Photo: Samsung

The Samsung Galaxy SII smartphone unveiled at the MWC 2011 was easily the biggest show stopper in terms of design and hardware performance. Now we have prices, and release date info for the heavyweight Samsung mobile as UK retailers make it available for pre-order.

Galaxy S a success

There were many mobile phone success stories of 2010, but few surpass the success of the Samsung Galaxy S. Indeed, aside from the iPhone 4, it was the most successful phone of the year. In the Korean market it actually outsold its Apple rival (which isn’t a big surprise given homefield advantage) but the Samsung handset also managed to sell over 10 million units worldwide – an incredible feat for any non-iPhone smartphone. Capitalising on the success of the original, Samsung debuted a successor so packed with high-end features that could set the new mobile standard.

Galaxy SII features

The Samsung Galaxy SII i9100 first of all includes a dual-core 1GHz processor and a larger, high resolution 4.27 inch super AMOLED touch screen (which supposedly uses less power as well). As if that weren’t enough, the high-end Samsung smartphone somehow manages a super slim design, with a thinner than iPhone 4 thickness of only 8.49mm and lighter weight too. These impressive features are then topped off by an 8 megapixel camera, face recognition front-facing camera, NFC, Android Gingerbread OS and full HD video recording. In short, the Galaxy SII is every bit a super phone that puts most of its rivals to shame, on paper anyway.

Likely price

Part of the reason for the original Galaxy S’s popularity was its relatively low price, but it looks like the performance packed SII isn’t following in the same footsteps. With rumoured UK prices starting at at least £612 for the 16GB version and upwards, the Samsung Galaxy S2 is significantly pricier than other handsets revealed at the MWC, such as the Optimus 3D or HTC Incredible S. There’s been some discrepancy regarding the price, with Clove saying the 16GB version will be going for £510 (but £612 with VAT) and Expansys listing the same model for £630. Meanwhile, a Swiss retailer is listing the 16GB Samsung mobile for much lower at 699 CHF or about £470. We expect to see the lowest storage capacity phone retailing for at least £600 in the UK, while the 32GB and 64GB versions will be going for substantially more.

Photo: Samsung

Probable UK launch dates

Then there’s also no real consensus regarding the Samsung Galaxy S2 release date. Expansys are very specific and say June 20th, Clove UK mention mid-March, but then only commit to Q2 2011, and the Swiss retailer says around late May. So hopefully we’ll see the Samsung Gingerbread phone by June at the latest, at which point it will probably have an iPhone 5 rival to contend with as well.

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