the phone's chassis.
Anyway, I can safely say I've had no connection problems, connects to
my wifi flawlessly and loads pages very quickly. Still can't believe
the technology to phone size ratio.
I had a Blackberry Curve which I could only text and call off (think
that was my fault mind) but as you can imagine this is worlds apart.
If you want an alternative to the iPhone look now further.
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Reviewed by technostein from UK on 5th Feb 2012
Had this phone for a couple of Weeks, very pleased with it, much better
than my HTC sensation speed and design wise. I have.good.knowledge of
Android and touchwiz user interface is one of the most simplest you
can get on android phone. Battery life is terrible so got the official
Samsung extended battery adding only 1mm in thickness. Now this is a
perfect phone for everything. Strongly recommend.
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Reviewed by Trevor B from UK on 4th Feb 2012
Only had the S2 for about a week but have spent quite some time playing
about on it (I should get out more ).Setting up email,internet and most
settings very easy all just works straight out of the box.A particular
interest of mine is the video recording, once the auto focus has set
up you are good to go with fantastic picture and sound quality.I tried
both HTC sensation models but neither are as good as the Samsung.The
S2 battery is as good as it gets at the moment and should give about
a day and a half with steady use.I will update this review in the future
to report any faults but on my some what short time with the S2 I am
very impressed.Samsung seem to be working very hard at the moment.Well
done.
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Reviewed by Scott from uk on 4th Feb 2012
Like previous reviews I wasn't sure wether to get another I phone after
having the 3gs for two years a few of my friends have the 4s but it
want different enough to warrant a change.had a play with this phone
and oh my God this phone its amazing, if you are in the same position
as I was wondering to get get one or not don't worry you will not be
disappointed.my friends who have the 4s wish they had got one too !!!
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Reviewed by jenny barker from england on 4th Feb
2012
I would agree that this phone has a lot to offer but I have recently
found after signing up for a contract that if a sms message is too large
it will convert to mms which I have to pay for so I am not happy with
this and will probably look for another phone as will cost me too much.
Rating:
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Reply by steve from uk on 24th Feb
2012
Download "go sms pro " from the market its free
Reply by Immac from Uk on 26th Feb
2012
There are so many free sms apps out there...i Use go sms, I had Pansi
sms on the galaxy s and i had no problem...i receive sms fully as they
are sent however long they may be. try this
Reply by LA from UK on 4th Apr 2012
Do these free sms apps mean that you can send sms messages as long as
you like without them converting to mms messages? How does this work?
Any answers greatly appreciated!
Reviewed by Gill from England on 4th Feb 2012
sorry to say very disappointed. Had phone for only a day and was unable
to send messages apart from brief interval of maybe 30 mins then all
failing again. Advised by O2 takes 24 hrs to set up everything, but
switch on and off every hour and if no luck register call with helpdesk!!??
I think not O2 it will be back with you shortly. I see on various forums
this common p-roblem and not exclusive to the initial 24 hrs after purchase.
Plus 2 phone calls that were totally incomprehensible, also highlighted
on forums. On balance my sister has had same phone for sometime and
it's been faultless. Everything else on the phone fab but if can't make
calls or text when required it's not up to job!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Deanie from England on 3rd Feb 2012
I have had the Galaxy S2 for around a week now & its excellent does
everything I want a phone to do emails, nice camera etc..
But it does have a flaw & that's the battery life which is only a 1650mah
battery which gets you through the day just.. but Samsung do a bigger
battery for the S2 & its called a Extended battery & is 2000mah which
now lasts up to 2 days ! but you lose the slimness part of the phone
& you get the same backcover as before but it lines up with the hump
at the bottom of the phone which is no big deal to me only 1mm difference.
Also get a pouch case because those nearly fit cases causes the phone
to give a echo to the caller when you speak very strange, but apart
from that its a superb phone get one now they are much cheaper on contract
than the iphone & has around the same spec as the iphone... I picked
one up for £25 per month from Tesco great deal.
