Samsung Galaxy S2 or LG Optimus L9?

[andmhe]

I'm considering the LG L9 and the Samsung S2 (from T-Mobile, $30 unlimited web and text, 100 minute talk plan), and would appreciate comments from actual users. My main use is e-mail, news apps, Google, and MP3 player; I almost never make or receive calls.

I've read several reviews, most of which describe the L9 as the better value, and the S2 as the better phone. But one review showed the L9 getting much better benchmark values. Also the L9 has a somewhat higher resolution screen.

At present, Walmart sells the L9 for $200, and the S2 for $300 -- and I'm okay with getting the S2 if there's a real benefit.

My main concern with the L9 is it's 4GB internal memory limit, and the inability to place apps on the SD card. But I don't know if this is a real problem -- unless ICS takes up a lot of space. I now have a Galaxy Player 4.0 (Wifi only) which has 8GB, and presently have loaded about 100 apps -- but don't know how much of the 8GB is used.

 

[Atma]

Hi andmhe :hello: Welcome to the forums.

I moved your thread to the device comparison forum to get more opinions.

I have the Tmo Galaxy S2 and I think its a great phone. The processor is 1.5 Ghz compared to 1 Ghz for the L9. The camera is 8MP compared to 5MP of the L9. The rear facing camera is 2MP compared to .3MP of the L9. The GS2 has 16 meg internal storage compared to 4 for the L9.

$200 for the L9 seems like a fair price. It has decent specs. Since I'm biased I would go for the GS2.

 

[lightsleeper23]

Hi andmhe :hello: Welcome to the forums.

I moved your thread to the device comparison forum to get more opinions.

I have the Tmo Galaxy S2 and I think its a great phone. The processor is 1.5 Ghz compared to 1 Ghz for the L9. The camera is 8MP compared to 5MP of the L9. The rear facing camera is 2MP compared to .3MP of the L9. The GS2 has 16 meg internal storage compared to 4 for the L9.

$200 for the L9 seems like a fair price. It has decent specs. Since I'm biased I would go for the GS2.

True, the camera is 8mp on the S2 compared to 5mp on the L9. Since it's Samsung I'd guess it's a pretty good camera too? I've had phones with an 8mp camera that wasn't really that great. The camera on the L9 blows them out of the water. But Samsungs cameras are good I've heard. Haven't really played with the camera. But i have played with the S2 in general. It's nice. But so is the L9. No lag at all. Benchmarks at 3016, that's about the same as the S2. Higher than the galaxy nexus. I can be downloading movies, playing subway surfers, and multitasking all at the same time, not a hitch. Im sure same can be said for the S2, but it comes down to price then. I'd say for $300 the S2 is a good phone, but for $200 the L9 is an amazing phone.

That's what it came down to for me. For $200, you can't get a better phone, or even as good as the L9.

 

[bob60626]

TMobile is selling the L9 for two hundred with a fifty dollar card included, fwiw.
I played with one briefly and so far prefer my S2. Though, my S2 and TMO were PERFECT for the first month and neither has been as good since despite doing a factory reset. Oh well.

 

[lightsleeper23]

TMobile is selling the L9 for two hundred with a fifty dollar card included, fwiw.
I played with one briefly and so far prefer my S2. Though, my S2 and TMO were PERFECT for the first month and neither has been as good since despite doing a factory reset. Oh well.

That's a really good deal too. Like getting the phone for $150. Also to be fair, the L9 does have a higher resolution display, and bigger battery. Standby time is rated at twice what the S2 gets. I don't prefer one phone over the other in general per se, it's the price that makes all the difference here. But honestly, and I'm a bit ocd about this, but even if they were the same price, I'd probably choose the L9 strictly based off of looks. Not necessarily the phone itself, but touch wiz vs optimus ui. I hate cartoonish skins and optimus is a little less so, but especially the notification icons. I cant understand why samsung and htc both still have green battery icons. It's just so old now.

 

[chanchan05]

I'd take the S2 for the simple reason of a 16GB internal memory. The 4GB on the L9 just won't cut it, especially with some apps not recognizing the SD without you having to root and stuff. The S2 would allow you to just manage the media to be in the external card, with all the data for apps on the internal, less troublesome that way. With a 4GB internal, you'd soon have memory low errors and whatnot.

 

[bob60626]

I don't understand why we still have battery shaped battery icons instead of numbers.

 

[flash222]

also the S2 has hspa + 42 and i believe the L9 is only hspa +21 that alone made me get the S2 over the L9

 

[Droidwerks]

I wouldn't touch an S2, especially for $300! It's going on 3 years old now, and it doesn't have LTE so when they turn off wimax in a year or so you'll have no 4G. Also, I had horrible reception with my S2. Liked the build of the phone, great camera and video, bright vibrant display, but the reception was HORRIBLE. I could literally be 10' away from my wifi and have no signal....If you google it, you'll see lots of others having the same problems. I returned it....

