eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
Earlier this summer, I tested and reviewed Samsung’s Galaxy S II Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android 2.3 Gingerbread handsets on AT&T and Sprint’s networks. I found both to be speedy, reliable and enjoyable to use, whether accessing applications via the carriers’ 3G or 4G networks.
I’m well acquainted with AT&T and Sprint’s S II devices and all of their new eccentricities, from the TouchWiz user interface with screen capture capabilities and customizable widgets, to the phones’ spectacular, low-latency 8-megapixel cameras.
So with that backdrop, I’ve been using T-Mobile’s new Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone for the last five days and I have to say it doesn’t miss a beat from AT&T and Sprint’s S II’s, even though it costs $229 on contract while its brothers cost $199 with two-year deals.
I want to talk about some of the differences I noticed with this handset, which like the Sprint S II, Epic 4G Touch model has a spectacularly crisp, 4.52-inch Super active-matrix organic LED Plus (Super AMOLED Plus) screen with an 800-by-480 resolution.
From a physical standpoint, T-Mobile’s model mirrors that of its brethren, except that its titanium-colored plastic back has a less textured feel compared with the other models, which you can see side by side here.
T-Mobile’s handset is only 0.37 inches thin, which makes it fit nicely in the pocket. I’d still argue, as I did discussing the Epic 4G Touch, that a 4.52-inch screen is too big. Anything over 4.3 inches is too big in my hand for my usability preferences. This phone and others like it are not for the small-handed.
Overall, if it weren’t for the T-Mobile branding on the top of the touch-screen display, it’s hard to distinguish between T-Mobile and Sprint’s models. Under the hood, there are more significant differences.
T-Mobile’s model employs a 1.5GHz Qualcomm S3 Snapdragon processor, compared with the Samsung Exynos 1.2GHz chips fueling AT&T and Sprint’s S IIs. So, supposedly it’s that much faster, but I’d be lying if I told you I could discern a difference.
All three S IIs process applications-ranging from Facebook and Twitter for Android to YouTube clips-quite admirably. T-Mobile included a lot of bonus applications, some of which are bloatware and some, such as Netflix, Zinio Reader and Slacker Radio, may be convenient to satisfy users’ entertainment media needs. I’m a Netflix hog, so I appreciated not having to download the application.
T-Mobile’s network, which has always been iffy for me in Fairfield County, Conn., was suspect despite the fact that my area is supposed to be blanketed by the carrier in 4G coverage.
A drive from my home to the Connecticut/New York border showed T-Mobile’s network oscillate from 3G to 4G repeatedly with no rhyme or reason. I got anywhere from 2M bps download speeds on 3G to 8M bps downloads on 4G, based on Ookla’s Speed Test application for Android. That disparity is frustrating.
T-Mobiles S II Performed Well Overall
Call quality on T-Mobile’s S II was solid overall though nothing to rave about.
For some reason-maybe the bigger screen produced bigger soft keys on the phone’s virtual keyboard-I had a really easy time using the Swype gesture input application on this SII, where it is preintegrated and accessible via a single button tap on the keyboard, as it is on most Android smartphones.
The 8MP camera with 1080p high-definition video capture performed exceedingly well, as did the preinstalled Qik video chat application, thanks to the 2MP front-facing camera.
Another big difference between T-Mobile’s S II and the other models is its inclusion of near-field communication tag-reading capabilities. But good luck finding good cause or opportunity to test this tool. I suspect it will eventually make the S II a good vector for the Google Wallet application, but neither T-Mobile nor Google have played up any such relationship yet.
Additionally, T-Mobile S II’s battery life exceeded 1,800 mAh, compared with Sprint’s S II at and AT&T’s own pedestrian 1,650-mAh battery. I used it for a full nine hours before it burned down, though I did something different this time: I didn’t watch a single Netflix movie or TV episode and not a single YouTube clip.
Instead, I tasked the battery purely with only email and normal Web browsing, as well as a handful of social media applications, including Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Google Reader. I took some pictures. Overall, I stayed completely away from video play, which wreaks havoc on smartphones, especially on 4G Long-Term Evolution devices like the S IIs.
Storage on this T-Mobile model is excellent, offering 16GB of onboard memory, expandable to 48GB with a 32GB media card.
I can recommend the device to a T-Mobile user looking to upgrade, though the uncertainty surrounding the company’s future must give existing or prospective new subscribers pause. Sure, you get grandfathered in if AT&T gets T-Mobile, but you need to have a sound comfort level with both carriers. That’s my paranoid opinion, anyway.
Bottom line: If you want fast, speedy application access and sound calling and texting and camera capabilities, you’d be hard-pressed to do better than the carrier’s S II, assuming you live in an area where T-Mobile’ 4G network is reliable. That’s not me.
I found AT&T’s model to work the fastest in my neck of the woods, plus it has a more modest 4.3-inch screen. Ma Bell still makes my favorite S II.