As promised, Samsung unveiled its next-generation Galaxy S smartphone at Mobile World Congress 2011 today.
Dubbed the Samsung Galaxy S II, the handset improves on its predecessor in a number of ways. First, you've got the addition of a dual-core processor. We were originally told by the company that it was using Nvidia's Tegra 2 chipset but were later informed that it was Samsung's own chip; unfortunately, further details were not provided at the event but generally speaking you should see faster performance and graphics.
It also runs the latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread, but unlike the Nexus S, the Galaxy S II will feature Samsung's custom TouchWiz user interface.
Given the delay with updates being pushed out to the current Galaxy S portfolio, we're sure this news will make some groan. However, TouchWiz 4.0 offers added functionality, including the three new hubs — Game, Music and Reader — so users can download more content to their smartphones. In the US the Games hub will be powered by Gameloft, while the Music hub will be run by 7Digital — no word on local publishers yet. The Reader hub will come from different providers and for the US includes access to 2.2 million books, 2000 global and local newspapers, and 2300 magazines. Based off current deals we'd expect to see significantly less content turn up in Australia, but as agreements are still being inked here, it's too early to tell.
You'll still get your social-networking feeds through the Social hub (now Social Hub Premium), but you'll also be able to see your communications history, IM status, and reach your contacts via SMS, email, et cetera all from one place.
Though there's a social and multimedia aspect to the device, Samsung has also worked to make it a more business-friendly smartphone. As a result, the Galaxy S II includes on-device encryption and support for Cisco's mobile solutions for VoIP calls, VPN and virtual desktop.
Design-wise, the Galaxy S II features a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen with a WVGA 480x800-pixel resolution. Samsung's Super AMOLED screens already provided one of the richest viewing experiences on a smartphone, but the Super AMOLED Plus adds 50 per cent more sub-pixels, and we certainly noticed a crisper, smoother picture and colours popped off the screen.
The general form factor is like other touchscreen smartphones we've seen, but Samsung loves claiming to have the world's thinnest or smallest products, so we weren't surprised to hear them call the Galaxy S II the "world's thinnest smartphone". Having seen it in person, we can say it is incredibly thin. It measures 125mm tall by 66mm wide by 8.4mm thick and weighs 116 grams.
Like the previous generation, the Galaxy S II has a plastic build, but Samsung has added a textured back, so at least the smartphone doesn't feel as slick this time around. You can get a closer look at the device in our hands-on photo gallery below.
Other notable highlights of the Galaxy S II include an 8-megapixel camera and front-facing 2-megapixel camera, 1080p HD video recording and playback, option for NFC connectivity, HSPA+ support, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Samsung says it currently has no plans for a CDMA version of the phone at this time.
The Galaxy S II is expected in Australia in May to early June. In addition to the Galaxy S II, Samsung also introduced the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which will debut worldwide in the next couple of months.
Via CNET
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(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)
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(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)
Super AMOLED Plus display
The Galaxy S II features a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen. The Super AMOELD Plus display offers 50 per cent more sub-pixels than the original Super AMOLED touchscreen, and we certainly noticed it was sharper. Images and text just looked crisper and smoother, and colours continued to look rich.
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(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)
"World's thinnest smartphone"
Samsung has a habit of proclaiming its devices as the "smallest" and "thinnest" in the world, but this time we really believe them.
The Galaxy S II measures 125mm tall by 66mm wide by 8.4mm thick and weighs 116 grams. In the hand, it feels like most slate touchscreen devices but when you look at it from the side, you have to marvel at how thin Samsung was able to make this device.
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(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)
Back view
One of our complaints about the previous Galaxy S phones was its plastic-y build. There's still some of that with the Galaxy S II, but now, it also has a textured battery door, so at least it doesn't feel as slick as before.
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(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)
Top view
The rest of the design elements are pretty much standard. On top of the device, there's a 3.5mm headphone jack.
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(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)
Bottom view
Meanwhile, the bottom of the smartphone features a micro-USB port.
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(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)
TouchWiz 4.0
As we noted earlier, the Galaxy S II is running Android 2.3 Gingerbread but on top of that is the latest version of Samsung's custom user interface, TouchWiz 4.0.
Samsung didn't directly answer our question about what it has done to ensure timely updates, but we plan on cornering an executive at MWC 2011 to get an answer.
That said, TouchWiz 4.0 does bring some enhancements and additional features, including new hubs, such as Game, Music and Readers, so users will be able to download more content from their smartphones.
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(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)
Readers hub
The Readers hub (shown here) provides access to more than 2.2 million books and novels, 2000 global and local newspapers in 49 languages, and 2300 popular magazines in 22 languages ... in the US. Local deals are still being sorted out.
The user interface certainly looks attractive, but since the demo unit we were shown was very much a pre-release device and didn't have an active connection, we couldn't see what an actual book or the other hubs looked like.
As far as content goes, in the US Music hub offers tracks from 7digital and the Games hub is powered by Gameloft. Local deals are still being worked out.
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(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)
Widgets
The widgets in TouchWiz 4.0 have also been given a slight makeover. They look more attractive, but we also felt a bit overwhelmed by all the information that was provided. Of course, you can customise the home screens with as many or as few widgets and shortcuts as you want, so we don't necessarily see this as a problem.
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(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)
Performance
The Galaxy S II uses a Samsung dual-core chip. The company didn't really go into specifics about its dual-core processor and how it compares to its competitors, but it's believed the smartphone will use the recently announced Exynos processor.
Our experience was that it was general navigation was speedy, but we also encountered some hiccups. Again, since we were shown a pre-release device, it'd be unfair to judge the smartphone's performance at this time.
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(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)
Camera
The Galaxy S II is equipped with a back-facing 8-megapixel camera with LED flash. It also supports 1080p HD video recording and playback and is DLNA compatible.
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(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)
Front-facing camera
There's also a 2-megapixel camera on front for video calls.
We should note that Samsung worked with Sybase and Cisco to add a number of enterprise features to the Galaxy S II to make it a more business-friendly device. This includes on-device encryption and support for Cisco's mobile solutions for VoIP calls, VPN and virtual desktop.
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