The Gadget Post

iPhone 4S Vs Samsung Galaxy S2 which should you buy

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:04:39 +0000

Out in the market for a high-end smartphone? We believe Samsung Galaxy S2 and Apple iPhone 4 must be on your radar. Both have a fan following bordering on cult, both are products of some cutting-edge technology and both are priced above 600 dollars. But the similarities end there. Yet, given their similar price points, we put the Samsung Galaxy S2 and iPhone 4S in a showdown to find which one is the right buy at the moment.

Here are some pointers

Form Factor aka Shape and Size

As long as pure design aesthetics and ergonomics go, Both the iPhone 4S and SGS2 are good looking devices.What we always go on first are the mass and profile of the phones and it’s the Samsung Galaxy S II that’s both thinner and lighter. Yes, it’s longer and wider but these tend to be the dimensions of least importance when it comes down to taking up the room where your wallet. Ultimately, what you want is less weight to carry around,but shape,size and weight nowadays dont matter much its the overall performace of the device that counts. both the device are at par in this department.

Display

According to me the Samsung Galaxy S II has a superior screen to the iPhone 4S. Why because its a samsung and they are pioneers in this field. I know lots of iphone users must boasting the retina display and all that The resolution on the iPhone screen is superb and there’s no doubt, but put an Samsung Galaxy S2 handset next to an Apple iphone 4S and the latter just looks a tad too pale or should i say yesterday. because that Super AMOLED Plus and the colours the SGS2 can produce are superb. The iPhone’s screen is good. The Samsung’s is better.

Hardware

As it goes, both of these systems on a chip are made by Samsung anyway and it’s of little surprise, therefore, that each contains a dual-core, 1-1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 CPU running the show. Where it gets complicated is the graphics. On the one hand, the SGS2 features the Mali-400 GPU – an impressive piece of kit in its own right. However, the PowerVR SGX543MP2 working the magic in the Apple A5 seems to out-bench the Mali by quite some distance. Even though the Samsung packs double the RAM of the iPhone 4S at 1GB, it looks as if you’ll just get a smoother video and gaming experience with Apple’s handset, and that might be key.

Software

iOS offers more apps and greater ease of use. Android attempts with more flexibility and greater customisation potential. The high scoring point for the apple is the introduction of SIRI that’s been hard wired in to the iPhone 4S and the fact that iOS 5 has basically implemented all the best bits of Android and integrated them in to its own UI. in the Software race iphone has stolen the show.

Battery Life

This is on of the crucial things which are very important foe every user the battery life.since both are multimedia phones their battery time tend to suffer. its not as outstanding as an blackberry(lol). but comparing both the device both are having similar battery life still the iphones new update have managed to up the time a lil bit . In my experiance the samsung galaxy gets one or two points less in the battery life dept as the device is a lil fast on using the power. here the Iphone is the Winner. That’s the objective choice, but do bear in mind that the software on these phones may be quite a big factor for you when making your buying decision. If you’re frightened by the flexibility of Android and would prefer something that just works, then it might be that the iPhone 4S is the one for you. The success of Siri might also be something to keep an eye out for. Verdict Hmmm lets see.There are a lot of close run categories here and some small victories that perhaps don’t quite matter as much as others. That’s the objective choice, but do bear in mind that the software on these phones may be quite a big factor for you when making your buying decision. If you’re frightened by the flexibility of Android and would prefer something that just works, then it might be that the iPhone 4S is the one for you. The success of Siri might also be something to keep an eye out for. Please write in your Comments

Samsung Galaxy S II SA-I9100 Unlocked Phone with 8 MP Camera and GPS support – International Version – Ceramic White

Android
Touchscreen
8MP Camera
Dual-core 1.2GHz
A-GPS support

The Samsung Galaxy S II is an Android Smartphone with a dual core SOC processor. It has 1 GB of RAM. Super Amoled plus capacitive touchscreen, has 8MP Camera and has A-GPS support.

List Price: $ 799.99 Price: $ 589.99

Apple iPhone 4S 16GB – AT&T – Black

8 mega pixel camera with full 1080p video recording
Siri voice assitant
iCloud / App Store / Air Print / Retina display
UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only)

16GB iPhone 4S locked AT&T model. Will work on AT&T. Now you can use your voice to use your iPhone. Just talk to Siri as you would to a person: “Do I need an umbrella?” or “Any great burgers around here?” or “Where’s the closest ATM?” Siri not only understands what you say, it knows what you mean.1 It figures out the right apps to use to find the right answer. Then, just like a personal assistant, it answers you. Siri makes phone calls, sends messages, schedules meetings, sets reminders, and m

List Price: $ 514.99 Price: $ 460.00

How to put music in Samsung Galaxy S2

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:18:30 +0000

Ever had problem putting music in your new Samsung Galaxy S2 phone. here is a very plain and simple solution. Normally when you connect a regular mobile to a PC a message pops up instantly on your phone asking whether to turn mass storage on But Samsung made you do a few extra steps to do launch Mass Storage mode. OK let me explain what you can do: 1. On your Samsung Galaxy S2, go to Settings

2. In Settings, select Wireless and network

3. Select USB utilities

4. Press the “Connect storage to PC” button

5. A message should appear saying, “USB utilities – Connect USB cable to use mass storage.”

6. Don’t press the Cancel button as you need that screen on

7. Plug your phone to the computer via USB with that message still shown

8. You should hear the charging sound and a picture of the Android robot with a USB as a hand should show up along with USB connected and a “Connect USB storage” button should show up too

9. Press the “Connect USB storage” button and it should have this circle animation where the button should have been

10. After the circle is gone, the Android robot should turn orange with the text, “USB storage in use”

11. Your computer should now be able to view all your phone’s data like a USB flash drive (go to Computer if AutoPlay doesn’t come up)

12. Make a folder called Music in your phone memory and copy and paste all your music into it

13. Once you have finished copying, go back to your phone and press the “Disconnect storage from PC button”

14. Again, the circle animation should show up and the Android robot should go back to green

15. The notification area should show messages such as “Preparing USB Storage”. It should then disappear.

16. Disconnect your USB from PC and phone

17. Once you go to the Music app, all your songs should be in there its simple as that. Tags: putting music in samsung galaxy s2, samsung galaxy s2, galaxy s2, samsung s2, samsung galaxy, mass storage

Samsung Galaxy Note Reviewed

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:21:12 +0000

Many people are confused wether Samsung Galaxy Note is a smartphone or a tab.so i thought why not review this device and find out this new breed of mo-tab device so i like to call it.

Very few smartphones on the market deserve the attribution “courageous.” The Samsung Galaxy Note unquestionably does. It is courageous because it is a brave attempt at smashing down the smartphone-computing device-tablet conundrum that a lot of us have faced over the last year or so. But, their gamble has paid off beautifully. The Note will go down in history as unusual and polarizing, but productive at the same time.

