New Samsung Galaxy S2 User Diary

[samhawkes86]

Hi Guys

Well I got my samsung galaxy s2 last weekend. Im coming from an apple 3gs. All in all i love my new fone, unless apple pulls something special out there bag with iphone 5/4s im probably going to stick with andriod for a bit :-D.

I thought it might benefit a few people reading these forums if i keep a little diary of my experiences with the fone. So thats what im going to do. For the next week or so im going to post daily diaries of my experiences with the fone.

Day 1 - Thursday 6th June '11

Usage:

So last night before i went to bed i put my phone on charge as i always do. Today woke up with 100% battery and ready to go.

So i took the fone to work with me today as normal. (Note i work a 9 to 5 mon to fri job). Didnt use it much today at work. All in all i checked 3 facebook notifications that popped up and i let 2 calls ring out (0845 sales call numbers). Played about 10mins on a SNES emulator at lunch, playing mario cart.

Got home at about 6pm. Downloaded Lets Golf from the Gameloft hub and play one round of the demo game. Then spent about 20mins on the andrion market just browsing for any decent apps.

Then lastly i spent about 30mins browsing on the internet. Note i have wifi turned ON all day, GPS turned OFF all day, and the fone has been on silent.

Battery reading after above usage from 100% charge - 31%

Hmmm... lol. First impressions if im being totally honest, im not very impressed. But, i still have hope, ive only had the fone for a few days and ive read it takes a few charges/discharges to get the battery to its normal operating performance, so hopefully it will improve.

Quadrant score for the day: 3375 (Note, i always clear the running apps before running the benchmark)

Good points of the day:

1. Phone has been snappy as ever. Very very fast in wizzing around the UI and the different applications, no crashes, freezing or restarts.
2. NoLED! Got that today and its brilliant! Its so good infact i would rather have this application that an actual LED light. Great app.

Bad points of the day:

1. After my 30min browser session my fone got very hot, to the point where i thought something was actually wrong with the fone. Not sure why it got so hot while web browsing as i cleared all running apps before the session. This is probably the one big issue i have with this fone at the moment.

2. Screens touch interface seems a little over sensitive. I found a few times today accidently clicking on a link within a web brouser for example when i was trying to swipe across the web page. Not too fused about this though, just something to note.

3. Lets Golf game - a little stuttery at times, for example when the camera zoomed over the golf green from one end to the other. Its not really bad, just enough to notice. Its probably more noticable because everything else so far has been so snappy and fast (and im guesing the game is probably not optimised for dual core phones). Again nothing major, just something that stood out and worth noting.

No other bad experiences to note.

So thats it guys. i'll keep posting daily and hopefully my experiences be of benefit to some of you guys. I'll try and keep these as short as pos.

If theres anything you want me to include within my updates just ask and i'll add it in. :-D

(Note, ref bad experiences, or anything i put within the diary, im not trying to use this forum as an oppotunity to pick fault with the fone or anything like that, im just sharing my own user experience).

 

[greggebhardt]

As a new SG2 user I can tell you that even after repeated charging, your SG2 will not compare to your iPhone or a Blackberry. Part of the penalty you pay for a higher speed processor. Sounds like it will still get you through the average day. If not a little top off at lunch or while at the desk is fine.

Wish there was a charging cradle.

 

[Redflea]

As a new SG2 user I can tell you that even after repeated charging, your SG2 will not compare to your iPhone or a Blackberry. Part of the penalty you pay for a higher speed processor. Sounds like it will still get you through the average day. If not a little top off at lunch or while at the desk is fine.

Wish there was a charging cradle.

Pretty sure I saw a video of an S2 charging cradle recently...can't remember where. Are you sure there isn't one available?

 

[mrvirginia]

As a new SG2 user I can tell you that even after repeated charging, your SG2 will not compare to your iPhone or a Blackberry. Part of the penalty you pay for a higher speed processor. Sounds like it will still get you through the average day. If not a little top off at lunch or while at the desk is fine.

Wish there was a charging cradle.

