Terrific phone for half the price of the latest and greatest!

I bought this phone inteending to use it on the Straight Talk Bring Your Own Phone network, but wanted to ability to switch to T-Mobile if I found the AT&T data network to be slower than acceptable. So far however, I have no issues with the AT&T Straight Talk BYOP SIM. Time will tell.

Back to the phone itself- this is last year's high end Samsung phone. But don't let that fool you. It's still a very powerful phone, and, being the AT&T version of the Galaxy S2, it's possible to upgrade it's OS from the shipped 2.3.6 (Gingerbread) to 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Prior to activating the phone, I played around with the installed 2.3.6, and found it to be just fine for most people's use. I, being a tech geek, went ahead and used the Samsung Kies PC program to perform the upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich. That's just because I like having the latest and greatest (haven't rooted to get to Jelly Bean yet, and don't know if I will or not). The interface has changed with the update, but not enough to put a less techy user off if they're already familiar with the original Gingerbread OS. There are a few new features, but the old stuff pretty much all works too.

Regardless of OS, the dual core phone is speedy enough on everything I've thrown at it so far. It is 4G (NOT LTE though) capable, over AT&T's HSPA+. Mine actually locks in on this right in my house, and downloads are quick enough, though I suppose if I were to compare web page load times between the SII's '4G' and the LTE on my iPad 3, I'd see a significant difference. That's not a big deal to me- the phone downloads data, apps, and streams more than quickly enough for the minimal amount of time I'm likely to be using it for such things over the mobile network. I have the iPad for the truly heavy content consumption sessions, where a larger screen is definitely preferable anyway.

I've only had the phone active for just over a day, but voice calls seem fine, with clear voices on both ends (called my wife to test), and no extraneous noise from the phone or surroundings.

It's also a pretty lightweight phone, especially for its size. Granted, my previous phone was a Virgin Mobile Motorola Triumph, roughly the same size, but twice as thick as this S2. The Triumph feels sturdy, mostly because of its weight. This phone also feels sturdy, but is thinner and lighter.

Really great phone - does everything I need and then some - priced right!

First of let me say that I love this phone. The first phone I got was DOA. The seller (Heights Mobile) was very good about having me return the phone and sending out a new one. The return process took about a week.
I am using this with Straight Talk and get excellent reception in the Portland/Vancouver area - the phone says I'm getting 4G data - not sure if I really am. I was able to upgrade the OS from Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich, waiting on Jelly bean. You definitely have charge the phone every night if, like me, you play with it much.

Excellent device, Can't complain, one of best acquisitions in years

This is the device pointing at the future of mobile technology, a portable office, communication center, social networking experience and quality in all features.

Battery life significantly better lasting than the previous model. The capability for customization is amazing.

I can recommend people to buy it!

This is an awesome product, great bang for your buck

i bought this phone because of the amount of storage space,space is important to me i had another version of the samsung phone it had very little space.This phone has lots of features alot of the aps are not applicable to our region.Im also disappointed that this phone does not have FM radio. I love the quality of the pictures the colors are so crisp and vibrant awesome i love it.As with all phones depending on what aps you are using the battery drains quicker especially when using wi-fi and this phone is no exception.I thought i got value for my money,and definitely i would buy another SAMSUNG product. I'll probably purchase the S3 sometime in the future if the price is right.

Best Android SmartPhone next to the Galaxy Note.

This is a phone you got to love and in my opinion much better then Iphone or so far any smart phone other then the Galaxy Note on the market.. This Phone is easy to use for users of any age and offers great features which makes it for some users even easier. It's design is sleek and super light weight. Only con i can find is its battery life when then phone is left in WiFi mode.