Form Factor and Design Do not allow initial appearances fool you. Even though the Galaxy Note is no doubt big and looks huge; when positioned near the slimmer Galaxy S II, but it’s most certainly not akward. There is certainly no evolutionary theme apparent in the jump from the slimmer Galaxy S II to the bigger Galaxy Note, with the exception that Samsung took a more mature and practical technique while conceptualizing the Note. The phone is about 9.7mm thick, and weighs around 178g. It’s not a thick phone, however it is definitely on the heavier side. Coming from the Galaxy S II, which weighs an anorexic 116g, the Note’s near-200grams (including the Flip Cover) is noticeably hefty. You will observe its heft probably the most when you’re on longer calls. Even with its large size, Samsung did well by maintaining the device relatively slim and conveniently portable. It’ll slide right into your pocket without making it uncomfortable for you to go about your regular routine. The rounded gun-metal borders make holding and grasping easy, and using gun-metal around the borders makes sense, due to the fact that those areas would be the most frequent contact points. Because such a substantial portion of the phone is the screen, and the protective glass that covers it, the front of the phone looks ordinarily like an overgrown iPhone, besides the minor variations in the home button size and shape. The standard back cover is a flimsy piece of plastic, which leaves the protective glass on the camera lens jutting out, it will eventually get scratched the very first time you place it flat on its back. But if you install the Samsung supplied Flip Cover, then it provides the Note a professional look and a more durable, thicker back which has a recess area for the camera. The Flip Cover will serve no real function, other than to provide the 5.3-inch display just a little more protection, and also cleans it with its inside felt finish. The quality of the Flip Cover though leaves much to be desired, and within a few days of use you will see it fray along the edges, with the rubberized coating coming off. The Galaxy Note was created with a two-handed approach, try using it with one hand and you’ll struggle to do simple things. Making calls in a hurry with one hand is a curse -inducing task.Let’s focus on some irritating nits, though most of them are minor, they might frustrate you if you don’t adjust around them. The position of the volume and power buttons, as many have already talked about is a major pain point. You will keep hitting the volume buttons with your index finger when you push the power button with your thumb. Moving them just a few centimeters off each other would’ve solved this. The buttons themselves are too narrow, not raised enough. The feedback from these buttons is weak, and what’s even worse is that the time-gap between power-off and lock-screen is probably just a fraction of a second or more. So, if you keep it pressed for merely a little bit longer, it will pop-up the power-off menu, rather than locking the screen. the primary Home key is a tad too thin for my taste. Because it’s thin and long, it has a tendency to see-saw, instead of giving you a firm solid-feedback.

Samsung Galaxy Note N7000 16GB Unlocked Android Smartphone

Multi Input Full touch + S Pen (Advanced smart pen)
AndroidTM 2.3(Gingerbread)
3G/4G: 850/900/1900/200 EDGE: 850/900/1800/2100
5.3″ WXGA (1280 x 800, 285 PPI) screen* HD Super AMOLED
Camera Main(Rear) : 8 MP with LED Flash / Front : 2 MP Action Shot, Beauty, Panorama Shot, Smile Shot

Galaxy Note is A new type of smartphone, borne of insight and innovation. It is the ultimate on-the-go device which consolidates core benefits of diverse mobile devices while maintaining smartphone portability. It empowers you with everything you can ever desire so that you can simply, feel free. It is truly smart. Consumer research indicates that people always want to do more tasks much better, even on the go, whether it is web browsing, email, games, or viewing photos and videos. To do all t

List Price: $ 664.00 Price: $ 674.99 Features and Performance Apart from the minor irritations the Galaxy Note’s has some finer points and strengths. The large, vibrant 5.3-inch WXGA screen and 1.4GHz of dual core goodness have clearly enhanced its usability. And a more accommodative 2500mah battery pack, makes it more open to use for extended periods of time. It is this troika of power, battery-life, and screen size that makes the Galaxy Note really leap ahead into a self-created league of its own. The phone shows no signs of hiccups during its initial usage, but as is the nature of the Android OS, it will bloat itself up and start showing signs of impending slow-down. If you keep spring-cleaning its innards from time to time, you should do okay. There have been instances when the OS has stuck itself into a loop: click back would take me to messaging, then back again to messaging, and then again! A hard reset was required to get it out of this vicious loop. These and many other nonsensical Android and Samsung TouchWiz UI specific problems can and do occur from time to time. It will sometimes lag behind your clicks for no apparent reason, and sometimes start typing after you’ve nearly finished the sentence. The delay from getting a phone call and the screen lighting up is also very discernible, so is the delay when you want to disconnect the call. As a pure phone-messaging device, Samsung’s TouchWiz UI really leaves a lot to be desired. But as a content consumption device, the device is just unstoppably fast. I have started using the Dolphin HD browser heavily, and it just rips out pages from the web. Twitter and Facebook apps work without scroll hiccups, and jumping from app to app is a pretty smooth experience. I have now become accustomed to shifting to landscape mode, whenever I want to read a web-page, the extra width gives the text enough breathing space, and while it still requires zooming into sometimes, it’s not very strenuous on the eyes. In terms of sheer performance, its dual-core 1.4GHz processor doesn’t disappoint. Churning out 90.341 MFLOPs in the Linpack benchmark for Android, it demolishes its competition. Higher priced products, such as the HTC Sensation XL are left trailing behind. It’s no different with the AnTuTu benchmark. The Galaxy Note scores an impressive 6320 points, as compared to the 4,500-odd points of some of the other dual-core processor-powered devices in the market. So, it’s very clear that the Galaxy Note is more than just marginally faster. Media Playback With regards to video playback, Samsung has been always known for infusing their devices with plenty of codecs to suit your needs. The Galaxy Note is capable of reading MP4, DivX, XviD, WMV, H.264, H.263 file formats and even supports video playback of up to 1080p, if coded correctly. Sticking to the trend with their high-end and mid-range devices, Samsung has also provisioned the Note with a 5.1 surround sound enhancement setting. Unfortunately, you’re stuck with MHL (Mobile HI-Def Link) AV connectivity, rather than HDMI, which would have been a better option in this case. The audio player also includes features like EQ presets and an eight band graphic EQ option for those who prefer manual control. Camera The Galaxy Note’s camera is exactly like the Galaxy S II’s camera, and its performance is similar to its slimmer sibling. S-Pen, Stylus Functionality The Galaxy Note comes equipped with what Samsung has termed the S Pen, ‘S’ meaning ‘Smart’. The stylus works seamlessly on the capacitive touchscreen and is not unlike HTC’s Flyer that also had a similar accessory. The S Pen allows you to take screenshots by clicking on the button/pressing the nib down onto the screen. The device is also loaded up with image editing applications that allow you to create new images, notes etc. with the S Pen, like you would on a piece of paper. There are plenty of apps available for the Note that are designed to optimize the use of the S Pen as well. The pen, itself is quite slim and proved to be a handy tool in some instances. The stylus does take a while to get used to, and the button the stylus body is often hard to find and press. But if you spend enough time with it, then you get used to it, and it does help in taking quick notes on presentations and documents. GPS Functionality It is worth mentioning that the Galaxy Note is now on par with the iPhone 4S, in terms of its GPS capabilities and now supports GLONASS. Note from Wikipedia – GLONASS acronym for Globalnaya navigatsionnaya sputnikovaya sistema or Global Navigation Satellite System, is a radio-based satellite navigation system operated for the Russian government by the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. It both complements and provides an alternative to the United States’ Global Positioning System (GPS) and is currently the only alternative global navigational system in operation. There are other similar navigational systems which are planned to be launched in the future, such as the Chinese Compass navigation system and the Galileo positioning system of the European Union. GPS locks are faster and more accurate. I tested it several times on NH8 and found that even when you turn the GPS manually off and then turn it back on, after you’ve traveled quite a bit at good speeds, the system locks onto your position within only a second or two. This is pretty impressive, considering that on dedicated GPS devices locking on to satellites does take a little extra time.

