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I'm in China right now and got a bunch of RMB from my friends relatives due to taking good care of them in Canada.
Anyway I was going to spend it here before going back to Canada, and right now I'm unhappy with my BB9900 and would like a more fun phone. Is the GS2 still a good buy or should I really spend the extra and go for the nexus? Or even some other phone? Though I would like to stay with Samsung as I have had good luck with their products. I heard good things about WP7 but I'm not sure if Samsung makes a newer good phone for that.
Any insight would be great, thanks!
Yes definately still worth it!
In my eyes and im sure many others the s2 is still the best android phone out.
Yes the Gnexus has ICS, but the S2 has better hardware and ics will be on our phone in less then a month !
Also, u forgot to mention the galaxy note
or is that to big?
WP7 is good, but the marketplace is lacking in some well known apps, but i really like the lumia 800.
there
hope that helped
There are 3 phones to choose from s2,note,nexus. based upon you usage you can go for any three of these.
if you use your mobile for watching videos then note would be awesome.
if you need pure google experience go for nexus
if you want latest mods and customizations + a good phone go for s2
Galaxy S series is renewed each year in June-July, so you should get one and enjoy it for ~5-8 months, worth it I think. Got mine last month, and I've planned on upgrading to the S3 2-3 months after it has come out
Honestly, the SGS2 is too big for me. Other than that, taking into consideration that it was released almost a year ago, it's a MONSTER phone. If you can get it relatively cheap, go for it. I never for one second regretted buying it this summer
I think the Note may be too big, I have a sony tablet S so that takes care of my large screen Right now it's more between the 4.3 to 4.6" devices that is about as large of a phone as I want.
I'll probably get the SGS2.
DigitalNinja2012 said:
I'm in China right now and got a bunch of RMB from my friends relatives due to taking good care of them in Canada.
Anyway I was going to spend it here before going back to Canada, and right now I'm unhappy with my BB9900 and would like a more fun phone. Is the GS2 still a good buy or should I really spend the extra and go for the nexus? Or even some other phone? Though I would like to stay with Samsung as I have had good luck with their products. I heard good things about WP7 but I'm not sure if Samsung makes a newer good phone for that.
Any insight would be great, thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have money to spend on the S3 soon and I'd recommend going with the S2. If not, stick with the Galaxy Nexus as it will still be good 2 years down the road and compatible with all applications/games out there.
Hardware-wise, the S2 is superior, just keep in mind that it will be quickly superceded by the S3 when it comes out. Software-wise, I have to say as it is the S2 has better apps built-in compared to 4.0.2 GSM GN (browser, camera software, office apps, media codecs, etc.) but again, ICS 4.0.3 is likely the last 1 or two updates than will come to the S2.
DigitalNinja2012 said:
I think the Note may be too big, I have a sony tablet S so that takes care of my large screen Right now it's more between the 4.3 to 4.6" devices that is about as large of a phone as I want.
I'll probably get the SGS2.
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If I were you..I will go for galaxy nexus
If I were you..I will wait for S3...S2 is almost a year old
TheSaw said:
Honestly, the SGS2 is too big for me. Other than that, taking into consideration that it was released almost a year ago, it's a MONSTER phone. If you can get it relatively cheap, go for it. I never for one second regretted buying it this summer
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I always imagined you to have enormous hands - now I know you have delicate birdlike ones. I'm stunned
Well hello bigger forums I came from the Ace family and I have plans on buying SII. I've heard good rumours about the phone and I've seen lots of interesting roms for it too (plus it's on main forum XD)
My options are HTC One X, GNote or SII and SII is quite leading in my eyes ATM.
Last question is, what is the price of SII in the US WITHOUT the contract?
Thanks for the responses guys, hope to see you soon
S24Lyfe
it depends on whether you're looking for an unlocked phone (being able to use any network) or if you wish to purchase it outright from your current service provider.
Unlocked it's about $500-600, and prices will range depending on your carrier if you want to go for option number 2.
I personally own the S2 and I can honestly say I love this phone.
Took less than 5 minutes to root, plenty (and I mean PLENTY) of custom roms being developed for it, and the hardware itself is just great (it outperforms the iPhone 4s) - I highly recommend it.
Just my two cents.
Doo:DAce said:
Well hello bigger forums I came from the Ace family and I have plans on buying SII. I've heard good rumours about the phone and I've seen lots of interesting roms for it too (plus it's on main forum XD)
My options are HTC One X, GNote or SII and SII is quite leading in my eyes ATM.
