T-Mobile Galaxy S II hands-on

By on Oct 10, 2011 at 1:55 PM
mobile October 10, 2011

We already reviewed the Sprint version, we’re working on reviewing the AT&T version, and now we’ve gotten our hands on the T-Mobile version. Samsung’s Galaxy S II is the fastest-selling smartphone the South Korea-based electronics giant has ever made, and for a good reason: this is a beast of a handset. The dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor screams, the HSPA+ 4G flies, and it goes without saying that Samsung’s giant 4.52-inch Super AMOLED Plus display is nothing short of amazing. No display even approaches Samsung’s latest panels when it comes to combining unbelievably rich colors, brightness and remarkable clarity. But with new phones on the horizon for the holidays and Google’s next Nexus set to be unveiled in the near future, is T-Mobile’s Galaxy S II worthy of a 2-year commitment? You’ll have to wait for our full review to find out, but in the meantime be sure to check out our hands-on photo gallery below.

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  • Fat Mams

    Why didn’t they just upgrade the internals .. that’s what the top manufacturers apparently do ..

    • http://profiles.google.com/jeck7788 Josh Eck

      I am going to assume you mean the iPhone 4S.  Don’t you worry though, Samsung has already done exactly that.  Ever heard of the Samsung Galaxy S Plus?  The exact same phone as the Samsung Galaxy S, but with a 1.4ghz upgraded processor.  So hey before trying to troll, maybe do some research. 

      • felipe peko

        Galaxy S Plus didn’t make me wait more for the real upgrade that is Galaxy S2 though…

      • Anonymous

        Good point. But I think the failure of the 4S is mostly consumer perception. Blogs like this one got people waiting for something revolutionary, and apple didn’t deliver. Not that the phone they released is bad, in fact spec wise is quite the opposite…but it all feels so familiar now that it’s just getting stale for consumers. I know I know, they’ve presold millions…but unless they start changing it up that number will quickly slide

      • Anonymous

        and it wasn’t the only thing they did all year :)

      • Anonymous

        , guys a must see ,

        my best friend’s mom makes 77$ an hour on the computer. She has been out of job for
        9 months but last month her check was 7487$ just working on the computer for a few hours. Read about it here goo.gl/syatb

      • http://www.droiddoes.com/ Norm

        Samsung changes the box around the same thing ever so slIghty. Enough to make people like Kyle satisfied.

    • androidblows574

      oh right right, I forgot the iPhone 4s looks identical to the first iPhone right?

  • http://twitter.com/cjkowa Chris Kowalski

    They are upgrading the 1.5GHz dual core processor to 1.4GHz? Thanks for the accurate and invaluable research. 

    • sirpaul

      GS vs GS plus, not GSII

    • http://profiles.google.com/jeck7788 Josh Eck

      Hey no problem.  Maybe I can direct you to a website where you can learn how to properly read?

  • zacamandapio

    Such a beauty.

  • http://twitter.com/maaubel Max van Aubel

    Same shit different carrier…

    • Anonymous

      Which is a negative because…..? Were you saying this about the iPhone on Verizon?

      Oh and you’re wrong, because the radios are quite different in every galaxy phone, and the form factor is differentiated too.

    • Anonymous

      KIRF cpu

    • Trdracer21

      that what i said about the iphone 4s

  • Anonymous

    Nice table. 

  • Anonymous

    No display even approaches Samsung’s latest panels when it comes to combining unbelievably rich colors, brightness and remarkable clarity.
     
    This isn’t feasible whatsoever.  The Retina Display offers the highest PPI.  The colors become richer from the smaller 3.5″ screen size.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Paul-Reed/1530570047 Paul Reed

      LMFAO…did you really just blurt out that incredibly stupid comment? Pixel density increases color richness? Really? O_o

  • Anonymous

    My god picture #4 makes the device look HUGE!!!

    • joshie

      It IS huge. Way too big for a phone.