Pretty sure I saw a video of an S2 charging cradle recently...can't remember where. Are you sure there isn't one available?

there is but it's not official OEM Samsung one. not sure if there is one by Samsung just yet and i don't trust different amp/mA output values. i will only buy something if it's 5V with 0.7A

also, getting at least 2 days charge repeatedly with actually using my phone... lots of people are leaving stuff active in the background, which is draining their battery without them realizing it.

 

[Redflea]

there is but it's not official OEM Samsung one. not sure if there is one by Samsung just yet and i don't trust different amp/mA output values. i will only buy something if it's 5V with 0.7A

also, getting at least 2 days charge repeatedly with actually using my phone... lots of people are leaving stuff active in the background, which is draining their battery without them realizing it.

Thanks for clarifying...given the popularity of this phone Samsung is leaving a lot of money on the table not having a charging dock for sale...not good business.

Is it true that the power connector plugs into the top of the phone - that just sounds so odd....

 

[Redflea]

So this isn't by Samsung?

Samsung Galaxy S II I9100 Desktop Dock | Samsung Galaxy S II I9100 Cradle | Samsung Galaxy II I9100 Accessories

I guess not...Samsung doesn't show an SII dock on their site at this point...maybe they'll make on available when the SII releases on Verizon...

http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones-accessories/desktop-docks-sub

 

[Deleted User]

Thanks for clarifying...given the popularity of this phone Samsung is leaving a lot of money on the table not having a charging dock for sale...not good business.

Is it true that the power connector plugs into the top of the phone - that just sounds so odd....

It actually plugs into the bottom of the phone...At work I had a stress releiver armchair which cradled all recent handsets....until now The SGS2 is simply unrestable in this chair with the charger plugged in.

I have purchased a cheap play.com case for my phone if thats good enough I shall invest my pennies in the official dock that I have seen priced at

 

[samhawkes86]

Hi guys

unfortunatley i cant continue this diary for you. Ive developed a fault with the bloody phone.

My wifi has stopped working. (Tried setting never sleep policy, tried turning the wifi on and off, tried clearing the ram to make sure nothing in the background was stopping it from working etc etc).

If you guys have any ideas please say as im lost. It shows i am connected and have good signal but for what ever reason nothing works (internet, app market etc). The only way to get it working is if i turn the phone off and on. Then it works again for about 15-20mins or so, then it stops working again and only turning the phone off and on gets it working again.

Help

 

[adamantell]

Ive had my phone 6 days, first 4 days I was charging over night and.using ALL day for 0900 til anytime.after 2200... Downloading apps testing camera, lots and lots internet few hours gaming, youtube just enjoying the phone yesterday was fully charged went work (0900 _ 2000) came home spend about 1h on phone, then went sleep got up today phone on 46% battery did same again today and it.died a around 2300 so not bad really lasted 2 very full days of normal use

I have wifi on and GPS off always auto brightness

All in all I like battery, for people having problems get 2nd battery from ebay?

 

[Redflea]

Hi guys

unfortunatley i cant continue this diary for you. Ive developed a fault with the bloody phone.

My wifi has stopped working. (Tried setting never sleep policy, tried turning the wifi on and off, tried clearing the ram to make sure nothing in the background was stopping it from working etc etc).

If you guys have any ideas please say as im lost. It shows i am connected and have good signal but for what ever reason nothing works (internet, app market etc). The only way to get it working is if i turn the phone off and on. Then it works again for about 15-20mins or so, then it stops working again and only turning the phone off and on gets it working again.

Help

Is it failing with all wifi routers, or just at home or at work?

If just w/a single router it could be an issue w/that particular connection going south over a period of time. Try another security setting (change WPA to WEP, or TKIP/AES or turn security off for a little while) to confirm if the issue is related to one of those settings. Back when I had my D1 I actually had to replace a router when I had similar issues, and never had any more issues connecting wirelessly after I got rid of the "bad" router.

 

[sleepy3103]

Try resetting your router as well, just unplug it for a few.

 

[samhawkes86]

Is it failing with all wifi routers, or just at home or at work?

