Samsung Galaxy S2

[Jacko84]

heya all, just got a new phone on a virgin 59 plan, samsung galaxy s2 so anyone tell us much about it and what apps i should have on it. regards Jacko84

[Darren]

Have you had a previous phone running Android? It all depends on what your doing with it which determines what apps you'll want on there. Were you looking at running a custom ROM or try your hand at overclocking?

For instance I use mine for email, the best mail client out there imho is K9, I also use it to keep an eye on the security camera's, there's a stack you can do with it, have a search around the market.

What did you want to know is probably the best question I could write for days about it, the S2 is a massive step up on the old Galaxy namely due to the dual processor processor and more memory.

[Jacko84]

No i havnt had a phone running andriod, seems like a pretty sleek dast operationg phone atm just looking at forums, facebook, hotmail, as such, upgraded from the old nokia E71

[D3CID3R]

As Darren said with the S2 you will not be dissappointed :-)

[CAPRILICIOUS WL]

Mite be upgrading from the iPhone 4 to the Samsung s2 is that a bad idea?

What are the negatives/cons about this particular Samsung s2?

Thanks
Dave.

[Darren]

Sorry forgot all about this, was meant to get to this one earlier.

I am biased I dislike anything Apple and absolutely love Android with the exception to Sony Ericsson (I thought they would have improved since my last one clearly not the case), Android keeps getting better and better and your free to do what you want and how you want.

The only good thing about the iPhone I have been told and experienced is the battery life, a few guys I know get 4 days out of it whereas the battery on the Galaxy I will get at max 2 days, this is with a custom ROM which again is drop dead simple and has added ~1 day to my battery life.

Cons and negatives
Galaxy is a lot thinner and lighter, add a silicon cover makes it a lot thicker but worth it for some added safety.
Screen size / quality on the Galaxy is much nicer.
Galaxy does 1080p video vs 720p (from memory) on the iPhone, not a biggie there for me but for some could be a deal breaker, there’s certainly nothing wrong with 720p.
8MP camera on the Galaxy / 5MP? on the iPhone

Now of course this could all change with the iPhone 5 coming out but let’s face it it's technology it will keep on trucking forward, everyone is out to beat everyone else, hell Galaxy S3 is probably in the pipe lines to beat whatever the iPhone tries to bring to the table.

For me I am a fairly basic user, email, phone calls and minimal web browsing, don't get much into the games when I do the battery takes a dive (won't even get a day but it’s something I have become used to now!), some claim the apps / games are more polished on the iOS system but I am yet to find something on Android which hasn't worked just as good if not better, 9 times out of 10 it’s free (In 3 Android based phones I have spent a massive total of $5) need I mention you’re not stuck with that dreaded POS software they call iTunes.

I believe you’ll find the Samsung is a few hundred dollars cheaper which makes it more attractive, I paid $780 for mine pretty much the day it came out, the iPhone will likely be around the $1000 mark then don’t forget to factor in costs associated with music, apps and games, it all adds up if you regularly purchase that kind of stuff.

Its early hours of the morning and I can't think of too much more but any questions at all about my beloved Galaxy give me a yell.

Whatever you do don't get the Galaxy, Galaxy S2 is where you want to go, I have referred to just the Galaxy above but actually mean the S2, as mentioned earlier the S2 much better purely based on speed of the device, I have not once in the time I've owned it had any slowdowns. The only time I've had to do a reboot is when I've installed an updated ROM.

[NV-MY-VT]

^

As a tech consultant to small business and schools, I can tell you the Android OS is tending to be less secure.... but only if you go download the "Super LULZ funtime APP for free phonecalls and babes". Just keep in mind there are virii for phones and you'll be right.

Android is the better OS regardless.

[CAPRILICIOUS WL]

Sorry forgot all about this, was meant to get to this one earlier.

I am biased I dislike anything Apple and absolutely love Android with the exception to Sony Ericsson (I thought they would have improved since my last one clearly not the case), Android keeps getting better and better and your free to do what you want and how you want.

The only good thing about the iPhone I have been told and experienced is the battery life, a few guys I know get 4 days out of it whereas the battery on the Galaxy I will get at max 2 days, this is with a custom ROM which again is drop dead simple and has added ~1 day to my battery life.

Cons and negatives
Galaxy is a lot thinner and lighter, add a silicon cover makes it a lot thicker but worth it for some added safety.
Screen size / quality on the Galaxy is much nicer.
Galaxy does 1080p video vs 720p (from memory) on the iPhone, not a biggie there for me but for some could be a deal breaker, there’s certainly nothing wrong with 720p.
8MP camera on the Galaxy / 5MP? on the iPhone

Now of course this could all change with the iPhone 5 coming out but let’s face it it's technology it will keep on trucking forward, everyone is out to beat everyone else, hell Galaxy S3 is probably in the pipe lines to beat whatever the iPhone tries to bring to the table.

For me I am a fairly basic user, email, phone calls and minimal web browsing, don't get much into the games when I do the battery takes a dive (won't even get a day but it’s something I have become used to now!), some claim the apps / games are more polished on the iOS system but I am yet to find something on Android which hasn't worked just as good if not better, 9 times out of 10 it’s free (In 3 Android based phones I have spent a massive total of $5) need I mention you’re not stuck with that dreaded POS software they call iTunes.

