Are you 'blown away' by your GS2...?

retrorom · Jun 23, 2011

I had an HTC Hero before that took about 1:30 minutes to boot, the SGSII does this in about a few seconds. So my very first impression was WOOW

Then the screen is just amazingly beautiful to look at, speed is incredible, responsiveness very very smooth and quick. I am so pleased with it. It is the best handheld I had so far, and I say handheld rather than phone because I mainly use it for the apps, the media capabilities it has, the web browsing, the music etc.

Also worth mentioning for example one of my favourite widgets (PULSE) took quite a while to load on the HTC Hero while on the same network and under the exact same conditions the SGSII is a lot faster.

Touch Wiz or whatever it's called (the stock launcher) is not my favourite so I already bought ADW Launcher EX which is so much nicer in my opinion and I like the customization possibilities that come with thie launcher better.

The only thing I am a bit worried about is the back of the device, I mean the back cover for the battery is sooo thin and also touching the battery. But that's why I will order a protective cover of some sort just to be calm

Anyone should at least give it a try, and I am positive about reactions people will have.

BUY IT NAAOW

TheStone · Jun 23, 2011

A little underwhelmed if I'm being honest. *** or this could be a cry for help in setting the phone up better!!

I've come from the original HTC Desire.

The good bits:
- The camera is great. Way, way better than the HTC.
- The screen is very good.
- The processor is clearly a step up.

The not so good bits
- It's actually a bit too big. Doesn't seem as comfortable in hand.
- Lock screen slow (not sure why)

The bad bits
- Samsung software is odd. Kies???? and their various hubs are very poor.
- HTC Sense. Really was very good. Only after moving over I realised that I used most of the HTC widgets. Music, email, calendar etc. Since moving to SG2, I've had to search for widgets to replace these and none seem as good (I like the simple, easy to use, reliable stuff)
- LED. Flashing light on the HTC to inform of a new message or missed call. So simple, but really useful.

xmjox · Jun 23, 2011

TheStone said:
A little underwhelmed if I'm being honest. *** or this could be a cry for help in setting the phone up better!!

The bad bits
- Samsung software is odd. Kies???? and their various hubs are very poor.
- LED. Flashing light on the HTC to inform of a new message or missed call. So simple, but really useful.

I've never even looked at the hubs and use the good ol' fashioned drag n drop to get movies/music on my SGS2

Get NoLED. It's better than a LED imo as you get different flashing icons for each notification.

Are you amazed by the phone or are you underwhelmed?

Does it meet your expectations?

What phone did you come from and how does it compare?

Do you think it blows the competition away or is it just an incremental step up?

Amazed. It does everything I thought it would but better.

It exceeds them. I really didn't know anything about the customisation of Android and this has allowed me to set my phone up just how I want it. It's super fast, very responsive, uber light and has a fantastic camera (in both speed and quality). Plus it has played almost every file I have thrown at it so far (exception was a .mkv video where it played the sound but not the video).

iPhone 3G. While there are elements I still love about my iPhone (mainly the iTunes/iPod facility), pretty much everything else is better on my SGS2. The biggest difference is the speed and clarity of the screen. I also prefer the iTunes App Store but that's personal preference.

This is my first Android phone so I can't really compare it to the rest of the market, but I definitely feel that this phone is up there with the iPhone 4 in every aspect and imo is better than BB too (although again, that's personal preference for the OS more than the phone itself).

Shocky · Jun 23, 2011

No, but I don't think any phones will ever blow me away, I upgrade every year and pretty much know exactly what I'm getting before I receive it.

It is good though.

mystvearn · Jun 23, 2011

Sak01 said:
Just a little survey for GS2 owners.

Are you amazed by the phone or are you underwhelmed?

Does it meet your expectations?

What phone did you come from and how does it compare?

Do you think it blows the competition away or is it just an incremental step up?

Your co-operation is appreciated

Amazed. Never had a smartphone.

Yes, as I use the calendar, have 4 different email clients and pop email, replaces my samsung T9 mp3 player as well.

It blows the competition and to be fair this is my first expansive high end smartphone. After 4 years with this, I'll go back to a cheaper phone which has similar specs but longer battery life

rushmore · Jun 23, 2011

You Brits are spoiled! I walked around Oxford Circus last week and seen all the Phone Warehouses and even Game store had the GS2 for sale (that is where I tested one).

Yep, better (and earlier) phone selection and better contract deals. Not to mention Page 3, pubs, Indian food, London, rock bands everywhere (clubs & stadiums with my fave groups), nice weather (I do not like hot weather).

Spoiled- the lot of you!

Kind of expensive though, but all positives tend to have negatives.

