Not everyone is buying the Galaxy Nexus hype, people - and for good reason. Although it was proclaimed by many as a prominent blog the best Android phone to date, and probably the best smartphone ever - the Galaxy Nexus has a rival that has little to achieve. Created by none other than the same company that brought us the Galaxy Nexus, the original Galaxy S, and this year's best selling Android phone, the Galaxy S2, Samsung seems to have made a real killer Nexus Galaxy in the form of the Samsung S2 Galaxy HD LTE.
A seriously improved version of the best selling Android phone of the year, the Galaxy S2 HD LTE, as you'll see below, is packing specs that not only match the Galaxy Nexus, but the best in several critical areas. Is it worth holding out for? Is it worth buying off contract? Read below to find out when these two titans smartphone tested to see which shows the ring as the victor. No matter what you read below - remember every phone top of the existing telephone hardware represents, and are safe bets either way.
Software
There is an incredible demand for Android 4.0, on devices today, both old and new, and for good reason. Ice Cream Sandwich is really a huge upgrade, both from a design perspective, a usability perspective, and from almost any perspective that counts. With millions of lines of code replaced under the hood, Google really pulled out all the stops on this one. The all-new animations give a much better look and feel is much more intuitive. You can drag icons on top of another to create folders. You can resize widgets, and you can multitask with ease. While very few actually had the chance to spend serious time with it - all that have, have come away seriously impressed, for us.
That being said, there remain serious questions. How will the existing apps to function? What about emulators, hacks, and other things of merit? Because we are dealing with an entirely new beast, it is likely that a lot of things Android enthusiasts are used to dealing with the same wont more. However, the number of developers on XDA grow, and the focus is all on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich at this time.
The improvements are amazing and the UI is much improved. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is not a minor upgrade to Android, it's a whole generation apart.
Processor
Make no mistake, both devices are incredibly powerful, and the software benefits inherent in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to the Galaxy Nexus shines through. However, hardware-wise, the Galaxy S2 HD LTE is a more powerful device. As for the processor goes, you can expect about 10-15% faster performance on the Galaxy S2 HD LTE, but the benefit of the Galaxy Nexus software makes it feel faster. Anyway, the Galaxy S2 line is scheduled to update to Android 4.0 will sometime in late Q1 2012, so if you can stand it, you will get a faster machine at the end of the day. Also pay little attention to the benchmarks above, because they do not reflect real world performance, and can easily be changed.
So why not get the bleeding edge hardware Galaxy Nexus? Well, it's probably due to the lack of availability of large numbers of the Nexus G expects to sell, and Google 's engineers were probably referred to the OMAP to use a dual-channel memory controller. advanced multitasking Android to translate into a data-intensive experience. This means that the data is constantly thrown in and out of active memory, and this is certainly a strength of TI OMAP sharing.
Samsung was planning to implement its latest 32nm Exynos 4212 in the Galaxy S2 HD LTE, but due to the limitation in time availability of the chip, were forced to opt for Qualcomm's Snapdragon S3. All in all, this is an unfortunate thing, because the lines of Exynos SoC is faster, but not enough to make a substantial difference from the Galaxy S2 HD to LTE.
Anyway, it's a toss people. Both are incredibly powerful devices, and will not disappoint you. The hardware acceleration built into Ice Cream Sandwich is sure to make the Nexus felt faster in the hand, and at the end of the day, both devices feels almost identical.
Camera
The software differences inherent in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich will result in a better, faster shooting experience, complete with 1080p video recording. Google has its camera software a few steps further in Ice Cream Sandwich, and makes it possible to create panorama photos using live effects, and auto-upload to Google +
Despite the lower number of megapixels of the Galaxy Nexus, still takes great pictures. The software benefits really come through, and if you are looking for a faster, smoother shooter right off the bat, the Nexus is the way to go. However, if you can hold out for a few months, we are confident in the S2 HD LTE will win this round at the end of the day.
Dimension
The Galaxy Nexus is slightly bigger, and slightly heavier, despite having a smaller battery. At this stage in the game, it makes little to no difference. One of the most important aspects to its build is the fact that it has a slightly curved display, which actually makes a substantial difference in hard-to-view situations, like direct sunlight outside, and in other brightly lit environments. Both are actually quite pocketable, holdable, and so forth. It’s really up to you here. Additionally, the Galaxy S2 HD LTE is slightly thinner too, and is packing more expandability via its SD Card slot.
Make no mistake, both devices are incredibly powerful, and the software benefits inherent in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to the Galaxy Nexus shines through. However, hardware-wise, the Galaxy S2 HD LTE is a more powerful device. As for the processor goes, you can expect about 10-15% faster performance on the Galaxy S2 HD LTE, but the benefit of the Galaxy Nexus software makes it feel faster. Anyway, the Galaxy S2 line is scheduled to update to Android 4.0 will sometime in late Q1 2012, so if you can stand it, you will get a faster machine at the end of the day. Also pay little attention to the benchmarks above, because they do not reflect real world performance, and can easily be changed.
So why not get the bleeding edge hardware Galaxy Nexus? Well, it's probably due to the lack of availability of large numbers of the Nexus G expects to sell, and Google 's engineers were probably referred to the OMAP to use a dual-channel memory controller. advanced multitasking Android to translate into a data-intensive experience. This means that the data is constantly thrown in and out of active memory, and this is certainly a strength of TI OMAP sharing.
Samsung was planning to implement its latest 32nm Exynos 4212 in the Galaxy S2 HD LTE, but due to the limitation in time availability of the chip, were forced to opt for Qualcomm's Snapdragon S3. All in all, this is an unfortunate thing, because the lines of Exynos SoC is faster, but not enough to make a substantial difference from the Galaxy S2 HD to LTE.
Anyway, it's a toss people. Both are incredibly powerful devices, and will not disappoint you. The hardware acceleration built into Ice Cream Sandwich is sure to make the Nexus felt faster in the hand, and at the end of the day, both devices feels almost identical.
Camera
The software differences inherent in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich will result in a better, faster shooting experience, complete with 1080p video recording. Google has its camera software a few steps further in Ice Cream Sandwich, and makes it possible to create panorama photos using live effects, and auto-upload to Google +
Despite the lower number of megapixels of the Galaxy Nexus, still takes great pictures. The software benefits really come through, and if you are looking for a faster, smoother shooter right off the bat, the Nexus is the way to go. However, if you can hold out for a few months, we are confident in the S2 HD LTE will win this round at the end of the day.
Dimension
Galaxy S2 HD LTE: 129.8 x 68.8 x 9.5mm, 130.5g (4.60oz)
Galaxy Nexus: 135.5 x 67.9 x 8.9mm, 135.0g (4.76oz)
The Galaxy Nexus is slightly bigger, and slightly heavier, despite having a smaller battery. At this stage in the game, it makes little to no difference. One of the most important aspects to its build is the fact that it has a slightly curved display, which actually makes a substantial difference in hard-to-view situations, like direct sunlight outside, and in other brightly lit environments. Both are actually quite pocketable, holdable, and so forth. It’s really up to you here. Additionally, the Galaxy S2 HD LTE is slightly thinner too, and is packing more expandability via its SD Card slot.
0 comments