Samsung Galaxy S II vs Apple IPhone 4S

You’ve probably seen a few of this type of review floating about, and may be a bit concerned about bias, so I’m going to attempt to do a simple review, detailing the specs and features of each phone.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S II

APPLE IPHONE 4S

SIZE - 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm WEIGHT - 116 g DISPLAY - Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touch screen, 16M colours                   480 x 800 pixels, 4.3 inches (~217 ppi pixel density)                  - Gorilla Glass display                  - TouchWiz UI v4.0                  - Multi-touch input method                  - Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate                  - Touch-sensitive controls                  - Proximity sensor for auto turn-off                  - Gyroscope sensor MEMORY - 16GB/32GB storage, 1 GB RAM                     microSD, up to 32GB, 8 GB included CAMERA - 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash                    Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection,  image stabilization                    1080p video recording, 2mp front camera OS - Android OS, v2.3 (Gingerbread)         Dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, Mali-400MP GPU, Exynos chipset FEATURES - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic                      - 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) BATTERY - Standard battery, Li-Ion 1650 mAh TALK - Up to 18 h 20 min (2G) / Up to 8 h 40 min (3G) STANDBY - Up to 710 h (2G) / Up to 610 h (3G)

SIZE - 115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm WEIGHT - 140 g DISPLAY - LED-backlit IPS TFT, capacitive touch screen, 16M colours                    640 x 960 pixels, 3.5 inches (~330 ppi pixel density)                  - Scratch-resistant oleophobic surface                  - Multi-touch input method                  - Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate                  - Three-axis gyro sensor                  - Proximity sensor for auto turn-off MEMORY - 16/32/64 GB storage, 512 MB RAM CAMERA - 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash                    Touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection                    1080p video recording, VGA front camera OS - iOS 5         1 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU, Apple A5 chipset FEATURES - MicroSIM card support only                     - Scratch-resistant glass back panel                     - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic                     - Siri natural language commands and dictation                     - iCloud cloud service                     - Twitter integration                     - Digital compass                     - Google Maps                     - Audio/video player and editor                     - Image editor                     - Voice command/dial                     - TV-out BATTERY - Standard battery, Li-Po 1432 mAh TALK - Up to 14 h (2G) / Up to 8 h (3G) STANDBY - Up to 200 h (2G) / Up to 200 h (3G)

 So, with so many similarities, how are you to decide which handset is the one for you?

 There are those who will remain loyal to Apple, to Samsung, or to the Android platform; those whose opinions will never be changed. However, for those of you who are unsure…

Considering the GS2 was launched over 6 months ago, it does a very good job of running with the IPhone in terms of features and power. Its 1.2GHz processor packs a bigger punch than the 1GHz of the IPhone 4S, and its 1GB ram is superior to Apple’s 512MB.

 The industry preferred Super AMOLED screen quality of the GS2 is sharp, with vivid colours, and the Retina display of the IPhone provides a similarly excellent quality view. With both handsets featuring an 8mp camera, you’re guaranteed excellent picture quality no matter which you choose. However, the front-facing cameras differ, with the IPhone offering a VGA and the S2 packing a 2MP, useful for video calling and various mirror apps.

 Speaking of apps, IOS limits the user to downloading only Apple apps, while the Android market on the S2 is packed with thousands of apps from various developers. However, this can have its downfalls too, as Android apps are not often as rigorously tested as those for Apple devices, but with such an offering, it can be a minor annoyance, as there are often multiple apps which can perform the same function.

 In terms of size, I think this is often a personal choice. Yes, the GS2 is thinner and lighter than the IPhone, but this in no way influences the power and performance of the handsets. There will be those who prefer a larger handset, and those who prefer something a little lighter – these personal preferences will never change.

 On paper, the Samsung Galaxy SII is a superior handset, with greater RAM a faster processor, removable memory, higher quality front facing camera and a longer battery life, but I’ll let you make up your own mind!

 And now, for the vastly opinionated paragraph (just my views people!)!

 Personally, I am an Android lover – always have been. I’ve never owned an Apple device and probably never will, just because I’m not a fan of the OS and don’t particularly like ITunes or the App store (I have used these devices, just never personally owned one). In my opinion, the GS2 is a superior handset, and, as others have said before me, it seems like the IPhone is trying to play catch up in an industry upon which it has lost its grasp. Consumers often resent having to fork out hundreds of pounds for some minor changes to a handset, and want to see a substantial improvement for such a large amount of money. I personally think that Apple are starting to falter, and with such a massive Android dominated industry, with handsets such as the feature-packed GS2, it’s going to be very difficult for them to get back in the game.