Last question is, what is the price of SII in the US WITHOUT the contract?
Thanks for the responses guys, hope to see you soon
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Click to collapse
S2 is still a beast when compared to other mobiles you have mentioned with the exception of HD screen. If you like bigger screens and feel compact to use it go for note, else s2 with its amoled is what you need
Thanks for the opinion guys. Im planning to buy it directly from a samsung store so yeah network unlocked. Can it run tegra games without chainfire3D? or simply does it have a tegra chip in it?
Sent from my GT-S5830 using XDA
Atm i suggest u wait cause sammy is abt to release new phones and so will otha companies too and at tht time if u really feel to buy buy sgs2 ,may b ull get it for cheap...its jus a matter of dayz....cheeerz
rocky23 said:
Atm i suggest u wait cause sammy is abt to release new phones and so will otha companies too and at tht time if u really feel to buy buy sgs2 ,may b ull get it for cheap...its jus a matter of dayz....cheeerz
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Click to collapse
I'll be going next week so I need to make decisions now.
SGS2 is still a good phone. I had it for just over 10 months and loved it.
Got a HOX now and love that just as much. HOX has the HD screen which is lovely. SLCD2 vs AMOLED. Amoled has better blacks and such but I like the SLCD2 as well. Whites are better and not prone to screen burns.
Hardware wise both are beasts. Dual Core vs Quad Teg 3. DC is still fast enough not enough optimising quad at the moment. With TEG3 you get the range of Nvidia games without the need for Chainfire.
Design wise HOX wins, it's sexy and sleek but the SGS2 is lighter and thinner. Both feel good in the hand.
UI wise, Sense wins for me personally, but TouchWiz is not as bad it has it's own feature set.
If you want the cheaper device go for the SGS2 as price is decent. You'll be happy with any of your choices. The Galaxy range of devices are far easier to root with their unlocked bootloaders if you want to go with custom roms and such and development is very active with HOX it will get active when more devs have it. I'd still rate the Note over the SGS2 as it's a beast, if you can handle the size then definitely get the note.
I agree, the note is excellent.
Sent from my electronic pocket computer using voodoo magick
Funkajunk said:
I agree, the note is excellent.
Sent from my electronic pocket computer using voodoo magick
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but it's really big which I don't find really attractive :/
hello I'm in a bit of a problem here ! , my xperia x10 motherboard is damaged and cant be fixed and I'm in the market for a new smartphone I willing to pay 400-450$ and I really like the S2 and the S3 looks amazing , so here it is : Should I get the S2 or wait awhile a long while to get the S3 (but maybe a used one !) , also could the features in the S3 be ported to the S2 ? advice plz what should I do ? thx in advance
cool_007 said:
hello I'm in a bit of a problem here ! , my xperia x10 motherboard is damaged and cant be fixed and I'm in the market for a new smartphone I willing to pay 400-450$ and I really like the S2 and the S3 looks amazing , so here it is : Should I get the S2 or wait awhile a long while to get the S3 (but maybe a used one !) , also could the features in the S3 be ported to the S2 ? advice plz what should I do ? thx in advance
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Click to collapse
S3 is better than the S2, you want the best phone get the S3, you can't afford it, get the second best the S2. You're loosing 5mm on the screen size, some dpis (quite a bit actually ) and two cores.
Get an iPhone.
Seriously tho, get a Nexus. The last thing you want is to have anything to do with Samsung's ****ty firmware (even if it's only for a few hrs on the day you actually buy the phone). Samsung's refusal to play ball with developers has constantly made SGS2's devs lives difficult.
Wezi said:
S3 is better than the S2, you want the best phone get the S3, you can't afford it, get the second best the S2. You're loosing 5mm on the screen size, some dpis (quite a bit actually ) and two cores.
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Click to collapse
so u think the S2 is the second best ? is it the best I can get for 400-450$ ? thx again
MistahBungle said:
Get an iPhone.
Seriously tho, get a Nexus. The last thing you want is to have anything to do with Samsung's ****ty firmware (even if it's only for a few hrs on the day you actually buy the phone). Samsung's refusal to play ball with developers has constantly made SGS2's devs lives difficult.
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Click to collapse
I thought the S2 had many custom ROMs , also what would be the difference in software between the S2 and the Nexus ?
cool_007 said:
I thought the S2 had many custom ROMs , also what would be the difference in software between the S2 and the Nexus ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
S2 DOES have many custom ROMs. The issue isn't that...