OTTERBOX Samsung Galaxy S II (i9100) Commuter Series Case

Otterbox website Compatibility: Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II (International ONLY)
The material is Self-adhering clear screen protector
It is Durable silicone skin
The Material is High-quality polycarbonate outer shell
Features 1:- Silicone plugs provide coverage for ports
Features 2:- Access to all buttons and features
Features 3:- Includes a self-adhering protective film
Item is for international galaxy s II (i9100) only, ATT might fit but the Spring version will not.

The OtterBox Commuter Series is a perfect on-the-go accessory for everyday handheld technology. Safeguarding the screen from scratches and the corners from bumps and shocks, this style of case offers unique design with reliable strength.

List Price: $ 34.95 Price: Battery Life The phone will last you an average of about 14 hours of regular use. Our average usage pattern has been roughly an hour or a little more of real call time, while the remaining 9-odd hours of intense computing: e-mail, office productivity, Twitter, Facebook, web browsing, audio-video, and an occasional game. Internet connectivity was always on (either 3G or WiFi, depending on what was available). Our continuous video-loop test lasted for 9 hours and 15 minutes, which is quite a record. So, the device does have enough battery life to keep you entertained and working for a good working-day. However, there are some issues: despite going into a deep sleep mode, the phone still discharges battery at a steady rate. So if you were at 20 percent charge just before you went to sleep, then phone won’t last till it’s time to ring your morning alarm. It just cannot make the last 10 percent last for even 4-hours in a deep sleep mode. The drain from 30 percent charge to 1 percent can happen in as little as 6-hours, with absolutely no active screen use. Considering the fact that the phone has so much processing power at its disposal, it’s worth considering underclocking the phone to 50MHz just before you go to sleep, this kind of active profile and processor management may actually take this phone through a full 24-hour cycle without a recharge. But once on a full charge, which takes a good two hours or so, the phone will pull along for 14-hours easily, and for now we’ll happily take that everyday. Verdict Do yourself a favour and go get the Galaxy Note. It’s a powerful tablet, that’s very thinly disguised as a smartphone. You will invariably spend 80 percent of your time doing things on it that you’d otherwise be doing on a tablet or a computer even. And just consider that it can make and receive calls as an added bonus. Samsung TouchWiz’s calling and general telecommunication functionality leaves a lot to be desired, and isn’t yet anywhere near HTC’s Sense UI, but it’s adequate and there are tweaks and apps available to give you your desired phone or messaging launcher. Then, after all that, there’s the simple fact that the Galaxy Note won’t give up the ghost easily, its 2500mAh battery ensures that it will keep going for at least a full working day. You can go about using it as a phone-only without looking like a goof, and still have enough left to read a book, watch a movie, play a game, and browse to your heart’s content. It is also the fastest around, and it will never stumble or stutter as you move happily between writing an e-mail, watching an episode of Dexter and snapping a quick photograph. All of these taken together are the best arguments possible for having only one device to do it all. This is for real, and not some make believe futuristic device. Oh! And lest we forget: as we’ve noted so many times before, great devices rarely ever come cheap, so relatively speaking – and especially when there are phones and tablets that retail for upwards of Rs 40,000! -the Galaxy Note is also a great bargain.

Skinomi TechSkin – Silver Carbon Fiber Film Shield & Screen Protector for Samsung Galaxy Note

Designed to be compatible with the Samsung Galaxy Note
Specially engineered Film offers lasting protection, easy installation and lightweight construction
Carbon Fiber texture gives your device a superior, high-tech look and feel
Unique grid adhesive provides easy installation that does not require liquid or solution
Includes original Skinomi TechSkin Screen Protector; Manufacturer Lifetime Warranty

About the Carbon Fiber Series The Skinomi Carbon Fiber Series Protector Film is a break-though in mobile protection technology. By utilizing state-of-the-art materials, the Film offers effective damage protection without adding additional weight or bulk to your device. Essentially, you get the protection of a durable case without the excess weight. Every Skinomi product is carefully engineered and custom-fit to offer precise fitment for maximum protection and style. At just .1 millimeters thi

List Price: $ 15.99 Price: $ 15.99

Top must have Macbook Accessories

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:23:27 +0000

Here are some of the best Macbook accessories you can Pimp up your macbook with

Speck Products See Thru Hard Shell Case for MacBook Pro 13-Inch Aluminum Unibody Only, Cobalt (SPK-A0467)

Silky-smooth soft-touch hard shell protection.
Protects your MacBook Pro from scrapes and scratches.
Smooth yet grippy rubberized exterior texture.
Fully vented for safe heat disbursement.
Totally removable – easy to put on and take off.
Access to all ports, battery check button, Kensington lock, CD/DVD drive.
Built-in rubberized feet keep your notebook secure
Built-in rubberized feet keep your notebook stable and secure.
Design lets you open/close your MacBook Pro all the way.
Design lets you open/close your MacBook all the way
Great hard shell protection
Totally removable, easy to put on and take off
Vented for safe heat disbursement

Add a splash of color to your MacBook Pro (unibody/black keyboard) with Speck’s SeeThru hard shell cases! Available in fun colors, our road-tested, translucent cases protect your notebook from scrapes and scratches and stand out vibrantly in a sea of same-ness. Device-specific engineering makes for a custom fit and highlights the sleek look of your MacBook Pro.