I believe you’ll find the Samsung is a few hundred dollars cheaper which makes it more attractive, I paid $780 for mine pretty much the day it came out, the iPhone will likely be around the $1000 mark then don’t forget to factor in costs associated with music, apps and games, it all adds up if you regularly purchase that kind of stuff.

Its early hours of the morning and I can't think of too much more but any questions at all about my beloved Galaxy give me a yell.

Whatever you do don't get the Galaxy, Galaxy S2 is where you want to go, I have referred to just the Galaxy above but actually mean the S2, as mentioned earlier the S2 much better purely based on speed of the device, I have not once in the time I've owned it had any slowdowns. The only time I've had to do a reboot is when I've installed an updated ROM.

Thanks for that Darren,
Iv got the iPhone 4 atm which I am pretty happy with just want to try the android for a change.

I'm really fussy and picky with my smart phones cause it's pretty much my laptop. Lol
If only we can have custom made smart phones.

I think I'll give the Samsung s2 a shot, I just hope the iPhone 5 doesn't come out soon.

Thanks for ur help.

[ucwepn]

september 2011 they are saying for iphone 5 F*** apple lol

[nemesis_adrasteia]

can anyone tell me what the galaxy is like as a media player. as im interested in running my car stereo via a mobile device EG galaxy/iphone/ipod

thoughts on this? anyone tried it before?

[Stressball]

Media player will depend which app you use. The built in one is meh, does the job but nothing special. There are a million and one media apps though that can be more useful. Your output quality will be fine regardless of what app you are running, so if you're going to use an auxiliary-in cable to the car headunit, it'll be much the same from one phone to the next. An iPod/iPhone may be better because newer cars have their own builtin support for iThing connectivity.

[nemesis_adrasteia]

Media player will depend which app you use. The built in one is meh, does the job but nothing special. There are a million and one media apps though that can be more useful. Your output quality will be fine regardless of what app you are running, so if you're going to use an auxiliary-in cable to the car headunit, it'll be much the same from one phone to the next. An iPod/iPhone may be better because newer cars have their own builtin support for iThing connectivity.

my issue with everything I related is Itunes, its ####ing useless.

im actually wanting to can the HU and us the phone as the HU obviously then going to an after market sound system.

[Essassin]

You can plug an amp straight into an auxiliary/3mm headphone jack. If you're using an amp a headunit is simply an...interface if you like, for changing volume, EQ etc...
At least I'm pretty sure you can, with a small amount of modification to the wiring coming from the amp...

[Pete_perth]

I switched from an IPhone 4 to a Samsung Galaxy S II - one of the best decisions I ever made. I don't have to give Samsung my credit card details like I have to give Apple before I could even use their phone. The other MAJOR plus the Samsung has over the IPhone, people can hear me on the Samsung, no one could ever hear me on the IPhone unless I used the headphones.

[edals]

my issue with everything I related is Itunes, its ####ing useless.

im actually wanting to can the HU and us the phone as the HU obviously then going to an after market sound system.

Must Be a Big Issue with iTunes and PCs, Since iTunes on the mac just seems to all work, No matter how complex i have made a configuration just always works lol
Me thinks apple want a awesome phone but want to make your PC look like a heap of crap lol

[Full Spectrum]

I am biased I dislike anything Apple and absolutely love Android

+1.. Darren, which custom rom did you get ?. i was interested in your battery life. currently with use i get a full day. if i go easy on it maybe 24 hours more. but i find myself sitting on the phone 1-2 hours just looking and reading about cars. Now i also have the wonderful JC app!.



I could also ad the S2 has much better integration with your social networks. also large size screen widgets are a large plus over the first galaxy. I'm enjoying live weather facebook twitter email calenders etc.

What does it for me is the voice that tells you who's calling emails sms schedules. im sure that's mostly from google, some of that was on the first galaxy. but it's funny you hear the phone tell you "new message from vodafone balance". in times when you don't really want to be disturbed - it's handy to hear who that is and choose to ignore/reply. also when you get a call, or sms. and you want to stop the music without any hassle, just turn the phone over and silence it.

Samsung's voice talk powered by vlingo is a bit of fun. works wonderful with blutooth. it's a show off thing get a group around and show them the new toy lol.

[Darren]

I'm running the Lite'ning Rom 5.0 and have done so as far back as v1.2, main reason is no wipe and it's drop dead simple to install. A few clicks and your done.

Image of the battery stats taken this morning is attached, I am fairly impressed, this isn't heavy use by any means but checking emails in the background and a tiny bit of browsing.

One thing of interest I will make mention, on the first Galaxy I was forever killing off non required apps, with the S2 I don't think I've used it once, I have read numerous places that your better off just leaving them in the background. Now this of course is one of those things where you ask 10 different people and get 10 different answers.

[Stressball]

One thing of interest I will make mention, on the first Galaxy I was forever killing off non required apps, with the S2 I don't think I've used it once, I have read numerous places that your better off just leaving them in the background. Now this of course is one of those things where you ask 10 different people and get 10 different answers.

