Butters Posted July 15, 2011 Posted July 15, 2011 Has anyone got a Samsung Galaxy S2? After hearing glorious things about it I've decided to plunge rather than wait for an iPhone 5. It looks incredibly sexy and most importantly very thin!
plexer Posted July 15, 2011 Posted July 15, 2011 I have the original galaxy and I must say it's currently working a lot better since I uninstalled a bunch of resource hungry apps. Ben
Domino Posted July 15, 2011 Posted July 15, 2011 I have :-) And I'll say this, it's very quick, very thin and the screens amazing. More importantly, samsung haven't totally gummed it up with extras - the ROM is very close to stock. and what they've added is actually useful. Although I have rooted mine and removed the 'social hub' - as it's a bit of a battery hog. Highly recommended :-)
Butters Posted July 15, 2011 Author Posted July 15, 2011 Is it worth rooting or just sticking with the stock ROM? I've heard Cyanogen is currently being worked on for the S2 which might be worth a punt but I 'think' I like the software after a demo of it in a store.
Domino Posted July 15, 2011 Posted July 15, 2011 Is it worth rooting or just sticking with the stock ROM? I've heard Cyanogen is currently being worked on for the S2 which might be worth a punt but I 'think' I like the software after a demo of it in a store. Rooting doesn't necessarily mean a new ROM. Mine's running stock, but rooted, so I can uninstall or freeze default apps, give superuser rights to things like TitaniumBackup, etc Gonna run mine stock till it annoys me - good so far
Butters Posted July 15, 2011 Author Posted July 15, 2011 Rooting doesn't necessarily mean a new ROM. Mine's running stock, but rooted, so I can uninstall or freeze default apps, give superuser rights to things like TitaniumBackup, etc Gonna run mine stock till it annoys me - good so far Ahh mi scuzi, I'm thinking back to my old HTC Diamond days when rooting meant sticking a new ROM on as all the HTC ones were rubbish. Next concern, battery life.....how does it handle the day to day geek usage?
Quackers Posted July 15, 2011 Posted July 15, 2011 I got the Galaxy S2 about 2 months ago, first non Nokia phone i have ever had since 1998, always been a die hard Nokia fan, and i can see why! Previous phone was an Nokia N900, which would last me till about 9-10 at night from 7AM I have to charge my Galaxy S2 2-3 times a day Sometimes when the phone is in my pocket i will start to feel pain, its my phone getting EXTREAMLY hot, it hurts! Call quality is not impressive. If the call is from another Galaxy S2 user i may as well not bother, sound will be muffled as hell, other phones clearer but not as crisp. Do these even support EFR? Reception is poor compared to what i am use to everywhere i go, same network. So took my N900 to work where i would get 3G no issue, side by side N900 1 bar short of full on 3G, Galaxy S2 1 bar. Force 2G on both Nokia full bars, Galaxy S2 2 bars. But i do love the screen, and i am enjoying Android, but as for the hardware, its not upto Nokia standard, yes they might be a bit more 'bulky' , but they at least get a good signal.
Domino Posted July 15, 2011 Posted July 15, 2011 Ahh mi scuzi, I'm thinking back to my old HTC Diamond days when rooting meant sticking a new ROM on as all the HTC ones were rubbish. Next concern, battery life.....how does it handle the day to day geek usage? You're gonna be charging it every day - with a screen that big and vivid it's unavoidable. However, if you're clever with controlling the power options, you will get a full day use of it - I watch about an hour of video, use social media,browser etc all day and still get a day out of it.
Butters Posted July 15, 2011 Author Posted July 15, 2011 I've got an iPhone 3GS at the mo which drains out from 7am to about 10pm so once a day charge is normal. I've heard good things about JuiceDefender though for saving powaaaaa.
JJonas Posted July 15, 2011 Posted July 15, 2011 +1 for JuiceDefender its saying its increased my battery life by x2.59 in the last 48 hours
mwbutler Posted July 15, 2011 Posted July 15, 2011 I have to charge my Galaxy S2 2-3 times a day As the screen is so big, it drains the battery fast; this is the same for the majority if not all smart phones. If you want a couple of days battery life, you will need to turn things like wifi, gps, bluetooth, data sync etc off until you need them otherwisew your battery has no chance in lasting a day. Loving my Galaxy S and intend to upgrade to the S2 at the end of the year!