List Price: $ 49.95 Price: $ 30.11

mCover® AQUA Hard Shell Case for Aluminum Unibody MacBook Pro (model A1286, Black keys) 15-inch

2-piece light-weight(12.5 oz or 350g) shell easily snaps on and off.
Engraved square window to show Apple logo clearly and make it more stylish.
All ports, battery test button and charging port are accessible.
9 colors(Aqua/Blue/Clear/Black/Pink/Purple/Orange/Red/Green) available

* Made of USA-made high-quality translucent DOW polycarbonate material, which is shatter-proof and will protect your MacBook all around. * Completely redesigned to fit the new Aluminum MacBook perfectly * Improved design to protect ALL corners for Aluminum MacBook * The ONLY MacBook Pro Hard case with Retractable feet at the rear bottom to let you type more comfortably. It also helps to prolong your aluminum MacBook’s life with BETTER heat ventilation from features like retractable feet and m

List Price: $ 49.95 Price: $ 19.49

Case Logic LAPS-113 13.3-Inch Laptop / MacBook / MacBook Pro Sleeve (Black)

Form-fitting sleeve ensures a precise fit for your laptop with a 13.3-Inch PC/MacBook display
Woven webbing along each side adds subtle texture to the otherwise clean design
Quick top-loading access through envelope-style design
Slim-line design allows this case to be carried solo or fit in your favorite bag
A seamless wrap of Impact Foam padding provides top to bottom protection

This subtly detailed, traditional sleeve provides a streamlined option that fits within any anyone’s comfort zone. The wrap construction cradles your netbook in substantial foam padding, and thoughtful details add hints of sophisticated styling. Slide this sleek sleeve easily into your briefcase, backpack, tote or other bag.

List Price: $ 29.99 Price: $ 13.49

iLuv Mini Laptop Sleeve for 13-Inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Other 13-Inch Laptops – Floral (iBG2010FLO)

Fits 13″ laptops including MacBook models
Water resistant neoprene offers essential protection
Smooth pocket interior to avoid scratches
Secure lip keeps laptop in place
Padded to protect your laptop from bumps and dents
Additional exterior pockets for electronic essentials

Keep your 13″ MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and other 13″ Laptops in this water resistant neoprene padded sleeve. A smooth pocket interior and secure lip keeps your laptop in place and adds protection from scratches, bumps, and dents. The additional exterior pockets provide extra space for electronic essentials. Perfect for on-the-go, the Mini Laptop sleeve offers essential protection and fashionable color options.

List Price: $ 29.99 Price: $ 13.99

Black Generic Leather Laptop Sleeve Skin Case Cover for Apple Macbook Pro 13 Inch [SmackTom Packaging]

Leather case with exclusive style and luxury statement for your elegant MacBook
Superior durability with shock-absorbing features
Shell cover skin which provides style and protection
Full access to all keys, controls, and sensors on the MacBook
Lightweight for your convenience. Compatible with MacBook and MacBook Pro

Give your notebook an elegant style with this exclusive luxury envelop designed laptop leather sleeve. Magnet snap closure keeps the flap securely fastened and easy-navigation access to your notebook. This slim fit carrying case allows the sleeve to slip into your briefcase, backpack or messenger bag. This notebook carry case is specially designed to fit Apple Mackbook pro 13″. Laptop notebook is not included

List Price: $ 29.99 Price:

Cosmos ® Pink 2.4G RF optical wireless USB mouse for macbook 13″ PRO AIR 11″ DELL ACER SONY HP TOSHIBA+ Cosmos cable tie

For all laptop and desktop with USB 2.0
Made of PC
No battery provided;USB plug inside battery slot
FREE COSMOS cable tie
Other colors provided in our shop

2.4GHz digital wireless transmission, operation distance is up to 10 meters 800 dpi/1600 dpi, cursor speed adjustable Built-in mouse memory, no recoding is needed after battery replacement The service life of one AA alkaline battery is UP TO SIX MONTHS Ergonomically designed ideally for right-handed Just plug-and-play, no installation driver is needed Auto-Switch will let your mouse enter sleep mode when it’s not used for long time; to wake it up, just press the right or left button Low-voltage

List Price: $ 30.00 Price: $ 9.99

Cosmos Pure White 2.4G RF optical wireless USB mouse for macbook 13″ PRO AIR 11″ DELL ACER SONY HP TOSHIBA+ Cosmos cable tie

For all laptop and desktop with USB 2.0
Made of PC
No battery provided;USB plug inside battery slot
FREE COSMOS cable tie
Other colors provided in our shop

List Price: $ 30.00 Price: $ 10.99

Nokia Lumia 710 hands on (Review)

admin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:29:38 +0000

[dropcap style="font-size: 60px; color: #9b9b9b;"] T [/dropcap]he Nokia Lumia 710 is T-Mobile’s second Windows Phone Mango second generation smartphone, and it’s Nokia’s second Windows phone. For a phone that’s defined by its “secondness”, it’s nonetheless an attractive and interesting example of Windows Phone hardware. It has a sharp display, that distinctive Nokia look with curved corners and pleasing lines, and a few Nokia signature touches like their Nokia Drive app. The Lumia 710 might not have the unibody polycarbonate design and Super AMOLED display of its more high end overseas companion, the Lumia 800,but it’s a great smartphone.

High end or low end, or somewhere in between; Windows Phones all share the same basic specs thanks to Microsoft’s strict guidelines. That means this $49 phone runs on the same CPU and its display has the same resolution as the higher end Lumia 800 and AT&T Windows Phones like the HTC Titan. You get a second generation single core 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU with Adreno 205 graphics, a 3.7″ 800 x 480 pixel capacitive touch screen, 3G and 4G HSPA+ 14.4Mbps (currently the fastest data connection Windows Phone supports), a 5 megapixel rear camera and the usual WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and a GPS. Not bad for the price! Typical of lower priced Windows Phones, you get less storage: 8 gigs vs. 16 gigs on higher end phones. The Lumia 710 has about 5.33 gigs free for your use, and that might be a bit tight for those of you who embrace the Zune ecosystem for syncing music and video. Zune is as ever one of the slickest and most enjoyable mobile music players, and it makes the iPhone’s music player look a bit old school. It has album art, and side-scrolling to see related music, artist bios and more. If you have a Zune pass ($10/month), you’ve got an all you can eat subscription music service and you can stream music to the phone without side-loading using the Zune app in Windows or the Mac Windows Phone Connector (with iTunes sync) in Mac OS X. If you wish to purchase music and videos from the Zune Marketplace, you’ll pay using the Microsoft Points system, just as you do with XBOX downloadable content. The Lumia 710 has good sound quality from the speaker, and very good sound quality through headphones and Bluetooth stereo headphones. The rear-firing speaker is surprisingly loud for a small phone. �

Nokia Lumia 800 black 16GB -FACTORY UNLOCKED-

Nokia Lumia 800 black 16GB factory unlocked. GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 & 3G/HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100. 1.4 GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon chipset, 3D Graphics HW. 8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, dual-LED flash. HSDPA 14.4 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps. Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 Mango. ATTENTION!!! THIS DEVICE NEEDS MICRO-SIM!!! be sure to have a Micro-Sim (like Iphone 4) or a cutter!

