Not going to go into a big review as that has been done many times, however I will point out my experience of some of the issues highlighted in professional and these customer reviews.
Flimsy back cover.
Yes it is, and I did think I'd break it, but actually it really is built from a tough and flexible plastic which oddly enough, feels fairly sturdy. It also fits over the battery into the main unit very firmly and is not going to come out. The surface is also very nice to hold. I don't hold much sway with the 'but it should be made from aluminium' bunch because it would add weight (however small), and the joy of this unit is its supreme lightness (I come from a HTC Desire and it's just not in the same league weight wise). In short, it really doesn't matter and shouldn't put you off buying this phone.
Wifi signal quality poor.
Not so, sorry. I have an excellent test where I work and can connect at the extreme edge of the signal range with no problem. HTC Desire and this phone are exactly the same, regardless of what the little icon says. It connects quicker too, the wifi hotspot works better (than the desire), and once you've seen the speed of the browser, you won't go back anyway.
Gorilla glass scratches.
No idea, I always use one of the very cheap screen covers available all over Amazon. No idea why people don't to be honest, seems eminently sensible to me.
Samsung UI a bit clunky.
I didn't see the first galaxy UI, but can attest that this one is absolutely fine. I come from what many consider to be the best: HTC Sense. There are one or two minor things that HTC does better (selecting and adding widgets, lock screen), and some that believe it or not Samsung do better, (resizable widgets, power control in notification area). In short I doubt very much anyone moving from HTC to this phone is going to hate it as it is much more customizable. The Samsung gallery is better too.
Speed
Yes, it is a fast as everyone says it is. Wow.
Tablet or phone?
Phone, this phone in fact. I was wondering about getting some tablet. Glad I didn't. The size of this phone, it's lightness means total portability without the main drawbacks of a small phone. Comes with an editable office program bundled as well which on first impressions is absolutely bang on. Doesn't open password protected files though.
Android or Apple.
Please, I'm not interested in the Apple vs everyone else battle. You buy what you like and you pay what you agree is a fair price. This is a bloody good phone and I have zero regrets. Well done me.
EDIT 6-07-11
After a lot of use I thought it might be helpful to add an extra bit. Definitely still five star. Device comes bundled with an excellent exchange client that (superior to the htc) can search the exchange directory for contacts and in landscape mode has an outlook like split screen; email list on left, selected email content on right.
It also has the excellent swype keyboard bundled which is amazingly easy to learn and even more amazingly easy to get good at quickly. You will never want to go back to a normal touch keyboard again. Enjoy.
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Sustainability features
This product has sustainability features recognised by trusted certifications.Products are inspected, cleaned and (if applicable) repaired to excellent functional standards. Buying pre-owned instead of new can extend a product's life, reduce e-waste and raw material extraction.As certified by
Pre-Owned Certified: Electronics
Pre-owned Certified products are inspected, cleaned and (if applicable) repaired to excellent functional standards. By purchasing pre-owned rather than new, customers can extend the life of the product, reduce electronic waste, and reduce the extraction of raw materials. These products are backed by the Amazon Renewed Guarantee. Pre-owned Certified is part of the Climate Pledge Friendly programme that helps you discover and shop for more-sustainable products.Sustainability features
This product has sustainability features recognised by trusted certifications.Products are inspected, cleaned and (if applicable) repaired to excellent functional standards. Buying pre-owned instead of new can extend a product's life, reduce e-waste and raw material extraction.As certified byPre-Owned Certified: Electronics
Pre-owned Certified products are inspected, cleaned and (if applicable) repaired to excellent functional standards. By purchasing pre-owned rather than new, customers can extend the life of the product, reduce electronic waste, and reduce the extraction of raw materials. These products are backed by the Amazon Renewed Guarantee. Pre-owned Certified is part of the Climate Pledge Friendly programme that helps you discover and shop for more-sustainable products.Sustainability features
This product has sustainability features recognised by trusted certifications.Products are inspected, cleaned and (if applicable) repaired to excellent functional standards. Buying pre-owned instead of new can extend a product's life, reduce e-waste and raw material extraction.As certified byPre-Owned Certified: Electronics
Pre-owned Certified products are inspected, cleaned and (if applicable) repaired to excellent functional standards. By purchasing pre-owned rather than new, customers can extend the life of the product, reduce electronic waste, and reduce the extraction of raw materials. These products are backed by the Amazon Renewed Guarantee. Pre-owned Certified is part of the Climate Pledge Friendly programme that helps you discover and shop for more-sustainable products.Sustainability features
This product has sustainability features recognised by trusted certifications.Products are inspected, cleaned and (if applicable) repaired to excellent functional standards. Buying pre-owned instead of new can extend a product's life, reduce e-waste and raw material extraction.As certified byPre-Owned Certified: Electronics
Pre-owned Certified products are inspected, cleaned and (if applicable) repaired to excellent functional standards. By purchasing pre-owned rather than new, customers can extend the life of the product, reduce electronic waste, and reduce the extraction of raw materials. These products are backed by the Amazon Renewed Guarantee. Pre-owned Certified is part of the Climate Pledge Friendly programme that helps you discover and shop for more-sustainable products.