All day after peak hours tube and bus pass for zones 1-6 is eight pounds now! I remember when it was two pounds...... Really.

mystvearn · Jun 23, 2011

hidehide · Jun 23, 2011

Overall, the phone is fast, but I'm blown away by how fast the battery dies..
Coming from iPhone, which I already think the battery die fast, but the SG2 drains 30-40% faster than an iPhone...

mystvearn · Jun 23, 2011

hidehide said:
Overall, the phone is fast, but I'm blown away by how fast the battery dies..
Coming from iPhone, which I already think the battery die fast, but the SG2 drains 30-40% faster than an iPhone...

Turn off background data and auto-sync. Inherent android 2.3.3 problem. I can get 4 days on my phone on one charge.

rushmore · Jun 23, 2011

mystvearn said:
£2?! More than 10 years ago? London itself it expansive. We get first dibs because the amount of people jammed packed on this island is quite a lot. A lot of people would like huge homes in America so that they have enough space to use their Kinect without disturbing neighbours below.

London rocks

GS2 seems to as well, but just an hours use for me.

BTW, I lived in London for four years and my wife is English, so appreciate what you say

Just wish VZW had the GS2 to test over here.

SilverDroid · Jun 23, 2011

mystvearn said:
Turn off background data and auto-sync. Inherent android 2.3.3 problem. I can get 4 days on my phone on one charge.

I can get 4 days if I dont use the phone too

Your right, it is an android OS bug, however doing just the above will not make the battery last 4 days.

mrvirginia · Jun 23, 2011

unless you are using Kies for syncing purposes (ie outlook, or bringing over your iTunes music) i wouldn't use it what-so-ever. i recommend Odin wholeheartedly.

Kies was new to me since owning a Samsung device was as well, but i had no issues with it personally. now that i'm rooted, i don't even touch Kies. i do, however, like that it tells me when a new firm is out for my phones intended territory - which keeps confusion down as to which one i'm supposed to be flashing.

if you're having trouble with using Kies just for updating your firmware, please try Odin. it's easy sauce.

mrvirginia · Jun 23, 2011

Sak01 said:
Are you amazed by the phone or are you underwhelmed?

pretty amazed in general. i honestly still don't have one bad thing to say about it and i've owned it for almost a month now.

Sak01 said:
Does it meet your expectations?

certainly met my expectations just from reading reviews before purchase. i don't think it's an exaggeration at all to call it a "godPhone".

Sak01 said:
What phone did you come from and how does it compare?

Evo 4G. it kills this phone. i'd say it's at the very least 3x as powerful as that phone was.

Sak01 said:
Do you think it blows the competition away or is it just an incremental step up?

what would be considered the "competition"? iPhone 4? other dual-core Android handsets? it's currently the top phone on the market, imo, and will likely be for the remainder of this year unless Tegra/TI comes out with a stock 1.2 dual-core SoC that's as thin or thinner than this phone and Toshiba throws in their new HD display on a 4" screen with 367ppi :eek:

Sak01 · Jun 23, 2011

Thanks for the responses everyone. This has been very informative.

gulickgurl · Jul 3, 2011

I've only had my S2 for a week and I like it, but I'm finding that I'm either frustrated with it or just still learning. It is a pretty neat phone and my first smartphone. I came from an LG Vu touchscreen.

I think that I need a class on how to use my phone because there are so many things you can do with it. I don't think I'll ever use it to its full potential.

I don't understand why you need to download so many apps to get it to do what you want. Perhaps I'm thinking the phone should come with basic features. Like, I want the screen to lock when I'm on a call so that I don't press buttons on the screen when talking. Need an app for that. The power button is also the lock/unlock button, which will wear it out eventually, especially how often I use it. Need an app for that.

That being said, I don't download a ton of crap to my phone either. I don't want random stuff on there eating my battery and taking up space. I'm also noticing that so many of the apps out there require permissions that I have a problem with...wth do they need to know my gps location, my contacts or have access to my camera? Maybe I only feel that way because I've read 1984...

Perhaps a smartphone isn't for me, or maybe that means I'm old (which I'm not). BUT, I NEED it!

I do like the phone, but I think I need to play with it more to get it to do WHAT I WANT!

Miths000 · Jul 3, 2011

gulickgurl said:
... Like, I want the screen to lock when I'm on a call so that I don't press buttons on the screen when talking. Need an app for that. The power button is also the lock/unlock button, which will wear it out eventually, especially how often I use it. Need an app for that...

For the first one go to Settings -> Call Settings -> Turn on proximity sensor.

For the second I usually use the home button to unlock the phone.

mvh · Jul 4, 2011

Very happy with it. i was thinking about the sensation, but the screen on the S2 is so much better imo.

