The Galaxy launch from Samsung was perhaps a landmark in the history of Smartphone launches. However with the S II, Samsung has brought about a revolution in Smartphone history. One of the first phones to feature a dual core processor, the power of the S II can only be experienced.  With additional features like the super bright AMOLED screen and the impossibly slim body, the S II definitely lives up to the expectations set by Samsung when it first announced the phone. If you haven’t heard about the S II yet, you definitely could be from another planet.

Verdict:

Featuring the Android Gingerbread and super fast Dual Core ARMv 1.2GHz processor, the S II is a force to reckon with. With a sleek but comfortable body, the S II is any gadget geek’s wet dream. Any true Android fan with a flair for speed would definitely want to check out this monster.

Design and Display:

At first glance, the S II looks more like a piece of extreme engineering. The entire spec sheets crammed into an 8.7 mm body. The 4.3 inch super AMOLED screen covers the entire front façade of the device. The screen however deserves special mention since it is the best ever seen on any device. The screen is able to portray each color and every pixel with astounding clarity. Though the phone is mostly plastic, the build quality is superb and the phone feels great to hold, quite comfortable.

Beneath the screen is the physical home key with the back buttons on either side. The front facing 2MP camera is at the top along with the light sensors. The power button is placed on the right whereas the volume controls are on the left. The top of the phone holds the 3.5 mm audio jack while the microUSB and the data cable connector is at the bottom. The back of the phone holds the speakers in addition to the 8 MP camera. Not only is the build clean and simple but also repels fingerprints in the best possible way.

The phone runs the TouchWiz UI on top of the Android which seems to be maturing with each release Samsung comes up with.

Camera:

The 8MP camera packed into the S II comes with a touch operated shutter. The single LED flash could be a turn off for many but works well when it comes to clicking pictures. The camera hosts almost infinite settings and modes ranging from party to night mode.

The camera also supports video recording at 30 fps. The quality is nearly professional and the ease of use of the camera application is nearly perfect.

Multimedia:

The SII flaunts a music system by Yamaha. The built in music player supports almost all the formats available on planet earth. However better players can be easily downloaded via the Android marketplace.

The video player is equally efficient with formats. However, the real pleasure of watching a video is on the fantastic screen that the phone features. The built in speaker and the headphones are an additional advantage.

Additional Features:

The phone comes with Samsung’s DLNA which makes sharing files and applications very easy. Browsing the internet is a pleasurable experience with the phone being able to connect to Wi Fi networks as well as 3G. An efficient organizer, a host of apps at the Android marketplace and office applications form only a part of the unbelievable features of this fantastic phone.

Full specifications:

Display: 4.3 inch Super AMOLED plus capacitive screen with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels and support for 16M colors. Gorilla Glass display

Dimensions: 125.3 x 66 x 8.5 mm.

Weight: 116 Gms.

Camera: Main camera – 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels with geo tagging, face and smile detection, autofocus and single LED flash.

Secondary camera – 2.0 MP

Audio: Music player with support for MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC. Built in searching, sorting and equalizers.

Video: MP4/WMV/H.264/H.263.

Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email and IM.

Connectivity: Bluetooth 3.0, microUSB, USB on the go.

Internet: GPRS, EDGE, 3G HSDPA, WLAN, DLNA, HSUPA with built in browser.

Games: Built-in and downloadable.

Memory: 1 GB internal with support for microSD up to 32 GB.

Battery: Standard battery, Li-Ion 1650 mAh with talk time of 8.5 hours and standby of 610 hours for 3G.

Extras:

* Virtual full QWERTY keypad.

* Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

* 3.5 mm headphone jack.

* Accelerometer and proximity sensor.

* Gorilla Glass display.

* TouchWiz UI v4.0.

* Gyroscope sensor

* Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic

* NFC support (optional)

* TV-out (via MHL A/V link)

* SNS integration

* Digital compass

* MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player

* MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player

* Organizer

* Image/video editor

* Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)

* Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration

* Adobe Flash 10.1 support

* Voice memo/dial/commands

* Predictive text input (Swype)