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| Introduction and Specifications | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Not too long ago, we took an in-depth, hands-on look at the unlocked version of the Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone. At the time, the phone wasn't available in the US, so we weren't able to show you a hands-on video of a US version of the phone. Now, however, the Samsung Galaxy S II is available through Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile. All of the phones have a similar look and feel, though there are a few differentiating points among the models. We've been testing the Sprint version of the Samsung Galaxy S II, otherwise known as the Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch for a couple weeks now, and we like what we see. In fact, we'd go as far as saying this is one of the best smartphones we've seen in the US this year. The Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch is currently available from Sprint for $199.99 with a contract and compatible data plan.
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In addition to the Galaxy S II phones that are currently available, Samsung is continuing to expand the Galaxy S II line. Starting next week, you'll be able to pick up the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket from AT&T. This will be a 4G LTE version of the Galaxy S II that will feature a 1.5 GHz dual core processor, 4.5-inch SuperAMOLED Plus display, 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash, 2-megapixel front-facing camera, 1080p HD video recording capabilities, and 16 GB of on-board memory. To give you another perspective on what this phone has to offer, let's take a look at the specifications of the phone:
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Since we already reviewed the unlocked version of the Samsung Galaxy S II, we won't rehash everything. Each variant of the Galaxy S II has its own features and slightly different specifications, but there are also many similarities among this family of smartphones. In addition to this hands-on look, we'll also take a quick look at a few benchmarks on the Epic 4G Touch, to see how this smartphone compares to the unlocked Galaxy S II, on the next page. If you're interested in a more detailed look at the Samsung Galaxy S II, please check out our full review here. |
| Performance Testing and Conclusion | ||||
The Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch performed very well in our benchmark tests. In some cases, it even outscored the unlocked Samsung Galaxy S II. Here's a quick look at a few benchmark scores:
Final Thoughts Now that the Samsung Galaxy S II is available through US carriers, it's much more affordable than it was when sold as an unlocked phone to US customers. As we've said before, we still would like to see a qHD screen on the Samsung Galaxy S II, but the WVGA Super AMOLED display that comes with this phone is a really good-looking display on its own.
Click to enlarge Simply put, we felt the Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch performed very well in real-world, everyday usage. We appreciate that the Samsung Galaxy S II has a lightweight and thin chassis as well as some good horsepower under the hood with a 1.2GHz dual core processor and 1GB of RAM. All in all, we still agree with what we said about the unlocked version of the phone: "...the Galaxy S II is possibly the best Android phone we've laid our hands on to date."
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