Samsung Galaxy S II HD LTE Review

Update: You can now read our Galaxy S III review!

Introduction:

Nearly a year of making its presence known in almost every single corner of the globe, the Samsung Galaxy S II has accomplished its goal by proving itself to be one of the most polarizing smartphones in recent memory. Keeping up with the times, the Korea-only Samsung Galaxy S II HD LTE sprinkles some much wanted upgrades to keep the beloved handset’s prestige glowing even more as it faces a never-ending wave of competition. It's actually very interesting for us to take a look at this handset, knowing that its U.S. variant, the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD, will be making its way to AT&T’s lineup soon.

Please keep in mind, that the Galaxy S II HD LTE is a Korean model which is offered unlocked by some U.S. retailers online. However, its LTE and HSPA are not usable in the U.S., due to different bands, so it is 2G only.

Design:

Almost an exact facsimile to the original model, the only impressive thing this time around with the handset’s design is the fact it manages to retain a streamlined . Specifically, it’s only a hairline thicker at 0.37” (9.5mm), which is still regarded as being skinny by today’s standards.


Bigger seems to the trend nowadays, and rightfully so, the Samsung Galaxy S II HD LTE is outfitted a larger 4.65” HD (720 x 1280) Super AMOLED display, just as the Galaxy Nexus. Despite its choice of sticking with a PenTile matrix arrangement, it’s still sharp looking with its details – while enthralling us with its vivid colors, high-contrast, and exceptionally wide viewing angles.


As for the rest of the handset, everything remains intact as we find its microUSB port, volume rocker, dedicated power button, 3.5mm headset jack, and noise cancellation microphone in their usual locations. Additionally, it features the same 2-megapixel front-facing camera above its display, while its 8-megapixel snapper with flash is positioned in the rear.