HTC Amaze Or Samsung Galaxy S2

[hl0m4n]

ton of youtube + articles and still can't decide between the two. for those that have the galaxy s2, does it slide in and out of pocket with ease w/ the larger screen?

your thoughts guys?

[abisson]

Have you looked at the new Nokia 900? I just got a 710 and I am fucking in love with it. I was an iPhone user for 3.5 years, and I would never go back. Go look at it, you will not be sorry. I know you are looking at an Android phone.. but still.

[.:bHd:.]

waiting for this

[Gearcraft]

Originally Posted by hl0m4n

ton of youtube + articles and still can't decide between the two. for those that have the galaxy s2, does it slide in and out of pocket with ease w/ the larger screen?

your thoughts guys?

i have the GS2 and yes it did slide out of my pocket when i first got it. Got a leather flip out case to make it a little thicker and add more friction.. problem solved.

the GS2 is quick. my girlfriend switched from the iphone4 to the skyrocket (GS2 variant) and she loves how quick it is.... not sure if it was a network thing or the hardware itself.

[hl0m4n]

is the gs2 wide where you have trouble fitting it into your pocket?

as for the xperia s it will retail 430 euro ($560) in early march and although amazing, is way beyond my price range.

[.:bHd:.]

Originally Posted by hl0m4n

is the gs2 wide where you have trouble fitting it into your pocket?

as for the xperia s it will retail 430 euro ($560) in early march and although amazing, is way beyond my price range.

don't the carriers give a discount if you sign a two year contract?

[chinoxs203]

Originally Posted by Gearcraft

i have the GS2 and yes it did slide out of my pocket when i first got it. Got a leather flip out case to make it a little thicker and add more friction.. problem solved.

the GS2 is quick. my girlfriend switched from the iphone4 to the skyrocket (GS2 variant) and she loves how quick it is.... not sure if it was a network thing or the hardware itself.

skyrockt is LTE iphone is not thats why its faster.

the GS2 and GS2 have different processors
GS2 has been benchmarked with a faster processor and the GS2 skyrocket as faster data and larger screen.

i have the Atrix 4g and i still love it because of the resolution and Tegra processor. the 800 x 480. even though the SG2 has a larger screen i still should fit more on my 4"

[UltimateBMW]

I have a AT&T Galaxy S 2. I'll be happy to answer any questions that you might have.

Regarding the size of the screen and the overall pocket-ability of the phone, I would say this is not an issue at all. It is very easy to put the phone into any pocket. Jeans, mesh shorts, khaki's, etc. Also, I have not had any issue with the phone being too large for a pocket or even with it slipping out accidentally. The phone's thinness is very nice.

When I first got it, there were a few times when the phone felt a little too wide for it's purpose. But I think this was because I came from a smaller diameter, but thicker phone previously. After I had gotten use to the new dimensions, I don't notice any awkwardness or discomfort in usage.

Btw, which carrier are you on? Sprint, T-mobile, and AT&T all got slightly different variations and they are all called the Galaxy S 2.

[hl0m4n]

^ ultimate: thanks for clarifying the ergonomics and pocket concerns i had, greatly appreciated. the only reason i was questioning it was when my friend got the droid razer, the phone felt wide in my hand and it felt weird to hold coming from an iphone all these years .

i don't want to sign a contract so im looking on craigslist and i am on t-mobile and im happy cause we got the faster cpu and larger screen. but man everyone is selling sprint and att g2 and the t-mobile ones are selling for crazy amounts. i found a t-mobile new galaxy s2 which he got replaced through warranty for $375 but by the time i e-mailed him it was sold ...

[UltimateBMW]

I'll spill some of my knowledge between the 3 different carrier versions.

It all started with the original International Galaxy S 2. This is the one with the rectangular iPhone-esque button on the bottom middle. (I wish it had kept this button, but I digress.)

From this phone as a reference model come the 3 carrier variants.

AT&T: This version is the closest to the original International Reference. The only main differences are the exclusion of the physical button on the front face, and the addition of NFC hardware via the battery. (The NFC is turned off via software though.) AT&T also customized their software on the phone just as all subsidized phone carriers do.

Sprint: This version has a larger screen, 4.5in vs the original's 4.3in. Lastly, because of the bigger screen it has a bigger battery. The additional battery size helps power the larger screen but in a direct comparison I believe battery life ended up slightly worse vs the original. This battery also does not have the NFC hardware built into it. Oh, the sprint also has a LED for messages on the phone.

T-Mobile: This version is the most different and has a completely different processor inside, I believe it was a Qualcomm dual core SnapDragon instead of Samsung's in-house made dual core Exynos. I'm not sure why this change was made though, as the resulting performance seemed to be about the same from what I remember. It has the big 4.5in screen from the Sprint model, but the original battery from the AT&T version. I believe it has the NFC hardware. It also has a very rounded off shape which I find unappealing. Sorry, you get some of my bias with this write up.

