Today’s smartphone scene is one of fierce competition and breakneck growth. Rarely though do announcements get any bigger than this. The Nokia N9 seemed forever stuck in rumorland, but never lost its grip on users’ minds. The handset is rightfully enjoying as warm a reception as it would have had if it had been announced a year ago.

And you can easily see why: a spanking new OS based on some pretty impressive (and novel!) concepts, sleek unibody design, some decently powerful hardware (even if the N9 missed the dual-core train) and that magnificent 3.9″ curved AMOLED of FWVGA resolution is a package that’s hard to resist.

We got our hands on this baby today, and although our meeting was brief, it was enough for it to earn a special place in our geeky hearts. The Nokia N9 is an excellent device based on an exciting UI concept and boasting some sleek hardware. But what casts doubt on it is the claim that it represents a dead end in the smartphone tree of evolution.

But let’s not get all emotional now, the thing isn’t even on the market yet. And it looks like the right thing to help Nokia through the hard transition period in the second half of 2011. What we know for sure is we would love to have more whence this came from.

Here are the key specs of the Nokia N9 but remember these numbers tell only half the story:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 14.4 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone
• Dimensions: 116.5 x 61.2 x 12.1 mm, 76 cc
• Weight: 135 g
• Display: 3.9″ 16M-color FWVGA (480 x 854 pixels) AMOLED capacitive touchscreen; Gorilla Glass, anti-glare polarizer, curved display, multi-touch input
• Chipset: 1GHz Cortex A8 CPU, PowerVR SGX530 GPU, TI OMAP 3630 chipset
• RAM: 1GB
• OS: MeeGo OS, v1.2 Harmattan
• Memory: 16/64GB storage, no microSD slot
• Camera: 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with face detection, touch focus and geotagging; HD (720p) video recording at 30fps, LED flash, front facing camera, video-calls
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 2.1, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, TV-out, NFC
• Misc: Polycarbonate unibody, built-in accelerometer, proximity sensor, uses microSIM cards

On paper, the Nokia N9 looks like solid, if not spectacular. As soon as you set eyes on the real thing though, there’s no mistaking a smartphone that will reach for the top rather than settle for anything less.

The premium finish and the outward curved screen are nothing short of outstanding. And the great news is that the good impressions don’t end with the exterior. We were pleasantly surprised by the MeeGo Harmattan platform and starting to doubt whether switching to Windows Phone 7 was the only option available to Nokia.

( From GSMArena )

Someone has just finished off a six-pack of energy drinks. The Samsung Galaxy S plus is nearly identical to the original Galaxy S, save for the different chipset, which packs a faster 1.4GHz processor.

Samsung’s bespoke Hummingbird chipset has been swapped out for Qualcomm MSM8255T Snapdragon. The “T” means it’s a faster version of the vanilla MSM8255 chipset found in a good deal of Android phones. With a clock speed of 1.4GHz, it could be up to 40% faster. We’ll see how they measure up though, as they have slightly different architectures.

Qualcomm’s chipset comes with Adreno 205 graphics instead of the custom PowerVR SGX540 in the original Galaxy S. We expect a slight difference in graphics performance too. Also, the new battery can hold up to 10% of extra juice, for a total of 1650 mAh.

Other than that however, you can’t tell the Samsung Galaxy S and Galaxy S Plus apart – not even with a caliper and scales. Here’s a summary of what the S Plus has to offer, complete with a feeling of deja vu.

• Quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G support
• 14.4 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA support
• 4″ 16M-color Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen of WVGA (480 x 800 pixel) resolution, PenTile matrix
• Super slim at 9.9mm
• Android OS v2.3.3 with TouchWiz 3.0 UI customization
• 1.4GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8255T chipset
• 512 MB of RAM
• 8GB internal storage, microSD slot (up to 32GB cards)
• 5 MP autofocus camera with face, smile and blink detection
• 720p HD video recording at 30fps
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g and n support
• GPS with A-GPS connectivity; Digital compass
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v3.0
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Great audio quality
• FM radio with RDS
• 1650 mAh Li-Ion battery
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Document editor and file manager come preinstalled
• Secondary video-call camera
• Swype predictive text input
• Full Flash support for the web browser

• No flash for the camera
• No dedicated camera key
• Fingerprint prone plastics
• Virtually unchanged year-old design
• Aderno 205 GPU is weaker than PowerVR SGX540 in the original

We were quite pleased with the original Galaxy S, but the bar has been raised beyond reach by the new super flagship, the Galaxy S II. The Galaxy S Plus is a new and improved edition but one that will hardly make a big splash.

