The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket ($149.99) is a big slab of Android, but with a twist: It's one of the first two smartphones to support AT&T's brand new 4G LTE network, the other being the HTC Vivid ($99.99, 4 stars). We're giving the Editors' Choice nod to the Skyrocket, thanks to its faster performance, lightweight design, and vibrant (if not as high resolution) screen, but the Vivid is also a very powerful smartphone?you can't go wrong with either one.
Design, Screen, and Call Quality
The Skyrocket looks a lot like the Galaxy S II ($99.99, 4.5 stars). It features?a matte, slightly textured back panel,?black glossy plastic sides. It measures 5.15 by 2.75 by 0.37 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.65 ounces. At least, that's what Samsung and AT&T both claim. But if you lay the Skyrocket flat on a table and place a ruler next to it like I did, you'll find it's actually about 0.42 inches deep. It sticks up noticeably higher than an iPhone 4 I had nearby (which rings in exactly at its quoted 0.37 inch figure). The Skyrocket is still thinner than other LTE devices we've tested, though, and it's certainly lighter in weight.
The massive 4.5-inch, 480-by-800-pixel, Super AMOLED Plus display is as vibrant and colorful as on other Samsung phones; it's also two tenths of an inch larger than the Galaxy S II's display. But at this screen size, I'd like to see more pixel density. On the plus side, you can read it outdoors, which was a problem with earlier AMOLED panels, and the gorgeous color and deep blacks really stand out.?On a screen this size, you get big keys, so typing on the on-screen keyboard isn't a problem in either portrait or landscape mode.
The Skyrocket is a quad-band EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), tri-band HSPA+ (850/1900/2100 MHz), and dual-band LTE (700/1700 MHz) device. It also has 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi; it connected to my own WPA2-encrypted network without issue.
There's no getting around it: LTE is fast. In a series of tests in and around Boston, MA, I saw data speeds ranging from 16Mbps to 25Mbps down, and 12Mbps up. Be aware that AT&T is still building out its LTE network; currently, it's only available in nine cities in the U.S. When not in an LTE area, the Skyrocket is rated as an HSPA+ 21 device; the Vivid is just HSPA+ 14.4. However, I saw roughly the same real-world HSPA+ speeds with both the Vivid and the Skyrocket, averaging up to 8Mbps down.
The Skyrocket is also a good voice phone. Callers sounded warm and clear through the earpiece, with no background hiss. The only flaw I heard was a faint wash of static around some syllables, but I had to strain to hear it in a very quiet room. Transmissions through the microphone were clear. Calls also sounded fine through a Jawbone Era Bluetooth headset ($129, 4 stars). There's no voice dialing of any kind, which is a bizarre omission on a top-of-the-line smartphone. The speakerphone went quite loud, but distorted considerably at several of the higher volume settings; you won't want to use it for long conference calls. Battery life was good at 6 hours and 47 minutes of talk time.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/PIihBfnmFNU/0,2817,2396096,00.asp
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