I believe the issue is the inherent difficulty in getting ALL the hardware features supported with AOSP/AOKP builds due to how Samsung implemented their framework.
So though there are a lot of ROMs, both based on Samsung stock, and also AOSP and AOKP, the AOSP/AOKP ROMs don't support everything. I believe TV-out via MHL and FM radio are still not supported on AOSP/AOKP on the S2.
If you want the Android experience the way Google intended, get a Galaxy Nexus, as MistahBungle suggests.
They're a bit cheaper than the S2 right now anyways.
The only downside as far as I'm concerned about the GNex is the lack of external SD card support.
I was being facetious (well, sort of). What I meant was Samsung make a dog's breakfast of their firmware. Yes, there is plenty of custom firmware for the SGS2 which is its saving grace. However, Samsung stuffing up their firmware still makes life hard for devs. It makes it difficult for devs to get some features to work on custom roms (TV Out, WiFi Direct anyone ?). Ask people like Entropy512 & Codeworkx what they think of Samsung & their approach to firmware ;-D
With the Nexus it's Google firmware. Google don't seem to have an anti-dev stance like Samsung seem to have.
The only reason I got an S2 was due to the slightly better specs & the SD card capability. If I'd known about the firmware thing at the time, I might well have got a Nexus.
Put it this way, when I'm due to get another phone next year (assuming I don't kill my S2 in the meantime), if Google's phone at the time has a micro SD slot, I'll be getting it.
Edit - CTMG, read my mind ;-)
cool_007 said:
I thought the S2 had many custom ROMs , also what would be the difference in software between the S2 and the Nexus ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont know I'm a bit confused right now , I like the Nexus and I dont care about the SD card capability but I think the spec. of the S2 is a bit better like MistahBungle said and I want a phone that can hold on with me another year or two , so would i feel the difference between the Nexus and the S2 in the spec. ?
cool_007 said:
I dont know I'm a bit confused right now , I like the Nexus and I dont care about the SD card capability but I think the spec. of the S2 is a bit better like MistahBungle said and I want a phone that can hold on with me another year or two , so would i feel the difference between the Nexus and the S2 in the spec. ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They both have their strengths and weaknesses. I personally like the feel of the S2 over the Nexus, but you may think differently.
If you're talking about performance, it will depend on what angle you're looking at. The TI OMAP in the GNex is better than the Exynos in the S2 in some areas, and vice versa in other areas.
From most reports, the two phones are pretty neck and neck, each edging the other out slightly in some areas.
The camera in the GNex is 5MP vs 8MP in the S2, but megapixels isn't everything when it comes to picture quality. The sensor in the Nexus is slightly bigger, and has zero shutter lag, which compensates for the difference in pixel count.
So in conclusion... it depends.
Your best bet is to go to a store that has both models on the floor for demo units, and to play with them both to see which one you like.
I´d buy the S3 if I had the money tho, but S2 will be enough for at least this year.
So here's the thing.. I would like the Galaxy S III of course, but it has it's obvious faults, and without a scheduled upgrade from my provider I just don't think it's worth the 700+ dollars I would have to shell out.. So my thought was to buy a used Galaxy S II for around 200-300$ to tide me over until either HTC or Samsung release near perfect devices, or until the next Nexus whenever that is, do you think this would be worth it? Is development slowing down or staying the same and is 200-300$ worth it until and would it last until the next nexus or HTC/Samsung flagship?
Thanks in advanced for your opinions
Of course, S2 is still a great phone.
I will never switch for the S3, not that S3 is not better, just the S2 does everyting that S3 does..maybe S4 will give me a reason to switch.
im the kind of person that only switches cellphone or any other electronics when its really worth it, a big step ahead, or else I don´t think its worth it.
S4 will have 14 nm chipset
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/07/samsung-20nm-14nm-chip-production/
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
syndragon said:
Of course, S2 is still a great phone.
I will never switch for the S3, not that S3 is not better, just the S2 does everyting that S3 does..maybe S4 will give me a reason to switch.
im the kind of person that only switches cellphone or any other electronics when its really worth it, a big step ahead, or else I don´t think its worth it.
