Form Factor
Samsung Galaxy S II – 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm
Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket – 129.8 x 68.8 x 9.5 mm
There is small variation in both the devices as there is difference in the display screen size. Galaxy S II stands at 9.5 mm thickness where Galaxy S II is lighter at 8.5 form factor.
Processor
Samsung Galaxy S II – Dual Core 1.2 GHz processor
Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket – Dual core 1.5 GHz processor
Galaxy S II normal version has 1.2 GHz dual core ARM Cortex A9 processor with Samsung’s Exynos 4210 chip. Along with that it uses Mali 400 MP graphical acceleration unit by ARM. The same specification has been used in Galaxy S II Skyrocket but it’s clocked at higher speed of 1.5 GHz. That allows it to take the cutting edge on the normal version.
Winner: Galaxy S II Skyrocket
Operating System
Samsung Galaxy S II – Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread
Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket – Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread
The Samsung Galaxy S II ships with the Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread OS and the Galaxy S II Skyrocket comes with the 2.3.4 Gingerbread. There is no much difference in between Gingerbread 2.3.3 and 2.3.4 version of it so that we can discuss much here, except it has some minor improvements & fixes bugs over the earlier versions. Discussing about the Ice Cream Sandwich update of Android, the Galaxy S II along with the Galaxy Note are the devices which will get the Android 4.0 update first.
Display Screen
Samsung Galaxy S II – 4.3 inches Super AMOLED Plus display
Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket – 4.5 inches Super AMOLED Plus display
This is the second major difference in the Galaxy S II Skyrocket than the normal one as Skyrocket has 4.5 inches Super AMOLED Plus display and Galaxy S II has 4.3 inches display. Galaxy phones from Samsung with Super AMOLED Plus display presents the best screen with brighter screens, lesser reflection and reduced power consumption. Apart from that both the mobile phones have 800 x 480 pixels resolutions, comes with Gorilla Glass display, multi touch input method and various sensors like accelerometer, proximity and Gyroscope. As usual the TouchWiz user interface of Samsung in also there.
Its left to the users whether they go with 4.5 inches or 4.3 inches as the size matters.
Camera
Samsung Galaxy S II – 8 mega pixel camera with autofocus & Led flash + 2 mega pixel
Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket – 8 mega pixel camera with autofocus & Led flash + 2 mega pixel
The Skyrocket edition maintains the same specifications when it comes to camera with 8 mega pixel back illuminated camera with LED flash and autofocus. It also includes as fixed focus front facing camera of 2 mega pixel used for video calling and taking pictures in general. The video recording at 1080p HD at 30 fps is really possible and Galaxy S II has the best camera among the Samsung smartphones.
Battery
Samsung Galaxy S II – Li-ion 1650 mAh battery
Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket – Li-ion 1850 mAh battery
Yes, there is also difference in the battery specifications of Galaxy S II in comparison withGalaxy S II Skyrocket. As we have gone through the S II Skyrocket display is of 4.5 inches and also supports 4G LTE, probably higher battery specifications is to meet up the power requirement of the larger screen so as it offers up to 8 hours of talk time.
Memory
Samsung Galaxy S II – 16 GB / 32 GB internal storage, microSD card supporting 32 GB
Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket –16 GB storage, microSD card supporting 32 GB
The original Galaxy S II is available in two variants of 16 GB internal storage and 32 GB internal storage. The modified Skyrocket version comes with 16 GB internal memory and both the phones have the option of expanding the memory using the microSD card slot expandable up to 32 GB in size. Both the phones have 1 GB of dedicated RAM.
Winner: Galaxy S II wins because of two variants availability.
Network & Speed
The Samsung Galaxy S II I9100 original as announced is shipped with 3G HSDPA connectivity and the latest variant of S II Skyrocket adds 4G LTE speed which will allows users to download the data of 10 megabits in a second and uploading speed of 2 to 5 mbps. That is some serious improvements in the speed of how data transfers but the 4G LTE from AT & T is only available in the region like Boston, Washington DC, Athens Georgia and Baltimore. So that limitation would be the key aspect as users from other states and cities in United States has no reason to go with Skyrocket variant unless are ready to go with 4.5 inches display and faster processor.
Connectivity
The Galaxy S II is among that early Android mobile phone which comes with the native support of near field communication, so called NFC technology. Both the mobile versions compared here have NFC and includes Mobile High definition Link through HDMI and micro USB connectivity options.
Both the phones comes with 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 for wireless file transfer and newly introduced Wi-Fi direct can share a song of 5 MB without any processing speed (less than a second). So when it comes to connectivity comparison of both the phones there is no difference at all.
User Interface
Both the phones come with the Samsung TouchWiz 4.0 user interface which adds serious improvements in the field of hardware acceleration. The Gyroscope and accelerometer used within this device adds the gesture functional work both in the browser and in the gallery. There are also improvements in the widget drawer and the layout of the widgets.
The user interface on both the phones remains same and there is no difference.
Price
The Galaxy S II Skyrocket on the AT & T network is priced at $ 249.99 in contract of two years where as Galaxy S II normal edition is available at price of $ 199.99 in United States.
The Verdict
Well, if you are in United States and if you are the city or state where the 4G network for AT & T is expected soon, then there is no reason why you shouldn’t go with Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket but in other cases its recommended that you go with the Galaxy S II normal edition since you would be able to receive official updates quite sooner and many other advantages.
