Samsung Galaxy S 2 (International) Review - The Best, Redefined
by Brian Klug & Anand Lal Shimpi on September 11, 2011 11:06 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Samsung
- Galaxy S II
- Exynos
- Mobile
Software
Before we go much further, I think it’s important to go over all of the software running on the international version of the SGS2 we’ve been loaned. I’ve made explicit mention of the fact that we were loaned this device because as a result it makes testing things with custom and leaked ROMs somewhat interesting. For the most part, carriers and OEMs don’t care as long as everything makes it back to them in exactly the same state they were shipped out, but it’s always a grey area. For that reason, I’ve been testing and using the device exclusively with the latest ROM for the phone as shown in Samsung Kies. As of this writing, that’s still Android 2.3.3 and firmware XWKF3. I realize there’s a leaked ROM which is 2.3.4, however we’ve opted to just go with official at this point.
The original SGS1 started Samsung’s trend of adding UI skins to high-end devices, and drew a firestorm of criticism from critics all over. Thankfully it seems as though Samsung has heard those complaints and has lightened things up considerably this go-around with TouchWiz 4.0 which runs on the SGS2. Where TouchWiz 3.0 (from SGS1) looked like a strange attempt at making Android 2.1 and 2.2 look like iOS, TouchWiz 4.0 is a much cleaner, less claustrophobic, and considerably less garish experience.
Starting with the lock screen, TouchWiz 4.0 continues the tradition of changing things here. Unlocking is achieved by moving the large graphic and clock off the screen, unless of course you’ve defined a custom lock pattern or PIN. Alerts such as new SMSes can be handled by sliding the notification ribbon across the screen. Of course this background is customizable and discrete from the main background as well. There’s really not much to say about this beyond that I’m still surprised TouchWiz didn’t take a nod from HTC’s Sense 3.0 and add shortcut functionality into this menu.
The main application launcher and home screens are what make or break a skin, and here I think there’s more positive than negative with TouchWiz 4.0. To start, home screen one is the far left, not the center. Switching between these is accomplished either by swiping back and forth or dragging on the dots at the bottom. This animation is extremely fluid - I get the impression that the entire TouchWiz 4.0 experience does leverage the GPU for composition and as a result feels very speedy.
There’s a contextual menu as well where new widgets, shortcuts, and folders can be added. In fact, most of the home screen customization takes a similar - screen on top, menu on bottom - approach, which makes a lot more sense than stock Android’s popup bubble schema. Tapping widgets gives you a long list of available widgets which tilt as you scroll through them. Just like other UI skins, there’s an assortment of skin-specific widgets that support resizing.
For the most part, I find that TouchWiz 4.0 moves away from the social-hub augmented with weird widgets motif set by the last generation of UI skins. That’s definitely a good thing, because most of the time that last generation failed to really deliver social experiences that came close to true first-party experiences.
TouchWiz 4.0 does still keep the bottom row of applications which is another throwback to iOS, and like other skins puts the application launcher shortcut in the far right.
By default the applications launcher presents icons in a 4x4 paginated layout, though you can toggle a list view as well and just scroll up and down. Menu edit brings you to a view just like the home screen customization page, where you can move icons around and also change the bottom row of shortcuts. There’s also folder support for organization. One major plus is that icons no longer have the chicklet-like background colors that made everything square and applications difficult to identify quickly. Thankfully, that’s gone, and the result feels far less tacky than the previous iteration.
Just like the home screen, you can change between pages of applications by tapping on the page number dot, or scroll back and forth quickly by sliding along the bar. This results in the same animated sliding view that the homescreen shows. I guess that’s one positive thing this go-around with TouchWiz, if anything you can’t criticize it for being inconsistent. For the most part honestly the launcher and homescreen TouchWiz components are pretty tolerable.
Just like in the past, the notifications shade drop down includes toggles for WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, Sound, and Auto Rotate. It all works just like you’d expect it to. One small thing here is that if you’re in manual brightness mode, press and holding on the notifications bar and dragging left or right will change brightness along the scale. It’s a quick way to get analog control over brightness if you’re in manual setting mode.
