Samsung Galaxy S2 Take 2

[The_Unbeliever]

Continuing the discussion on the Galaxy S2 in this thread.

Previous one was closed due to a high postcount (>10000 posts).

Enjoy

 

[OGroteKoning]

First cellphone thread to be continued! Fantastic phone!

 

[kingrob]

The phone that made Samsung famous.

 

[TheBadMadMan]

the 3310 of the smartphone era

 

[Venomous]

I still have mine

 

[The_Unbeliever]

In comparison against the S3, S4 or S5, how do you rate the S2?

Is it better than its newer offspring?

 

[The_Unbeliever]

I still have mine

/me est jealous

 

[Zukat]

Awesome phone! Still have mine and cant find a good reason to replace it with new stuff on the market. Please share if you have any good reasons to?

 

[DominionZA]

I still have mine

Still got mine and my wife's old S2's. Too decent to get rid of.
The one I use for bike rides (got an S2 mount for my MB) and the other is a perm Satnav / Plex Server in the car. One in the car being replaced by a Note 1 though.

 

[ABCpt]

The S5 is the first 'upgrade' that I'm considering, but still love my S2.

 

[pezulu]

Also still got 2 of them.
My wife and I are both now using Note 3's, but the S2's are backup phones.

 

[OGroteKoning]

In comparison against the S3, S4 or S5, how do you rate the S2?

Is it better than its newer offspring?

The S2 is certainly outdated compared to the others, but what do you want to do with the others that the S2 can not do?

It came out in Feb 2011. It was the biggest WOW in an era as far as cellphones are concerned and something to really put iPhone in it's place. It was a new benchmark, a new feeling, a new powerhouse in your pocket ... and to top it all, it was small and very thin ... and it is beautiful. The S2 was truly a big punch in a small packet. It was unexpected and arguably the most awaited device in a very long time. Others have tried and failed miserably, but Samsung produced "SPECTACULAR".

It was the birth of the official iProblem and the new benchmark on which other Android device manufacturers had to base their products on or die a quiet death. Apple was so worried and scared that they had to sue Samsung for a patented rectangle with rounded corners just to make the iProblem go away ... but it didn't. The Samsung Galaxy S2 laid the foundation upon which Samsung modelled the later S3, S4 and S5.

When looking at the growth of technology in 2011 - 2012 (the S3), 2012 - 2013 (the S4), 2013 - 2014 (the S5) - it was mediocre, yet another device with more tweaks and add-on's to the user interface, but not really that WOW S2 users got accustomed to. It was definitely better, but still not WOW. The leap the S2 made created an expectation for people looking forward to the S3, the S4 and S5 - and expectation that was difficult to meet.

I honestly think that the only Samsung S phone that is a worthy replacement for the S2 is the S5. And I truly think the S5 is 2 years late. Had the S5 been introduced in 2012, the S2 might have been only a mere glimmer in the tech world. But it is not. It stands proud and it holds it's own.

I also believe that Samsung stopped competing against themselves and started to compete against HTC, Motorola, $ony and other unmentionable manufacturers. That is perhaps why the development of the later models were not as great as the public expected.

 

[10i]

The S2 is still a very capable phone. Updated mine to Jellybean and it flies.

 

[The_Unbeliever]

^ great post, thanks

Makes one wonder whether quad/optero core really is worth the while to have.

 

[falcon786]

As probably one of the first in SA to get an s2 I must say I absolutely adored it when I first got it.The size and everything about it was perfect.

An issue that starting becoming very annoying after the first week was the relatively low resolution screen,you could clearly see each pixel on the screen,the deep blacks did somewhat make up for it but it was always noticeably especially if you came from the retina iphones at the time.For some reason it felt less plasticky to me than the s3/s4/s5.

Actually come to think about it the s3 is probably their best phone made,it got everything right,screen resolution,power,looks are subjective I know but I still liked the s3 more when it launched.Sorry s2 fans I absolutely hated the resolution on the s2 and it bothered me a lot when using it,so the s3 takes the crown for me.

 

[iamtheotherstig]

Still have mine and it is going strong! Have been considering the S5 as a replacement but don't really see it as a necessity. S2 still does its job just fine - phone calls, whatsapp, emails, gps... what more do you need?

 

[kingrob]

Actually come to think about it the s3 is probably their best phone made,it got everything right,screen resolution,power,looks are subjective I know but I still liked the s3 more when it launched.Sorry s2 fans I absolutely hated the resolution on the s2 and it bothered me a lot when using it,so the s3 takes the crown for me.

S3 has the worst display of all the Galaxy phones... it suffers badly from black clipping.

Movies & videos look terrible.

The Galaxy S2 & Note 2 are the only phones Samsung ever manufactured with Super Amoled full RGB subpixel displays.... and the two phones I own.

 

[kingrob]

S2 was the first dual core phone, if I am not mistaken, and it went through three versions of Android.

I firmly believe it wil run Kitkat like an absolute dream, but Samsung will never do it.

 

[Brawler]

GF still has her S2 and she is still is happy with it. It also survived being ridden over by a minibus taxi...

The screen resolution is the only glaringly obvious indication that its now outdated.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Mine still going strong. KitKat breathes new life into it once again.

Just a few month left with it though, then I'll be upgrading.