The Galaxy S II Finally Hits America
After about 3 months of availability in Europe and Asia, our current top-rated cell phone known as the Galaxy S II has finally seen an official announcement for a release in the U.S.
The Specs
The Galaxy S II is a monster of a phone, in terms of both size and processing power. It sports a 4.3-inch 800×480 pixel Super AMOLED Plus display (and even 4.5-inches in some versions), yet it’s actually the world’s thinnest smartphone at just 8.5mm thick. The Super AMOLED display not only gives extremely bright and vibrant colors but also goes very easy on the battery in comparison to other display technologies.
Under the hood is Samsung’s latest Exynos processor, a 1.2GHz dual-core beast. This is actually very similar to the dual-core processor found in the iPad 2, except faster. The higher frequency and an improved graphics processor make it considerably faster than the iPad 2, and if you’ll recall, Apple said that the iPad 2 was up to 9 time faster than the original iPad and iPhone 4. So doing the math here, it seems that, according to Apple, the Galaxy S II should be more than 9 times faster than its aging iPhone 4 competitor.
It will also feature 1GB of RAM for better multitasking, an 8MP camera capable of 1080p video recording, a 2MP front facing camera for video chat, 16GB of internal storage plus a microSD expansion slot, Wireless A/B/G/N, NFC (Near Field Communication), and HDMI output via the microUSB port.
Running the latest version of Android (2.3 Gingerbread), the Galaxy S II will have all of the great features included in Google’s market dominating operating system. It will also be running Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface, adding even more useful features.
The Carriers
- Left to right: AT&T Attain, Sprint Epic 4G Touch, T-Mobile Hercules
Just like the original Galaxy S, the Galaxy S II is poised to launch on all of the United States’ major cell carriers (though Verizon may be sitting this one out in preference of a slightly different Samsung device). Both AT&T and Sprint have already announced launch dates of the 18th and 16th of September respectively. T-Mobile will also be getting it, though no release date has been announced.
Like last time, each carrier has its own name for the Galaxy S II as well as their own look. AT&T will be calling it the Samsung Attain and going with a design that doesn’t much resemble its first Galaxy S phone, the Captivate. If anything, it looks more like T-Mobile’s Vibrant. AT&T is also the only carrier who will be keeping the 4.3-inch display size (both Sprint and T-Mobile are opting for a 4.5-inch display).
Sprint is going with the name Epic 4G Touch, toting it as a keyboardless version of the original Epic 4G (Sprint’s version of the Galaxy S). It won’t be quite as rounded as the original, but it does have a much more rounded edge than AT&T’s Attain.
T-Mobile has decided on an even more rounded edge than the other two and will be calling it the Hercules, surely on account of its large 4.5-inch screen and unmatched processing power.
The Bottom Line
The Galaxy S II tops our cell phone list for a very good reason: it’s an amazing phone. The 4.3 and 4.5-inch screens may make it feel a little too bulky for some, but it does make up for it by being ultra thin. Its specs make it a great buy for anyone who wants to be on the cutting edge of performance as well as those who want something that won’t be outdated in just a year. It’s even a great choice for those tired of blinding waiting for the unsure release of the Apple iPhone 5.
