HTC Desire S or Samsung Galaxy S2?

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HTC Desire S or Samsung Galaxy S2?

36 posts & 14 voices | Started 1 year ago by clubber | Latest reply from Cougar

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clubber - Member

I have a choice of two phones - HTC Desire S or Samsung Galaxy S2.

Easy choice really - the Galaxy S2 is a much better phone - except that the Desire S would be free except for having to pay for personal calls (which I don't spend loads on). If I want the Galaxy S2, I'll have to pay the contract: 12 months@£30 per month or 24 months@£18 per month plus £6ish per month insurance

So, is the Galaxy S2 that much better? I currently use my iPhone 3GS for a lot of browsing, email, bike ride logging, games, etc. My sensible hat is saying that the Desire S will do all of this fine and in some cases better (eg camera, flash on websites, etc) but the temptation's still there for the Galaxy S2 which just looks brilliant...

Posted 1 year ago #
Cougar - Member

Better hardware now, maybe. But by the end of your contract the Desire S will be running Android Jello or whatever whlist the Galaxy community will be getting all excited that Gingerbread might be imminent. Mark my words.

Posted 1 year ago #
Cougar - Member

Also,

Insurance? Wut?

Posted 1 year ago #
bikebouy - Member

Galaxy S2, I've just changed from the GS1 and the new version is sooooo much better, faster and it has a flash on a much better camera too..
No brainer.

Posted 1 year ago #
carlosg - Member

2 weeks in and love my S2 , although it is my 1st smartphone so it's bound to be better than my previous phones.

it don't half eat the battery though , maybe I'm surfing/playing games too much on it

Posted 1 year ago #
clubber - Member

So, Cougar, you're suggesting that HTC are good at releasing new versions of Android while Samsung aren't?

I hope so, because getting the Desire S is what I went for. The GS2 is great but it'd cost me a lot more and I don't think the extra spec will really justify that additional cost.

Posted 1 year ago #
nickname - Member

mate at work just got an s2. gawd that phone/screen is enormous, but beautiful

Posted 1 year ago #
clubber - Member

Indeed it is. It does feel a bit plasticy though which makes me wonder about its longevity especially if being taken cycling, etc.

Posted 1 year ago #
don simon - Member

mate at work just got an s2. gawd that phone/screen is enormous, but beautiful

Told you a couple of months ago the screen was huge, walks off smugly.
Now what do you want to know about the new tablets?

Posted 1 year ago #
clubber - Member

When's a decent cheap one going to be available? Ideally running W7...

Posted 1 year ago #
don simon - Member

What are you calling decent? And cheap for that matter??? The launch of the 10" has been delayed so it could have a bit of the iDave diet and be launched in a new slimmer version, is that decent?

Posted 1 year ago #
clubber - Member

Decent - it'll work fine for the basics - eg browsing, basic file editing, etc - not looking for something to HD video edit, play games on. iPad ish sized responsive screen

Cheap - under £300 - basically, similarish to what I can get a laptop to do the above.

Posted 1 year ago #
don simon - Member

Netbook?

Posted 1 year ago #
robob - Member

htc sensation is out this week...?

Posted 1 year ago #
clubber - Member

Nah, netbook doesn't really fill the niche that a tablet does for me at least.

Posted 1 year ago #
don simon - Member

But you want a tablet to function like a netbook and have the same price as a netbook though?
I'm going through the same process and will probably lump for the 10" Samsung as it will cover my needs nicely.

Posted 1 year ago #
clubber - Member

Basically yes.

Posted 1 year ago #
don simon - Member

Ain't going to happen in the near future.

Posted 1 year ago #
clubber - Member

Thought as much...

Posted 1 year ago #
fazanders - Member

Another vote for the SGS2. Got mine at the weekend and love it. Changed from the HTC Desire which I've had for about 18months and also loved. I just needed a new toy and also wanted more space on a phone for the apps etc. If you go down the route of 'rooting' the phone then it'll open up loads of new options for the phone. The SGS2 has a custom rom out already over at the XDA forums.

Posted 1 year ago #
Flaperon - Member

Recommend the Galaxy S2. Only had mine a week but still intact after the abuse I throw at phones, and the screen is Gorilla Glass so bar diamonds or sand will remain in perfect nick.

The SGS2 is surprisingly tough, and lightning fast.

Posted 1 year ago #
Cougar - Member

So, Cougar, you're suggesting that HTC are good at releasing new versions of Android while Samsung aren't?

That would be my experience.

My first Android phone was a Samsung Galaxy. At the time it was Samsung's flagship phone and on paper it was brilliant. Sadly, off paper it was gash. Samsung made a couple of token efforts to fix the bugs, then gave up. You'd be forgiven for thinking it never existed.

