Samsung Galaxy S II
Encyclopedia
The Samsung Galaxy S II is a smartphone
running under the Android operating system that was announced by Samsung
on February 13, 2011 at the Mobile World Congress
. It is the successor to the Samsung Galaxy S, with a different appearance and significantly improved hardware. The Galaxy S II was one of the slimmest smartphones of the time, mostly 8.49 mm thin, except for two small bulges which take the total thickness of the phone to 9.91 mm.
The Galaxy S II has a 1.2 GHz dual-core "Exynos" system on a chip (SoC) processor, 1 GB of RAM, a 10.8 cm (4.3 in) WVGA Super AMOLED
Plus screen display and an 8 megapixel camera with flash and full 1080p
high definition video recording. It is one of the first devices to offer a Mobile High-definition Link
(MHL), which allows up to 1080p uncompressed video output with HDMI
while charging the device at the same time. USB On-The-Go
(USB OTG) is supported.
The user-replaceable battery on the Galaxy S II gives up to ten hours of heavy usage, or two days of lighter usage. Samsung claims that talk time is 9 hours on 3G and 18.3 hours on 2G.
On May 9, 2011, Samsung announced that they had received pre-orders for 3 million Galaxy S II units globally.
Most regions have received or are still scheduled to receive the Galaxy S II 'GT-I9100' model. Samsung have also announced the release of a Tegra 2 SoC powered 'GT-I9103' version in the name of the Samsung Galaxy R
(or 'Galaxy Z' in Sweden). The variant release of the Galaxy R 'GT-I9103' seems to corroborate the previous news of an Nvidia
Tegra 2 powered Galaxy S II smartphone. According to Eldar Murtazin, of Mobile-Review.com, this is believed to be because Samsung is not able to meet worldwide shipment demands of both its own Exynos chip and Super AMOLED Plus screens. He noted that nobody expected the "huge success" and "sky high" demand for the previous Samsung Galaxy S.
The Following are the release dates for some countries. If the the country is not listed, it does not mean the device is not available in those countries.
The Exynos branded SoC was the source of much speculation concerning another branded successor to the previous "Hummingbird" single-core SoC of the Samsung Galaxy S. The Exynos 4210 uses ARM
's Mali-400 MP GPU
. This graphics GPU, supplied by ARM, is a move away from the PowerVR
GPU of the Samsung Galaxy S.
The Exynos 4210 supports ARM's SIMD
engine (also known as Media Processing Engine, or 'NEON' instructions), and may give a significant performance advantage in critical performance situations such as accelerated decoding for many multimedia codecs and formats (e.g., On2's VP6
/7/8 or Real
formats).
At the 2011 Game Developers Conference
ARM's representatives demonstrated 60 Hz framerate playback in stereoscopic 3D running on the same Mali-400 MP and Exynos SoC. They said that an increased framerate of 70 Hz would be possible through the use of an HDMI 1.4 port.
The Motorola Atrix advertised in June 2011 that it was "the world's most powerful smartphone"; in August 2011 the UK Advertising Standards Authority
ruled that the Atrix was not as powerful as Galaxy SII due to its faster processor.
with an oleophobic fingerprint-resistant coating. The display is an upgrade of its predecessor, and the "Plus" signifies that the display panel has done away with Pentile matrix to regular RGB matrix display which results in a 50% increase in sub-pixels. This translates to grain reduction and sharper images and text. In addition, Samsung have claimed that Super AMOLED Plus displays are 18% more power efficient than the older Super AMOLED displays. Some phones have display issues, with a few users reporting a "yellow tint" on the left bottom edge of the display when a neutral grey background is displayed.
The resolution of the display is 800x480 pixels.
's WM8994 DAC. Some reviewers and online forum users of both phones have said that the Wolfson chip has better sound than the Yamaha.
camera with single-LED flash that can record videos in full high-definition 1080p
at 30 frames per second. There is also a fixed focus front-facing 2-megapixel camera for video calling, taking photos as well as general video recording, with a maximum resolution of VGA (640×480).
(NFC). This follows on from the Google Nexus S
which was the first de-facto NFC smartphone device. It has been reported that the UK version will be supplied without an NFC chip at the beginning of its production run, with an NFC-equipped version released later in 2011.
Samsung has also included a new high-definition connection technology called Mobile High-definition Link
(MHL). The main specialty of MHL is that it is optimized for mobile devices by allowing the device's battery to be charged while at the same time playing back multimedia content. For the Galaxy S II, the industry standard micro USB port found on the bottom of the device can be used with an MHL connector for a TV out connection to an external display, such as a high definition
television.
The micro USB port on this device also supports USB On-The-Go
(USB OTG) standard which means the Galaxy S II can act as a 'host' device in the same way as a desktop computer in allowing external USB devices to be plugged in and used. These external USB devices typically include USB flash drive
s and separately powered external hard drives. A video demonstration on YouTube
has shown the OTG function to be readily available with an ordinary micro USB (B-type) OTG adaptor. The same YouTube video goes on to mention a successful test completed on a 2 TB
USB external hard drive (requiring own power source) but however reports of failure when trying to connecting USB keyboards, tested USB mice and tested USB game pads
. Currently the only file-system
supported for USB drives within OTG is Fat32.
A 3.5 mm TRRS headset jack is available and is located on the top-side of the device. The micro USB connection port is located on the bottom-side of the device.
BCM4330 combo chip integrates 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 + HS and FM radio. BCM4330 supports Wi-Fi Direct
that communicate directly with one another without having to interact with an access point.
Samsung Galaxy S II US variants will ship with Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread) installed.
Latest available firmware from Samsung as of Oct 7 2011: Gingerbread 2.3.5 XXKI4
4.0 user interface. It follows the same principle as TouchWiz 3.0 found on the previous Galaxy but adds new improvements, such as hardware acceleration
. It also has a new optional gesture
based interaction called 'motion' which (among other things) allows users to zoom in and out by placing two fingers on the screen and tilting the device towards and away from you to zoom in and out respectively. This gesture function works on both the web browser and the images in gallery. used within this device. There have been improvements to the widgets drawer and layout in how many widgets can be added and how they are presented. Additionally there is another new optional gesture-based control called 'panning' on TouchWiz 4.0 for the movement of widgets and icons shortcuts between screens, by allowing the device to be held and moved from side to side to scroll through home screens. This gesture-based management of widgets is a new optional method next to the existing method of holding and swiping between home screens.
:
Social Hub: Which integrates popular social networking services like Facebook
and Twitter
into one place rather than in separate applications.
Readers Hub: This hub provides the ability to access, read and download online newspapers, ebooks and magazines from a worldwide selection.
