Press conference
The MWC kicked off a day early for Samsung. The company held a press event at Palau Sant Jordi hall in Barcelona, introducing the I9100 Galaxy S II smartphone and Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet.
Understandably, given the popularity of the Galaxy S lineup, Samsung tried to focus most of the attention on the I9100 Galaxy S II droid. The slim smartphone packs a huge 4.3” Super AMOLED Plus screen, which should represent a significant update even over the already great Super AMOLED unit on the first Galaxy S.
The Samsung Unpacked event
The speakers went on and on about the Samsung Galaxy S II dual-core processing prowess, powerful GPU and the four hubs that should take the user experience another step forward. Now we are not sure if those hubs will matter that much to potential customers, but we do believe that this will be one of the best smartphones of the year.
Samsung came up with an innovative way of illustrating the Galaxy S II functionality. They told the story of four imaginary users and how the Galaxy S II helps make their lives better. You can check out that part of the presentation in the video below.
The Galaxy Tab 10.1 announcement came with less fanfare, but make no mistake – the tablet is one of the most capable in its class. You get Android 3.0 Honeycomb and Tegra 2 on the inside and a 10.9mm thin shell, weighing a mere 600g on the outside.
The Galaxy Tab 10.1 announcement
Once the press conference was over we got the chance to spend some quality time with the two Android devices.
Join us after the break for live photos of the Galaxy S II and Galaxy Tab 10.1 garnished with our first impressions.
Samsung Galaxy S II
The new Galaxy S II is quite a looker actually. It’s extremely thin at just 8.49mm (probably the thinnest smartphone around) and very light at 116g. It feels really elegant and you just can’t get over how thin it really is.
Samsung Galaxy S II live photos
The display is the first Super AMOLED Plus we see on a device. It supports 16 million colors and features a WVGA resolution. You can check it out for yourselves in the pictures below.
The Super AMOLED Plus display of the Samsung Galaxy S II in action
Putting the new Galaxy S II against its predecessor it really doesn’t look so big. It's certainly has a better build and the more sparing use of plain shiny plastic makes it look more sophisticated. The new industrial looking back panel provides a great grip (much as the Galaxy Ace) and its texture is really pleasant to touch.
The back of the Samsung Galaxy S II • The Samsung Galaxy S II compared to its predecessor
The Galaxy S II features what is known internally as Orion 1GHz dual-core processor. We guess it will be called Exynos from now on.
The amount of RAM is confirmed to be 1GB, which puts the Galaxy S II right next to the Motorola Atrix and way ahead of the LG Optimus 2X.
There's 1GB of RAM on board
The Galaxy S II features an 8 megapixel camera on its back. It can record video all the way up to 1080p and this time round it even has an LED flash. Strangely, in 1080p mode it's a bit zoomy much like the iPhone 4. The field of view in this mode is narrower than in the still picture mode. The 720p video mode doesn't have this issue.
The 8MP snapper on the back of the Samsung Galaxy S II
The new Super AMOLED Plus display is quoted to have an improved response time, reportedly beating LCD IPS technology. The should also reduce power consumption by 18%.
The screen's more efficient now so there's no extra stress for the battery
Super AMOLED Plus also comes with a Real Stripe matrix. Theoretically, this means images may be a wee bit sharper looking, though at first glance you won’t see the difference between the regular Super AMOLED and the Plus one. The Pentile matrix of the previous gen SAMOLED screens was the main cause for some overly geeky criticism.
We put together a short video, demonstrating the Galaxy S II user interface. It features the new homescreen widgets, the redesigned camera interface and a quick peak at the Galaxy S II flawless video playback.
Camera and video samples
Update: We got another Galaxy S II unit in better lighting and did some proper samples with it. You will find several new images and a couple of really impressive FullHD samples on the next page.
We now have a few samples, captured with the Samsung Galaxy S II 8 megapixel snapper for you. Chances are we won’t be winning many photo contests with those, but it’s the best we could do in such short time. We’ll update those once we get hold of a Galaxy S II unit in better lighting conditions.
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II camera sample photos
And here goes a 1080p full HD video for you to feast your eyes on. Just don't forget to click that full HD button!