Yeah, task killers prompt it to have to restart processes, wasting power. Say you kill a location based process, then 10min later you open maps. It doesn't justh ave to open maps, it also needs to restart the location process as well. Only a little difference, but over the course of a day of constantly killing apps off, it can add up. The only reason people started using them in the first place is because until Froyo, Android didn't have a built-in task manager that would kill off unnecessary processes. Once Android 2.2 came in, task managers were a waste of space.

[Stressball]

...the voice that tells you who's calling emails sms schedules....handy to hear who that is and choose to ignore/reply...want to stop the music without any hassle, just turn the phone over and silence it.

These functions are all available on non-Touchwiz/Sense droids too Through a third party app called Tasker. Essentially it automates processes on your phone. For example; I had it set so that when I got more than 1km from home based on cell-tower triangulation, it would disable wifi and enable bluetooth. If I got a text message while it was connected to a bluetooth device, it would autoreply to the sender with a message saying "Sorry, I'm driving at the moment. If you need to get in contact with me urgently, please call instead". When I return home, it disables bluetooth and enables wifi.

With patience, you can get it to announce caller name/number, emails etc, silence-on-flip, heaps of things like that. I had it set to go into silent mode from 10:30pm until 6:15am each night without any input from me. The worst thing about it is that the most complicated automations are not easy to set up. It's not a very straightforward app, but if you do learn to use it, you can make your smartphone twice as smart

[Full Spectrum]

I'm running the Lite'ning Rom 5.0 and have done so as far back as v1.2, main reason is no wipe and it's drop dead simple to install. A few clicks and your done.

Image of the battery stats taken this morning is attached, I am fairly impressed, this isn't heavy use by any means but checking emails in the background and a tiny bit of browsing.

One thing of interest I will make mention, on the first Galaxy I was forever killing off non required apps, with the S2 I don't think I've used it once, I have read numerous places that your better off just leaving them in the background. Now this of course is one of those things where you ask 10 different people and get 10 different answers.

Thank you i will have to try that out. but got to admit even without custom roms the phones fast. i rotted my first galaxy and it helped so much, but in time updates stopped coming.

This uses is next to nothing. i watched 3-4 youtube video's and went to sleep. but i see what makes your more impressive is you have battery killing wifi bluetooth on and have no issues.

These functions are all available on non-Touchwiz/Sense droids too Through a third party app called Tasker. Essentially it automates processes on your phone. For example; I had it set so that when I got more than 61km from home based on cell-tower triangulation, it would disable wifi and enable bluetooth. If I got a text message while it was connected to a bluetooth device, it would autoreply to the sender with a message saying "Sorry, I'm driving at the moment. If you need to get in contact with me urgently, please call instead". When I return home, it disables bluetooth and enables wifi.

With patience, you can get it to announce caller name/number, emails etc, silence-on-flip, heaps of things like that. I had it set to go into silent mode from 10:30pm until 6:15am each night without any input from me. The worst thing about it is that the most complicated automations are not easy to set up. It's not a very straightforward app, but if you do learn to use it, you can make your smartphone twice as smart

You know what's strange. samsung must have removed this from the SGS to the SGS2. i could have swore i had the ability to silence notifications after 9pm weekdays and weekends after setting it up. the SGS2 i can't find that ?. i love that it can send a message when driving on bluetooth call instead that's so handy.

[Darren]

You know what's strange. samsung must have removed this from the SGS to the SGS2. i could have swore i had the ability to silence notifications after 9pm weekdays and weekends after setting it up. the SGS2 i can't find that ?

I use K9 Mail and it has Quiet Time under Settings > Notifications

I could have sworn it was under the normal settings but for the life of me I can't find it.

As a matter of interest I have hit 55% although only a few SMS messages going backward and forward plus some emails.

[CAPRILICIOUS WL]

Reading all these replies makes me want to get one even more and more.
But has someone had an IPHONE before owning the Samsung s2?
Was it a good decision to go the s2?

And do the android software have things like a jailbreak like apple software?

[Darren]

I know numerous people (~7) who have made the switch from iPhone to Android, after playing around with my phone seeing what it can do they have upgraded.

The only thing which comes back to being a pain is the battery life.

One minor annoyance I have at the moment, on the apps screen how on bloody earth do you change everything to be in alphabetical order instead of being all over the place? Surely you shouldn't need an app for it.

No need for jailbreak, unlike Apple devices it isn't required, you can do what you want with the phone, no credit card details required.

You can however root it, the only thing I have found this useful for thus far is screen shots (how I did the battery meter earlier) and Back Track (I shouldn't need to explain).

[Reaper]

How do the Galaxy phones go for battery life with just calls??? I rarely use internet/email but make/receive a ton of calls each day with a little text etc mixed in. I normally charge my iPhone 4 daily (gets 1.5 days if I don't) but there have been days when I've nearly flattened it in 8 hours. My contract isn't up till early next year and will have to decide between iPhone 5 (I presume it'll be out by then) or an Android something or other. Battery life is important to me.

Reaper

[STEEV888]

Gone are the days where you would charge your Nokia weekly.