[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket SGH-I727] mrsamo:
I finally made the move to upgrade from my Samsung Omnia HD (2009 - $866 USD) running the ill fated Symbian to my first Android phone, the Skyrocket, and I am loving it.

First some pictures:

Some feedback:

SR

+ The SR is slightly lighter and less hefty compared to the Omnia HD

+ Bigger and brigher screen, particularly from an angle the SR's brightness is very strong

+ Real touchscreen behaviour, Android is the best thing that has ever happened to us mobile/electronic geeks, smooth operating and low lag, highly intuitive

+ Music and video management and playback is years ahead, fast and well organised, anything on Symbian sucks big time.

- Camera is not as good as I hoped it would be, after 3 years you hope that it has improved since then but I find it to be slightly hazy and very grainy during low light shooting. I feel that the virtual shutter button on the screen may have something to do with the hazy look, though the grainy effects is unavoidable without a flash.

- Speakers are not very loud, I've searched through all the reviews and little was mentioned about the speakers. They would be considered "loud enough" in a small room and on a table, but I've tried using it as a portable music player on my car dashboard and it is not as powerful as the Omnia HD. The position of the speakers is at the back of the phone, which doesn't help especially with the phone lying down.

The battery life of the SR is reasonable, I can get through 2 to 2/5 days with normal use (checking SMS, no wifi, no 3G internet, no LTE), since Softbank does not support LTE I think this helps the SR greatly in preserving battery power.

Omnia HD

+ It feels more solid because it's designed like a brick.

+ The camera says f=4.78mm 1:2.6, and it is still one of the best camera phone I have ever used, plus it has a shutter button whereas the SR doesn't.

+ Has a much better speaker setup than the SR with 2 speakers on both end of the phone, I've been using the Omnia HD as my temporary music player in my car, the problem is that the multimedia software on Symbian sucks so much.

+ Battery life seems to be better. It's 1500mah is actually much bigger than the SR's 1850mah battery, and seems to last longer. But that's what you should expect for a lower powered phone with less software features.

- Smaller touchscreen is not as responsive and more difficult to type even though it was considered quite big when it was released (3.7").

- SYMBIAN, terrible OS, a throwback to the late 90s and early 2000s.

- I really hate using SYMBIAN.

My expectations were high for my Omnia HD replacement and I think I have done well to not buy an iPhone all this time. Was seriously looking at the LG Optimus HD (Nitro HD) but the very poor battery life and a less brighter/punchier screen made the SR an easy decision. There is already an SR-HD with the HD resolution in Korea, but I could not wait for it and thought that if the SR is the last of the 800x480 screen resolution type then it will probably be the best, and it is with the Super Amoled plus (which is different from the regular Galaxy S II). I'll wait for 2 generations of the HD versions before replacing the SR. By that time the camera should have also improved to 12 megapixels.

Also, since only Docomo offered the SR, I had to buy the phone outright ($842 and still cheaper than my Omnia HD!) and unlock it so I can use it on Softbank. Best decision I've ever made. Haven't got the APN setup yet for mobile internet but that's another $80 which is not a priority right now as wifi is good enough. Anyone got any questions feel free to ask!