Music Hub: An application store for downloading and purchasing music tracks on the device. Samsung has teamed up with 7digital
to offer this service.
Game Hub: An application store for downloading and purchasing games. Samsung has teamed up with partners including Gameloft
to offer this service.
Other applications: More applications include Kies 2.0
, Kies Air, AllShare (for DLNA), Voice Recognition, Google Voice Translation, Google Maps
with Latitude, Places, Navigation (beta) and Lost Phone Management, Adobe Flash
10.2, QuickOffice
application and 'QuickType' by SWYPE.
Before launch, it was announced that Samsung had taken steps to incorporate Enterprise software
for business users, which included On Device Encryption, Cisco
’s AnyConnect VPN, MDM (Mobile Device Management), Cisco WebEx, Juniper
, and secure remote device management from Sybase
.
Cisco
’s AnyConnect VPN for Samsung devices is now currently available on Android Market,.
, WAV
, Vorbis
, MP3
, AAC
, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA
, AMR-NB, AMR-WB
, MID
, AC3, XMF). For video formats and codecs it supports (MPEG-4
, H.264, H.263
, DivX HD/XviD
, VC-1
) and video formats (3GP
(MPEG-4
), WMV (ASF
) as well as AVI
(DivX
)). For H.264 playback, the device natively supports both 8-bit and 10-bit encodes.
Continued support for the MKV
format container was confirmed. Furthermore, there is also continued native playback support for the Sorenson codec
within FLV. Neither 'MKV', 'FLV' or 'Sorenson' are listed within any available specifications as was previous Galaxy S. Up to 1080p HD video playback is supported on this device.
project, with the only request from Samsung being to bring full support of CyanogenMod to the device.
After slightly over one month since its debut, more than 1 million units of Samsung Galaxy S II were activated in South Korea. Worldwide, 3 million units were sold in 55 days. After over 85 days of its first release, Samsung has declared global shipments of over 5 million for Galaxy S II and 10 million after 5 months. Partially owing to strong sales of Samsung's Galaxy range of smartphones, Samsung overtook Apple in smartphone sales during Q3 2011, with a total market share of 23.8%, compared to Apple's 14.6%.
and Galaxy S II HD LTE mobile phones are part of the Galaxy S II family. They run on the Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, have 16GB of internal memory, and feature a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor. The S II LTE has a 4.5-inch wide Super AMOLED
display. The S II HD LTE features a 4.65-inch high-definition AMOLED display, offering a screen of 720x1280 pixels – 720p HD resolution. Both of these variants have NFC enabled.
is one of the currently available variants of the Galaxy S II. It was announced for releases first in Europe starting from the end of July 2011 with subsequent releases for worldwide. The Galaxy R is slightly smaller in physical size along with some notable "downgraded" features. Its differing comparable features include a 10.2 cm (4 in) SC-LCD capacitive touchscreen display, a 5 megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording, 16GB internal storage and a microSD memory card slot. The overall physical size and back of the design of this device differ slightly to that of the original Galaxy S II. Like Galaxy S II, the Galaxy R will also support Kies Air (PC Suite via Wi-Fi).
Prior to the release of the Galaxy S II, there were speculative reports of an exact same smaller-sized, stripped down variant planned for release; in a similar example to the way the HTC HD Mini
was towards the HTC HD2
. The name previously rumored for this smaller Galaxy S II variant included the naming suffix of 'Mini' added the end of its name.
version of the device, previously codenamed "Within", is known as the Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch (Model SPH-D710). Unlike its predecessor, the Epic 4G, the Epic 4G Touch lacks a physical QWERTY
keyboard. At 4.52 inches, it has a larger display than the international version. Additionally, the Epic 4G Touch features four touch-capacitive buttons, as opposed to the hardware/capacitive button combination found on the international version. Other differences include an LED notification light, larger battery (6.66Wh
), and a WiMax
radio. The device was launched on September 16, 2011.
version was codenamed the Samsung "Hercules" and given the model number SGH-T989 (as opposed to other phones with the Galaxy S II name which are I9100 models). It has a 4.52 inch screen, and features four touch buttons. The cellular radio in this variant supports UMTS Band I (2100), Band II (1900), Band IV (1700), and Band V (850). It also contains NFC
. It uses a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm
APQ8060 (S3) Snapdragon processor, as opposed to the 1.2Ghz dual-core Exynos processor. The reason for this is that the Exynos processor is not compatible with T-Mobile's 42 Mbit/s HSPA+ network. As opposed to most of their other phones, T-mobile's version was released with no support for Wi-Fi calling for calls on their own network, but Wi-Fi calling through third party apps such as Skype is possible. T-mobile and Samsung plan an update for this at a yet-to-be-determined date. The S II was available for pre-order through T-Mobile's website on October 10, 2011 and became available in stores on October 12.
version was codenamed "Attain" (Model SGH-I777). However, it appeared on AT&T and Samsung websites simply as the Samsung Galaxy S II. It maintains a 4.3 inch screen, but also features four touch buttons. It also contains NFC
. It was released on October 2, 2011.
SC-02C, manufactured by Samsung Electronics and branded by the DoCoMo carrier, and is the successor to the DoCoMo SC-02B (Galaxy S) within the DoCoMo Smartphone range. Released on 23 June 2011, the Japanese model includes additional features such as 1seg
terrestrial television support, as well as i-mode
software functions specific to DoCoMo handsets, such as i-channel, BeeTV, MelodyCall and DoCoMo map navigation. The SC-02C uses the Wnn
Japanese input system
, and uses the Samsung Exynos 4210 Orion Dual-core 1.2GHz (S5PC210) processor.
tuner. They also have Samsung's Korean input system for feature phones as well as Dubeolsik layout in their virtual keyboard.
variant uses SK-MMS system instead of OMA-MMS system for MMS. Additional features for SK Telecom users are installed by default.
's Wi-Fi CM instead of Android's Wi-Fi CM to connect Wi-Fi. Additional features for KT users are installed by default.
will carry the Samsung Galaxy S II LTE, launching in Fall 2011, soon after its LTE Launch in Toronto
.
's Samsung Galaxy S II is identical to the international version except that its model number is I9100M.
' Galaxy S II is virtually identical to the T-Mobile variant. It has a Qualcomm 1.5 Ghz dual core processor, larger 4.5 inch screen and 1850 mAh battery, is thicker at 9.4mm and has a different design. There is a chrome band around the edge and the plastic on the back has a leathery feel. Instead of the hardware home button, it has the standard four capacitive buttons. The Qualcomm processor allows for 42Mbps HSPA+ download speeds that the Samsung Exynos processor is not currently capable of. It was released on October 28th 2011.