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II camera and video samples
We were able to get a Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II unit and take it outside to do some proper shooting. We’ve got some nice camera samples and, most exciting of all, two FullHD videos captured with the new Samsung flagship.
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II camera samples
The photos are have about as good per-pixel quality as the first Galaxy S, which is a pretty good achievement considering the 3 added megapixels. This means that when you downsize your images or print them out you achieve better results as there’s more resolution available.
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II camera samples
But the really impressive part is the Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II video recording. Buttery smooth and with excellent colors, those high-res videos look really impressive. Plus we are only using a pre-release unit here so they might be even better when the smartphone hits the shelves.
Live photos
We also used to occassion to do another batch of live photos of the impressively slim Gingerbread smartphone. The device really is a joy to handle as long as you don't mind the screen size.
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II live photos
The new display makes way more of a difference with its size than its new technology. Sharpness is indeed slightly improved, but that's barely noticeable. However an AMOLED stretching over 4.3 inches is a joy to behold.
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II live photos
Of course the reduced thickness of the Super AMOLED Plus has certainly helped Samsung make the Galaxy S II so slim and the even better power efficiency is great news to all power users.
Before we parted ways with the Samsung Galaxy S II we decided to do another UI demo video for you. You can check out some of the new widgets and the generally very good responsiveness of the smartphone even at those early stages of its development.
Also, towards the end of the video you can easily notice how the viewfinder zooms in when you switch to 1080p video mode. There're no such issues with 720p video recording, though.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 first look
The new Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a bigger screen with a greater resolution of 1280x800. The battery’s bigger too, at 6850 mAh, instead of 4000.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Android 3.0 Honeycomb comes preinstalled and the UI really looks more mature.
Stereo speakers on the new tablet are a clear sign this bad boy has multimedia pedigree, written all over it.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 sides
The Galaxy Tab 10.1 has really been upgraded in the imaging department as well. It features an 8 megapixel camera on the back and 2 megapixel camera on the front of the tab. The one on the backside has HD video capabilities.
Unfortunately, the Tab 10.1 is not capable of making phone calls, despite the fact that it has a SIM card slot. It's used for 3G data connection only. The Tab 10.1 can be used to handle calls from your phone via Bluetooth, though - just like a hands-free kit.
Rumors have it that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is powered by a Tegra 2 platform. At 10.9mm thickness, it's really thin and its weight is reasonable at 599g weight (the iPad Wi-Fi+3G weighs 730 g as a comparison).
The second encounter
We also managed to get a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 from the Samsung booth at the MWC so we could spend some extra time with it. That second encounter allowed us to give you another portion of live images, a video demo of the UI and some camera samples.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 at the MWC
The Galaxy Tab 10.1 might be more than 100 lighter than the iPad but it's still pretty hard to hold it with one hand. Using tablets that big is way more comfortable when you place them on a table.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 at the MWC
The build quality of the slate seems great and the feel of the backplate is just great.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 at the MWC
And here's a brief walkaround of the new Android 3.0 Honeycomb platform. We have to remind you that we are still dealing with an early prototype so some bugs and freezes are to be expected.
Samsung S5780 Wave 578
With the Wave 578 Bada OS enters the NFC playing field (NFC is optional so not all Wave 578 phones will support it). The compact phone packs some serious telephony gear - HD Voice and a secondary camera for video calls. The Samsung Wave 578 features SNS integration in the phone book, a document viewer and T9 Trace text input (a Swype competitor).
Samsung S5780 Wave 578
Bada OS 2.0 hands-on
Bada OS 2.0 is another new thing to come out of the MWC this year. Here it is, running on a Wave II. By the way, in our blog we have two detailed articles about the new features of Bada 2.0 and its cool services.
The software is still pretty beta and many things don't work (e.g. widgets, camera) and what does work is laggy. There's still plenty of work to be done before it's ready for prime time.
Samsung Galaxy Gio S5660
The Samsung Galaxy Gio S5660 is a compact droid (110.5 x 57.5 x 12.2 mm) with a 3.2" HVGA screen. It's powered by an 800MHz processor running Android 2.2 Froyo, plus Samsung's TouchWiz 3.0 custom UI.
The Galaxy Gio features DNSe sound enhancement, SNS integration, Swype preinstalled and a 2GB microSD card in the box.
Samsung Galaxy Gio S5660
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