New GSII for at&t Announced, this time with LTE

Was really hoping for an HD screen. Oh well...

Looks like I'll be in the store to make an exchange on Sunday....

Hmmmm. So if one bought the Galaxy S2 on launch day you are pretty much screwed?

Hmmm. I'm within my 30 days to return as I just got my GSII within the last couple of weeks. I finally got my GSII set up just how I want it and have TONS of apps on there. Is it worth it to pay the $35 restocking fee and have to back up, then re-set up a new phone just for the 1.2 to 1.5 ghz bump in clock speed? What would you do?

X

I'm still getting the original gs2, why?

Because I'd rather have the exynos over the snapdragon.

Smaller form factor.

I hope they don't remove the 4.3 gs2 from their inventory to make space for this one(wouldn't make much sense to keep selling two versions of the galaxy s2).

I have to imagine this will be a battery hogger. Any info on the battery yet? What about the dimensions of the phone itself since it increased to a 4.5" screen? I'm happy with my GS2 and use WiFi most of the time anyway, but might as well get the latest if there is no change in those two things.

Xphyle said:

Hmmm. I'm within my 30 days to return as I just got my GSII within the last couple of weeks. I finally got my GSII set up just how I want it and have TONS of apps on there. Is it worth it to pay the $35 restocking fee and have to back up, then re-set up a new phone just for the 1.2 to 1.5 ghz bump in clock speed? What would you do?

X

Click to expand...

Clock speed doesn't matter. This is essentially the TMobile version with LTE. Look at the Tmobile benchmarks. Also no word on if NFC is still there. I doubt it.

rquinn19 said:

Clock speed doesn't matter. This is essentially the TMobile version with LTE. Look at the Tmobile benchmarks. Also no word on if NFC is still there. I doubt it.

Click to expand...

Holy Processor Comparisons Batman! You are right. Took this from the engadget review of the T-mobile version. Hope it helps. Think I may just keep the Xenos processor variant. Hope this helps other people.

"A Galaxy S phone can't get by on looks alone, and the GS IIs have all been performers. With its 1.5GHz processor, a step up from the other phones' 1.2GHz chips, this should be the quickest of the bunch, right? Not so fast, dear reader. Those phones used Samsung's dual-core Exynos, while the T-Mobile flavor is instead using the dual-core Snapdragon APQ8060. While that isn't exactly like comparing apples to oranges, these two bits of silicon definitely wouldn't be found in the same section of the produce aisle.

There are many cases where this phone proves slower than its siblings, including a Quadrant score of 2,576 (the Epic 4G nabbed 3,244), Linpack single / multi scores of 42 / 70 MFLOPS, respectively (compared to 55.1 and 79.5) and Neocore hovering at around 57fps (compared to 59.8).

So, T-Mo got the gimped device, then? Oh no, it's never that simple. The SunSpider 0.9.1 JavaScript benchmark, which gives a good impression of how quickly a modern webpage will load and respond, delivered an astonishing 2,407ms. That's a full 1,000ms lower than the previous versions managed and a new Engadget world record.

Of course, none of this matters worth a damn in the real world; it's all about how the phone performs and feels in the hand, and when cradled thusly the GS II won't disappoint. It boots in a respectable 28 seconds and, once there, is very responsive to your every gesture. Webpages load quickly, apps launch promptly and suffice to say this isn't a device that will leave you wanting.

Battery life doesn't disappoint, even though this model doesn't match the heights of the AT&T model, which scored 9.5 hours on the battery rundown test. The Sprint version struggled to keep a video looping for 8.5 hours, while this model made it 7.7 hours. That is, again, despite having the biggest battery of the three. We're not sure whether to blame T-Mo's antennas or the new processor, but still we don't think you'll upset with the longevity here. We found a day of solid usage to be well within the realm of possibility, more if you keep things light.

In terms of network performance this is a 42.2Mbps HSPA+ device and, while we weren't able to test in an area that has that kind of bandwidth available, we've seen results showing 20 - 25Mbps down and 2 - 3Mbps up. Obviously your mileage here will vary considerably depending on network strength, and our own tests in an area T-Mo's coverage map lists as "4G Good" were admittedly less stellar, but still quite good: averaging 9.5Mbps down and 1.8 up. Pings of 700 - 800ms, however, mean you won't want to pipe your COD server through this connection."

This is a bit of a mind****...what to do, what to do...

I have a sinking feeling that if I got an LTE device, I would .. er... skyrocket through my 2mb data plan very quickly.

