Samsung Galaxy S II dual core Android smartphone

Speed dialler

Photo call

Samsung has shown in the past that it can make a decent camera, and such is the case with the 8Mp snapper here offering a good range of shooting and scene modes, including macro and action shot, plus handy features like face and blink detection and anti-shake.

Android photography woes of old are a thing of the past with this 8Mp camera

Picture quality is generally good, with nice sharp edges and good colour balance. Colours can look a little over-emphasised on screen but never appear washed out. When you’re viewing your gallery it throws up some random pics in the background – a nice touch, and a gentle nod of the head to Windows Phone 7.

It can record HD video too at up to 1920 x 1080, which you’ll only find on dual core handsets, which looks crisp and generally smooth. There’s also a 2Mp camera on the front in preparation for video chat, when it becomes available with the next operating system update.

Web pages render well with text flowing neatly. Besides, the now standard pinch to zoom there’s a new trick to browsing too – with the motion sensor on, you can hold two points on the screen and then simply tilt back or forwards to zoom in or out. Incidentally, you can use the motion sensor when adding widgets and shortcuts to each of the seven home pages too – press and hold on an icon, then tilt left or right to find the page you want to put it on.

Samsung Kies desktop sync application
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Syncing is performed with Samsung’s Kies software which works fine once you get the hang of its iTunes-style structure, although its Windows-only. There’s also Kies Air, which allows you to sync using a Wi-Fi link. Slightly awkwardly, this involves getting an IP address from the app, then typing it into a browser, which then gives you the option to swap media, stream music from your phone and send text messages.