List Price: $ 899.99 Price: $ 469.99 Thanks to the 1.4GHz CPU, the Lumia 710 hums right along. Windows Phone is optimized for the Qualcomm Snapdragon single core CPU, and speed is always impressive. It’s as fast as the iPhone 4S and you don’t see the occasional lag that pesters Android phones. XBOX Live games play fluently on the phone, and even demanding 3D titles play well. Speaking of XBOX, Windows Phone integrates with XBOX Live and there’s a healthy selection of quality games ranging in price from .99 to $6.99, with most high quality titles selling for $2.99 to $4.99. Again, thanks to Microsoft’s broad ecosystem, you get very good MS Exchange support and a mobile MS Office suite for viewing and editing MS Office files. In addition it handles Gmail and Google Contacts and Calendar sync along with POP3 and IMAP email. The phone can pull documents and photos from the SkyDrive cloud too. The Lumia 710 has 4G HSPA+ on T-Mobile, and speeds in our solid coverage area were very good, with documents transferring quickly and music streaming without a hiccup. T-Mobile TV streamed perfectly over HSPA+, as did Netflix. When streaming lots of video or music, you might want to use WiFi when available to avoid hitting your data cap. T-Mobile doesn’t cut off customers who exceed their data plan allowance, but they will slow down your connection to EDGE speeds for the remainder of your monthly period. The Nokia Lumia 710 looks distinctly Nokia. It has that bar design with curved corners, complex curves and a general Euro chic style that sets it apart from other Windows Phones. It’s available in white and black, and though it doesn’t look as wildly unique as the unibody polycarbonate Nokia Lumia 800, it’s not a cheap looking phone, nor dull. It’s not terribly thin though; at 0.49″, it’s semi-chunky by today’s super-thin phone standards. The thickness does afford a removable back cover with access to the 1300 mAh Lithium Ion battery inside, which the slimmer Lumia 800 lacks. The back is made of a rubbery soft touch material and it seems fairly rugged and shock absorbing too. The front and top and bottom edges are glossy plastic, and the 3 standard Windows Phone buttons are the mechanical clicky type rather than capacitive. They score for tactile feedback, but are annoyingly stiff to press. The “ClearBlack” TFT LCD is very sharp and has good color in terms of saturation and accuracy. Blacks are indeed deep, viewing angles are decent but not 178 degree IPS wide, and brightness is decent though it does fade in bright outdoor light. The display is clad in Corning Gorilla Glass for added durability and scratch resistance. As you’d expect from Nokia, call quality is excellent for both incoming and outgoing voice. Reception is solid and we didn’t have a signal call drop. The phone uses a micro SIM just like the Lumia 800 and iPhone 4/4S. The smartphone is quad band GSM and quad band HSPA+. It has both T-Mobile and AT&T HSPA+ bands, likely due to the planned (but failed) merger with AT&T. The Lumia 710 works with Bluetooth headsets, car kits and Bluetooth stereo gear. Audio quality over Bluetooth is particularly good both for music and voice. Alas, the phone has neither a mobile hotspot feature nor WiFi calling. The 5 megapixel rear camera takes very good photos that are sharp, colorful and well-exposed. Nokia knows how to make a good camera. The phone can shoot 720p video that likewise looks good, but there’s no 1080p video recording here due to the single core CPU. The camera has an LED flash and Windows Phone offers a healthy selection of settings and the ability to upload photos and videos to Sky Drive and social networking sites. Conclusion There’s a lot to like in Nokia’s first US Windows Phone. The bargain price belies a solid set of features; quick performance and an elegant though not thin design. Call quality is excellent, the camera takes good photos and the phone is fast. Gaming is fluid and fun, the Zune music experience is as ever enjoyable and streaming video plays well over T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network. If you’re looking for an easy to pocket smartphone that’s wallet-friendly, the Nokia Lumia 710 is worth a look. It beats the HTC Radar 4G Windows Phone on T-Mobile for both price and specs, and it’s a lovely introduction to Windows Phone. We do wish the front buttons weren’t so maddeningly difficult to press and that the Lumia 710 had the mobile hotspot feature, but those are our only two complaints

Blackberry 9900 Reviewed

admin — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 18:07:19 +0000

Make no mistake regarding this: The Bold 9900 is the best BlackBerry smartphone to date. But even with a good-looking overhaul featured by a new capacitive touchscreen (plus all the familiar features which make a BlackBerry a Blackberry) could it be enough to seal the space between Apple or Android? Maybe a little?

Key Features

2.8in, 640 x 480 display
1.2GHz Processor
BlackBerry OS 7.0
Mini qwerty keyboard

Design and Features BlackBerry continues to be against it recently, its handsets really only holding their own based on people’s passion for the form factor and their abilities at basic phone duties. When it came to apps, web browsing, as well as other smartphone fripperies, though, they lagged well behind. Rim hopes to improve all that featuring its latest handset, the BlackBerry Bold 9900.