If just w/a single router it could be an issue w/that particular connection going south over a period of time. Try another security setting (change WPA to WEP, or TKIP/AES or turn security off for a little while) to confirm if the issue is related to one of those settings. Back when I had my D1 I actually had to replace a router when I had similar issues, and never had any more issues connecting wirelessly after I got rid of the "bad" router.

I tried it at work today and it works fine (well when the poxy work wifi is working anyway!). So must be an issue with my router. The wierd thing is, when it all of a sudden stops working at home, if i turn aeroplane mode on and then turn it back off again and try the internet it starts working again for a bit (same as if i turn my phone completley off and then back on again).

Im not sure sure how to try those things you suggested, looked around the settings within the phone for a bit and couldnt find security level etc.

Does look like its a router problem. Im with talk talk at the mo, wonder if anyone else having issues?

For now i'll just keep putting it into aeroplane mode when it stops working

 

[samhawkes86]

Ive had my phone 6 days, first 4 days I was charging over night and.using ALL day for 0900 til anytime.after 2200... Downloading apps testing camera, lots and lots internet few hours gaming, youtube just enjoying the phone yesterday was fully charged went work (0900 _ 2000) came home spend about 1h on phone, then went sleep got up today phone on 46% battery did same again today and it.died a around 2300 so not bad really lasted 2 very full days of normal use

I have wifi on and GPS off always auto brightness

All in all I like battery, for people having problems get 2nd battery from ebay?

Wow thats some serious battery time! 15mins of mario cart 64 and 20 mins of web brousing this morning on the way to work took me from 100% to 91% lol. Granted i had the brightness at max becasue i was outside but still thats alot considering how much you seem to get out of it.

Any chance you could share any advise on how you get such good life out of your battery? Im new to andriod to be honest (coming from iphone 3g) so im sure there things i can do imrpove battery which i havent realised yet (apart from the obvious things such as turn screen brightness down, black background wall paper etc).

 

[samhawkes86]

Try resetting your router as well, just unplug it for a few.

yeh tried that, phone still drops out after between 15 - 20mins of wifi use (or if i leave my phone alone for a bit).


It is annoying becasue my iphone 3gs and my pc (built myself, wifi card to connect to internet) picks up the wifi no probs at all and whenever my iphone drops out all i have to do is turn wifi off and then back on and its sorted.

This i have to turn the poxy phone off and on (well until i realised that putting it into aeroplane mode and then off again also did the trick). Strange why it doesnt just pick it back up when i turn my wifi off and on again like my iphone.

 

[sleepy3103]

So your iphone drops to? if so id say its more than just your new phone. my iphone nor my current EVO ever drop from my wifi unless i go 20 feet or so outside my house in back and 50 in front.

Edit: did you try switching your security settings on your router. If they are wpa your phones might be having trouble keeping up the handshake with your router. Maybe I dont know.

 

[Redflea]

I tried it at work today and it works fine (well when the poxy work wifi is working anyway!). So must be an issue with my router. The wierd thing is, when it all of a sudden stops working at home, if i turn aeroplane mode on and then turn it back off again and try the internet it starts working again for a bit (same as if i turn my phone completley off and then back on again).

Im not sure sure how to try those things you suggested, looked around the settings within the phone for a bit and couldnt find security level etc.

Does look like its a router problem. Im with talk talk at the mo, wonder if anyone else having issues?

For now i'll just keep putting it into aeroplane mode when it stops working

The security settings we're talking about are on the router...you would need to go into the Router's settings page (typically 192.168.1.0 or similar from your web browser on your PC) and go to the wifi/wireless security settings, and try changing your current security settings. Post what you're using now (typically it's WPA or WPA2 mode, and TKIP or AES or TKIP+AES algorythm) if you want more help, but it might help to just change your setting from TKIP to AES, or AES to TKIP, and so on to find a setting that works better.

As I said, my previous router just would not hold a connection w/my phone (same symptoms that you report) so I replaced it. Good routers are cheap these days, so something to consider rather than turning your devices Wifi off and on again or going into airplane mode constantly.