Andrew_C Posted July 15, 2011 Posted July 15, 2011 I got the Galaxy S2 about 2 months ago, first non Nokia phone i have ever had since 1998, always been a die hard Nokia fan, and i can see why! Previous phone was an Nokia N900, which would last me till about 9-10 at night from 7AMMe too, but...I have to charge my Galaxy S2 2-3 times a day Sometimes when the phone is in my pocket i will start to feel pain, its my phone getting EXTREAMLY hot, it hurts! Call quality is not impressive. If the call is from another Galaxy S2 user i may as well not bother, sound will be muffled as hell, other phones clearer but not as crisp. Do these even support EFR? Reception is poor compared to what i am use to everywhere i go, same network. Nothing like my experiences so far. Heavy use of the toys - I'd need to charge a second time / early evening. Reception and speech quality, no problem, and it doesn't even register as warm unless working hard.
mwbutler Posted July 15, 2011 Posted July 15, 2011 ...and it doesn't even register as warm unless working hard. TBH if my phone started to burn me I'd be returning it instantly for a new device
purpleindigo Posted July 27, 2011 Posted July 27, 2011 Definitely agree with the battery life issue, but I just got a second charger so I charge it at work and at home. It's worth it for all the different facilities from having GPS and WiFi on allt he time.
Butters Posted July 27, 2011 Author Posted July 27, 2011 I get two days charge from my Samsung Galaxy S2 but thats largely due to JuiceDefender Ultimate. Really recommend it although I'm going out tonight and it's on the 2nd day so might have a dead phone come this evening....
peterp Posted July 27, 2011 Posted July 27, 2011 Got my S2 a week ago, must say I am very very impressed. I have it permanently on Skype and Yahoo messenger. A lovely app called visidon applock. Which allows you to protect apps from unauthorised use by face recognition. I get an hour or so of constant use per day (games, web browsing, various apps and reading kindle) and it gets charged every 15 hours and only drops to about 40% battery. The missus had the galaxy 1 and it's buggy, slow, and needs charging a lot!
Theblacksheep Posted July 27, 2011 Posted July 27, 2011 Got mine at the weekend. I love the phone, main thing i'm annoyed about is the battery. Goes about 20 hours max before going flat, where the old hero lasted nearly 2 days. Substantial bloatware on the device too, might have to root and see if they can be removed. Although the root process doesn't look as simple as others.
Domino Posted July 27, 2011 Posted July 27, 2011 Root it using this method - actually very straightforward How to Root Samsung Galaxy SII (S2) Using Odin and SuperOneClick ? [step-by-step Guide] | Inspired Geek 2
Theblacksheep Posted July 27, 2011 Posted July 27, 2011 (edited) Root it using this method - actually very straightforward How to Root Samsung Galaxy SII (S2) Using Odin and SuperOneClick ? [step-by-step Guide] | Inspired Geek Thanks for that, might have to give that a go later. EDIT: Well, that was simple. Thanks again. Now to work out how to uninstall crap! Edited July 27, 2011 by Theblacksheep
aerospacemango Posted July 27, 2011 Posted July 27, 2011 Got my S2 a week ago, must say I am very very impressed. I have it permanently on Skype and Yahoo messenger. A lovely app called visidon applock. Which allows you to protect apps from unauthorised use by face recognition. I get an hour or so of constant use per day (games, web browsing, various apps and reading kindle) and it gets charged every 15 hours and only drops to about 40% battery. The missus had the galaxy 1 and it's buggy, slow, and needs charging a lot! Excellent recommendation of an app....just installed and I love it already! An extra layer of security....means my 6 year old cannot access stuff on my phone, when he's going between games!!!
Domino Posted July 27, 2011 Posted July 27, 2011 Thanks for that, might have to give that a go later. EDIT: Well, that was simple. Thanks again. Now to work out how to uninstall crap! Get titanium backup, you can freeze and uninstall system apps with it once you've root access :-)
Theblacksheep Posted July 27, 2011 Posted July 27, 2011 Get titanium backup, you can freeze and uninstall system apps with it once you've root access :-) Just used 'root uninstaller' to freeze a bunch of bloatware and things I have no interest in (f**ebook, mediahub etc etc). I'll better not uninstall anything until I've got a backup! Do you know if a backup device like clockwork (for nandroid backups) can be used or is there no point as it seems to have a recovery flasher built in?
aerospacemango Posted July 27, 2011 Posted July 27, 2011 Talking of Samsung..... Does anyone else find Kies to be a major PITA! I've had it connect to my Galaxy S once....in 2 months....This kind of thing is really unacceptable from a major phone company
Domino Posted July 27, 2011 Posted July 27, 2011 Just used 'root uninstaller' to freeze a bunch of bloatware and things I have no interest in (f**ebook, mediahub etc etc). I'll better not uninstall anything until I've got a backup! Do you know if a backup device like clockwork (for nandroid backups) can be used or is there no point as it seems to have a recovery flasher built in? I tend to trust Clockworkmod more than anything else for nandroid backups - and ROM manager can install it with no fuss, so I tend to use it.
MK-2 Posted August 9, 2011 Posted August 9, 2011 been running my galaxy s2 for a couple of months now. love the screen and the feel. have put on a better rom and used titanium to freeze all the rubbish left running (inc samsung touchwiz). can generally get 2 and a half days out of the phone on normal usage now.
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