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
running under the Android operating system that was announced by Samsung
Samsung
The Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...
on February 13, 2011 at the Mobile World Congress
Mobile World Congress
The GSMA Mobile World Congress is the combination of the world's largest exhibition for the mobile industry and a conference featuring prominent Chief Executives representing mobile operators, device manufacturers, technology providers, vendors and content owners from across the world...
. It is the successor to the Samsung Galaxy S, with a different appearance and significantly improved hardware. The Galaxy S II was one of the slimmest smartphones of the time, mostly 8.49 mm thin, except for two small bulges which take the total thickness of the phone to 9.91 mm.
The Galaxy S II has a 1.2 GHz dual-core "Exynos" system on a chip (SoC) processor, 1 GB of RAM, a 10.8 cm (4.3 in) WVGA Super AMOLED
Super AMOLED
Super Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode or Super AMOLED is a display technology mainly for use in mobile devices such as mobile phones...
Plus screen display and an 8 megapixel camera with flash and full 1080p
1080p
1080p is the shorthand identification for a set of HDTV high-definition video modes that are characterized by 1080 horizontal lines of resolution and progressive scan, meaning the image is not interlaced as is the case with the 1080i display standard....
high definition video recording. It is one of the first devices to offer a Mobile High-definition Link
Mobile High-definition Link
Mobile High-Definition Link is a proposed industry standard for a mobile audio/video interface for directly connecting mobile phones and other portable consumer electronics devices to high-definition televisions and displays...
(MHL), which allows up to 1080p uncompressed video output with HDMI
HDMI
HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA...
while charging the device at the same time. USB On-The-Go
USB On-The-Go
USB On-The-Go, often abbreviated USB OTG, is a specification that allows USB devices such as digital audio players or mobile phones to act as a host allowing a USB Flash Drive, mouse, or keyboard to be attached.- Architecture :...
(USB OTG) is supported.
The user-replaceable battery on the Galaxy S II gives up to ten hours of heavy usage, or two days of lighter usage. Samsung claims that talk time is 9 hours on 3G and 18.3 hours on 2G.
Launch and Availability
The Galaxy S II was given worldwide release dates starting from May 2011, by more than 140 vendors in some 120 countries.On May 9, 2011, Samsung announced that they had received pre-orders for 3 million Galaxy S II units globally.
Most regions have received or are still scheduled to receive the Galaxy S II 'GT-I9100' model. Samsung have also announced the release of a Tegra 2 SoC powered 'GT-I9103' version in the name of the Samsung Galaxy R
Samsung Galaxy R
The Samsung Galaxy R I9103 is an Android smartphone that was announced by Samsung on August 10, 2011 as a variant to the Samsung Galaxy S II.- Processor :Nvidia's Tegra 2 System on a chip uses Nvidia's own GeForce ultra-low power for its GPU....
(or 'Galaxy Z' in Sweden). The variant release of the Galaxy R 'GT-I9103' seems to corroborate the previous news of an Nvidia
NVIDIA
Nvidia is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors . Nvidia and chief rival AMD Graphics Techonologies have dominated the high performance GPU market, pushing other manufacturers to smaller, niche roles...
Tegra 2 powered Galaxy S II smartphone. According to Eldar Murtazin, of Mobile-Review.com, this is believed to be because Samsung is not able to meet worldwide shipment demands of both its own Exynos chip and Super AMOLED Plus screens. He noted that nobody expected the "huge success" and "sky high" demand for the previous Samsung Galaxy S.
The Following are the release dates for some countries. If the the country is not listed, it does not mean the device is not available in those countries.
Asia/Pacific
| Country | Release date |
|---|---|
| Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
June 1, 2011 |
| Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour... |
June 14, 2011 |
| Israel Israel The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea... |
July 3, 2011 |
| India India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world... |
June 8, 2011 |
| Iran Iran Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia... |
June 1, 2011 |
| Iraq Iraq Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.... |
July 18, 2011 |
| Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
June 23, 2011 |
| Lebanon Lebanon Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among... |
June 21, 2011 |
| Malaysia | June 22, 2011 |
| Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan... |
July 23, 2011 |
| Philippines Philippines The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam... |
June 27, 2011 |
| Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the... |
June 24, 2011 |
| South Korea South Korea The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south... |
April 29, 2011 |
| Taiwan Taiwan Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following... |
June 17, 2011 |
| Turkey Turkey Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe... |
June 9, 2011 |
| UAE | June 22, 2011 |
North America
| Country | Carrier | Release date | Variant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
Bell Mobility Bell Mobility Bell Mobility is a CDMA and HSPA+ based wireless network and the division of Bell Canada which sells wireless services in Canada... , Virgin Mobile Canada Virgin Mobile Canada Virgin Mobile Canada is a cellular telephone company that was launched on March 1, 2005 as a joint venture between Virgin Group and Bell Canada. Since May 7, 2009, it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Bell Mobility. - Pre-launch :... |
July, 2011 | Samsung Galaxy S II 4G |
| Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
Telus Telus Mobility Telus Mobility is a division of Telus Communications which sells wireless services in Canada on its numerous networks. They currently have three different networks based on three different technologies: CDMA and HSPA+ on its mainstream networks, plus iDEN via its Mike division... |
October, 2011 | Samsung Galaxy S II X |
| Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
Rogers Wireless Rogers Wireless Rogers Wireless is a wireless telecommunications provider offering mobile phone and data services throughout Canada using Global System for Mobile Communications and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System technology. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications... |
November, 2011 | Samsung Galaxy S II LTE (i727R) |
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
August, 2011 | ||
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Sprint Sprint Nextel Sprint Nextel Corporation is an American telecommunications company based in Overland Park, Kansas. The company owns and operates Sprint, the third largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, with 53.4 million customers, behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility... |
September 16, 2011 | Samsung 'EPIC 4G Touch' |
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
AT&T AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services... |
November 6, 2011 | Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket i727 |
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
T-Mobile T-Mobile T-Mobile International AG is a German-based holding company for Deutsche Telekom AG's various mobile communications subsidiaries outside Germany. Based in Bonn, Germany, its subsidiaries operate GSM and UMTS-based cellular networks in Europe, the United States, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands... |
October 12, 2011 | Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile |
South America
| Country | Release date |
|---|---|
| Chile Chile Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far... |
May 25, 2011 |
| Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... |
June 28, 2011 |
| Argentina Argentina Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires... |
August 22, 2011 |
Africa
| Country | Release date |
|---|---|
| South Africa South Africa The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans... |
June, 2011 |
| Uganda Uganda Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by... |
September, 2011 |
Europe
| Country | Release date |
|---|---|
| Austria Austria Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the... |
May 5, 2011 |
| Denmark Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... |
May 19, 2011 |
| Belgium Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... |
June 1, 2011 |
| Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside... |
May 25, 2011 |
| France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
June 23, 2011 |
| Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
May 16, 2011 |
| Ireland Ireland Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth... |
June 1, 2011 |
| Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... |
May 25, 2011 |
| Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... |
May 11, 2011 |
| Norway Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million... |
May 26, 2011 |
| Portugal Portugal Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the... |
June 8, 2011 |
| Romania Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea... |
May 26, 2011 |
| Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... |
May 18, 2011 |
| Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... |
May 15, 2011 |
| Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... |
May 12, 2011 |
| UK | May 1, 2011 |
Hardware
Processor
The Galaxy S II has a 1.2 GHz dual core ARM Cortex-A9 processor that uses Samsung's own 'Exynos 4210' System on a chip (SoC) that was previously code-named "Orion".The Exynos branded SoC was the source of much speculation concerning another branded successor to the previous "Hummingbird" single-core SoC of the Samsung Galaxy S. The Exynos 4210 uses ARM
ARM Holdings
ARM Holdings plc is a British multinational semiconductor and software company headquartered in Cambridge. Its largest business is in processors, although it also designs, licenses and sells software development tools under the RealView and KEIL brands, systems and platforms, system-on-a-chip...