Pictures with the Samsung Galaxy S II

This week's mission was to take a series of photos with our Samsung handsets. I decided to take my photos with the Galaxy S II, and base them around the theme of  'a new house'. The photos were taken using the standard camera app, with the features and effects included, without downloading any further applications. Effects used include sepia, greyscale, negative and cartoon.

Mission 3 - A Day in the Life

Mission three involves creating a post or video based on the thing we use our phones for every day. I've created a short video which will go along with this post (see below).

I use my GS2 as an alarm clock every morning. Throughout the day, I also use the home screen as a clock, rather than wearing a watch. I tend to use the news app to keep up to date on current affairs, and will check this several times a day. I keep all my appointments and to-do lists in my calendar to keep me on track for the day. Like most smartphone users, I get my emails to my phone, saving the time and effort of searching for a computer when I'm out and about. I also use my Galaxy S 2 to check my Facebook and Twitter feeds troughout the day. While I'm on the bus, I use the music player on my phone to keep me entertained. Last, but by no means least, I use my phone everyday to make calls and send countless text messages - without it, I wouldn't be able to stay in touch with my friends or family.

Galaxy S II advert

Mission two on the Samsing Galaxy S II was to design an advert for the phone, focussing on what the handset means to me and how it has affected my life. I chose to do mine as an image, reflecting upon how, as a student, the Samsung Galaxy S II allows me to read and send emails, open files with the Dropbox application, view and edit documents in picasa, all while keeping me up to date with my social networks, and allowing me to relax by playing some excellent games.

Many thanks to Darren Tweed for the graphic design for this ad - I'm not very good with photoshop!

And here it is..!

Samsung Galaxy S II

After what seemed like ages since receiving my amazing Samsung Galaxy Tab, and thinking it was all over, I received an email into my inbox from Samsung.

“We wondered if you would complete two more missions for us...on the new Galaxy S II!

Yes, that’s right, if you’d like to take part we’ll upgrade your handsets to our latest smartphone, which is not even in-store yet.  So if you would like to get involved, please let us know by Wednesday 20th April, and send us the address you would like us to send your new Galaxy S II to.”

Well, how could anyone say no to such an amazing offer! And believe me, I am SO glad I accepted! As soon as I opened the box and hit the power button of my brand new, as yet unreleased Samsung Galaxy S II all I could say was WOW!!

The Super AMOLED screen is utterly amazing, and is the clearest I have ever seen on any handset (and that comes from someone who works in mobile telephone retail). The handset feels brilliant to hold, the screen is a really good size, and it’s so thin and amazingly light, which I definitely wasn’t expecting. The Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) operating system seems faultless on this handset, and the TouchWiz interface ensures that everything is easy to find and to use. The notifications bar at the top of the screen allows you to easily turn on WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS, as well as adjusting sound profiles quickly and easily without trawling through endless menus. Add all this to the dual core processor onboard and you have a phone that’s super quick, super light and super...well, super!

Since I received delivery of the Galaxy S II while I was visiting Oxford and London, I decided that I’d make use of the sunshine and test the 8mp camera. AMAZING! One particular photo stunned me so much I have to share it...

You’d never tell that this was taken on a mobile phone and not a digital SLR camera. I’ve shown this picture to everyone I’ve spoken to recently and all of them agree.

As well as all the main features, this phone also has some really nice little gimmicks. The tilt to zoom feature is really handy when viewing photos or web pages, and the panning feature allows you to customise your home page extremely easily. All the usual android apps are available, as well as a gaming and music hub from Samsung, allowing you to download games and songs directly to the handset with minimal fuss.

The design of this handset is one of the thinnest I have seen on the market at the minute and is so simple yet elegant and extremely stylish. Also, the battery life stands up to my constant use, lasting longer than previous handsets I’ve used or owned.

I’m definitely proud to be one of the first people to own this handset. The Samsung Galaxy S II is effortless to use, and from reading various other internet blogs it seems that anyone else who has tested this phone agrees. I knew it would be difficult to surpass the success of the Samsung Galaxy S, but the Galaxy S II will definitely be the handset to do it!