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Reviewed by sarah from wales on 3rd Feb 2012
Love the phone so glad I got it
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Reviewed by Kasser from England on 3rd Feb 2012
You'll love this phone, until you want to connect to wifi. It will work
for a few weeks then BOOM! Nothing! It will show full bars for wifi
but there will be zero data transferred. Don't believe me? Google 'wifi
Galaxy S2' and you'll see. This POS is going on ebay and going back
to BlackBerry. (Ps, call volume is absolute nrubbish as well. Believe
it or not, if you lower media volume in, say, a game, it affects the
volume in a call!!! KOREAN RUBBISH! And don't even get me started on
Kies desktop software!!!). GARBAGE.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Dan from UK on 2nd Feb 2012
I do like this phone, but it feels a bit plasticy. Its like a wizard
purple phone!
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Reviewed by Kev from UK on 1st Feb 2012
Best phone out there by far, only gripe is the oral speaker phone is
at the back and like the numpty i am i keep covering it up with my hand
so the caller can't hear me or turning my head away from the phone which
has the same effect......get one
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Reviewed by chris H from uk on 30th Jan 2012
I pondered for a long time whether to go for the S2 or the 4S (previously
was a iphone 3GS user). It partily came down to price, S2 contract significantly
cheaper, and I was really not sure about android having used apple for
2 years. All I can say is WOW, the S2 is amazing, I was affaid I wouldn't
get on with it, apple is designed for your nan to use it, but I shouldn't
have worried. within two days it was 'apple' who? the screen is amazing,
it is super fast, has flash, add a memory. I really can't rate it enough.
If like me, you like the new tech, but it slightly scares you, especially
when you read that you can customise etc, fear not, it really isn't
difficult. Video play back is great, the camera is amazing, more or
less done away with my digital camera and recording HD video is brilliant.
There are a couple of points to note, as has previosuly been mentioned,
the app store isn't as great, IMO, than apple, a lot of second rate
apps, but there is something out there fore everyone. Also, the battery
doesn't last for ages. Most days it will get me through until I go to
bed, I'd say I am medium user, listen to music, check emails, texting,
a few calls, a game or two. However, just buy a spare charger, or use
one from all other devices except apple. If you are wondering which
one to go for S2 or 4S, go for the S2. And to be fair, I can imagine
Siri will get boring after a short time.
Rating:
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Reviewed by gee from uk on 30th Jan 2012
Xcelent fne had it for two months cnt go rong touch wood
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Reviewed by GeeBee from Scotland on 29th Jan 2012
i've had this phone for around 4 months. absolutely love it, apart from
the battery on my phone only lasts almost a day but thats because i
always have apps running and always texting or calling people. so easy
to use. got nothing bad to say about the phone at all. i love it!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Jess from England on 29th Jan 2012
Love this phone so much, infact our whole family has one now! Great
apps, Very quick and good battery. Best phone Ive oned yet, and I upgraded
from a I-phone 4 and I am very pleased with this phone.
Rating:
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Reviewed by lee from England on 27th Jan 2012
The only problem is the typing (dictionary and predictive text). if
this phone had the iphone dictionary and predictive text it'll be 100%.
Nevermind
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Reviewed by Cesc Fabregas from Spain on 27th Jan
2012
quality phone screen is brilliant and amazing camera the battery life
is good as well with the amount of texting i do
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Reviewed by Khaled from EgYpT on 25th Jan 2012
@ 1st moment when I bought & saw the Screen's Super AMOLED plus I was
WOWED & gazed as if in a dream world from its superior colouful big
Display, What an "all in one" Device, It has everything that I need,
From Sharp Detailed camera's Image Quality To Full HD 1080p Video recording
"although 720p is way better @ low light night" , & what a powerful
instant response from its dual 1.2 Ghz core Processor that cope with
pcs' frequencies ! From Best of the options is the intelligent voice
talk capability that is highly responsive & quite interesting, Its considered
an excellent gaming console performing great even in most sophisticated
latest 3D games thanx to its powerful GPU which is way faster than the
galaxy tab 10.1 Not to mention the many custom kernels made that enhance
the performance & the battery life obviously. Its the Smartest Super-phone
Ever-made up-to-date till the OMG GALAXY s III is out there YET !!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by terry c from uk on 24th Jan 2012
Changed from another large screen brand because of continually dropped
signal (3 phones in all!) and not regretted changing. Does everything
effortlessly. Any gripes? - a small one. In calender, changing time
is fiddly (time is coverd by finger so have to crane neck to see what's
happening) and when typing the comma is on the numeric page, not the
ABC page!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Knackeredmum from UK on 23rd Jan 2012
Right, first off I have had this phone now for 5 months so am not commenting
on the back of a 5 minute play. I have to say overall I love this phone.
