Samsung Galaxy S II Plus I9105 - Specification & Review

Also available as Samsung I9105P Galaxy S II Plus with NFC.

SPECIFICATIONS & FEATURES

Manufacture: Samsung

O.S: Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean)

Type: Single SIM/ Dual Sim , Smartphone

Announced: Jan, 2013

Status: Available. Released 2013, February

Dimensions: 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm

Weight: 121 g

Main Display: 480 x 800 pixels, 4.3 inches (~217 ppi pixel density)

Chipset: Broadcom BC28155

CPU: Dual-core 1.2 GHz processor

GPU: Broadcomm VideoCore IV

In-Built Storage: 8 GB Storage

Card Slot: microSD, up to 64 GB

RAM: 1 GB

Primary Camera: 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash

Secondary Camera: Yes, 2 MP, 720p@30fps

Battery: Li-Ion 1650 mAh battery

Price Category: Rs 20,000 - 30,000

Samsung Galaxy S II Plus I9105 is released, Samsung has been Steadily Setting the bar ever higher with each flagship released, and the massive Success of the Samsung Galaxy S III and its Predecessor, the S II, have Catapulted it to the top of the smartphone food chain. And, as is expected in the aftermath of such success, the Koreans are looking to Capitalize on the name put up by their top models. Enter the Samsung Galaxy S II Plus. 

It has been nearly two years since the Samsung Galaxy S II was announced in Barcelona during the Mobile World Congress. Since then the company has launched. The Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus comes with minor changes internally but retains its predecessor’s design and shape. In fact, putting these two phones side-by-side with the screen off, it’s almost impossible to tell them apart. At the moment, the phone is not available in India, but is expected to be launched in the first half of the year. We haven’t got any hands-on time with the phone, but we can run you through the specifications in detail. 

OS – Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz UI 5.0 

Samsung has not officially Rebranded TouchWiz 5.0 as Nature UX, but the Galaxy S2 Plus does have the same UI as in the new  Samsung Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 (except for the S-Pen UI, of course). Nevertheless, we have seen that the new TouchWiz sheds some of the sluggishness that its previous iterations carried and the fact that Jelly Bean is on board should translate to very smooth UI navigation. The usual TouchWiz 5.0 goodies such as Popup Play, Smart Alerts, Smart Stay and Smart Call are present.

Broadcom BCM28155 dual core processor

We can’t help but wonder if Samsung had some impending agreement with Broadcom for their BCM28155 chips. The Galaxy Grand has it and so does this one. Its two cores are clocked at 1.2GHz each and it has a Broadcom VideoCore IV GPU. The Galaxy S had Samsung’s homegrown Exynos dual-core processor and a Mali-400 GPU which was quite amazing for its time. The new processor is expected to bring better power efficiency and of course, is very economical for all parties involved. We are hoping Samsung’s savings here are reflected in the eventual price tag.

Storage

Samsung has halved the minimum storage in the Galaxy S2 Plus from its predecessor. It comes with 8GB of internal storage with an option to expand using microSD cards up to 64GB. Again, this should ideally result in savings for the end customer.

Primary camera – 8 megapixels with LED flash

This is perhaps the same sensor as the one used in Galaxy S2. For its time, it was a mighty camera, but things have changed a lot in the ensuing two years. It would be a miracle if it can in fact stand up to the camera on the Galaxy S3, but it is capable of shooting photos at a maximum resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels. The LED flash should help in low-lighting conditions. It has features such as face and smile detection, image stabilisation, touch focus, continuous shot, panorama mode, smile shot and can snap photos during video recording at 720p resolution. 

The bottom line

Without having the handset or any proper indication of its price, it is hard to say whether or not the Galaxy S2 Plus is wholly recommendable. But if Samsung does price it between Rs 15,000 and 17,000, then they could have a winner on their hands. At that range, it would be competing with the likes of the Sony Xperia U and HTC One V, both decent phones in their own right. But the S2 Plus has a better camera and the screen is terrific (albeit in a 2011 way). Maybe the processor could have been different and more powerful to justify the ‘Plus’ tag. All we can say at the moment is this is one phone to watch out for.