's Mali-400 MP GPU
Graphics processing unit
A graphics processing unit or GPU is a specialized circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory in such a way so as to accelerate the building of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display...
. This graphics GPU, supplied by ARM, is a move away from the PowerVR
PowerVR
PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and Direct X, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL acceleration....
GPU of the Samsung Galaxy S.
The Exynos 4210 supports ARM's SIMD
SIMD
Single instruction, multiple data , is a class of parallel computers in Flynn's taxonomy. It describes computers with multiple processing elements that perform the same operation on multiple data simultaneously...
engine (also known as Media Processing Engine, or 'NEON' instructions), and may give a significant performance advantage in critical performance situations such as accelerated decoding for many multimedia codecs and formats (e.g., On2's VP6
VP6
On2 TrueMotion VP6 is a proprietary lossy video compression format and video codec. It is an incarnation of the TrueMotion video codec, a series of video codecs developed by On2 Technologies. This codec is commonly used by Adobe Flash, Flash Video, and JavaFX media files.- Overview :The VP6 codec...
/7/8 or Real
RealVideo
RealVideo is a suite of proprietary video compression formats developed by RealNetworks – the specific format changes with the version. It was first released in 1997 and is at version 10. RealVideo is supported on many platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, and several mobile...
formats).
At the 2011 Game Developers Conference
Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference is the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers, focusing on learning, inspiration, and networking...
ARM's representatives demonstrated 60 Hz framerate playback in stereoscopic 3D running on the same Mali-400 MP and Exynos SoC. They said that an increased framerate of 70 Hz would be possible through the use of an HDMI 1.4 port.
The Motorola Atrix advertised in June 2011 that it was "the world's most powerful smartphone"; in August 2011 the UK Advertising Standards Authority
Advertising Standards Authority
Advertising Standards Authority may refer to:*Advertising Standards Bureau *Advertising Standards Authority *Advertising Standards Authority *Advertising Standards Authority...
ruled that the Atrix was not as powerful as Galaxy SII due to its faster processor.
Memory
The Galaxy S II has 1 GB of dedicated RAM (in either LPDDR or possibly DDR2/DDR3 by Samsung) and 16 GB of internal mass storage. Within the battery compartment there is an external microSD card slot.Display
The Samsung Galaxy S II uses a 108.5 millimetres (4.3 in) WVGA Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touchscreen that is covered by Gorilla GlassGorilla Glass
Gorilla Glass, manufactured by Corning, is an alkali-aluminosilicate thin sheet glass engineered specifically to be thin, light and damage-resistant. Its primary application is portable electronic devices with screens, such as mobile phones, portable media players, and laptop displays...
with an oleophobic fingerprint-resistant coating. The display is an upgrade of its predecessor, and the "Plus" signifies that the display panel has done away with Pentile matrix to regular RGB matrix display which results in a 50% increase in sub-pixels. This translates to grain reduction and sharper images and text. In addition, Samsung have claimed that Super AMOLED Plus displays are 18% more power efficient than the older Super AMOLED displays. Some phones have display issues, with a few users reporting a "yellow tint" on the left bottom edge of the display when a neutral grey background is displayed.
The resolution of the display is 800x480 pixels.
Audio
The Galaxy S II uses Yamaha audio hardware. The Galaxy S II's predecessor, the original Galaxy S, used WolfsonWolfson Microelectronics
Wolfson Microelectronics plc is a multinational microelectronics and fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. It specialises in signal processing chips for the consumer electronics market and has engineering and sales offices throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe and the...
's WM8994 DAC. Some reviewers and online forum users of both phones have said that the Wolfson chip has better sound than the Yamaha.
Camera
On the back of the device is an 8-megapixel Back-illuminated sensorBack-illuminated sensor
A back-illuminated sensor, also known as backside illumination sensor, is a type of digital image sensor that uses a novel arrangement of the imaging elements to increase the amount of light captured and thereby improve low-light performance...
camera with single-LED flash that can record videos in full high-definition 1080p
1080p
1080p is the shorthand identification for a set of HDTV high-definition video modes that are characterized by 1080 horizontal lines of resolution and progressive scan, meaning the image is not interlaced as is the case with the 1080i display standard....
at 30 frames per second. There is also a fixed focus front-facing 2-megapixel camera for video calling, taking photos as well as general video recording, with a maximum resolution of VGA (640×480).
Connectivity
The Galaxy S II is one of the earliest Android devices to natively support near field communicationNear Field Communication
Near field communication, or NFC, allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices in proximity to each other, usually by no more than a few centimeters. It is expected to become a widely used system for making payments by smartphone in the United States...
(NFC). This follows on from the Google Nexus S
Nexus S
The Nexus S is a smartphone co-developed by Google and Samsung and manufactured by Samsung Electronics. It was the first smartphone to use the Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" operating system, and the first Android device to support Near Field Communication in both hardware and software...
which was the first de-facto NFC smartphone device. It has been reported that the UK version will be supplied without an NFC chip at the beginning of its production run, with an NFC-equipped version released later in 2011.
Samsung has also included a new high-definition connection technology called Mobile High-definition Link
Mobile High-definition Link
Mobile High-Definition Link is a proposed industry standard for a mobile audio/video interface for directly connecting mobile phones and other portable consumer electronics devices to high-definition televisions and displays...
