Samsung Galaxy S II vs. Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Samsung's Galaxy S II is one of the most popular Android phones on the market. But can it be topped by the new Galaxy Nexus? Let's find out!

• Samsung Galaxy Nexus review
• Samsung Galaxy S II review
• Galaxy Nexus vs. iPhone 4S

In our review of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, we described it as the best Android phone ever. But does that mean you should automatically buy it instead of the Galaxy S II? Not necessarily. Let's see how these two powerhouse Android phones stack up, and find out which one is right for you.

Galaxy Nexus vs. Samsung Galaxy S II: Specifications

Galaxy Nexus vs. Samsung Galaxy S II: Display

The Galaxy Nexus has a strikingly large 4.65in Super AMOLED HD display — one of the biggest screens currently available on the market. The HD points to a high definition resolution of 1280x720; the Galaxy Nexus displays an ultra sharp and crisp image. The screen is bright, vivid and clear and text is crisp and smooth with minimal visible aberrations. The large size of the screen makes the Galaxy Nexus great for video playback but the best benefit of the screen is the experience it creates when reading and Web browsing. Our only complaint is that the automatic brightness setting is often erratic: this should be fixed with a future software update.

The Samsung Galaxy S II on the other hand has a slightly smaller 4.3in Super AMOLED display with a standard resolution of 480x800. The screen is excellent and it's just as bright and vibrant as many other screens on the market. Don't be fooled by the smaller size either: although it's slightly smaller in diameter than the Galaxy Nexus, the Galaxy S II has capacitive buttons below the display, and not on-screen buttons like the Nexus. This means the screen is almost the same size as the Galaxy Nexus and certainly more than large enough for most phone tasks. However, the Galaxy S II's smaller resolution means text appears much crisper on the Galaxy Nexus.

Verdict: There is nothing wrong with the Samsung Galaxy S II's screen, but we have to award the win here to the Galaxy Nexus. The HD resolution makes text crisper than ever, so reading and Web browsing is top notch. It's the best display we've seen on any Android phone.

Next page: Design, software, camera and more

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