Compare with similar items
This item  Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II 16 GB Sim Free Smartphone | Recommendations  |  |  | |
| Price | £475.98 | £139.99 | £169.00 | £149.00 |
| Delivery | Get it 4 – 5 Mar | Get it 23 – 25 Jan | — | Get it 25 – 27 Jan |
| Customer Ratings | ||||
| Sold by | Pri.Trading | Ashton Portal Ltd | Phones58 | Phones4All |
| display size | 4.3 inches | 5.1 inches | 5.1 inches | 5.1 inches |
| memory capacity | 16 GB | 32 GB | 32 GB | 32 GB |
| model name | — | Galaxy S6 | Galaxy S7 | Galaxy S7 |
| operating system | Android | Android | android | Android |
| connectivity tech | USB, Wi-Fi | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi | Bluetooth | USB, Wi-Fi |
| display type | AMOLED | AMOLED | AMOLED | AMOLED |
| service provider | — | AT&T | T Mobile | T Mobile |
| headphones jack | — | 3.5 mm | — | 3.5 mm |
| average talk time | — | — | 22 hours | 22 hours |
| input interface | touch screen | buttons | — | touch screen, microphone |
| water resistance | water resistant | waterproof | water resistant | waterproof |
Brilliant Phone
This is an awesome phone. I have been using this for over a month now and I can't find any faults with it. The touch screen is awesome, really fast (I think the only real competitor to the iPhone when it comes to touch sensitivity). Camera is rocking (8 Mega Pixel back, 2MP in front makes video calling a joy). Audio is also very good. HD Video recording is amazing. 16Gb internal memory assures that you dont have to worry about space while installing apps. 4.3 inch super amoled screen is just brilliant.Basically, it's the best phone in the market at the moment. I am so happy I didn't go for the iPhone.
Top reviews from other countries
- HenryReviewed in the United States on 11 November 2011
Excellent service by eXpansys Inc and astonishing device
I am a first time amazon shopper, better said; internet shopper. I was a bit afraid at first but in the end I bought the cellphone from eXpansys Inc.. They were extremely courteous in responding all of my trivial questions about the delivery. The cellphone arrived in perfect conditions but unfortunately they gave me a UK charger but they included a US transformer adapter in the box. Overall, I am still very exultant about this phone because I always yearned for it. I am very perspicacious when it comes to technology, specially cellphones and computers. Oh! Also, I'm not sure if it was FedEx or eXpansys Inc. itself who did this but they were altruistic enough to include about 10 chocolate Hershey's bars in the box protecting the Galaxy S2's box, which was quite awesome.Excellent service by eXpansys Inc and astonishing deviceHenry
Reviewed in the United States on 11 November 2011
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Samsung made a really ingenious device which is the Galaxy S2. Although I am not completely satisfied with the build quality, I am aware this had to be done to make the phone so slim though. The phone is made almost entirely out of plastic and it is so light in weight, which is somewhat good and bad in my opinion. When I first got the FedEx delivery, I honestly thought the box was empty because it was so airy! When I unboxed the device and held it for the first time the phone was EXTREMELY light, so much that I feel like I'm holding a child's toy, this quite vexed me.
The phone is a screamer when it comes to speed. With the dual core exynos chipset Samsung packed into this state of the art device, I have not had any lag whatsoever! The browsing speed is splendid and also I love that it has Flash Player.. you know... to watch some stuff on the internet..... . Also, the phone re-heats a quite bit when I play 3D-ish games, but nothing too much.
The battery isn't so satisfying for me. It only lasted one day with about 1 hour of internet browsing and about 40 minutes of gaming and about 1 or 2 hours of just fooling around (downloading apps, listening to music, etc), which I guess is not TOO bad but still something I thought I should mention. Nevertheless, for less insatiable customers like me, the phone is most likely to last you for 2 days (if you have WiFi off and other battery sucking stuff).
The screen of this phone is AMAZING. It is truly amazing. The colors are flamboyant and lively anddd the black... ITS BLACK OK? ITS BLACK. Sometimes I cannot differentiate from the phone's black color from the screen.
For me, having a camera with me at all times is definitely a compulsion for me. The superlative 8MP camera with flash is one of the best I have seen on a cellphone yet. Although it's really good, it probably will not replace your Kodak, etc. Still is a true pleasure to have. The phone also packs a 2MP front facing camera which I must not so fecund. The pictures come out blanched most of the time but still good enough for video calls and self portraits.
Lastly, I think Samsung did a great job on the TouchWhiz 4.0 UI on top of Android. I love the capable and momentous UI better than any other UI I have ever tested (such as HTC Sense). TouchWhiz 4.0 provides a very intuitive and relishing experience. I love the ability it has to re-size widgets and ample amount of features Samsung has generously put into TouchWhiz 4.0.
Overall, a BEAST phone. I absolutely love it except perhaps for the battery and built-quality. Moreover, you should not let that keep you from buying this phone unless you're just looking for luxury to show off to your friends. I am sure the fast performance will be enough to leave your friends talking about your phone for weeks.
I am very satisfied with this cellphone.
I also strongly recommend you buying it from eXpansys Inc., they were really nice and such. Although I do not take any blame or responsibility for anything.
Images in this review
- int19hReviewed in the United States on 20 May 2011
Best screen on any phone period, very fast hardware - probably best Android phone to date
- StanReviewed in the United States on 22 October 2011
Awesome. Stunning. Though not the IPhone Killer.
