One month after the release of the
Galaxy S 2, Samsung has sold over 1 million units worldwide, and that doesn’t even include North America! The phone has received universal critical acclaim and holds the seat as the
de facto king of smartphones.
Samsung’s new DIY Galaxy S 2 kit, ages 5 and up!
So what makes the Galaxy S 2 so desirable? Well for starters, it has a gorgeous 4.27 inch Super AMOLED Plus display that provides amazing contrast ratios and it’s packaged in a body that is a mere 8.9mm thin. But we’ve seen the same display on the
Droid Charge and we’ve seen a
very similar body on the
Infuse 4G: so what elevates the Galaxy S 2 to the next level? Well my friends, that question can be answered by looking at the guts of this device and Samsung has done us a great service by giving us an exploded view of the anatomy of this super phone.
Judging a Book by its Cover
Contrary to what mother taught us, you wouldn’t be wrong to judge this book by its cover. But just in case, here’s the full breakdown:
1. 4.3″ Super AMOLED Plus Display
The 4.3 inch display of the Galaxy S 2 is 14% larger than the original Galaxy S, and the improved Super AMOLED Plus displays adds 50% more sub pixels (12 versus 8) eliminating the granulation found on older PenTile AMOLED display while increases outdoor visibility. The use of new organic materials has also reduced energy consumption. Sweet: more screen, less battery drain.
Yum, high-tech sandwich
2/3. Samsung TSP (Touch Screen Panel)
If you somehow have yet to upgrade to a touchscreen smartphone or live in an
Amish Paradise, then you know how responsive and tactile Samsung’s touch panels feel. Made with what feels like a paper thin (but super strong) layer of Corning’s Gorilla Glass, Samsung’s TSP combines high durability (keying test: >50 million times), clarity, transparency (>92%) and multi-touch.
So simple you can make it at home. Not.
4. Chassis
4a. Front
The 4.3-inch widescreen display is complemented by a narrow bezel surrounded by a 0.1mm lip around the front glass which prevents the display from touching when laid on a flat surface.
4b. Rear
The chassis had to be carefully engineered to be thin and durable while accommodating the mainboard, camera, speaker and battery.
5. Rear Cell Front
Samsung’s rear cell technology, as can be seen in the illustration, is a magnetic shielding frame that helps improve reception
7. Battery Cover
The rear panel on the back of the Galaxy S 2 is a mere 1/10th of a millimeter thick and is dubbed ‘Hyperskin.’ With its micro-patterned surface, the Hyperskin battery cover is not only scratch resistant, but textured for maximum grip. No more dropping your soft touch plastic or aluminum backed phones.
8. Sim Card and MicroSD Slots
Rather than have two plots of device real estate dedicated to these two cards Samsung has built a double-decker slot with the spring-loaded microSD slot being placed right beneath the SIM slot.
Good luck reverse engineering this China
9. Main Circuit Board (Motherboard)
This is where the Galaxy S 2’s brains and muscles get together and go to town on all your mobile processing needs. The mainboard is a congregation of over 700 pieces of Samsung’s finest technologies that answer to slightest command.
9-1. 1.2 GHz Dual-Core Processor
The Galaxy S 2 is powered by the
blazing fast 1.2GHz dual-core Exynos chipset. The Galaxy S 2 can do things that single-cored devices only wish they could do: full 1080p HD video recording and playback, 60+FPS of 3D gaming (as seen below). With up to five times the processing power of traditional single core processors, the Galaxy S 2 brings a full multimedia experience to the palm of your hand.
The Mighty Exynos CPU and Mali GPU
9-2. 21Mbps HSPA+ Radio
Compared to existing 3G network speeds, the Galaxy S 2’s HSPA+ radio will allow up to triple the speed with 21Mbps download speeds. Take a look at our
speed test comparison between AT&T 3G, 4G and Verizon 4G LTE.
9-3. NFC (Near Field Communication) Chip
NFC is an ultra low friction, wireless communication technology that allows the phone to communicate with anything with an NFC tag. What does this mean? Simply put, it allows you to use the Galaxy S 2 as a payment card, transportation pass, and information scanner. Samsung’s Nexus S was the first device to take advantage of this next generation, wireless short-range communication technology.
9-4. 16GB Internal Storage
The Galaxy S 2’s internal SD card can store up 4000 songs (4MB) as well as plenty of HD video.
9-5. Bluetooth and WiFi
The Galaxy S 2 is Bluetooth 3.0 capable running at 23.3Mbps; up to 8 times faster than BT 2.1. The Galaxy S 2 also supports mobile access point functionality allowing users to connect other devices through the hotspot. Using Samsung’s AllShare and Kies Air, users can transmit data between their computers and the Galaxy S 2 as well.
9-6/7. Gyroscope and Accelerometer
The phone’s accelerometer relays information about the device’s orientation allowing it to auto rotate, perform motion based commands and control gaming features.
TouchWiz 4.0 at CTIA
10. High-Capacity Battery
Compared to the original Galaxy S, the Galaxy S 2’s battery capacity has been increased by 10% from 1500mAh to 1650mAh. Always had your phone die out right as you needed it most? Well now you get 10% more time so stop complaining! Check out our
how to extend battery life article.
Wireless TV on your phone complements of the DMB antenna
11. DMB Antenna
The DMB antenna allows users who are in a DMB enabled region to watch television through their phone. Unfortunately we won’t be getting this feature due to the absence of such an infrastructure in the U.S.
The chips that run the imaging, proximity and ambient light sensors
12. 8MP Camera and Image Sensor
The rear-facing camera on the back of the Galaxy S 2 is a huge improvement over the previous Galaxy S version. The new Camera unit is capable of full 1080p HD video capture and photography, and features a 100 lux LED flash.
13. Front Facing Camera and Proximity Sensor
The front of the Galaxy S 2 sports a 2MP front-facing camera as well as proximity and light sensors. The proximity sensor detects when the user brings their face to the phone and automatically turns off the screen and the ambient light sensor detects varying light levels and dynamically changes screen brightness saving precious battery life.
MicroSD Card and Home Key controller
14. External MicroSD Card
Add another 32GB of memory and bring your grand total up to 48GB with a high capacity MicroSD card.
15. Home Key
The Galaxy S 2 takes from its ancestor the same physical home key button. Although according to a
recent leak, it looks like the U.S. variants will have 4 capacitive buttons found on the
Samsung Infuse 4G.
Dual mics: one for your voice, one to cancel out others’
16. Microphone Module
The Galaxy S 2 is loaded with 2 mics, one for your voice and the other to cancel out ambient noise for better call quality. The microusb controller is also attached to the main mic board.
17. Vibration Motor
The 3.5mm headphone jack as well as vibration motor are both nestled together.
No, that’s not a miniature barbecue grill
18. Antenna and Speaker
The Galaxy S 2 is a quadband (GSM 1900/1800/900/850) phone and is capable of working on AT&T and T-Mobile if bough unlocked in the U.S. The speaker panel is located in the small chin at the bottom of the phone just like on the Infuse.
