Just a quick questions as I havn't used an android phone before.

I can upgrade and am deciding between the Samsung Galaxy S2 and the HTC Sensation.

They boh run Android v2.3.

Does that mean both phones will have identical apps available for download from the android app store?

Or are some apps only available for certain android phones?

thanks

Apps will be identical as they're universal with all Android phones, unless the Android version is too old to run it - a rare occurrence, I believe. Seeing as both of these have the second very latest version (at launch), there'll be no problems

thanks for the response, that is what I was hoping to hear

I'm on t-mobile so guess I've just got to wait a few weeks now for them to become available. Will probably go with whichever they offer me on upgrade for the cheapest, since both phones are basically equal (the samsung probably has the edge specs wise. But i prefer the look of the aluminium body of the htc!)

Apparently a lot of games that are on Android market aren't working properly on the SGS2. I don't know if that's down to the hardware or Gingerbread.

That isn't strictly true.

Android apps aren't necessarily "universal". The developer needs to include support for the various screen resolutions (and with an increasing number of resolutions, they don't always do that), games with 3D graphics might require a particular version of Open GL. New phones should be fine, but older phone and low-end devices might not. Older apps might not have been updated to support Gingerbread (2.3) yet, so if you want to make sure before downloading, check the individual apps on http://market.android.com and look at the OS version number on the right hand side. It'll tell you what works with 2.3.

The good news for the OP is that both the suggested devices are WVGA screens, which are pretty common, and they're pretty powerful so should run most things you throw at them apart from apps that need to be updated yet.

Thanks. The both actually have different screen resolutions:

HTC Sansation - qHD (960x540)
SGS2 - WVGA (800x480)

WVGA is the more common resolution at the moment.

Does that mean that the apps that support WVGA (but not yet qHD) will not work on the Sensation?
Or will the app work but just stretch the resolution to fill the qHD screen on the HTC?

Thanks

EDIT: Found this:
http://androidforums.com/samsung-gal...ml#post2675575
"when I had my Atrix (qHD, though Pentile), the fonts/icons/etc., were a little off, I believe because of the different aspect ratio. I'd say right now, the "standard" Android resolution (800x480) is a better overall experience."

and also a bit further down in the same thread:
http://androidforums.com/samsung-gal...ml#post2679261
"Also just a personal opinion, with qHD, apps are going to be streched and look very ugly. (OF COURSE, they will be updated, but how long will it take? I'm still getting updates on my iPod Touch saying..."now retina ready""

Sorry, yet, got confused there on the HTC phone. The 960x540 resolution is newer and less used so far, so you might find more apps that don't work with it, but if the phone is a big success (pretty likely), then developers are more likely to support it.