(MHL). The main specialty of MHL is that it is optimized for mobile devices by allowing the device's battery to be charged while at the same time playing back multimedia content. For the Galaxy S II, the industry standard micro USB port found on the bottom of the device can be used with an MHL connector for a TV out connection to an external display, such as a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
television.
The micro USB port on this device also supports USB On-The-Go
USB On-The-Go
USB On-The-Go, often abbreviated USB OTG, is a specification that allows USB devices such as digital audio players or mobile phones to act as a host allowing a USB Flash Drive, mouse, or keyboard to be attached.- Architecture :...
(USB OTG) standard which means the Galaxy S II can act as a 'host' device in the same way as a desktop computer in allowing external USB devices to be plugged in and used. These external USB devices typically include USB flash drive
USB flash drive
A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...
s and separately powered external hard drives. A video demonstration on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
has shown the OTG function to be readily available with an ordinary micro USB (B-type) OTG adaptor. The same YouTube video goes on to mention a successful test completed on a 2 TB
Terabyte
The terabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. The prefix tera means 1012 in the International System of Units , and therefore 1 terabyte is , or 1 trillion bytes, or 1000 gigabytes. 1 terabyte in binary prefixes is 0.9095 tebibytes, or 931.32 gibibytes...
USB external hard drive (requiring own power source) but however reports of failure when trying to connecting USB keyboards, tested USB mice and tested USB game pads
Game controller
A game controller is a device used with games or entertainment systems used to control a playable character or object, or otherwise provide input in a computer game. A controller is typically connected to a game console or computer by means of a wire, cord or nowadays, by means of wireless connection...
. Currently the only file-system
File system
A file system is a means to organize data expected to be retained after a program terminates by providing procedures to store, retrieve and update data, as well as manage the available space on the device which contain it. A file system organizes data in an efficient manner and is tuned to the...
supported for USB drives within OTG is Fat32.
A 3.5 mm TRRS headset jack is available and is located on the top-side of the device. The micro USB connection port is located on the bottom-side of the device.
BCM4330 combo chip integrates 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 + HS and FM radio. BCM4330 supports Wi-Fi Direct
Wi-Fi Direct
Wi-Fi Direct is a standard that allows Wi-Fi devices to talk to each other without the need for wireless access points .-Basic Wi-Fi:...
that communicate directly with one another without having to interact with an access point.
Accessories (optional)
- Dock connectorDock ConnectorA dock connector is a connector used to attach a mobile electronic device simultaneously to multiple external resources. The dock connector will typically carry a variety of signals and power, through a single connector, to simplify the process of docking the mobile device...
for battery charging and audio-visualAudio-visualThe term Audio-Visual may refer to works with both a sound and a visual component, the production or use of such works, or to equipment used to create and present such works...
output - MHL cable which makes use of the device's micro USB port for HDMI output
- USB OTG adaptor for use with external USB devices such as USB flash driveUSB flash driveA flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...
s. - Stylus penStylus (computing)In computing, a stylus is a small pen-shaped instrument that is used to input commands to a computer screen, mobile device or graphics tablet...
for use on the device's capacitive screen.
Android 2.3
The Galaxy S II ships with Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) installed.Samsung Galaxy S II US variants will ship with Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread) installed.
Latest available firmware from Samsung as of Oct 7 2011: Gingerbread 2.3.5 XXKI4
User interface
The phone employs the latest proprietary Samsung TouchWizTouchWiz
TouchWiz is a touch interface developed by Samsung Electronics with partners, featuring a full touch user interface. It is sometimes incorrectly identified as an operating system. TouchWiz is used internally by Samsung for sophisticated feature phones, and is not available for licensing by external...
4.0 user interface. It follows the same principle as TouchWiz 3.0 found on the previous Galaxy but adds new improvements, such as hardware acceleration
Hardware acceleration
In computing, Hardware acceleration is the use of computer hardware to perform some function faster than is possible in software running on the general-purpose CPU...
. It also has a new optional gesture
Gesture recognition
Gesture recognition is a topic in computer science and language technology with the goal of interpreting human gestures via mathematical algorithms. Gestures can originate from any bodily motion or state but commonly originate from the face or hand. Current focuses in the field include emotion...
based interaction called 'motion' which (among other things) allows users to zoom in and out by placing two fingers on the screen and tilting the device towards and away from you to zoom in and out respectively. This gesture function works on both the web browser and the images in gallery. used within this device. There have been improvements to the widgets drawer and layout in how many widgets can be added and how they are presented. Additionally there is another new optional gesture-based control called 'panning' on TouchWiz 4.0 for the movement of widgets and icons shortcuts between screens, by allowing the device to be held and moved from side to side to scroll through home screens. This gesture-based management of widgets is a new optional method next to the existing method of holding and swiping between home screens.
Bundled applications
Four new Samsung 'Hub' applications were revealed at the 2011 Mobile World CongressMobile World Congress
The GSMA Mobile World Congress is the combination of the world's largest exhibition for the mobile industry and a conference featuring prominent Chief Executives representing mobile operators, device manufacturers, technology providers, vendors and content owners from across the world...
:
Social Hub: Which integrates popular social networking services like Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
into one place rather than in separate applications.
Readers Hub: This hub provides the ability to access, read and download online newspapers, ebooks and magazines from a worldwide selection.
Music Hub: An application store for downloading and purchasing music tracks on the device. Samsung has teamed up with 7digital
7digital
7digital is a privately held digital media delivery company based in the United Kingdom, offering downloadable music, video and movies to customers primarily within major European markets...
to offer this service.
Game Hub: An application store for downloading and purchasing games. Samsung has teamed up with partners including Gameloft
Gameloft
Gameloft SA is a major French computer and video game developer and publisher headquartered in Paris, France. The company also has subsidiaries in 31 countries around the world....
to offer this service.
Other applications: More applications include Kies 2.0
Samsung Kies
Samsung Kies is a software application used to communicate between the latest Samsung devices.The latest version is v2.0.3.11082_152, and was released on Sept. 26, 2011...
, Kies Air, AllShare (for DLNA), Voice Recognition, Google Voice Translation, Google Maps
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, free , that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API...
with Latitude, Places, Navigation (beta) and Lost Phone Management, Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
10.2, QuickOffice
QuickOffice
Quickoffice is a productivity suite for mobile devices which allows users to view, create and edit text files, presentations and spreadsheets. It consist of Quickword , Quicksheet and QuickPoint . The programs are compatible with Microsoft Office.Quickoffice is commonly used in smartphones and PDAs...
application and 'QuickType' by SWYPE.
Before launch, it was announced that Samsung had taken steps to incorporate Enterprise software
Enterprise software
Enterprise software, also known as enterprise application software , is software used in organizations, such as in a business or government, contrary to software chosen by individuals...
for business users, which included On Device Encryption, Cisco
Cisco
Cisco may refer to:Companies:*Cisco Systems, a computer networking company* Certis CISCO, corporatised entity of the former Commercial and Industrial Security Corporation in Singapore...
’s AnyConnect VPN, MDM (Mobile Device Management), Cisco WebEx, Juniper
Juniper Networks
Juniper Networks is an information technology and computer networking products multinational company, founded in 1996. It is head quartered in Sunnyvale, California, USA. The company designs and sells high-performance Internet Protocol network products and services...
, and secure remote device management from Sybase
Sybase
Sybase, an SAP company, is an enterprise software and services company offering software to manage, analyze, and mobilize information, using relational databases, analytics and data warehousing solutions and mobile applications development platforms....
.
Cisco
Cisco
Cisco may refer to:Companies:*Cisco Systems, a computer networking company* Certis CISCO, corporatised entity of the former Commercial and Industrial Security Corporation in Singapore...
’s AnyConnect VPN for Samsung devices is now currently available on Android Market,.
Media support
The Galaxy S II comes with support for many multimedia file formats and codecs. For audio it supports (FLACFLAC
FLAC is a codec which allows digital audio to be losslessly compressed such that file size is reduced without any information being lost...
, WAV
WAV
Waveform Audio File Format , is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs...
, Vorbis
Vorbis
Vorbis is a free software / open source project headed by the Xiph.Org Foundation . The project produces an audio format specification and software implementation for lossy audio compression...
, MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
, AAC
AAC
AAC refers to Advanced Audio Coding, an audio compression format successor to the MP3 format.AAC may also refer to:-Aviation:* AAC, IATA airport code for El Arish International Airport, Egypt...
, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA
WMA
WMA may refer to:- Organizations :*Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association, a nonprofit trade association for owners of manufactured home communities in California*Western Marble Arch, a synagogue in central London...
, AMR-NB, AMR-WB
AMR-WB
Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband is a patented speech coding standard developed based on Adaptive Multi-Rate encoding, using similar methodology as Algebraic Code Excited Linear Prediction...
, MID
MID
-Computers and electronics:* MapInfo Interchange Format; .mid is also sometimes used as the filename extension for some MapInfo files* Media Identification Code , a code indicating the manufacturer of a DVD...
, AC3, XMF). For video formats and codecs it supports (MPEG-4
MPEG-4
MPEG-4 is a method of defining compression of audio and visual digital data. It was introduced in late 1998 and designated a standard for a group of audio and video coding formats and related technology agreed upon by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group under the formal standard ISO/IEC...
, H.264, H.263
H.263
H.263 is a video compression standard originally designed as a low-bitrate compressed format for videoconferencing. It was developed by the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group in a project ending in 1995/1996 as one member of the H.26x family of video coding standards in the domain of the ITU-T.H.263...
, DivX HD/XviD
XviD
Xvid is a video codec library following the MPEG-4 standard, specifically MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile . It uses ASP features such as b-frames, global and quarter pixel motion compensation, lumi masking, trellis quantization, and H.263, MPEG and custom quantization matrices.Xvid is a...
, VC-1
VC-1
VC-1 is the informal name of the SMPTE 421M video codec standard, which was initially developed as a proprietary video format by Microsoft before it was released as a formal SMPTE standard video format on April 3, 2006...
) and video formats (3GP
3GP
3GP is a multimedia container format defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project for 3G UMTS multimedia services. It is used on 3G mobile phones but can also be played on some 2G and 4G phones....
(MPEG-4
MPEG-4
MPEG-4 is a method of defining compression of audio and visual digital data. It was introduced in late 1998 and designated a standard for a group of audio and video coding formats and related technology agreed upon by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group under the formal standard ISO/IEC...
), WMV (ASF
Advanced Systems Format
Advanced Systems Format is Microsoft's proprietary digital audio/digital video container format, especially meant for streaming media...
) as well as AVI
Audio Video Interleave
Audio Video Interleave , known by its acronym AVI, is a multimedia container format introduced by Microsoft in November 1992 as part of its Video for Windows technology. AVI files can contain both audio and video data in a file container that allows synchronous audio-with-video playback...
(DivX
DivX
DivX is a brand name of products created by DivX, Inc. , including the DivX Codec which has become popular due to its ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality.There are two DivX codecs; the regular MPEG-4 Part 2 DivX codec and the...
)). For H.264 playback, the device natively supports both 8-bit and 10-bit encodes.
Continued support for the MKV
Matroska
The Matroska Multimedia Container is an open standard free container format, a file format that can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, picture or subtitle tracks in one file. It is intended to serve as a universal format for storing common multimedia content, like movies or TV shows...
format container was confirmed. Furthermore, there is also continued native playback support for the Sorenson codec
Sorenson codec
Sorenson codec may refer to either of three proprietary video codecs: Sorenson Video, Sorenson Video 3 or Sorenson Spark. Sorenson Video is also known as Sorenson Video Codec, Sorenson Video Quantizer or SVQ...
within FLV. Neither 'MKV', 'FLV' or 'Sorenson' are listed within any available specifications as was previous Galaxy S. Up to 1080p HD video playback is supported on this device.
Community Support
It was public news that Samsung sent a number of Galaxy S II devices to four developers of the CyanogenModCyanogenMod
CyanogenMod is an after-market replacement for the firmware of over sixty cell phones and Internet tablets. Based on the Android mobile computer operating system, it offers features and options not found in the official firmware distributed by vendors of these devices.Features supported by...
project, with the only request from Samsung being to bring full support of CyanogenMod to the device.
Reception
Reviews of the Galaxy S II have been positive. Engadget gave the device a 9/10, calling it "the best Android smartphone yet" and "possibly the best smartphone, period." CNET UK gave the device a favorable review of 4.5/5 and described it as "one of the slimmest, lightest mobiles we've ever had the privilege to hold." TechRadar gave the device 5/5 stars and describes the devices as one that "set a new bar for smartphones in 2011." Pocketnow was "impressed" with the speed of the web browser. SlashGear states that the device "sets the benchmark for smartphones in general." GSMArena points out minor drawbacks such as an "all-plastic body" and the handset having "no dedicated camera key," but still calls the handset "absurdly powerful" and concluding "we just cannot see beyond the new Samsung flagship if we're to name the ultimate smartphone."After slightly over one month since its debut, more than 1 million units of Samsung Galaxy S II were activated in South Korea. Worldwide, 3 million units were sold in 55 days. After over 85 days of its first release, Samsung has declared global shipments of over 5 million for Galaxy S II and 10 million after 5 months. Partially owing to strong sales of Samsung's Galaxy range of smartphones, Samsung overtook Apple in smartphone sales during Q3 2011, with a total market share of 23.8%, compared to Apple's 14.6%.
