MWC 2011 Live: Samsung Galaxy S 2 Hands-on Preview

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Sure the Galaxy Ace, Fit, Gio and Mini were fun to check out, but they were merely foreplay for the most important attraction of Samsung’s booth at MWC 2011, the Galaxy S 2. The beast was surrounded by Android smartphone fans and it took me a while to approach it. But once there I was able to check it out and I’ll have to say I’m definitely impressed.

The Samsung Galaxy S 2 is going to be the flagship Samsung handset this year and we expect it to successfully compete against the iPhone 5 and all the other Android super phones out there.

The phone was launched yesterday, at the same time we were present at the Sony Ericsson media event, and it’s a really powerful mobile computer. Because, let’s face it, folks, the smartphone is becoming our personal computer, even if it’s not ready yet to replace it.

Just as expected we’re looking at a rather large device. But a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display really brings to life the Android monster. The phone is very responsive and scrolling through screens or running apps was a very pleasant experience. You could feel that dual-core processor playing its part under the hood. Naturally at least one Galaxy S 2 handset froze while I was handling a different model, but we won’t hold it against Samsung as the handset is an unfinished yet beauty, and I’m not only speaking about its overall appearance.

The Galaxy S 2 is running Android 2.3 under the hood, so Gingerbread will be available on at least on Galaxy S model. It currently looks as if the Galaxy S will never get to Android 2.3, although that’s just plain speculation from my part for now.

The Galaxy S 2 could turn out to be your professional handset too. It has the resources to deal with your day-to-day activities, whether they include business-related chores or just mobile entertainment and fun as it comes with a larger 1,650mAh battery. And it looks pretty slick too. At just 8.49mm in thickness and 116g in weight the Galaxy S 2 is a great Sony Xperia Arc or Samsung Nexus S alternative.

Naturally, just like the entry- to mid-ranged Galaxy handsets we’ve just shown you, I compared the Galaxy S 2 to the iPhone 4 too. The difference size is pretty obvious as the Samsung Android device is ready to offer even more usable screen real estate. It’ll be interesting to see how Apple’s iPhone 5 will look like and whether or not Apple would decide to change it’s overall design in any way to match the competition.

We’ll be back with pricing details and launch dates as soon as we have them but so far the Galaxy S 2 appears to be one of the best mobile devices launched at MWC 2011.

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