After reading some comments (and after previously owning a Samsung Tocco)
I was worried about the quality of the signal and call dropping etc.
I can honestly say that I have not had a problem with the S2. Calls
are clear and generally the speaker is loud, just make sure that there
is nothing too soft like a jumper covering the speaker. If you were
to put your finger over the speaker at the back the sound is significantly
reduced. The user interface is easy to negotiate and the phone is largely
intuitive. The screen is great and also very sensitive so you don't
have to constantly stab at things to get them to move or when playing
games. surfing the internet is also fast and I often use the phone over
the laptop these days. Setting up e mail/facebook etc is a piece of
cake and compared to my old Nokia N97 mini (which grumbled about having
to download anything)everything downloads swiftly. For those who are
concerned about how flimsy the phone looks and feels, there are some
brilliant hard cases avaliable on Amazon (I got 5 for a couple of £££).
I have dropped my phone several times and have had no problems with
the back or cases coming off or the screen getting damaged. My main
problem with the phone (and for me it's a biggie) is the fact that the
phone automatically changes from text message to multimedia message
when you have used your quota of 160 charactors. With every other phone
i have had it just counts anything over this as additional texts. Ideal
when you have unlimited texts on your plan. I have been stung for MMS
charges a few times because of this flaw on the S2. According to Orange
this is an inbuilt thing that can't be changed as the phone was designed
for the American market so TEXTERS BEWARE! I really think that Samsung
should sort this out as I would've thought twice about purchasing my
phone plan if I'd known. No where is this problem mentioned either.
not by samsung, reviews or phone retailers. Also the QWERTY keypad is
a pain and far too sensitive and I find that I have to check every text
for mistakes before sending. Again reletively minor but a little more
thought in the design would've been helpful, we don't all have fingers
as thin as twigs! Battery life is variable and I often find that even
if i charge the phone over night by early evening I have hardly any
juice in the battery and have to stick it on charge again. Also when
the battery is low the phone turns off without any prior warning, leaving
you to wonder if there is a fault with the phone or just a dead battery.
The calender doesn't seem to have an alarm reminder function either
but that could just be me being a bit thick! and some of samsungs embedded
apps are useless and a pain in the arse too (like their 'hubs') I would
love to give this a 5 star rating but for me the whole text thing means
I can't. (It costs me extra money every time I forget!) but as I said
I love my S2 and the good about this phone far outways the bad. In fact
there are a few other niggles but they are so minor I can't even remember
what they are now...!
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Reviewed by lynn from England on 22nd Jan 2012
had my Galaxy S2 about 6 weeks, picture quality amazing, playing music
- sound is louder than the iphone, dounloading is very quick, when you
have a signal, i'm on 3 network, i'm still finding out shortcuts n stuff,
only thing i've not been able to do is increase the font size, you get
three options, normal small and tiny, i would like to have a large option,
i thought having a bigger screen i wouldn't have that problem, has anyone
else found a solution to this yet? i know i can go on to the market
for font styles but it's the size increase i'm looking for . . other
than this, the phone is excellent . .
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Reviewed by cow1 from UK on 22nd Jan 2012
I've had this phone for 8 months and it has performed consistently well.
It's one of the best phones I've had and it's hard to fault. Well worth
every penny.
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Reviewed by mr wilson from uk on 22nd Jan 2012
my first android phone and its fantastic cant fault it
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Reviewed by Nick Esh from UK on 20th Jan 2012
Love the phone but no one can hear me at the other end, apparently this
may be firmware problem
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