Perhaps the (possibly) imminent Samsung Galaxy S2 HD might also be a consideration. Bit of over-saturation with the Galaxy branding, but might bridge a teeny gap until the S3 makes its debut.

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-...debut--1055303

The Nexus seems to be in limited supply at the moment so what about the S2 with Ice Cream Sandwich? Does that sway opinion decisively to the S2 and when might ICS be available to the S2 on Orange...? See, that's another thing I could do without.....waiting for the operators to add their 'bloatware' to new firmwares and hence delaying rollout....

This complicates things....

well you can always flash it yourself....Nexus still has NFC and higher res screen though. But no card slot. No clear winner.

^^ This ^^

There is no best phone out there. People want different things from their phones.

Go out and handle/play with an S2 and a Nexus and see which one feels best

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If its going to have a Quad core - they better sort out the battery life first.

More powerful processor = more juice and the S2 already has a average battery life and a core/phone body that gets hot already when maxed out.

+


The phone in the pic isn't the S3 - it was a mockup S2 for a presentation on remote controlling a samsung camera with a superimposed screen.

... and more megapixels doesnt always mean better pictures .... its mostly just a 'bragging rights' thing.

Phones are just in an 'arms race' over specs at the moment. Until battery tech manages to catch up its all failry pointless. There arent many apps out there that need quad core !

Whatever you choose will only be 'top dog' for a matter of weeks or months. Thats why I chose the Nexus - at least it will have direct updates from Google for a year or two.

I dough I would be able to afford the S3 in April unless its on a £20 a month contract
But this might mean the S2 should be much cheaper I hope.

I had to make this decision too... Went for the s2 cos its marginally better and cheaper, I love it!

Some of the other posts on his twitter feed mentioned battery tweaks as well - screen grab of tweets HERE

I was under the impression that more cores = better battery consumption. Some of the quad cores being developed have a fifth low-power core that handles the "when idle" activities - saving even more power.

i think this is partly true ... but is reliant on Devs changing apps to make use of any potential efficiencies.

Of course if the cores are clocked at higher speeds anyway then i guess its irrelevant.

To note:

The S2 uses 3 sub-pixels per pixel while the Nexus only uses 2 sub pixels per pixel so the actual sub-pixels per inch is simular.

The main difference being that the Nexus has a higher resolution but the colours and clarity of the screen are worse.

Taking that into account I would say the screens are on par, with my personal preference being the S2.

A good review - http://www.anandtech.com/show/5310/s...andwich-review

Decided on the S2 and can't wait for the S3 which will probably be out of my budget anyway. Therefore can anyone recommend an 18 month contract minimum 300 mins / 500 text / 500MB data and max £26/month? Handset preferably free however will pay a small amount on 18 months only. Cheers.

PS Does anyone know when ICS will arrive on the S2 for Orange?

expected in next month or two. Longer if orange do their own.

Nexus has a much higher resolution (ignore all the sub-pixels talk). Try opening a webpage on both and see how you can read text thats a lot smaller on the Nexus. it does make for a big difference with web browsing !

as for colours .... yes the S2 probably edges it but is often accused of being over-saturated (unless tweaked) but 'clarity' surely has to be to the Nexus !

of course the rumoured S3 will trump them both if/when it comes out !

The sub-pixels can matter zero on text.

Size of course does make for less squinting and less zooming.

As an S2 owner, would definitely recommend it over the Nexus.

The fact that the S2 has a better camera (8mp > 5mp), an expandable memory (an absolute must have), is much lighter, will upgrade to ICS, same processing power (which will probably run the S2 better without affording extra grunt to drive the better screen resolution on the Nexus ), and that it has a radio built-in means I would take the S2 over the Nexus any day.

Really can't see the positives in the Nexus, other than the bigger / possibly better screen (still largely subjective ).

Having seen both screen I far prefer the S2, I guess it's rather subjective.

To be fair the Nexus isnt really aimed at 'mass market' ... its more of a developers phone. Great screen, better GPS (barometer) and regular software updates (ie no waiting for phone manufacturers AND network operators to add their bloatware first). Also the only phone so far with no physical buttons - ideal for ICS. Zero shutter lag camera is fantastic too. NFC too ..... it really has all the gizmos a developer would need for software tweaking or app building.

The S2 doesnt have the best screen around, nor the most mpixel camera, or the fastest chip, of the most memory. nor is it the slimmest, lightest or toughest phone about. It is however a very good 'bundle' - particularly at the low prices you can get it for now. It also seems to now have an almost iphone-esque fanboy base around it

but like i say, there isnt a 'best' phone .... only a phone that 'best suits' you.....

With the S3 coming out within months the whole ballpark might change anyway ..... one thing with the Nexus is that it will definitely be getting a Jellbean update and probably whatever they think of for 'k'

Picked up an S2 on Friday and so far very pleased. It even fits my car holder and charger. The joy of loading all those apps I couldn't fit into the Desire. That said the Orange bloatware, as expected, is getting on my nerves still.

Trying to work my way through the subtle differences to my Desire, eg favourite contacts list, calendar / agenda.....

Does anyone have a link to a website that will show me how to get the most out of it...?

Oh, I believe it has NFC too as there is an N at the top of the screen. Any idea what that will be used with outside the major cities / transport hubs?

Two excellent sources of information......
SGS2 Forum
SGS2 guide. Android forums

Cheers