Samsung had great success with the original Galaxy S smartphone, and they have just recently released the new Samsung Galaxy S II, a smartphone we have been waiting to get our hands on since it was announced back in February.

The first thing you notice about the Samsung Galaxy S II is the display, it features a stunning 4.3 inch Super AMOLED display, and it is also very slim and light, it comes with Android 2.3.3 out of the box and also features Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, and it also features a dual core processor.

Hardware Specifications

The Samsung Galaxy S II has an impressive range of specifications, you get a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED Plus display,  with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels and Gorilla Glass, the handset measures in at 123.3 mm by 66.1 mm by 8.5mm and it weighs in at just 116g, making it one of the slimmest and lightest devices on the market with a four inch display.

Processing is provided by a dual core 1.2GHz processor, and the model we tested came with 16GB of storage built in, there is also a microSD card slot which can take up to 32GB cards, plus you also get 1GB of RAM.

Other specifications on the Samsung Galaxy S II include an 8 megapixel camera with autofocus and an LED flash, the camera is capable of capturing Full High Definition video in 1080p at 30 frames per second, you also get geo-tagging, smile detection, face detection, image stabilization

On the front of the Samsung Galaxy S II there is a 2 megapixel camera for video chat, and it comes with a built in FM radio, A-GPS, it also comes with 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct and can also be used as a WiFi hotspot.

Design, Display, UI

The Samsung Galaxy S II measures just 8.5 mm thick, it is quite light for a smartphone with a 4 inch display, and it certainly is very well made and feels like a quality smartphone in your hand.

The back of the Galaxy S II features a textured rear cover, which means it wont easily slip out of your hand and it also features a curved design which makes it easy to hold and also very comfortable.

The Display is where the Samsung Galaxy S II really shines, it features a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED Plus display, which looks amazing, and it also comes with Gorilla glass which should mean it wont scratch and is protected from knocks and bumps.

Everything looks great on the 4.3 inch display, the colors are bright and clear, and everything looks sharp and crisp, its great for watching movies, and playing YouTube videos.

Processor and Camera

The Samsung Galaxy S II Features a dual core 1.2 GHz processor, everything feels really snappy on the Galaxy S II, no delays or lag on launching any of the apps, watching videos, browsing the web, the dual core processor handled everything we threw at it with ease.

The Galaxy S II features an 8 megapixel camera, which comes with a wide range of features built in, it is capable of recording Full HD video in 1080p, and is also great a taking still photos.

Features included in the camera include an LED flash, autofocus, face detection and smile detection as well as built in image stabilization, plus geo-tagging, have a look at the sample photo below which was taken at full resolution.

Here’s a quick sample video taken on the Samsung Galaxy S II camera, in Full HD at 1080p, head on over to YouTube to watch it in full HD.

Battery Life

The Samsung Galaxy S II features a 1650 mAh battery, and it is extremely impressive, after a full charge we used the Samsung Galaxy S II for a full day, basically using every feature you would normally use, email, taking some photos, watching some YouTube videos and we ended up with plenty of juice left.

If you are a heavy user you will probably end up having to charge the Galaxy S II battery once a day, normal use you should get at least a couple of days out of the battery.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy S II is impressive, what sets it apart from the competition is the impressive Super AMOLED Plus display and its snappy dual core 1.2 GHz processor.

If you are in the market for a new smartphone or a new Android device, then we would definitely recommend you take a look at the new Samsung Galaxy S II, we suspect that Samsung’s latest Android handset is going to be even more of a success for the company than the original Galaxy S, have a look at our Samsung Galaxy S II gallery below.