Galaxy S II LTE and Galaxy S II HD LTE
Announced on August 28, 2011, the Galaxy S II LTE3GPP Long Term Evolution
3GPP Long Term Evolution, usually referred to as LTE, is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals. It is based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA network technologies, increasing the capacity and speed using new modulation techniques...
and Galaxy S II HD LTE mobile phones are part of the Galaxy S II family. They run on the Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, have 16GB of internal memory, and feature a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor. The S II LTE has a 4.5-inch wide Super AMOLED
Super AMOLED
Super Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode or Super AMOLED is a display technology mainly for use in mobile devices such as mobile phones...
display. The S II HD LTE features a 4.65-inch high-definition AMOLED display, offering a screen of 720x1280 pixels – 720p HD resolution. Both of these variants have NFC enabled.
Galaxy R (GT-I9103)
The Samsung Galaxy RSamsung Galaxy R
The Samsung Galaxy R I9103 is an Android smartphone that was announced by Samsung on August 10, 2011 as a variant to the Samsung Galaxy S II.- Processor :Nvidia's Tegra 2 System on a chip uses Nvidia's own GeForce ultra-low power for its GPU....
is one of the currently available variants of the Galaxy S II. It was announced for releases first in Europe starting from the end of July 2011 with subsequent releases for worldwide. The Galaxy R is slightly smaller in physical size along with some notable "downgraded" features. Its differing comparable features include a 10.2 cm (4 in) SC-LCD capacitive touchscreen display, a 5 megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording, 16GB internal storage and a microSD memory card slot. The overall physical size and back of the design of this device differ slightly to that of the original Galaxy S II. Like Galaxy S II, the Galaxy R will also support Kies Air (PC Suite via Wi-Fi).
Galaxy W (Galaxy S II Mini)
The Samsung Galaxy W i8150 is a smaller-sized 9.5 cm (3.7 in) touchscreen variant. The Galaxy W, too, is a downgrade in features to that of the Galaxy S II with the same comparable downgraded features as that of the Galaxy R. The Galaxy W and Galaxy R both feature a 'SC-LCD' capacitive touchscreen with continued 480x800 resolution, both Galaxy W and Galaxy R feature a 5 megapixel still-image camera with 720p video capture. The main differences of the Galaxy W from other variants, is that it features a 1.4 GHz Qualcomm manufactured processor, its physical design differs slightly and furthermore its screen has a higher pixel density (ppi) compared to that of the Galaxy S II and Galaxy R.Prior to the release of the Galaxy S II, there were speculative reports of an exact same smaller-sized, stripped down variant planned for release; in a similar example to the way the HTC HD Mini
HTC HD Mini
The HTC HD Mini is a mobile telephone running the Windows Mobile operating system with HTC Sense. The phone was designed and manufactured by HTC, and was first released in February 2010.-Description:...
was towards the HTC HD2
HTC HD2
The HTC HD2 , is a smartphone belonging to the HTC Touch family, manufactured by HTC and running the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system. The phone was designed and manufactured by HTC, and was released in Europe in November 2009, and in December 2009 in Hong Kong...
. The name previously rumored for this smaller Galaxy S II variant included the naming suffix of 'Mini' added the end of its name.
Sprint's Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch
The SprintSprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel Corporation is an American telecommunications company based in Overland Park, Kansas. The company owns and operates Sprint, the third largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, with 53.4 million customers, behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility...
version of the device, previously codenamed "Within", is known as the Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch (Model SPH-D710). Unlike its predecessor, the Epic 4G, the Epic 4G Touch lacks a physical QWERTY
QWERTY
QWERTY is the most common modern-day keyboard layout. The name comes from the first six letters appearing in the topleft letter row of the keyboard, read left to right: Q-W-E-R-T-Y. The QWERTY design is based on a layout created for the Sholes and Glidden typewriter and sold to Remington in the...
keyboard. At 4.52 inches, it has a larger display than the international version. Additionally, the Epic 4G Touch features four touch-capacitive buttons, as opposed to the hardware/capacitive button combination found on the international version. Other differences include an LED notification light, larger battery (6.66Wh
Watt-hour
The kilowatt hour, or kilowatt-hour, is a unit of energy equal to 1000 watt hours or 3.6 megajoules.For constant power, energy in watt hours is the product of power in watts and time in hours...
), and a WiMax
WiMAX
WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations...
radio. The device was launched on September 16, 2011.
T-Mobile's Galaxy S II
The T-Mobile USAT-Mobile USA
T-Mobile USA, Inc. is an American mobile-network operator, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, that provides wireless voice, messaging and data services in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The company is the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. market with 33.73...
version was codenamed the Samsung "Hercules" and given the model number SGH-T989 (as opposed to other phones with the Galaxy S II name which are I9100 models). It has a 4.52 inch screen, and features four touch buttons. The cellular radio in this variant supports UMTS Band I (2100), Band II (1900), Band IV (1700), and Band V (850). It also contains NFC
Near Field Communication
Near field communication, or NFC, allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices in proximity to each other, usually by no more than a few centimeters. It is expected to become a widely used system for making payments by smartphone in the United States...
. It uses a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm
Qualcomm
Qualcomm is an American global telecommunication corporation that designs, manufactures and markets digital wireless telecommunications products and services based on its code division multiple access technology and other technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, USA...
APQ8060 (S3) Snapdragon processor, as opposed to the 1.2Ghz dual-core Exynos processor. The reason for this is that the Exynos processor is not compatible with T-Mobile's 42 Mbit/s HSPA+ network. As opposed to most of their other phones, T-mobile's version was released with no support for Wi-Fi calling for calls on their own network, but Wi-Fi calling through third party apps such as Skype is possible. T-mobile and Samsung plan an update for this at a yet-to-be-determined date. The S II was available for pre-order through T-Mobile's website on October 10, 2011 and became available in stores on October 12.
AT&T's Galaxy S II
The AT&TAT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
version was codenamed "Attain" (Model SGH-I777). However, it appeared on AT&T and Samsung websites simply as the Samsung Galaxy S II. It maintains a 4.3 inch screen, but also features four touch buttons. It also contains NFC
Near Field Communication
Near field communication, or NFC, allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices in proximity to each other, usually by no more than a few centimeters. It is expected to become a widely used system for making payments by smartphone in the United States...
. It was released on October 2, 2011.