It’s still a phone that can make a solid impression though. The 4″ SuperAMOLED screen with WVGA resolution is a great performer to this day and at 9.9mm of thickness, the S Plus is a proud member of the sub-centimeter club.

We’ve already seen the Samsung Galaxy S Plus in action. An early premarket sample, running at just 1.2GHz, showed promising results as an alternative to dual-cores this year. If you’re curious, you can check out the article here, but we’ll be running the benchmarks and other tests anew anyway, so you may just read on as well.

Don’t let your E71/72 smartphone read this. No, it won’t have a heart attack or anything. But you don’t want it suddenly feeling sad and useless. You certainly realize the E71/E72 duo is getting old and rusty. Like it or not, it’s time to move on.

The Nokia E6 will not take No for an answer. A super crisp VGA touchscreen, the finessed Symbian Anna, the strong messenger bloodline and the stainless steel armor are a tempting combination. The package will make long-time Eseries users feel right at home and cheer the upgrades.

Touchscreen or D-pad is not a decision you’re forced to make. It will come naturally instead. Where the small screen won’t allow the required level of touch precision, the D-pad will fill in. Five homescreen panes to fill with shortcuts and widgets will do better than the good old Active Standby with alternative setups for business and leisure.

Most importantly though, to even the most old-school of Eseries loyalists, touchscreen will be a fair price to pay for finally upping the screen resolution to acceptable levels.

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• Penta-band 3G with 10.2 Mbps HSDPA and 2 Mbps HSUPA
• Symbian Anna OS
• Messenger bar, stainless steel body, four-row QWERTY keyboard
• 2.46″ 16M-color capacitive TFT touchscreen of 640 x 480 pixel resolution; Gorilla glass protection
• 680 MHz ARM 11 CPU and 256 MB RAM
• 8GB internal storage, 1GB ROM, microSD card slot
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• GPS receiver with A-GPS support and free lifetime voice-guided navigation
• Digital compass
• 8 megapixel fixed-focus camera with dual-LED flash, 720p video recording @ 25fps; geotagging, face detection, smart zoom in video
• Built-in accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Stereo FM Radio with RDS
• microUSB port, USB-on-the-go
• Flash and Java support for the web browser
• Stereo Bluetooth 3.0
• Smart dialing and voice commands
• DivX, XviD and Matroska video support
• Social network integration
• Office document viewer and editor
• Excellent battery life
• Excellent audio quality

• Symbian Anna is still catching up with Android and iOS
• The tiny touchscreen has no room for big fingers
• Fixed-focus camera
• Relatively limited 3rd party software availability

This phone seems to have almost everything – well, save for HDMI and an actual life-size touchscreen. But we’re talking Eseries and the E6 is the business. It feels like Nokia really wanted to rekindle the magic. The E6 makes the E72 look like a routine, cursory attempt at an update. Where the E72 wanted quietly keep on cashing in, the E6 is keen to make a difference. A tall task indeed, considering the times.

It takes two to tango, HTC seem to think. The HTC Salsa joins the ChaCha in a bid to treat young Android users to as much Facebook as they can handle. The little blue button makes an appearance again, this time in a more familiar context. While the ChaCha takes its QWERTY keyboard off the beaten path, the Salsa is a typical Android package. It’s got a solid build and seems like a well spec’d midrange smartphone – an HTC Wildfire S for Facebookers.

The Salsa has something the ChaCha doesn’t: a family tree. The Salsa is part of the new generation of midrange phones by HTC, along with the likes of the Wildfire S. But calling it a Facebook-centric Wildfire S would be oversimplifying or just plain wrong. As a matter of fact, HTC went on to give the Salsa more than just that tiny Facebook button. It tops the Wildfire S in terms of screen size and processor clock speed, and throws in a few features that the Wildfire S didn’t bother with – like video calls, HD video and web Flash support.