So to return to your concern over the size, since it seems that you are looking at the T-Mobile variant, please take my review of the phone's size with a grain of salt. The Sprint/TMobile phone is BIGGER than the AT&T phone. And by a decent amount. I looked at the Sprint version in the store since it was released a week prior and it was too large for me.

IMHO, the AT&T is probably the upper limit on phone size that I find acceptable.

[hl0m4n]

ah you right, i thought they only changed internal specs between carriers. what is the difference between the att galaxy s2 & skyrocket?

t-mobile.......5.11" x 2.71" x .37"
att..............4.96” x 2.60” x .35”
skyrocket.....5.15” x 2.75” x 0.37”
sprint..........5.11" x 2.74" x .38"

[ejazbmw]

how about the nexus i just got it last week its amazing

[sterz85]

i think it comes down to what you want to do with the phone and modding/rooting

with the sg2, you're limited to AOSP roms or miui

with the htc, you can pretty much run any htc rom (i'm currently running a htc rom based on ics), cyanogen mod, AOSP roms, and miui roms

last week i was running a google ics rom, the same rom on the nexus

[BMWPower06]

skyrocket has LTE. att only has 5 LTE markets tho lol

[hks786]

When I got my Galaxy S2 I thought it was way too big but now when I pick up an iphone I think the screen is tiny. Also, the S2 is very light compared to other phones. All you need to do is put a silicone cover on it and a clear screen cover. Job done.

Screen is amazing honestly I never used to use internet on phones but now I use youtube and everything because of the screen quality. Very easy to use the phone too.

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by BMWPower06

skyrocket has LTE. att only has 5 LTE markets tho lol

I count 21 LTE markets for AT&T as of today. Though, If you are in one of those markets then the quantity sudden doesn't matter that much. Plus they seem to be rolling out new LTE markets fairly frequently.

But I believe the SkyRocket is larger similar to the Tmobile and Sprint SGS2 models. So, beware of this since you are concerned over width.

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by sterz85

i think it comes down to what you want to do with the phone and modding/rooting

I never saw the benefit to rooting and running other roms. Nothing really wrong with it, I am just not a power phone user. At that point I'd rather get behind a desktop.

I think the default rom it's loaded with truly works just fine. And I've seen videos of people running an ICS rom on a SGS2, and while it works, seeing the 3 buttons taking up screen real estate is bothersome to me. (Imagine taking the bottom 4 touch bottoms from a SGS2, and just tacking it onto the bottom of a Galaxy Nexus. Then making the screen smaller to compensate.)

I am sure there is some feature I am not aware of that a rom will enable you to benefit from though. But I wouldn't base my purchase of a phone on the fact that I could then go and change it immediately. Might as well buy the international version at that point, and get the front facing button!

[UltimateBMW]

Btw, if you havent seen it yet. The white version of the international SGS2 is gorgeous!

If it was available when I got my phone, I probably would have gotten it. I recommend watching the video to really see how good looking it is in person.

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

I never saw the benefit to rooting and running other roms. Nothing really wrong with it, I am just not a power phone user. At that point I'd rather get behind a desktop.

For most people, I agree that they probably wouldn't care going through the trouble for the benefits. I have a original Samsung Captivate Galaxy S, and the initial benefit of rooting (for me anyway) was to remove all the pre-installed AT&T apps that I had no intention of using. Without root access, you are unable to remove these apps.

The second benefit for me will be to breathe new life into my old Galaxy S by installing a ICS rom, since AT&T and Samsung aren't planning on upgrading older devices.

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by JasonCSU

since AT&T and Samsung aren't planning on upgrading older devices.

I believe this statement is incorrect. I definitely remember hearing that Samsung will release ICS for the Galaxy S 2. It just has no rush, plus it will have to run through AT&T's channels first as well.

But I'm nearly certain it will happen.

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

I believe this statement is incorrect. I definitely remember hearing that Samsung will release ICS for the Galaxy S 2. It just has no rush, plus it will have to run through AT&T's channels first as well.

But I'm nearly certain it will happen.

You're right, I recall reading that the Galaxy S2 would be upgraded at some point. In my case, I meant the original Galaxy S models, like my Captivate, would not get the upgrade. The excuse I remember reading was that these models are not powerful enough to run the new release. That may be true due to the additional UI features and apps that manufacturers/carriers like to put on their phones on top of Android. An original Galaxy S should have no problem running standard Android 4.0 though.

[Pcemkr]

Originally Posted by ejazbmw

how about the nexus i just got it last week its amazing

I just got a Galaxy Nexus. It's amazing. It's incredible in every way except battery life, but what smartphone isn't.