Back when Android 2.1 was current and I was still paying for the phone, but the latest official release for the Galaxy was still 1.5, rendering it ostensibly useless. There were other problems with it too, I might copy my O2 complaint letter here at some point if anyone wants a laugh.

Long story short, O2 agreed to replace it for either a Galaxy S or a Desire. Again, on paper the GS is the better phone. But a quick look at androidforums.com showed a lot of happy people in the Desire subsection and a lot of people complaining about bugs and lack of updates / communication from Samsung over in the GS threads. Same shit, different handset. The Desire was suddently a no-brainer.

They may have sorted their act out by now, in honesty I haven't checked. But my experiences with Samsung and Android was very much "we've got your money, now piss off." Which is annoying because, outside of the mobile phone arena, I always held Samsung in reasonably high regard.

Posted 1 year ago #
Cougar - Member

If anyone's really interested / bored, the 'stick your Galaxy and send me a vaguely functional handset' discussion thread is here. They've added a poll since I last visited; the results speak volumes.

Posted 1 year ago #
fazanders - Member

Not the only person to have heard about Samsung not playing ball with updates etc but that thread is a bit old now and mobiles are moving on soooooo quickly so perhaps bit out of date. Techradarhave got a review of the SGS2 with loads of customer reviews on it too

Posted 1 year ago #
RichPenny - Member

Just to add balance, my HTC Magic was much slower and more clunky after being updated to 2.1. In the future I'll switch off auto OS updates and look into it more before "upgrading". It is a Vodaphone specific model so that might have some relevance but not much I feel. When I upgrade I'll be looking at the Sensation or the S2. Read a few reviews and the S2 seems to be the better regarded phone.

Posted 1 year ago #
Cougar - Member

that thread is a bit old now and mobiles are moving on soooooo quickly so perhaps bit out of date.

This may well be true; I did try and caveat my post by saying as much (rather than "ZOMG SAMSUNG R TEH SHITZORZ"). I really do hope they've sorted their act out, they make some fine hardware but their idea of support was borderline criminal.

Posted 1 year ago #
Cougar - Member

Ok, right on queue, we've just had a phone call at work here.

One of our telephony customers has just called the comms team to ask about a faulty fax machine. The unit's picking up multiple sheets of paper when it's printing out faxes. (So, assuming they're not trying to print onto toilet paper or anything daft, the rubber pinch rollers are worn and need replacing).

The customer's phoned Samsung, who've refused point blank to repair / replace it until the customer has rung us to rule out any faults with the phone line.

*slow hand clap* I swear I'm not making this up.

Posted 1 year ago #
allthepies - Member

Cougar - Member

Better hardware now, maybe. But by the end of your contract the Desire S will be running Android Jello or whatever whlist the Galaxy community will be getting all excited that Gingerbread might be imminent. Mark my words.

Just installed Gingerbread on my Galaxy S (it was released today in UK).

Posted 1 year ago #
Northwind - Member

I can't really compare with the Galaxy, but I just got a Desire S and it's clearly an artifact from the future. Modern phones are crazy. Also it can consistently hammer me at chess.

Posted 1 year ago #
don simon - Member

The customer's phoned Samsung, who've refused point blank to repair / replace it until the customer has rung us to rule out any faults with the phone line.

*slow hand clap* I swear I'm not making this up.

I can't help noticing that you do spend quite a lot of time and energy dissing Samsung. Hidden agenda?
I would also ask the customer to check that it's actually plugged in correctly before ripping it apart unnecessarily.

Posted 1 year ago #
ziggy - Member

I've just got a Sony Ericsson Arc which is awesome.Comes with gingerbread as standard. According to reviews better than the Jesus phone, although Jesus phone users would disagree.

£30 a mth for 18 months with unlimited texts,900 minutes and 500mb of data from Vodafone.

Posted 1 year ago #
Cougar - Member

Hidden agenda?

I think you'll find that my agendas are pretty well publicised.

I've nothing against Samsung at all other than being sold a pup and then abandoned. Last I checked, they hadn't changed their spots with regards to Android. Maybe now they have - I'd love it if that was the case, because they make good hardware. The SGS2 seems to be well received thus far so who knows, time will tell.

Posted 1 year ago #
Cougar - Member

I would also ask the customer to check that it's actually plugged in correctly before ripping it apart unnecessarily.

To fix a faulty pinch roller? Yeah you're right, it's probably just not plugged in properly.

Posted 1 year ago #
Grimy - Member

HTC customer service is AWSOME if you have a problem.

+ they released android 2.3 for my desire hd last week.

Posted 1 year ago #
don simon - Member

To fix a faulty pinch roller? Yeah you're right, it's probably just not plugged in properly.

Sorry, I forgot that the customer is always right...

Posted 1 year ago #