RIM has created some interesting design decisions with the Bold 9900. Gone is the leatherette back, substituted by a carbon fibre panel. The shiny chrome strip of old has been replaced by stainless steel band that no longer loops round the back and front like on its predecessor, the BlackBerry Bold 9780, but harks back to the initial Bold 9000 by only bordering the front. The sides of the back are also bevelled and given a soft touch matt black plastic finish. The result is a phone that looks at first glance very familiar but up close retains a sophisticated vibe – the carbon fibre is a particularly nice touch. The design changes haven’t affected the phone’s build quality either – this is possibly the best-built BlackBerry yet. It also remains very comfortable and secure, the beveled edges allowing the phone to nestle, rather than dig, into your hand. The lock button that sits on the top edge is a bit of a stretch, though, and is recessed a little too much, making it a little awkward. This is a little annoying as it’s a function you use everyday. Otherwise the general layout and selection of buttons and other external features is excellent. On the right edge you have volume buttons flanking a play/pause button and a camera button. That play/pause button allows you to play or pause your music without unlocking your phone, which is immensely useful . The camera button is also very handy as it will launch the camera app when pressed, enabling you to get to taking a photo with just two button clicks – unlock then camera button. On the left edge is the microUSB socket, which is used for data transfer and charging, and – rather annoyingly – the headphone jack. Having the socket here means that your headphones stick out at an awkward angle, making it a pain to get the phone in your pocket, unless you have an angled headphone jack. Get through the challenge of prising the back plate off and you can access the rather modest 1230mAh battery or add a micro SD card to bolster the phone’s 8GB of inbuilt storage with up to 32GB more (40GB max total). You can’t swap either the SIM or micro SD card without removing the battery, though. Above the back cover is the camera, along with its LED flash. A nice bonus is the decent leatherette case included in the box, along with a modular charger, a separate USB cable and a headset with inline mic and remote – for answering calls and play/pausing music – and an angled jack. An natural problem with the classic BlackBerry shape has always been that you can only fit in so big a screen. This hasn’t really changed with the Bold 9900 but RIM has managed to fit the largest screen yet in this model. At 2.8in from corner to corner, it still pales in comparison to the 4in ones you get on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S 2. Nonetheless, RIM has increased the resolution so you get 640 x 480 pixels (compared to 480 x 360 on old models). This makes for a wonderfully sharp display. In fact, it’s so sharp you simply can’t see the pixels, no matter how close you hold it. Viewing angles are good in that you can still clearly see the display from even the most acute angle but there is a fair amount of colour shift as you do so. Overall, though, it’s a big improvement over predecessors Making less of an obvious advance is the keyboard, but this really is largely because the Bold series’s keyboard was always streets ahead already. RIM has improved things, though, by widening it by 5%, giving your fingers just that little bit more room for manoeuvre.The design will be familiar to regular BlackBerry users, and should cause them no concern, but for newbies there exists a tiny amount of head-scratching involved. The letters, space bar, delete and return keys appear precisely where you expect nevertheless the lack of devoted number keys, and that all punctuation marks are hidden as supplementary functions – even the full stop – may make for something of a learning curve. Overall typing speed is additionally hampered by the mediocre text prediction. While pro-BlackBerry users can get without prediction at all, we found prediction essential to mask the odd finger slip. But, while the more obvious mistakes were picked up, the prediction engine here is nowhere near the level of the Android, iPhone or Windows Phone devices. The BlackBerry 9900 runs on BlackBerry 7 OS, featuring a relatively hefty amount of updates over its predecessor, the most prominent change being the new so-called liquid graphics. This refers to RIM’s very sensible decision to ensure that, having its phone now a touch interface, the interface should react smoothly and swiftly, without the clunkiness that some models exhibit – and this is something the corporation has definitely accomplished.

Moving around websites, scrolling through lists and navigating menus are all tasks made fluid and intuitive thanks to the excellent way the touchscreen tracks your motion as well as the display transmits it back. It’s a subtle thing but getting this feel exactly right is precisely where many touchscreen handsets fall down, and is often where Android handsets can still feel a little bit clunky. Here, though, you’re always left feeling self-assured of your movements. It’s also amazingly intuitive flirting back and forth between the touchscreen as well as optical pointer that sits smack bang in the centre of the handset. Evidently it’s completely unnecessary as all actions the pointer can perform can also be done using the touchscreen but sometimes it just feels right to scroll through a menu or pinpoint a cursor using it. And, going back to the touchscreen once you’ve done so doesn’t result in any odd responses from the software; it simply carries on responding just as you’d hope. No doubt helping here is the significantly improved processor sitting at the handset’s heart. Previous Bolds have maxed-out at 624MHz but the Bold 9900 has a 1.2GHz Qualcomm 8655 chip. It might not be dual-core but it makes mincemeat of the BlackBerry OS, with there seldom being a sign of slow down or stutter. The entire styling and layout of the interface hasn’t changed all that much with the homescreen still eschewing the trend for icons and widgets, and multiple… well, homescreens. Instead you have a blank section at the center – all the more space for your favorite image – with info and notification segments above and a thin strip of app shortcuts and a link to the main app launcher/menu below. The mixture of these works wonderfully, giving you instant access to useful information and making the majority of apps easily available.

Case-Mate Brushed Aluminum Barely There Case for BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900/9930 – 1 Pack – Case – Retail Packaging – Silver

Fits with Blackberry Bold Touch 9900 and 9930 models
Extremely slim profile showcases more of your phone
Access to all ports and functions

The Brushed Aluminum Barely There is a sporty cases for your device. The gunmetal hard shell surrounds the perimeter of the case, while the genuine brushed aluminum inlay shows off more of your device.

List Price: $ 39.99 Price: $ 11.11 The top-most section shows all your basic phone information for instance date, time, and signal strength in a clean and simple manner, and tapping this brings up a convenient array of options, including Wi-FI and Bluetooth and Alarms. Again BlackBerry appears to have got the selection here just right, and there is not too much so as to bamboozle but not so little as to require constantly delving into the main menu. Below this is the notifications section, which is just a thin bar that at a glance shows how many messages you have, apps that need updating, calendar appointments you have, and such like. Tap this and the screen is filled with a list showing the full selection of information (with a maximum of three notifications per app). Like much of the phone’s interface, the style is quite stark – each set of notices is just a text list – but it doesn’t feel backward because of this, just functional. The final piece of the homescreen is the app launcher. This sits at the bottom of the screen, and can be either completely hidden, a single line of six apps or two lines of 12 apps. You can then either tap or drag up the bar to fully open the list of apps. Here you now get the chance to arrange apps in whatever order you please, putting them in folders or even hiding them from prying eyes. You can also sort them into categorized pages, though you can’t add (or remove) pages so the default selection of All, Favorite’s, Media, and Downloads is your lot. As mentioned earlier, it’s a system that works well and once you’ve arranged your apps as you please you can generally get to your favorites in double-quick time. The only difficulty is the lack of labels on the icons, meaning there’s a bit of a learning curve in working out what icon infers what. The search function is another boon of the homescreen. Start typing while on the homescreen or tap the magnifying glass icon in the top right corner and the search feature will kick in. Instantly you’ll start seeing contacts, messages, calendar entries, apps and more that match your search, and as you continue typing the search will be refined. And in a subtle but welcome touch, when you click a search result, it doesn’t forgot the search you just made so if you jump to a search result then tap the Back button a couple of times to get back, you aren’t greeted by a blank page. This is in contrast to much of the competition that ditch the search as soon as you navigate away. Multimedia has never been a strong suit of BlackBerrys and in many ways that hasn’t changed on this phone simply because the screen is still a bit small. It also doesn’t excel when it comes to video format support with MKV and RMVB formats unsupported. High bit-rate H.264 encoded files also won’t play though your average DivX or MP4 clip up to 720p will play fine. The interface for doing so is simple but effective and you can drag and drop files onto the phone. The same applies for music; just drag and drop and away you go. It will play MP3, AAC and WMA files but lossless formats like FLAC aren’t supported. Nonetheless, the phone delivers great-sounding music from its headphone jack, with plenty of oomph and no background hiss. Oh, and did we mention we love that you can play and pause music with that side button? You can also access the Amazon MP3 store right from the phone, where most individual songs cost £0.99 and albums £7.49. Few of the streaming music services seemed to be catered for in the BlackBerry App World, though.