Let’s take a look at the complete feature list and the possible deal breakers.

• Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support
• 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 384 Kbps HSUPA
• 3.4″ 16M-color capacitive TFT touchscreen of HVGA (320 x 480) resolution, Gorilla glass
• Android OS v2.3 Gingerbread with HTC Sense
• 800 MHz CPU, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm MSM7227 chipset
• 512 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM
• 5 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and geotagging
• D1 video recording @ 30fps
• Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
• GPS with A-GPS
• microSD slot up to 32GB (2GB card included)
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
• Smart dialing, voice dialing
• Front facing camera, video calls
• DivX/XviD video support
• Compact aluminum unibody
• HTC Locations app
• HTCSense.com integration
• HTC Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot
• Ultra-fast boot times (if you don’t remove battery)

• Below-par screen sunlight legibility
• Camera not the best we’ve seen
• microSD slot under the battery cover, not (quite) hot-swappable
• No HD video recording

There seems to be so little to worry about but we’re yet to get into the details. As a mid-range smartphone, the Salsa will not set your expectations too high. But users who know what to expect will not be disappointed. The unibody design, the hallmark build quality and the latest Android are all in the deal.

Who would say no to a friendly smartphone with a thing for social networking? It takes a little blue button and we get the point, but the QWERTY keyboard is a statement of its own too. Facebook integration is said to be deeper than ever (and that’s on Android 2.3 where it was just fine from the get-go).

• Light and compact metallic body
• 2.6″ 256K-color TFT capacitive touchscreen of HVGA (480 x 320) resolution
• Full four-row QWERTY keyboard and a dedicated Facebook button
• ARMv6 800MHz CPU, 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM
• Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) with HTC Sense 2.1 for Messenger
• Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g, n with Mobile Hotspot functionality
• GPS with A-GPS connectivity; digital compass
• 5 MP autofocus camera, D1 (720 x 480 pixels) video recording @30fps
• microUSB port (charging)
• microSD slot (up to 32GB, 2GB in box)
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Stereo Bluetooth v3.0
• Document editor (free download from HTC Hub)
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Smart dialing
• Secondary video-call camera
• Main disadvantages
• Awkward landscape UI and limited compatibility with some apps
• Limited Adobe Flash support in the browser
• Sub-par camera image quality
• D1 video recording is short of inspiring
• Non-hot-swappable microSD card slot

Even if you take Facebook out of the equation, the HTC ChaCha seems fit to tackle its rivals in the mid-range. Targeting the young, where heavy-texters are in no short supply, the QWERTY keyboard will earn itself quite a few fans. The quality metal finish makes for an upmarket look and feel.

On the software side of things, you get the latest version of Android, 2.3.3 Gingerbread, and the latest release of the HTC home-brewed launcher, Sense. It all adds up to a pretty good combo, so if real-life performance spares us any nasty surprises, the ChaCha is well on target.

So let’s waste no more time and find out. We start, as usual, with the hardware checkup right after the break.

Feeling the depths of oblivion, it seemed as though all of Palm’s hard work with webOS was going nowhere fast as their mobile platform wasn’t adopted by consumers compared to the competition, but lucky for them, HP swooped down and rescued them from a possible premature death. Reinvigorated and backed by an almost insurmountable amount of cash flow, HP is now calling the shots and taking webOS to new levels that Palm only dreamt about in its sleep. In fact, it was only back in February when the world was first introduced to the next level of webOS devices – with one of them being none other than the HP TouchPad.

Nearly five months have passed by, and the world is finally getting its taste of the very first webOS 3.0 tablet in the HP TouchPad – but more importantly, some are curious to know how it stands against some of the titans in the market. Luckily, it flaunts that oh-so lovely price point of $500 for the base 16GB Wi-Fi only model, and knowing that it’s packing equally impressive specs under the hood, it should undoubtedly prove itself as a competitor. However, knowing that the bar has been set in terms of what consumers expect out of tablets, it’s going to need to excel from head to toe in order to have a piece of the pie at dessert.