 

[Atma]

I wouldn't touch an S2, especially for $300! It's going on 3 years old now, and it doesn't have LTE so when they turn off wimax in a year or so you'll have no 4G. Also, I had horrible reception with my S2. Liked the build of the phone, great camera and video, bright vibrant display, but the reception was HORRIBLE. I could literally be 10' away from my wifi and have no signal....If you google it, you'll see lots of others having the same problems. I returned it....

The S2 was released by AT&T and Sprint in Sept 2011 and by T-Mobile in October 2011. Not quite a year and a half yet. No, it doesn't have LTE. That could be a drawback depending on how long you're going to keep it and the carrier your with. T-Mobile's HSPA+ works great for me and I can't say I miss battery sucking LTE. The WiMax I don't know a lot about but I know T-Mobile doesn't use it. Never had a problem with my wifi. Its been a great phone since I've had it, but I will be upgrading to something else this year. Note 3? Google's X Phone?

 

[lightsleeper23]

The L9 may only have hspa+21, but that's still pretty damn fast. The thing is, it's been out about the same amount of time as the Nexus 4. So if I'm in the market for a phone, and considering the L9 or the S2, the thing I ask myself is: why the hell am I even considering the S2, when I could get the N4 for the same price? It all comes down to money. If I cant afford the $300, I'm getting the L9; if I can afford it, I'm getting the N4. I'd never consider the S2 if the N4 is out for the same price, which it is.

The storage doesn't bother me either. I already use google play music and have my music stored in the cloud. I play it locally from my sd card because it's there, but it will be an easy transition to stream it once I get the nexus. I already do that on my N7 and the experience is the same as if it is stored on the device. The 8 GB is plenty to store my apps and some pictures. Especially considering I'm not storing every picture I ever take on my phone permanently.

And as computer-like as smartphones are, they are still not computers. I don't know who's storing mass volumes of sensitive files on their telephone for permanent storage, but I'm sure not.

 

[Atma]

Good point. Why get the GS2 when you could get a Nexus 4.

 

[OIIIIIIIO]

Hi, my folks were looking into this exact situation a couple days ago. Walmart told us that the L9 wasnt compatable with the 100 min talk unlimited data plan through tmobile. For $30. Had something to do with the sim card. He ended up going with the s2. I used the s2 on sprint so i know its a good phone. Not as good as the nexus 4 but good enough if ur looking to save money.

 

[Droidwerks]

For $300 you can get an S3, MUCH better phone......

 

[Atma]

Hi, my folks were looking into this exact situation a couple days ago. Walmart told us that the L9 wasnt compatable with the 100 min talk unlimited data plan through tmobile. For $30. Had something to do with the sim card. He ended up going with the s2. I used the s2 on sprint so i know its a good phone. Not as good as the nexus 4 but good enough if ur looking to save money.

Hi OIIIIIIO :hello: welcome to the forums.

I think someone told you wrong. The L9 takes a micro Sim card. You can order them online at T-Mobile. When you get it, you can go online to activate it and choose the $30 plan.

 

[lightsleeper23]

Actually the L9 already comes with a micro sim in the box. And you CAN activate it online fot the $30 plan. That's exactly what I did.

And you may be able to get the S3 for $300 on contract, but we're talking prepaid.

 

[andmhe]

Thanks to everyone for your help and suggestions.

I ended up ordering the S2 for $329 ($299 plus the $30 plan for one month) . It was the lowest price I could find for an S2 that would pair with T-Mobile's $30/month plan (unlimited data and text, 100 minutes talk, NO contract).

For me, the $30 plan is important, as it fits my needs (use data, but hardly ever talk) -- and over time, it represents the main cost of owning the phone.

The L9 looked good also, but the 4GB memory limit worried me (probably unnecessarily as I don't use memory intensive applications, at least not yet). It seems a good choice also.

 

[Metroid Prime]

I would've gone with the S2 also. The LG seems like a good device also, but I think I prefer Samsung, IMO.

 

[Atma]

Thanks to everyone for your help and suggestions.

I ended up ordering the S2 for $329 ($299 plus the $30 plan for one month) . It was the lowest price I could find for an S2 that would pair with T-Mobile's $30/month plan (unlimited data and text, 100 minutes talk, NO contract).

For me, the $30 plan is important, as it fits my needs (use data, but hardly ever talk) -- and over time, it represents the main cost of owning the phone.

The L9 looked good also, but the 4GB memory limit worried me (probably unnecessarily as I don't use memory intensive applications, at least not yet). It seems a good choice also.

Have fun. I think you'll enjoy it.

 

[timelord65]

I do believe the Galaxy s2 skyrocket is 4g LTE capable.