Cheap and very reliable, I'm using one of these now w/my D2 and my wife's DX2 (though not the most powerful signal if you have a very large home): Amazon.com: Medialink - Wireless N Router - 802.11n - 150 Mbps - 2.4 Ghz - NEW Design w/ Internal Antenna: Electronics

Friend of mine uses this one w/out any issues: Amazon.com: VIZIO XWR100 Dual-Band HD Wireless Internet Router: Electronics

Good luck.

 

[samhawkes86]

Hi Guys

Well somethng very good happened today, for what ever reason my wifi problem has gone not sure what was happening last week but now its working normally so im happy again.

Thursday 15th June '11

So today, i started the day by unplugging it from the charger at 7:30am so i had a full 100% battery for the day.

Didnt really use it that much today. Spent about probably 10mins all togeher on the browser, downloaded and installed two updates (beautiful widgets and adobe air).

Spent about a minute on mario cart 64, showing off to a mate a work lol

Recieved 3 missed calls, bloody 0845 numbers, so i let them ring out on vibrate.

Got home about 6pm and the battery is ...... 72%.

So i think its getting bettery over time. I think i read somewhere thats what they do so thats good.

Main things eating at my battery today were:

Display: 38% (thats at lowest brightness all day)
Andriod System: 21%
Andriod OS: 20%
Cell standby: 8%
Phone idle: 5%
Internet: 4%
Market: 2%
Beautiful widgets: 2%

(GPS off all day, wifi on all day)

The top three are usually like that all the time unless i play a game like mario cart 64 for a long time.

Ive read some people are getting some serious milleage out of there batterys on here which makes mine look quite poor lol. If any of you read this and have any suggestions and good things to do to save on battery please share

Quadrant score for the day is: 3117 (as before i kill all tasks before running).

Good points of the day,

1. Wifi issue now gone, working as expected.

2. The screen. Specificaly the was it handles finger prints and marks. Ive noticed if i leave my phone for a while and go back to it, most of the marks made by my fingers have gone, almost looks like i just wiped it over with a cloth. So whatever they apply to the glass to deal with the residue left from fingers is really impressive.

3. N64oid. The fact that i can play mario cart 64 on my phone is very kl. I remember paying like

 

[biffsmash]

I bought this case, Item number 130518169835, on ebay, for best offer of

 

[hidehide]

Hey dude, can you help me to check our the awake time on the battery usage graph?
Mine was awake 99% of the time.. and my battery drains quickly...

P.S. Just fixed mine, awake time should be off once the screen is off. I fixed my problem by uninstalled talkbox!

 

[brykins]

2. Battery - still not very happy that ive lost 30% of my battery in the space of 10 - 11 hours with very very mild use. Im starting to wonder if i have a faulty battery. How are your batterys holding up??

I don't think that 30% battery loss in 10-11 hrs is at all bad! That's what I would get and that's okay for modern, large screen, fast processor phones.

 

[Baladya]

Dude seriously.. just turn off the wifi.. why the hell are u toggling it ON all day. It eats lots of battery Also one main reason might be that the building you are in has bad signal, the phone keeps trying to catch the weak signal and it takes lots of battery. So keep it in a good place

Btw get a silicon case. It absorbs shocks more.

 

[sleepy3103]

I'm glad you are sharing your experiance with this phone. Thank you. I'm looking at the EVO 3d for Sprint but I'm very interested as to how the GALAXY SII will perform other than just being super fast on benchmarks. Don't know when but if they release the American variants soon I will be interested in that to. Supposedly going to be called the within for Sprint. Kind of a lousy name, but could be an awesome device.

How has your signal been, data and voice? Also how is the gps working? These are the issues I've heard about with past sammys, curious to see if its improved.

 

[heshanj]

now im starting to wonder how u guys are getting thru a day with most of ur battery still intact. im barely getting 14 hours out of it, with a full overnight charge..
@samhawkes86, do u have background sync/auto sync turned off? i know u mentioned ur Wifi is always on, i have it on too.. i was wondering about my live wallpapers, but apparently that uses just 3% of my battery usage. the biggest usage for me is android OS, and that one is way more than i see on lot of ur phones (mine was 47% last time i checked)