So, according to the Engadget article, it looks like the Snapdragon 1.5ghz processor is slower than the 1.2 ghz Xenos (sp?) processor when it comes to gaming functions/benchmarks. But benefits when loading web pages and surfing the web. Also, the Snapdragon processor kills the battery faster.

Combine that with the fact that AT&T only offers LTE in 5 cities so far (i believe), then this is a no brainer for me. I'm keeping the current model with the Xenos processor.

maerlim said:

I have a sinking feeling that if I got an LTE device, I would .. er... skyrocket through my 2mb data plan very quickly.

Click to expand...

I have a bad feeling that we will lose out grandfathered unlimited plan when we go to a AT&T LTE plan.

I think this is going to be where "they" get us!

How many AT&T market have LTE?

greggebhardt said:

I have a bad feeling that we will lose out grandfathered unlimited plan when we go to a AT&T LTE plan.

I think this is going to be where "they" get us!

How many AT&T market have LTE?

Click to expand...

"Customers can choose from tiered data plans starting as low as $15 per month. Existing smartphone customers do not have to make changes to their data plan." from AT&T's press release.

Thus, you shouldn't lose your grandfathered unlimited plan. AT&T is in 5 cities, with 4 more launching on November 6.

It's a tough call, but I think if you are in an LTE city, it's worth the change. I'm 95% sure I'll be returning my S2 for the Skyrocket.

What do you think this means for future support of the original?

Arguing about specs aside, I don't understand why AT&T would launch basically the same phone a month later? Are they really going to sell it in store as a $200 "4G" vs. a $50 more LTE with bigger screen and faster CPU on a spec sheet?

They should have never released the first one, and just went with this one. I can't even imagine how laughable the updates will be on the normal one as obviously AT&T is going to prioritize the LTE one as flagship.

Two days outside of my exchange window. I think I might just hold onto it, then return it at day 30, get my upgrade back, and just wait a couple days without a phone.

EDIT: Of course, I'll ask the store if they're going to get it first...

Here's another problem. Got my S2 for 149.99 two weeks ago...now i'm looking at 249.99+ restocking fee. So that's an extra $135.
Not worth it, right? Right?

As for the updates, we can already imagine...the skyrocket comes with 2.3.5, and we're still on 2.3.4...

PfcBgd said:

Here's another problem. Got my S2 for 149.99 two weeks ago...now i'm looking at 249.99+ restocking fee. So that's an extra $135.
Not worth it, right? Right?

As for the updates, we can already imagine...the skyrocket comes with 2.3.5, and we're still on 2.3.4...

Click to expand...

it really comes down to whether you want LTE.

spec wise, it's very similar to the current S2, except with bigger screen and likely a less-efficient processor. but i imagine it's going to perform the same as the current S2... with the added bonus of a massive screen and LTE data speeds.

if you are on a tiered plan, LTE is pretty meaningless. though, if you are grandfathered on unlimited, LTE is kinda killer if you surf much on your phone.

i think i'm going to return the S2 for the skyrocket. i think the screen is too big, i'm worried about the snapdragon processor and battery drain, and now i have to pay an extra $85 + tax to get this

but LTE is the game-changer. having LTE makes the 2-year wait for an upgrade much easier to swallow.

I just got the i777 GS2 a couple of weeks ago or so. I'll be sticking with it. In my little burg, LTE is more than "just around the corner".

In light of this news about the LTE version release - does anyone know if both versions will be available, or are they replacing the current SII with the LTE version? I am hoping I would still be able to get the first release at&t SII at the end of December due to the smaller size.

greggebhardt said:

I have a bad feeling that we will lose out grandfathered unlimited plan when we go to a AT&T LTE plan.

I think this is going to be where "they" get us!

How many AT&T market have LTE?

Click to expand...

Verizon did not make my friend change his plan, he still has unlimited with his LTE phone. The speed is really amazing. I think AT&T better get their act together soon. But I do agree that those on a 2 gig plan could run through their data very quickly.

i just picked up the sgs2 on friday @ bestbuy w/ price match from walmart @ $148.88... I called BB and they were like I can exchange... but not sure if the sgs2 lte is worth the extra $100??

greggebhardt said:

I have a bad feeling that we will lose out grandfathered unlimited plan when we go to a AT&T LTE plan.

I think this is going to be where "they" get us!

How many AT&T market have LTE?

Click to expand...

So if we get an LTE plan we wont he grandfathered with out unlimited data plan?

I'm sure they wouldn't make you switch from your unlimited data plan for LTE. If anything they should relax restrictions because of the extra bandwidth of LTE