Yes the HTC still feels better in hand for me, but I use a barely there case with a matte finish which helps in gripping the phone.

I rooted and my battery lasts 2 days with VillainRom so I'm happy.

trinity8 · Jul 4, 2011

I wanted a new android smartphone, moving up from my Nokia N95, and waited months for this phone. Really glad I did, I feel like it fits me like a glove. There's a few problems. Kies is definitely one of those problems, but like a lot of others I just drag straight into the phone folders.

Running my business with google apps, 3 emails, fb and twitter. No problems at all.

I don't really have any complaints, I've had it for 2 weeks and it's really wonderful!

Fluffer · Jul 4, 2011

lotus49 said:
Mine isn't.

It's a web browser and music player. It's also sometimes a video recorder and a camera. Occasionally it's an N64 and a GameBoy. It's also my watch and my calendar. Sometimes it's also a satnav, torch, radio, ebook reader and a star map.

I do believe that it can make phone calls as well, but that's less important to me .

Class!

greggebhardt · Jul 4, 2011

It has been weeks of being on the SG2 and it is hard to beat. Apple and Blackberry will loose a lot of users with the SG2. It is peek into the future as far as I am concerned.

vtax · Jul 5, 2011

amazing phone. absolutely blown away.

theres so much the s2 has to offer and i haven't even rooted mine yet! not to mention it warms my hands during these winter months

came from a 3G iPhone as well and i never looked back. atm my iPhone is just an expensive paper weight and wakes me up in the morning.

Eperrine · Jul 5, 2011

I disagree with all the above negative comments. Battery lasts me 20 hours atleast, with moderate use. It's sleek, fast, attractive, powerful. I lol @ iphone users who still protest that the iphone is better then the S2 ROFL! 10/10, absolutely breathtaking

AmitX123 · Jul 6, 2011

Love the slimness and the lightness

Really hate Kies ... I got acquainted with Keis when I got an Ace. The bundled version crashed my Vista PC (random reboots, unable to uninstall - reboots during uninstall). I somehow managed to uninstall it after 4 days of hacking away with registry files etc..

Got a GS2, and tried the new version of keis (to check for firmware update). It sucked balls too.. Slightly better as it didnt crash but otherwise caused my system to behave strangly ("Explorer has crashed" etc), so removed that one..

Keis is undoubtly the worst piece of crap on this planet. Nokia PC Suite comes 2nd.

This is surely a rich area to work for app designers.

I use gmail / dropbox / bluetooth / software data cable and several other apps to sync my phone with my pc. Can't say it is the perfect solution but seems to be the best at the moment.

Google integration almost makes up for it.. though now I have to trust Google even more. I'd have preferred to do it without a cloud.

TheStone · Jul 6, 2011

TheStone said:
A little underwhelmed if I'm being honest. *** or this could be a cry for help in setting the phone up better!!

I've come from the original HTC Desire.

The good bits:
- The camera is great. Way, way better than the HTC.
- The screen is very good.
- The processor is clearly a step up.

The not so good bits
- It's actually a bit too big. Doesn't seem as comfortable in hand.
- Lock screen slow (not sure why)

The bad bits
- Samsung software is odd. Kies???? and their various hubs are very poor.
- HTC Sense. Really was very good. Only after moving over I realised that I used most of the HTC widgets. Music, email, calendar etc. Since moving to SG2, I've had to search for widgets to replace these and none seem as good (I like the simple, easy to use, reliable stuff)
- LED. Flashing light on the HTC to inform of a new message or missed call. So simple, but really useful.

Just following on from my previous post, I've now given up on the SG2.
I presumed I'd get used to it or hadn't learnt how to use it properly, but now I've decided it's not the phone for me. The hardware is probably good. The camera, screen, processor seem to fit the hype, but the software, pc connection etc is so very, very poor and driving me nutts.

Back to HTC. Have picked up a Desire S for less than I reckon I can sell the SG2 on ebay for.

lotus49 · Jul 6, 2011

TheStone said:
Just following on from my previous post, I've now given up on the SG2.
I presumed I'd get used to it or hadn't learnt how to use it properly, but now I've decided it's not the phone for me. The hardware is probably good. The camera, screen, processor seem to fit the hype, but the software, pc connection etc is so very, very poor and driving me nutts.

Back to HTC. Have picked up a Desire S for less than I reckon I can sell the SG2 on ebay for.

I completely agree about the desktop integration. Kies is terrible and there don't seem to be any very good alternatives but I'm curious to know what you mean by "software" above. The SGS2 runs Android and TouchWiz. The HTD Desire S runs Android and Sense. There isn't a great deal to choose between TouchWiz and Sense so what is the "software" that you don't like that will be any different on the HTC?

Are you 'blown away' by your GS2...?

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