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kreacher - Monday, September 12, 2011 - link
I was disappointed to see that there is no mention of the screen 's inability to display 24bit gradients while Samsung claims its a screen capable of displaying 16M colors.supercurio - Monday, September 12, 2011 - link
See my answer for Astri.Maybe you only checked a gradient in Web Browser or a specific app that forces 16bit surfaces.
Each app has the ability to choose how the rendering is done in this regard.
Internally, the Super AMOLED controller works in much more than 24bit in order to proceed to complex color-space conversions between the a digital frame buffer and an analog, very large dynamic range OLEDs.
lemmo - Monday, September 12, 2011 - link
Great review, and incredible detail on the audio quality. Shame the SGS2 has taken a step backwards on audio. Any info on the likely spec for the audio on the Samsung Nexus Prime?Also, any recommendations on reviews of best smartphones for audio quality? cheers :)
supercurio - Monday, September 12, 2011 - link
Thanks for the feedback!I really need it in order to improve next review.
Organize it differently for better readability, maybe evaluate other aspects as well (like recording)
I have no info about what's in Nexus Prime but I'd like to :P
If somebody can send me a report: https://market.android.com/details?id=org.projectv... I'll study it.
Best devices I know in terms of audio quality:
- with Voodoo Sound: Nexus S, Galaxy S family, Galaxy Tab 7".
- with or without Voodoo sound: Asus Transformer
- soon with Voodoo Sound: Galaxy Tab 10.1 (incredible power stage for the headphone amp)
- iPhones/iPad: clean DAC but boring headphone amp (unable to drive many cans to adequate levels)
And.. many I don't know! (yet?)
lemmo - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
Thanks supercurio, very helpful. I'll keep looking for more info on the Nexus Prime.Shame none of the other phones/tablets you mention have got the right spec for me.
In practice, do you think the 'average user' will notice the poorer audio quality on the SGS2?
yellowchilli - Monday, September 12, 2011 - link
a very very good read thank youi've owned the sgs2 since its EU launch..it's interesting to see the slight differences/improvements samsung has put into the US release (e.g. the power button, camera ui)
mcquade181 - Monday, September 12, 2011 - link
I've had my SGS2 here in Australia for two months now and on a recent snow trip noticed some deficiencies compared to my friends Nokia N8. We both use the same provider (Telstra 3G on 850MHz):1. Whilst travelling there were periods where I completely lost reception whereas the N8 still had a signal and was able to make calls. This suggests that the SGS2 is a bit lacking in cellular sensitivity (and note that the N8 is not all that flash either when compared to the old Nokia N95).
2. In our snow accomodation I could not get a reliable WiFi signal from the local hotspot whereas the N8 could (it was marginal, but it did work).
3. Bluetooth on the SGS2 is unreliable with some devices. It keeps disconnecting after a few minutes.
That said I do like my SGS2 and is better in many other ways to the Nokia N8 - in particular earphone volume and call clarity where the N8 is deficient. Of course android has a much wider selection of available apps than does the Nokia, although surprisingly ALL my favourite apps are also available for the Nokia.
Regards from down under, Graham Rawolle.
willstay - Monday, September 12, 2011 - link
What a coincidence. After two Androids, I actually bought N8 and later sold it to get SGS2. Before Belle, swype was only available in landscape and my must-have apps are not there for Symbian.jcompagner - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
yes that is the only drawback i also can find of the SGS2..Wifi reception is really not up to standards.
kmmatney - Monday, September 12, 2011 - link
I'm not happy with the battery tests - they don't show real life usage. I'd still like to know what happens with the battery if you just leave the phone in your pocket for most of the day, or what happens if you leave it in standby overnight. All of my co-workers complain about battery life with their Android phones, and all want to get iPhones the next time around. The batteries seem to drain excessively with the phones doing nothing, and they are often dead when they go to use them. Who cares if you can browse the web for 7 hours or whatever...I just want the phone to be ready to use if its been sitting on my desk for half the day, or if I forget to charge it overnight. This is way more important - at least for someone like me who travels. (actually, I work a lot in wafer fabs around the world, and crappy reception in the fabs often drain battery quickly).I guess it will depend on what Apps are installed, and you use push notifications, but it would be useful to have a test where you charge the phone, and then let it sit for 8 hours doing nothing, and then report the battery life. The older Android phones seemed terrible at this, while my iPhone 3GS is great.
This phone looks awesome, but I would need this information before I would consider buying it.