THE Galaxy S II is the latest in the line of Samsung’s superphones, and this flagship model is packed to the brim with everything you’d expect—a fantastically bright and crisp 4.3-inch super AMOLED screen, a dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor and the latest build of Android, Gingerbread 2.3.

The Galaxy S II is undeniably slim, and measures in at 8.5mm at its thinnest point. There’s a 3.5mm phone jack on top and USB/charger input at the bottom. There’s also an 8-megapixel camera on the back. The speakers are located on the small bump near the bottom of the device. Unlike its competitors, the Galaxy S II uses only two touch-sensitive buttons at the bottom of the screen. Physical buttons are slim pickings—there’s the power button on the right and the volume rocker on the left, with a home button being the sole, physical key in the front of the device.

The overall build quality of the Galaxy S II is good, and though it’s mostly made out of plastic, I’m fairly certain it’ll stand up to abuse. It is extremely light and only slightly tips the scale at around 116 grams.

One of the best things going for the Galaxy S II is its screen. It’s seriously one of the best, if not the best displays I’ve seen on a smartphone so far this year. The super AMOLED screen is nice and bright, has excellent colors and viewing angles. One thing though, AMOLED screens tend to suffer when exposed to direct sunlight. This one doesn’t suffer as badly, but it’s still something to keep in mind.

Like most other manufacturers, Samsung’s tweaked the stock Android interface and injected it own improvements by way of the TouchWiz UI. I especially liked that four of the most important widgets—Phone, Contacts, Messaging and Apps—are always accessible even while going through the seven different (and customizable) homescreens.

Performance-wise, the Galaxy S II did not disappoint. It trudged through Quadrant Standard like a champ, scoring an impressive 3259 points. It was pretty much the same story for AnTuTu, with the Galaxy S II scoring extremely high, nabbing about 5249.

Battery life was excellent, and it managed to last more than a day on a single charge. It managed to stay on even when I forgot to charge it, which speaks volumes about its power efficiency.

It’s hard to find fault in the Galaxy S II, but there is one thing that really bothered me. The back cover on the device is extremely flimsy and could be a bit prone to damage.

Specifications

OS: Android 2.3, TouchWiz UI

CPU: Dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 proccessor, Mali-400MP GPU

LCD size: 4.3 inch, Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touchscreen

Dimensions: 125.3x66.1x8.5mm

Weight: 116 grams

Band: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 850/900/1900/2100

What’s Hot:

Super AMOLED screen

Extremely responsive

Fast processor

Excellent performance

What’s Not:

Back cover is flimsy, prone to damage

Bottom line:

It was a tall order, but the Samsung Galaxy S II managed to surpass the original in every way. Definitely a must-buy.