Samsung Galaxy S2 - August! ...finally

[evident]

wewt 200 bucks on the 16th I'm there!

and the bigger screen is GRAVY!

just hope it is indeed the Exynos!

bye bye Evos!

correct me if i'm wrong, but it's gonna be the same resolution on all three carriers though right? if thats' the case i'd rather have the smaller ATT version.

 

[you2]

Press release on engadget indicates it is 1.2ghz exynos; i believe it is the same resolution as the 4.3 version. Didn't see how much memory it has... it is about the same size of the photon but 20% lighter and thinner.

Oh yea it has a massive battery 1800 - well maybe not massive but I believe bigger than the european version by a tiny bit. Hum.

correct me if i'm wrong, but it's gonna be the same resolution on all three carriers though right? if thats' the case i'd rather have the smaller ATT version.

 

[ponyo]

wewt 200 bucks on the 16th I'm there!

and the bigger screen is GRAVY!

just hope it is indeed the Exynos!

bye bye Evos!

Bigger screen is a disappointment. AT&T got the best US version with the least molested phone.

 

[Dulanic]

nm already mentioned

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

so is the AT&T version the same as the global version essentially?

 

[s44]

so is the AT&T version the same as the global version essentially?

Looks like it. As much as I'd like to see a return to Wolfson DACs, I hope it's just a slightly reshaped version with the same internals. Transferrable firmware FTW.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Looks like it. As much as I'd like to see a return to Wolfson DACs, I hope it's just a slightly reshaped version with the same internals. Transferrable firmware FTW.

Amen.

 

[shabby]

Looks like it. As much as I'd like to see a return to Wolfson DACs, I hope it's just a slightly reshaped version with the same internals. Transferrable firmware FTW.

The kernel might need some work due to the extra search button on the att version, but the firmware/modem should work on both phones.

 

[ghost recon88]

Hmm, $200 with a contract, so Walmart should have it for $150. Hopefully sometime between now and the 16th, more info will leak about the Nexus Prime so I can definitely say whether it is or isn't coming to Sprint.

 

[s44]

Thanks to Engadget's Tim Stevens, we should be getting a detailed hardware/driver analysis of the AT&T/Sprint versions from supercurio soon.

Also, AT speculation on why the T-Mo probably uses Qualcomm. Interesting about the new simultaneous dual-channel use of the AWS bands.

 

[obidamnkenobi]

So since even the AT&T versions has special US-only changes, will they get updates separately from the rest of the world, i.e. later? That was the case with the galaxy s 1 right? That might convince me to just go with an unlocked international version. I would really like to have some indication of the update potential for this phone, especially since it's "old" and ICS is on the horizon..

 

[McWatt]

The screen size increase had me convinced I'd pass on the G2S and wait for a few more months for my upgrade, maybe ending up on iOS or WP7, but then I saw that they actually added a notification light to the Sprint version. That little LED is the turning point for me - I think I'll pick this up on the 16th.

 

[zinfamous]

So since even the AT&T versions has special US-only changes, will they get updates separately from the rest of the world, i.e. later? That was the case with the galaxy s 1 right? That might convince me to just go with an unlocked international version. I would really like to have some indication of the update potential for this phone, especially since it's "old" and ICS is on the horizon..

I'm curious about this as well. My cell tech knowledge is next to nothing, and I'm currently considering getting an unlocked international version (~$600 at Amazon, though I might be able to swing a great deal on it).

anyway, is this the "least gimped version" and if I go with it, will I face limitations with activating it through a US provider? I hope to activate it through T-Mobile (current customer; recent contract has expired).

dang. couple of Amazon reviews suggest that it will not run on T-Mobile (well, no 3 or 4G, anyway...which is the same as "will not work.").

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

So since even the AT&T versions has special US-only changes, will they get updates separately from the rest of the world, i.e. later? That was the case with the galaxy s 1 right? That might convince me to just go with an unlocked international version. I would really like to have some indication of the update potential for this phone, especially since it's "old" and ICS is on the horizon..

possibly....if the only change was the radio bands, then you could get away with updates for both sides.

Look at the Nexus S. The T-Mobile one and the i9020a which was for Canada and now AT&T work perfectly fine and can even share radio updates. The AT&T SGS2 has some hardware changes, so I'm a little worried.

And WTF is with the 4 row buttons changing every fvcking phone? I can't believe my Nexus S is still different from this.

But I guess it's good the Captivate and SGS2 have the same button layout?

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I'm curious about this as well. My cell tech knowledge is next to nothing, and I'm currently considering getting an unlocked international version (~$600 at Amazon, though I might be able to swing a great deal on it).

anyway, is this the "least gimped version" and if I go with it, will I face limitations with activating it through a US provider? I hope to activate it through T-Mobile (current customer; recent contract has expired).

dang. couple of Amazon reviews suggest that it will not run on T-Mobile (well, no 3 or 4G, anyway...which is the same as "will not work.").

You dont need to activate any phone that uses SIM cards. Pop in your sim card that you have now and it will work. The "activating" is turning on new sim cards if you are a new customer.

Edit: The international version works with ATT perfectly. With Tmobile you are maxed out with EDGE. This is due to Tmobile using a different radio freq.

 

[zinfamous]

You dont need to activate any phone that uses SIM cards. Pop in your sim card that you have now and it will work. The "activating" is turning on new sim cards if you are a new customer.

Edit: The international version works with ATT perfectly. With Tmobile you are maxed out with EDGE. This is due to Tmobile using a different radio freq.

Oh right. that was the type of thing that I used to know--the only thing I knew about various cell tech. Now they have all of these additional radio frequencies and networks that, having ignored the industry for about 4 years now, completely confound me.

Work offers various discounts for providers, so I'll have to look into the best bang for buck on top of which version of this to get--if I still decide on this phone.

Thanks!

Metro PCS has cheap plans, but I have no idea what their service is like outside of my area--also trying to find details on their radio frequencies, with little luck.

 

[s44]

Oh right. that was the type of thing that I used to know--the only thing I knew about various cell tech. Now they have all of these additional radio frequencies and networks that, having ignored the industry for about 4 years now, completely confound me.

Work offers various discounts for providers, so I'll have to look into the best bang for buck on top of which version of this to get--if I still decide on this phone.

Thanks!

Metro PCS has cheap plans, but I have no idea what their service is like outside of my area--also trying to find details on their radio frequencies, with little luck.

Metro uses a bizarre bundle of tech: LTE for their fast data and both iDEN and CDMA 1x (depending on the region) for voice/slow data. They have their own set of phones that handle this insane mashup, but don't expect to port over your own phone from a different carrier.

 

[poofyhairguy]

AT&T version has confirmed NFC. This is gonna be a good month.

 

[evident]

AT&T version has confirmed NFC. This is gonna be a good month.

source?

 

[sciwizam]

source?

Brian tweeted something about that and Engadget also had a post.

 

[lothar]

NFC or LED notification...Which is more important? :hmm:

 

[lothar]

Oh right. that was the type of thing that I used to know--the only thing I knew about various cell tech. Now they have all of these additional radio frequencies and networks that, having ignored the industry for about 4 years now, completely confound me.

Work offers various discounts for providers, so I'll have to look into the best bang for buck on top of which version of this to get--if I still decide on this phone.

Thanks!

Metro PCS has cheap plans, but I have no idea what their service is like outside of my area--also trying to find details on their radio frequencies, with little luck.

Don't waste your time with MetroPCS, Cricket, Cincinati Bell, and other minor carriers.
Either stick to the 4 major carriers or go pre-paid(Page Plus, VM, Straight Talk, Simple Mobile, etc...)

 

[ImDonly1]

Don't waste your time with MetroPCS, Cricket, Cincinati Bell, and other minor carriers.
Either stick to the 4 major carriers or go pre-paid(Page Plus, VM, Straight Talk, Simple Mobile, etc...)

Explain. What is wrong with cricket if you live in a big city and never travel out? Their $45/mo plan or so seems like a good deal if you can bring a nice phone on it.

 

[lothar]

Explain. What is wrong with cricket if you live in a big city and never travel out?

Their $45/mo plan or so seems like a good deal if you can bring a nice phone on it.

Less coverage, slower data speeds.
A prepaid plan that leeches service off the major carriers is better than Cricket or MetroPCS any day of the week.

You cannot. That is the problem.
There are many prepaid plans that offer the same $45/month plans and leech off carriers to provide faster data speeds and better voice coverage.

 

[zinfamous]

Less coverage, slower data speeds.
A prepaid plan that leeches service off the major carriers is better than Cricket or MetroPCS any day of the week.

You cannot. That is the problem.
There are many prepaid plans that offer the same $45/month plans and leech off carriers to provide faster data speeds and better voice coverage.

yeah, what I'm noticing is that these providers seem to have wacky spectrum and networks that don't exist with the major providers and so bringing in your own phone looks like it won't work in 98% of cases.

Even T-Mobile, which I recently learned, here, uses 1700 for 3G? has very limited choices in terms of unlocked/generic phones. I suppose this is why their branded versions of popular phones are essentially locked into T-Mobile (or rather, the other way around).

The only unlocked non-branded phone that I have found that appears to compare very well to the GSII is the HTC Sensation Z710E (Sensation 4G for T-Mobile?), and it comes with 1700, so should work for T-Mobile's 3G.

People seem to like it quite a bit...I guess the main difference is the HTC vs Samsung Android-based touchwiz deals, or whatever they are. that, and the better screen on the Samsung and access to their LTE?