Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus Unboxing And Hands On

Monday 15 April 2013

Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus Unboxing And Hands On

SPECIFICATIONS

Company/Brand	Samsung
Type	Smartphone
OS	Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
Announced	January 2013
Released	April 2013
Chipset	Broadcom BC28155
Processor	1.2GHz dual-core
GPU	Broadcom VideoCore IV
RAM	1GB
Battery	1,650mAh
Primary Camera	8 megapixel
Secondary Camera	2 megapixel
Main Display	4.3-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display
In-Built Storage	8GB

Riding high on the success of it’s mid-range Galaxy Grand smartphone, South Korean smartphone-maker, Samsung has now launched another smartphone in the mid-range segment, the Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus. Come to think of it, Samsung’s recent successes were arguably built on the Samsung Galaxy S2, which was once a flagship smartphone that was released in 2011 and in fact, is still available in the market today.

If you take a look at the specs sheet for the Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus, you’ll notice that the smartphone is almost similar to the Galaxy Grand, only difference being the screen size and the dimensions (obviously!).

To give you an idea, both the smartphones are powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core Broadcom processor paired with 1GB of RAM and feature the same set of cameras as well, with an 8MP camera at the back and a 2MP camera at the front. They both run on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz UI on top. We guess that’s enough for the comparison as the Galaxy Grand has already got it’s share of limelight and now, it’s the time for the Samsung Galaxy S2 to join the party.

As soon as you take the Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus out of the box, you’ll notice that the device is quite thin and you’ll be easily able to slide it inside your pocket. The smartphone measures 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm and at just 121 grams, feels quite light as well.

Upfront, you get a 4.3-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display and again, just like the Samsung Galaxy Grand, it might not look great on paper, but once you turn the screen-on, it’ll won’t feel pixelated at all. Coming to the internals, the smartphone gets powered by the Broadcom BC28155 chipset paired with 1GB of RAM and Broadcom’s VideoCore IV GPU. During our initial usage, we found the power inside the smartphone to be quite sufficient and we didn’t observe much lags.

The Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus is a decent choice for shutterbugs as well, as it gets an 8-megapixel camera with an LED flash at the back, while a 2-MP camera graces the front. Though the camera resolution on the device is same as the aged, Samsung Galaxy S2, but the rear camera on the Galaxy S2 Plus now comes with a zero-lag shutter speed that can more easily capture fast-moving objects.

One area where the Samsung Galaxy S2 plus trails to it’s predecessor (Surprisingly!) is internal storage, as the Plus’s built-in storage has been trimmed in size to 8GB from the original’s 16GB or 32GB. However, this is compensated by the fact that the new model’s SD storage can handle up to 64 gigabytes of data, while the original maxed out at 32GB.

As you’d expect out of a smartphone at this price point, the Galaxy S2 Plus offers all the usual connectivity options, while it also features Near-Field Communications (NFC) support so people can use the phone for mobile payments or other NFC-related services.

Finally, a 1,650mAH battery has the responsibility of keeping the Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus up for long, and Samsung claims a talk time of up to 9 hours on 3G on the Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus. Though we have not yet tested the battery life on the device, we’ll surely love to challenge Samsung’s claim.

Enjoy the unboxing video till we’re back with our Gaming, Benchmark tests and a full review of the Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus.