T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II: Top-of-the-Line Phone
Considering the massive screen, the crazy-powerful processor, and the NFC and 4G support, it's hard not to fall in love with the Samsung Galaxy S II on T-Mobile. Available for $220 with a new two-year contract (as of October 10, 2011), the Galaxy S II is a great phone. It has just a few minor flaws that keep it from being truly amazing.
Tue, October 11, 2011
PC World — Considering the massive screen, the crazy-powerful processor, and the NFC and 4G support, it's hard not to fall in love with the Samsung Galaxy S II on T-Mobile. Available for $220 with a new two-year contract (as of October 10, 2011), the Galaxy S II is a great phone. It has just a few minor flaws that keep it from being truly amazing.
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A Tablet-Size Phone
The Galaxy S II boasts the same gigantic, 4.52-inch (480-by-800-pixel resolution) screen we saw on the Epic Touch 4G for Sprint--and that impressive screen is definitely the phone's biggest draw. Colors on the Super AMOLED Plus display appear bright and vibrant, if a little oversaturated. The phone is extremely lightweight, thanks largely in part to its plastic casing. I was never really a fan of the plasticky body of the original Galaxy S, but the Galaxy S II feels solid enough that I can overlook it here.
At 5.11 by 2.71 by 0.37 inches, the T-Mobile Galaxy S II is slightly taller and thicker than the version made for AT&T. When comparing the two phones side by side, I found that I preferred the AT&T Galaxy S II over the T-Mobile one simply because it was much more comfortable to hold. Although larger screens are great for activities such as watching movies or browsing the Web, I thought that the screen size of the T-Mobile Galaxy S II seemed like a bit of overkill on Samsung's part.
The biggest problem I have with the T-Mobile Galaxy S II is how narrow the bezel is at the sides of the screen. When I navigated the large screen, the bottom part of my hand would constantly hit one of the capacitive buttons under the screen, or brush against the bottom quarter of the touchscreen. Whenever I went to check a notification or enter a URL in the browser, I also ended up opening a menu or launching the dialer. In one instance, I was in the middle of composing a text message, and I wound up closing out of it several times before I could send it.
Specs and Performance
With a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the T-Mobile Galaxy S II is the most powerful one of the bunch. Everything from basic phone functions to intense 3D games run as smooth as silk. The only time the phone ever slowed down or got stuck was when I tried unlocking it: The lock screen hung for about 3 seconds before responding. To be fair, at the time I was downloading and installing 15 apps at once, so that could explain the minor hiccup I experienced. The phone comes with a Task Manager; since the handset has 1GB of RAM, however, you shouldn't ever need to use it.
