• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

SEENIT

TV, Film, Broadband, Pay-TV, Games, Computing and Tech | News, Comment & Reviews

  • NEWS
  • FEATURES
  • ADVERTISE
  • Twitter

Galaxy S II – review

July 31, 2011 - Martin Hoscik@seenituk

The Galaxy S II is another smartphone running Google’s Android operating system, specifically the ‘Gingerbread’ version.

The unit we tested was on loan from three.co.uk which is offering the Galaxy S II on a £35 a month contract.

The main selling point of this model is a 4.3” touchscreen – almost an inch bigger than Apple’s iPhone – and there’s no denying it looks sumptuous with bold, vivid colours.

Although the extra screen space comes in useful for tasks such as browsing and email, there’s little sign of Samsung bothering to do much with it.

On its home screens the S II only shows the same 4 apps to a row that the iPhone and every other Android smartphone offers, they just have more space between them.

What’s the point of building a phone around a large display if you don’t do something obvious with it?

When it came to using the Galaxy S II for its primary purpose I found the larger than normal width made it too wide and uncomfortable to hold and I wouldn’t want to use it for a lengthy call.

Like many other handset manufacturers, Samsung seem incapable of not scrimping on the build quality.

The top selling phone on the market is a sandwich of precision engineered glass and steel yet the S II’s back panel is a piece of ultra-thin, flimsy plastic which just clips in place.

As with other Android phones I’ve reviewed of late, Android’s claimed ‘killer feature’ of Flash support was a hit and miss affair.

Video content on the BBC’s news site failed to load for me but Flash trailers on this site worked fine, allowing for the poor 3G signal where I was testing the handset.

If Google and Adobe can’t get to Flash to work consistently it might an idea to dial down the rhetoric – killer features only kill when they work 100%

The 8 megapixel rear camera produces great still images and allows you to capture ‘HD’ video.

The dual core processor keeps the phone zipping along nicely and if your experience of Android phones has been limited to those ultracheap giveaways you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the S II’s speed.

The speed makes this a great phone for showcasing Android and the large display will be ideal for anyone who composes a lot of emails or watches videos on the move.

As with all Android phones, operating system updates aren’t guaranteed and can be slow coming even when they do happen so alway buy based on what the handset does today, not what web chatter suggests they might do tomorrow.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Related

Tagged With: 3 (Three), Android, Telecoms

Blu-ray and Gaming Top Buys

David Attenborough’s A Perfect Planet is getting a 4K Blu-ray release

Doctor Who: Sylvester McCoy and Bonnie Langford reunite in trailer for Season 24 Blu-ray release

Batman: Soul Of The Dragon comes to DVD and Blu-ray next month

RECENT

AMC confirms Fear the Walking Dead return date

Psycho prequel Bates Motel is coming to BBC iPlayer

The New Mutants returns to top spot in UK film chart

CNN International is coming to Samsung TV Plus

Popular

Sky bags first run rights to Entertainment One catalogue

Freesat adds BBC Sounds to app line-up

Coming To America sequel to get global release on Amazon Prime Video

Hitman developers announce new James Bond game

Featured

Ofcom calls for greater social and geographic diversity in TV and radio

BT Sport app now available on Now TV devices

StarzPlay is now available from Rakuten TV

Britbox – What does the new UK-centric streaming service offer?

Popular Topics

  • Amazon Prime Video
  • BritBox
  • Freeview Play
  • Set Top Box Reviews

ADVERTISE ON SEENIT

We’re pleased to offer a number of advertising opportunities to high quality brands including sponsored content, competitions and advertising placements.

Please contact us for details.

MORE FROM US

Copyright © 2021 · All Rights Reserved · Contact Us · Copyright · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy
MayorWatch Publications Limited · 20-22 Wenlock Road · London N1 7GU · Company Number 6291816