  • http://twitter.com/computer_tweets KW

    I got my S2 on AT&T last Thursday.  It’s my first Android phone.  I love it!  It does thing that my old fruit phone couldn’t do and more.  I can’t believe how fast it is.  I’m a little jealous that Sprint and T-Mobile got the 4.5″ and 1.5Ghz specs.  

  • Anonymous

    interesting more android “enthusiast” comment on apple postings than actual android ones

  • http://twitter.com/BeanTNT Bean

    all this upgrading of cpu’s is fine once the battery doesn’t suck like my nexus s

  • Winski

    WORST PHONE CARRIER AND WORST PRODUCT SUPPLIER ON EARTH…

    • Anonymous

      And YOU HAVE THEV WORST COMMENT IN THIS TOPIC…

      If not for SAMSUNG, where’s APPLE now – nothing…

      ALL HARDWARE THAT APPLE SELL HAS SAMSUNG MANUFACTURED PARTS…

      SO THESE PEOPLE KEEPS ON SAYING SAMSUNG IS WORST, THEN APPLE IS NOTHING TO COMPARE TO SAMSUNG – the real manufacturer of their products…

      APPLE IS ONLY DESIGNER AND MARKETING COMPANY…

    • zacamandapio

      Winski,
      Sorry to disagree with you.  But that’s why this is a blog and you can put your comments.
      IMHO T-mobile and their plans are a great option to the other vampire networks.  And it only gets better by adding a great device to its lineup.

  • Anonymous

    Mr. Geller and Zach….
    What you do for many of us is very important, as the information flow and validity of the facts have always been consistant on the site. I am gravely dissapointed, I just Purchased a AT&T Galaxy S-2, The phone is gorgeous but there is a Major Problem, and I cant believe it slipped through your hands unbeknown.
    I have Music CD’s on my SD Card. Usually all one has to do is Press Hold and you get a dialog asking if you want that track assigned for the Default Phone Ringtone. It wont work on the AT&T SGS-2! Looking for more disbelief? Contacts, it allowed me to access the SD Card and select the Track of a Music CD, However there was a ridiculous cap of 300kb in size, so it would not allow me to use the track. You Cant add Notification Sounds at all!
    Here’s the Kicker, The International version and the Sprint version,of the SGS-2, both allow the user to selectively choose any Music Track on the SD Card installed, as well contacts, and select it for a “Ringtone”. Lets be clear here, Im not looking to change a Music Track into a Ringtone, Im looking to assign the entire track to play as a Default Ringtone.
    I just  dumped a Motorola Atrix, and all you had to do is press hold the track, and a Dialog Box popped, asking you if you wanted to assign the track as your ring tone.
    I dont know if the T Mobile version is going to allow this to happen as well, but you know what, Ringtones, Music, using Tracks as a Substitute Ring Tone, Adding Notification Sounds, these are all important things today, and most Manufacturers, Motorola, Apple (charges but allows), HTC, LG and Samsung waive this around like a Premium flag on a flagpole to their endusers, they even pitch free stuff on Registration.
    How could you folks let this slip by like that?
    I spent several hours on the Phone today with Samsung, the Level 2 Technical Support guy, “Raoul”, has a Sprint version and the International Version as well offers no problem.They were all shocked! The Culprit again is AT&T, not Samsung. Let the Buyer Beware. The Seller or Carrier AT&T has Razor Sharp Teeth like a Great White Shark, and they are on a Money Feeding Frenzy.

    Mr. Geller, while the Discovery of the Security Flaw is at your Credit and due to your Genius, How in Gods name did you let this other stuff get away from you. Its 2012 not 1949, All the Manufacturers know it is expected that the enduser can manipulate ringtones, notification sounds and alerts, its sort of stuff thats so common, you dont look for it, its expected. AT&T is another Bird of Feather, Is this another Bird Poop line like their 4G turned out to be. Remember the intial reviews? “Borderline Dis-Honest”

  • http://twitter.com/#!/PitoVH787 Pito V.H

    I sold my iphone 4 can’t wait for this one …

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