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Click to collapse
Well I've got the Desire Z right now so it would be a pretty big jump.. but yeah I'm thinking if I can get this phone for cheap at least it will be a good jump and a nice holder until my carrier gives me a free upgrade next year ?
hikarugo said:
S4 will have 14 nm chipset
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/07/samsung-20nm-14nm-chip-production/
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Dam that's amazing.. The only thing is I need the rest of it to be worth it too :S The problem with the S3 are the pentile (not a BIG deal obviously, don't care that much) the pink problem, the blacks problem, the screen being easily cracked, etc :/ maybe the S4 will blow me away
I also want a lot of dev community since for some reason the Desire Z had a TON and it would be weird not having it and like stupid amounts of ROMs
S2 is still a strong phone. No other devices offer significant improvements over what it does.
I thinks that there's not so much difference between Galaxy SII and SIII. The big difference to me is the design of the phone. Hardware of SII is actually very strong.
I don't know if the S3 has better battery life... but in other subjects S2 is not that far from S3... And the price now is very accessible as well...
SII is still great! We have a official ics which sucks but cm9 is pretty sick and stable for daily use. Oh and there are some really great roms and kernels out there.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA
syndragon said:
Of course, S2 is still a great phone.
I will never switch for the S3, not that S3 is not better, just the S2 does everyting that S3 does..maybe S4 will give me a reason to switch.
im the kind of person that only switches cellphone or any other electronics when its really worth it, a big step ahead, or else I don´t think its worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1.I upgraded from x10 as s2 was worth it.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
You're looking to do exactly what I'm in the middle of doing. About 3 or 4 months ago I bought a relatively new SGSII for $300 due to my Nokia N97 breaking down about half way through my contract. It is an amazing phone and my first which is running Android. I have done lots of mods and flashed lots of roms and have really enjoyed it. At the end of the year my contract expires so the SGSII is going to my fiancée and I am going to upgrade to an SGSIII or a Galaxy Note II or the next Nexus. The SGSII is definitely a great phone with lots of support by all the great themers, modders and rom builders on XDA. Definitely recommend it.
Well I guess it really depends on the use you make of your phone.
SGS II is an excellent device on many aspects, but if you plan on playing the most recent games, for instance, I'd say the SGS III's quad-core will be more... "comfortable"?
As far as I'm concerned, I'll stick with my SGS I as long as possible, the engagement with my carrier goes to Feb 2013... Maybe SGS IV will be announced by then. Argh!!
IF you are out budget the S II is still a strong phone. Another advantage if you choose S II over other phone is community. S II has the biggest market in all Android phones and of course S II / Samsung 3rd party developers are just awesome!
noneabove said:
Well I've got the Desire Z right now so it would be a pretty big jump.. but yeah I'm thinking if I can get this phone for cheap at least it will be a good jump and a nice holder until my carrier gives me a free upgrade next year ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, then its up to you, either S2 and S3 will be a big jump.
So only you know if the aspects that make S3 slightly better than S2 its worth the extra money.
IMO S2 is the best phone out there. Yes, S3 and One X are more powerful, but are the worth 600€? S2 can do exactly all the same things as those two, play HD games like Modern Combat 3 and NOVA 3 without any notable lag!
Currently, I believe S2 has the biggest community in XDA(well, it's separated to many "divisions" here, due to many different models[US Carrier specific and i9100G], but cause it's so popular, why wouldn't it be good?)
Yes, S2 is worth it. Here, it costs two times less than an S3.
last week i played with the SGS3 and the SGS2 ( a updated one ( ICS ) of a friend )
i did not notice any BIG differents between the 2 phone's
so i got myself a SGS2 and saved me 300 euro's.
ArmorD said:
IMO S2 is the best phone out there. Yes, S3 and One X are more powerful, but are the worth 600€? S2 can do exactly all the same things as those two, play HD games like Modern Combat 3 and NOVA 3 without any notable lag!
Currently, I believe S2 has the biggest community in XDA(well, it's separated to many "divisions" here, due to many different models[US Carrier specific and i9100G], but cause it's so popular, why wouldn't it be good?)
Yes, S2 is worth it. Here, it costs two times less than an S3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. The s2 has the best xda family in my opinion. Just look at rr or Rootbox thread. And it is probably going to not be outdated for another year or two
Sent from my GT-P7510 using xda premium
Same here buddy...
I wont switch to galaxy s3 from galaxy s2...
But if anyone want to buy a new phone its obvious if u can spend money and get galaxy s3,then buy that otherwise S2 is still a good phone sold more than 28million..
I think the development wont stop just because of S3..
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA
Thanks for the advice guys! I will definitely be monitoring kijiji closely looking for one that's at least less than 300$ and maybe even less than 250$! Hope I find one soon!
No. Its display has low life. When people asked Samsung why did they change display in SGS3, they said that its because the samoled+ has low life and faster degradation of image quality.