• HP TouchPad
• microUSB cable
• Wall Charger
• Get Started Guide
• micro-fiber cleaning cloth
• Terms & Conditions of Services

Let’s be honest here, but the very first thing to come to mind when looking and holding the TouchPad, is the fact that it reminds us of a super-sized iPhone 3G/3GS – mainly because of its black plastic exterior and placement of buttons. Rather than sporting some sort of flashy industrial design, the TouchPad’s conventional look is seemingly cutthroat and doesn’t try to impress. Instead, it’s constructed out of this glossy piano black plastic, which looks wickedly polished out of the box, but it scarily attracts fingerprints and smudges like no other. At the same time, it’s larger (0.54” thick) and surprisingly heavier (26.10 oz) than some of its rivals – though, it makes us wonder since it sounds hollow after a quick tap on the back. Nevertheless, it’s not going to win any awards in the design department, but it’s comfortable to hold thanks to its curved rear – while feeling solidly built for the most part.

Samsung GALAXY 3 TouchWiz 3.0 UI gives you easy access to all your favourite apps and widgets. Customise up to 7 home screens and navigate easily to different home screens with its unique directional swipe function.

Android™ Platform

Android™ platform brings you the best mobile experience, with a variety of apps from Android MarketTM.

Social Hub (Basic)

Consolidate all your SNS information, IM (Palringo), email accounts and calendars, so you no longer need to spend time checking separate sites. Samsung GALAXY 3 lets you keep in touch with your loved ones easily. With GALAXY 3’s integrated messaging, you can automatically sync and manage the history for all your SNS and IM accounts.

Note: Social Hub (basic) service does not support push capabilities such as POP email, push IM & SNS. Data chargers from Service Operators apply.

Swype and Write & Go

With the ‘Text at Hyperspeed’ by Swype Technology you can type your text 1.5 times faster than standard texting. And the ‘Write & Go’ feature allows you to select a pre-written text and choose to send it later by SNS, SMS, MMS, email, calendar or memo!

Layar Reality Browser

After activating the Layar Reality Browser on your Samsung GALAXY 3, you just need to capture your surroundings with your mobile phone camera and you will have an instant POI view of the street. By selecting the spot you require, you will be able to access information such as the address, phone number, price listings, etc.

Document Editor – ThinkFree Office Mobile

ThinkFree Office Mobile allows you to access documents saved online via your Samsung GALAXY 3. You can add an image, amend text, save and resend straight away.

AllShare via DLNA

Samsung GALAXY 3 comes with Allshare (via DLNA), in which you can wirelessly connect and share videos, photos, music and more between your phone, TV and PC.

*Note: Sharing is only possible between devices which are DLNA – certified.

Dressed to kill and with a fresh coat of paint on the interface, the Nokia X7 is keen to show there’s still fight left in Symbian. The screen is a definite high point and the stainless steel body is fashioned like a stealth jet fighter. Symbian Anna adds in features that have been lacking in the OS, closing the gap on the competition.

The Nokia X7 combines stainless steel and Gorilla glass into one seriously attractive package. It boasts stereo speakers (just two, rather than four as you might think looking at it) to justify its Xseries spot and an 8MP camera with 720p video recording.

The screen impressed us quite a bit as you’ll see in our hardware chapter but that’s not all we liked about the hardware. The software changes are not as far-reaching as we would have liked, but there are some key developments that that give Symbian a usability boost.

Here’s the short version of what the Nokia X7 is about and what didn’t work out very well.

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• Penta-band 3G with 10.2 Mbps HSDPA and 2 Mbps HSUPA support
• Stainless steel body
• 4″ 16M-color AMOLED capacitive touchscreen of 640 x 360 pixel resolution; Impressive brightness and Gorilla glass protection
• 8 megapixel fixed-focus camera with dual-LED flash and 720p video @ 25fps recording; geotagging, face detection, smart zoom in video
• Symbian Anna OS
• 680 MHz ARM 11 CPU and 256 MB RAM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• GPS receiver with A-GPS support and free lifetime voice-guided navigation
• Digital compass
• microSD card slot (8GB card pre-installed)
• DivX and XviD video support
• Built-in accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Stereo FM Radio with RDS
• microUSB port
• Flash and Java support for the web browser
• Stereo Bluetooth 3.0
• Excellent audio quality
• Smart dialing and voice commands
• Social networking integration

• Symbian Anna is still catching up with Android and iOS
• Uncomfortable volume rocker, SIM tray and microSD card slot
• Camera lacks auto focus, oversharpens images
• Relatively limited 3rd party software availability
• No office document editing (without a paid upgrade)
• Battery life is not on par with the best in business

Despite our complaints, this is the best that Symbian has ever looked and Nokia has picked excellent devices to carry it. While the other one, the Nokia E6, is a business phone through and through, the X7 focuses on the fun stuff. From taking photos and videos, through deeper social networking integration, to watching HD videos and browsing the web on the large 4″ screen.