AT&T's Galaxy S II: Skyrocket
This is the second variant of this phone to come to AT&T (Model SGH-I727) but with a couple of changes. For one, the display is now the same 4.52 inch screen shared with the Sprint model. Additionally, the main feature for this update is the inclusion of an LTE radio, to coincide with AT&T's launch of its LTE network. However, to make this change it was required for the chipset to be swapped from the Exynos to the Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8260, as the Exynos SoC does not support LTE (akin to a similar limitation made on the T-Mobile model) It was released the along with the also LTE-capable [HTC Vivid] on November 6, 2011.Japanese model (NTT DoCoMo)
In Japan, the Galaxy S2 is known as the NTT DoCoMoNTT DoCoMo
is the predominant mobile phone operator in Japan. The name is officially an abbreviation of the phrase, "do communications over the mobile network", and is also from a compound word dokomo, meaning "everywhere" in Japanese. Docomo provides phone, video phone , i-mode , and mail services...
SC-02C, manufactured by Samsung Electronics and branded by the DoCoMo carrier, and is the successor to the DoCoMo SC-02B (Galaxy S) within the DoCoMo Smartphone range. Released on 23 June 2011, the Japanese model includes additional features such as 1seg
1seg
is a mobile terrestrial digital audio/video and data broadcasting service in Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru. Service began experimentally during 2005 and commercially on April 1, 2006. In Brazil, the broadcast started in late 2007 in just a few cities, with a slight difference from...
terrestrial television support, as well as i-mode
I-mode
NTT DoCoMo's i-mode is a mobile internet service popular in Japan. Unlike Wireless Application Protocol, i-mode encompasses a wider variety of internet standards, including web access, e-mail and the packet-switched network that delivers the data...
software functions specific to DoCoMo handsets, such as i-channel, BeeTV, MelodyCall and DoCoMo map navigation. The SC-02C uses the Wnn
Wnn
Wnn is a Japanese input system. The network-extensible Kana-to-Kanji conversion system was jointly developed and released by the Software Research Group of Kyoto University Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Omron Tateisi Electronics Co., and Astec, Inc.It is distributed as freeware...
Japanese input system
Input method editor
An input method is an operating system component or program that allows any data, such as keyboard strokes or mouse movements, to be received as input. In this way users can enter characters and symbols not found on their input devices...
, and uses the Samsung Exynos 4210 Orion Dual-core 1.2GHz (S5PC210) processor.
South Korean Variants
All of south Korean variants have a T-DMB tuner in place of FM radioFM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
tuner. They also have Samsung's Korean input system for feature phones as well as Dubeolsik layout in their virtual keyboard.
SK Telecom's Galaxy S II (SHW-M250S)
The SK TelecomSK Telecom
SK Telecom Co., Ltd. or Sunkyoung Telecom is a South Korean wireless telecommunications operator, controlled by the SK Group, one of the country's largest chaebol. As a part of SK Group, SK stands for Sun Kyung.SK Telecom is a provider of mobile service in Korea, with 50.5% of the market share as...
variant uses SK-MMS system instead of OMA-MMS system for MMS. Additional features for SK Telecom users are installed by default.
KT's Galaxy S II (SHW-M250K)
This variant uses KTKT
-Science:* kT in Physics* Knot , a unit of velocity * Kardashev scale, method of measuring an advanced civilization's level of technological advancement...
's Wi-Fi CM instead of Android's Wi-Fi CM to connect Wi-Fi. Additional features for KT users are installed by default.
LG U+'s Galaxy S II (SHW-M250L)
Because of mobile networks LG U+ have, it uses EV-DO Rev.B (KPCS 1.8Ghz) instead of WCDMA and HSPA. It is slightly thicker (9.4mm) than SK Telecom and KT variants (8.89mm). Additional features for LG U+ users are installed by default.Rogers' Galaxy S II LTE
RogersRogers Wireless
Rogers Wireless is a wireless telecommunications provider offering mobile phone and data services throughout Canada using Global System for Mobile Communications and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System technology. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications...
will carry the Samsung Galaxy S II LTE, launching in Fall 2011, soon after its LTE Launch in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
.
Bell's Galaxy S II
BellBell Mobility
Bell Mobility is a CDMA and HSPA+ based wireless network and the division of Bell Canada which sells wireless services in Canada...
's Samsung Galaxy S II is identical to the international version except that its model number is I9100M.
Telus' 4G Galaxy S II X (SGH-T989D)
TelusTelus Mobility
Telus Mobility is a division of Telus Communications which sells wireless services in Canada on its numerous networks. They currently have three different networks based on three different technologies: CDMA and HSPA+ on its mainstream networks, plus iDEN via its Mike division...
' Galaxy S II is virtually identical to the T-Mobile variant. It has a Qualcomm 1.5 Ghz dual core processor, larger 4.5 inch screen and 1850 mAh battery, is thicker at 9.4mm and has a different design. There is a chrome band around the edge and the plastic on the back has a leathery feel. Instead of the hardware home button, it has the standard four capacitive buttons. The Qualcomm processor allows for 42Mbps HSPA+ download speeds that the Samsung Exynos processor is not currently capable of. It was released on October 28th 2011.
Successor in 2012
JK Shin, the head of "Samsung Mobile Communications", announced in May 2011 that a Samsung Galaxy S III (Galaxy S3) is planned for release in 2012.See also
- List of Android devices
- Comparison of smartphonesComparison of smartphones-Hardware and OS:-Networks and connectivity:...
- Comparison of Android devices
- LG Optimus 2XLG Optimus 2XThe LG Optimus 2X is a smartphone designed and manufactured by LG Electronics. The Optimus 2X is the world's first smartphone with a dual-core processor and third phone in the LG Optimus-Android series. LG debuted the Optimus 2X on December 16, 2010 and the device first became available to...
– similar CPU and GPU - Motorola Atrix 4GMotorola Atrix 4GThe Motorola Atrix 4G is a high-end Android-based smartphone by Motorola, introduced in CES 2011 on January 5, 2011. It was made available in the first quarter of 2011. It was introduced along with three other products, Motorola Xoom, Motorola Droid Bionic, and Motorola Cliq 2. It uses an NVIDIA...
– similar CPU and GPU - HTC SensationHTC SensationThe HTC Sensation is a smartphone designed and manufactured by HTC Corporation that runs the Android 2.3 Gingerbread software stack. Officially announced by HTC on April 12, 2011, the HTC Sensation was launched by Vodafone in key European markets including the UK on May 19, 2011 and by T-Mobile in...
– similar CPU and GPU - Samsung Infuse 4G
- Galaxy NexusGalaxy NexusThe Galaxy Nexus is a touchscreen slate Android smartphone developed by a partnership between Samsung and Google. The phone and operating system were developed collaboratively by engineers from both companies. It is the third generation successor to Google’s previous flagship phones, the Nexus One...