For instance, some phones already had yellow tint on 30% brightness. Some have started to develop it now.
its display is great. But battery life is poor. With one charge, you will hardly be able to use (total hours of usage) it more than 8 hours given battery is new.
samoled+ is marvelous display but you will find running your phone at low brightness due to battery concerns. Whats use of such a phone then?
No wonder SGS3 has a different display.
Stock rom gave me bs battery life with my usage about 5-6 hrs but go custom with UV and UC i get 8-10 hrs! Use a little less and i get 14 hrs and im using the 1650 mh batt
Hi,
I could get S3 from a friend for 95$. All is okay but there is some dirt (like hay) under the display but this does not matter.
Is it still worth to get a S3 or should I stick with my S2 (poor battery and yellow-ish display). I don´t have much money atm because I have to buy some more things soon .
I tried the S3 now a few days and i like it very much, because of it´s good display and the brilliant battery life. My S2 battery life was so bad, few minutes display on and -15% battery.
I appreciate your help!
Greets
xDeadaheaDx said:
Hi,
I could get S3 from a friend for 95$. All is okay but there is some dirt (like hay) under the display but this does not matter.
Is it still worth to get a S3 or should I stick with my S2 (poor battery and yellow-ish display). I don´t have much money atm because I have to buy some more things soon .
I tried the S3 now a few days and i like it very much, because of it´s good display and the brilliant battery life. My S2 battery life was so bad, few minutes display on and -15% battery.
I appreciate your help!
Greets
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a S2 and my battery life is not so good, anyway... Is your choice I heard one bad thing about S3 and it's sometimes the phone has lag in the menu or something like that but I don't know why... So again if you like it, buy the phone AGAIN IS YOUR CHOICE
Moto G is better value
If you don't have a lot of money (and even if you have the S3 is still a very good machine. I'm pretty sure that not even one app exists in the Play Store which wouldn't run on the GS3. The only reason one I could imagine is a KitKat exclusive app, but no developer would do such a stupid thing.
The GS3 is superior to the S2 on every level. Neither the S4 nor the S5 is better enough to make me Switch. And with the new Generation of custom ROMs (Glamour for example) you even get all of the S5 features on the S3.
So: should someone still buy an S3? Hell, yeah!
Thanks for the answers!
@SAMPPLE I have rooted and greenified the S3 and i can´t feel any lag even with power saving
@boomboomer I want to stick with samsung or htc
@obdan_van_darg I will have a look at the glamour rom, thank you! And for KitKat we can upgrade to a custom-rom :victory:
xDeadaheaDx said:
Hi,
I could get S3 from a friend for 95$. All is okay but there is some dirt (like hay) under the display but this does not matter.
Is it still worth to get a S3 or should I stick with my S2 (poor battery and yellow-ish display). I don´t have much money atm because I have to buy some more things soon .
I tried the S3 now a few days and i like it very much, because of it´s good display and the brilliant battery life. My S2 battery life was so bad, few minutes display on and -15% battery.
I appreciate your help!
Greets
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that SIII is little bit old. Try to find any newer phone
Any recommendation?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Free mobile app
xDeadaheaDx said:
Any recommendation?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the money the Moto G, can't be beaten if I wasn't after a G3 I'd take one at the drop of a hat.
Why should i decide for the moto G? I have a Nexus 7, so i don´t need pure android on my phone
S3 is a better option to go with rather than sticking to S2 if the performance is really good and the price as well. Mainly check out the mobile speed and check out whether its not hanging.
lesliescott06 said:
S3 is a better option to go with rather than sticking to S2 if the performance is really good and the price as well. Mainly check out the mobile speed and check out whether its not hanging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, testing it since a few days and it´s not lagging or anything else. All stable!
xDeadaheaDx said:
Yep, testing it since a few days and it´s not lagging or anything else. All stable!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well for $95 its a good deal now even more that you have a n7 so you dont need aosp.
for that price you can´t buy those low-mid end Samsung phones,(and tbh they are all almost the same, same hardware with one or dual sim and other sizes and other names *cofcof s3 mini,s4mini,sduos,s3slim,s3duos,s3neo,s4duos...*)
so yea, go with the s3 but see if you can get for $90 and then buy a cofee for you
Yeah i will see!
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Free mobile app
The S3 is a great phone! I´ve been running mine for over 2 years now and its still going strong!
xDeadaheaDx said:
Hi,
I could get S3 from a friend for 95$...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
buy!