BlackBerry Bold 9900 Unlocked Phone

This unlocked cell phone is compatible with GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile. Not all carrier features may be supported.
1.2 GHz processor and 8GB of expandable memory
Sleek, high-end, and loaded with the ultimate tools, the thinnest, sleekest BlackBerry smartphone yet
BlackBerry 7 OS has been powerfully enhanced
Communicate and interact like never before with the fluid touch screen

Technical Details : 2.8″ capacitive touch display Full, wide QWERTY keyboard BlackBerry 7 OS 1.2 GHz Processor 5.0MP camera with flash 720p HD video recording capability 1230 mAH battery 768 MB RAM 8GB on-board memory Micro SD slot supports up to 32GB Dual-band Wi-Fi GPS Tri-band HSPA+, Quad-band GSM/EDGE NFC technology New Augmented Reality enabled with digital compass and accelerometer BlackBerry QWERTY keyboard 24-bit high-resolution touch screen 10.5mm thin design New powerful 1.2GHz process

List Price: $ 699.99 Price: $ 515.00 As with video, photo viewing isn’t exactly this phone’s most obvious forte due to screen size but given the quality of the screen you can more-than enjoy images when the need arises. The image viewer is a simple affair but one that’s nice and easy to use, with smooth animations as you swipe left and right between images. When it comes to taking your own images, the 9900 doesn’t exactly excel. That its camera only shoots at five megapixels, compared to the eight of many rivals, is bad enough, but it also lacks autofocus, making close up/macro shots impossible. This is particularly annoying as you can get very useful apps for scanning business cards, and they will struggle to make out the necessary detail on this handset. One upside to the lack of focus, when combined with the phone’s speedy operation, is you can take a shot very quickly – you can go from the homescreen to having taken a shot in a couple of seconds. Also, you do get a reasonably powerful LED flash and overall coloration and sharpness of images is reasonable. Video has improved compared to predecessors but it’s still not overly impressive. You can shoot at up to 720p and again results are perfectly reasonable, and the LED is there for shooting in the dark. We also particularly like that you can pause and resume shooting without it automatically creating a second clip. However, you can’t turn the light on and off while recording and overall image quality is nothing special. Also, there are no facilities for editing or uploading video pre-installed (nor for images for that matter).

In fact there didn’t seem to be much in the way of video and photo editing apps available on the Blackberry app store either. The App World, while stocked with the basics and sporting a vastly improved interface over previous versions, is somewhat lacking. Also somewhat lacking is battery life. Not that the Bold 9900 drops dead with half a day’s use but, considering BlackBerrys have long been known for lasting much longer than the competition, the couple of days you’ll get from the Bold 9900 (in general use) may be a little disappointing.

Verdict All in all , the BlackBerry Bold 9900 is amongst the perfect upgrade for current BlackBerry consumers, assuming you can tolerate the slight drop in battery life. The keyboard’s excellent, the touchscreen’s wonderful, performance is outstanding, and the new software adds plenty too. What’s more the limitations won’t feel as such if you’re accustomed to previous BlackBerrys. However, if you’re looking at this phone as simply the best RIM currently has to contest with the iPhones and Androids of this world, then it doesn’t quite compare. Yes, a great deal of its limitations are merely down to form factor but nonetheless the screen is small, the camera isn’t up to snuff, and the selection of apps is woeful. Still its a Blackberry and I love it. Tags: blackberry, RIM, blackberry 9900, blackberry 9900 review, 9900 review

Best Samsung Galaxy S2 Accessories

admin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:08:16 +0000

These are some of the best accessories for Samsung Galaxy S2

Case-Mate Barely There Slim Case for Samsung Galaxy S II i9100 – 1 Pack – Case – Retail Packaging – Black

Extremely slim profile showcases more of your phone
Form fit feature covers back and corners
Impact resistant, flexible plastic shell
Access to all ports and functions

Think less case and more talk. The Barely There Samsung Galaxy S II i9100 case shows off your phone with its slim and minimal case design. One of our most popular cases, the Barely There combines style with function for the ultimate slim iPhone case. Offering a layer of protection and polish, the Barely There case reveals more of your phone. Colorful shades add a modern look, without the bulk. Made from specially engineered materials, including a hard-to-break plastic shell, the form fitting cas

List Price: $ 24.99 Price: $ 7.80

SGP Samsung Galaxy S2 (i9100) Case Ultra Silke Series [Lavenda]

Simple and form fitted to show the perfect shape fo your device
Easy access to all control and ports
Available in 5 Vivid colors : indigo blue / Fantasia hot pink / Lavenda / Dante Red / Soul Black
Product Made in Korea

Samsung Galaxy S2 i9100 Slim Fit Silicone Case by SGP ***This product is compatible with Asia, Europe of the Galaxy S2

List Price: $ 19.99 Price: $ 19.99

SGP Samsung Galaxy S2 (i9100) Case Ultra Silke Series [Indigo Blue]

Simple and form fitted to show the perfect shape fo your device
Easy access to all control and ports
Available in 5 Vivid colors : indigo blue / Fantasia hot pink / Lavenda / Dante Red / Soul Black
Product Made in Korea

Samsung Galaxy S2 i9100 Slim Fit Silicone Case by SGP ***This product is compatible with Asia, Europe of the Galaxy S2

List Price: $ 19.99 Price: $ 19.99

ZENUS Galaxy S2 / S2 Attain Leather Case ‘Prestige’ Luxury Basic Folder Series – Pearl Gray

Compatible with AT&T Galaxy Attain
Compatible with Galaxy S2 i9100

ZENUS ‘Prestige’ Luxury Basic Series has a refined modern style by its simplified body line with moderate linear decorations on the cover of the case. The metal decoration is gently placed on the cover to enrich the modern look of the case even more, Using the highest quality Genuine Leather materials give the user the slim soft touch and provide the optimum protection for the Galaxy S2 / S2 Attain device. Its sustainability, creativity, and practically refined design will suggest a refreshed st

List Price: $ 39.99 Price:

Case-Mate Pop! Case with Stand for Samsung Galaxy S II – Canadian, International and AT&T SGH-i777 Versions – White/Cool Gray

Co-molding of lightweight plastic and soft rubber for a seamless protective case
Form fit feature covers back and corners
Protective lay flat design keeps your screen from hitting surfaces when device is placed on its face
Impact resistant, flexible plastic shell
Access to all ports and functions; Fits the Canadian and International Samsung Galaxy S II model i9100, as well as AT&T version of Galaxy S II model SGH-i777

Dynamic duos take notice, there’s a new twosome in town. A support system like no other, the Pop! Samsung Galaxy S II case brings a new standard to the power of two. Co-molded materials of plastic and soft rubber unite to create a hard case with a soft touch. The lightweight plastic body of the Pop! protects from unforeseeable impacts, while keeping your screen lifted away from surfaces. The Pop! features contemporary color pairings to create a modern look for your device. Rubber sides make for

List Price: $ 34.99 Price: $ 6.50

Samsung Galaxy S2 Reviewed

admin — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:14:31 +0000

Samsung continues to go from strength to strength with its first dual-core phone – the Android 2.3.3-equipped the Samsung Galaxy S2 successor to last year’s Samsung Galaxy S. Its impressive specification includes a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 Super AMOLED plus display, 8-megapixel camera, a dual core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16 or 32GB of internal storage, microSD-support and Samsung’s updated TouchWiz 4.0 UI.

The Galaxy S2 is also one of the thinnest phones available at 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm. It weighs just 116g and is perfectly proportioned with smooth rounded edges. It’s a big phone, but, unlike HTC’s Desire HD, it doesn’t feel particularly large in your hand despite its huge 4.3-inch display.

Samsung Galaxy S2

Like its predecessor, the Galaxy S, the S2 is made almost entirely out of plastic, save for the Gorilla Glass front panel and metallic chrome edging. It still feels like a good-quality phone, though, and the plastic helps cut down on its weight.

There’s one physical Home button on the device, which is flanked by two touch buttons for Menu and Back. One aspect we particularly liked is that to wake the phone you simply press the Home key. There’s no fiddling around on top for an unlock button and this makes handling the phone single-handed much easier.

Samsung i9100 Galaxy S II Unlocked GSM Smartphone with 8 MP Camera, Android OS, 16 GB Internal Memory, Touchscreen, Wi-Fi, and GPS–No Warranty (Noble Black)

Network: HSPA+ 21Mbps/HSUPA 5.76Mbps, EDGE/GPRS Class 12, Quad band GSM 850/900/1800/1900, Quad band UMTS 850/900/1900/2100
Operation System: Android Platform 2.3. Dual Core Application Processor provides unsurpassed functionality and density for faster browsing, quicker multi-tasking, a smoother UI, snappier streaming and highly efficient gaming.
Display: 4.3″ WVGA SUPER AMOLED Plus. The 4.3″ SUPER AMOLED Plus display goes a step beyond the already remarkable SUPER AMOLED to provide enhanced readability, a slimmer design, and better battery consumption for the best viewing value of any smartphone.
Camera: 8MP AF with LED Flash + 2MP Front Camera
Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, BT v3.0+HS, USB v2.0. Battery: 1650mAh

The follow-up to the extremely successful GALAXY S, Samsung’s GALAXY S II is a powerhouse of a smartphone in a fantastically sleek and lightweight design. Considerably thinner than the original GALAXY S and rivals such as the iPhone 4 (8.49mm v 9.3mm) the GALAXY S II is stunningly light (only 117g) and packs the latest version of Android (Gingerbread). The one feature most people will notice immediately is Samsung’s best ever screen; the monster 4.27-inch Super AMOLED Plus screen runs at 480 x 8

List Price: $ 899.99 Price: $ 500.00

There’s a microUSB port on the bottom for charging and syncing with your PC. In our video playback battery test, its 1,650mAh battery lasted an impressive nine hours and 43 minutes. This puts it on a par with similar phones, such as the Motorola RAZR

On top there’s a 3.5mm jack plug which will work with any set of headphones. There’s no HDMI-out as on LG’s Optimus 2X, unfortunately, so you’ll have to make do with the Galaxy S2’s DLNA capabilities for sharing content wirelessly across a home network.

qHD resolution displays (Quarter-HD, or 960×540 pixels), are fast becoming the norm on high-end smartphones, but the S2′s 800 x 480 Super AMOLED Plus screen is still impressive. Its colours are vivid and jump out of the screen, and blacks are deep. The screen also has extremely wide viewing angles and you can adjust colour saturation. We spent hours browsing the web, watching videos and playing games while testing the device and couldn’t find any problems at all – this phone has one of the best displays we’ve ever tested, and is even better than the iPhone 4′s. We did find the auto brightness feature slightly unpredictable, but it’s simple enough to turn this off.

The S2′s touchscreen is highly responsive and the user interface runs beautifully. We didn’t experience a hint of lag during testing, even when pushing the phone hard. For instance, you can have a game open, numerous applications running in the background and be sending content over Wi-Fi without any slowdowns at all. In terms of general performance, the Galaxy S2 left the LG Optimus 2X, a similarly specified handset, for dead.

Samsung has also improved its TouchWiz user interface. TouchWiz 4.0 is impressive, both in the way it looks and in how easy and intuitive it is to use. We even preferred it to HTC’s excellent Sense UI. From the lock screen you can open messages, emails and missed calls, which show up in Windows Phone 7-like tiles. Holding down the Home button displays the last six apps you’ve used and has a direct link to the Samsung Galaxy S2’s extremely capable Task Killer application.

There are also a number of motion controls, such as tilt to zoom, motion-aided panning and tilt to silence, which are certainly interesting additions to the interface. We didn’t use them particularly often, but were glad they were there.

TouchWiz 4.0 also has content ‘Hubs’, divided into Game, Music, Readers, and Social. The Hubs let you buy music, newpapers, magazines or games, or put all your social networking content in one place. We’d stick with separate apps, though. The setup process on Social, for instance, is arduous and the interface isn’t as good as that in the official Facebook and Twitter applications. Also, we’ve still yet to meet somebody that wants his or her entire social network feed on one page – it’s just too confusing and cluttered.

Samsung’s Kies Air app is amazing, though. Kies Air allows you to browse the contents of your Samsung Galaxy S2 handset on your PC. All you need to do is open the app, and type the address it gives you into your PC’s browser to browse the contents of your phone. From here you can view and manage photos, messages, bookmarks, call logs, video and music – in short, pretty much everything. Kies Air’s browser interface also looks great with useful features like a media player, image preview and easy to access categories for everything on your phone.

The Galaxy S2’s imaging facilities are also top-notch. Pictures taken with the 8-megapixel camera are detailed with very little noise – the S2 clearly has a decent sensor. There are also plenty of useful settings, such as resolution, scene and shooting modes, effects and white balance. Even the front-facing 2-megapixel camera takes good-quality pictures.

You can use the S2′s camera to shoot 1080p video at 30fps and, although there’s very little in the way of image stabilisation, the resulting video is some of the best smartphone footage we’ve seen.

Samsung’s Galaxy S2 has a beautiful screen, fast and slick interface and great camera. The plastic chassis sin’t quite up to that of some of its competitors (such as the new Motorola RAZR) and some will bemoan the lack of an HDMI output. However, this is still a top-notch phone thanks to its fantastic display and so deserves a Best Buy award.

Tags: samsung galaxy s2, samsung galaxy, galaxy, galaxy s2, review