The Nokia X7 is something you’ll want to show off to your friends. The Nokia designers have done a good job of breaking the touchscreen mould that makes so many phones look uniformly similar.

The Nokia X7 comes more as a successor to the C7 than a stand-alone version. But the C7 itself will be getting Symbian Anna soon, so the X7 needs to bring more to the battlefield than just the (admittedly great) bigger screen.

First we’ll check on the arsenal in the box and then we’re off to inspect the phone’s angular charms. Join us on the next page to feast your eyes on the cool screen and discover the Nokia X7.

Considering the avalanche of tablets now on the market one could be forgiven for thinking “How will this one be any different?” The HTC Flyer, though, is nothing if not unique.Yes, it’s an Android tablet; but one which has decided to zig when every other droid tablet out there has zagged. It doesn’t feature the stock Honeycomb for tablets and goes with Gingerbread instead. It’s topped with the HTC Sense UI 2.1 for tablets , which looks equally good upscaled to the bigger 7” screen, and has the brand new lockscreen from Sense 3.0.

There’s a 1.5 GHz single-core processor instead of a dual-core Tegra-or-something chip. The Flyer boasts HTC’s Scribe technology giving you drawing powers on any screen on the tablet. The aluminum unibody has the trademark HTC feel all over it. Oh yes… It’s a cool gadget by any standards.

Facing very tough competition, the Flyer relies on its user experience and innovative drawing/imaging technology to up the scales and get on your wish list. While it certainly can’t compete with dual-core-powered slates in terms of FullHD 1080p video or the latest games with Unreal 3D engine and whatnot, it can still give users a rich, fun experience. The fact is it’s really pocketable and no burden to handle for longer than 10 minutes. You can literally take it anywhere without having to carry a special bag for it.

And here’s what the Flyer will bring along.

• 7.0″ 16M-color LCD capacitive touchscreen of WSVGA (600 x 1024 pixels) resolution
• Single-core ARMv71500MHz CPU, 1GB RAM, 16/32GB of user-available storage
• Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) with HTC Sense 2.1 UI
• Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 and tri-band 3G 900/1700/2100 support
• 14.4 Mbps HSDPA, 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with hotspot functionality
• GPS with A-GPS support; digital compass
• 5 MP 2592×1944 pixels resolution autofocus camera
• 1.3 MP front-facing camera
• 720p HD video recording @30fps
• microUSB port and stereo Bluetooth v3.0
• microSD slot (up to 32GB)
• Flash 10.1 support
• DivX/Xvid support
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Document viewing and editing out of the box
• HTC Scribe technology with Magic pen (separate purchase for the Wi-Fi only model)
• Aluminum unibody design
• Two sets of touch-sensitive controls for landscape and portrait use
• 4000 mAh Li-Ion rechargeable battery

• Weighs almost as much as an 8.9″ tablet
• Charges only with the supplied HTC charger
• Non-replaceable battery
• Lower resolution than current crop of droid slates
• Lack of dual-core processor
• Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread instead of 3.0 Honeycomb
• 5 MP camera has obvious lens issues
• No telephony

This 7-incher makes you feel HTC didn’t want to shout out loud about their first tablet. At least, they tried to cover almost of the major features users look for in a tablet. When you hold it in your hands you immediately feel the HTC touch; like a steroid-enhanced HTC Sensation. And you can bet that Angry Birds looks good on that lovely big screen.

Choosing Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread instead of Honeycomb gives the Flyer the advantage of using a custom user interface and full support for the majority of apps out there. (Some regular Android apps have compatibility issues with Honeycomb slates).The downside is absolutely no support for Honeycomb apps, which are the ones meant for tablet use to begin with.

With the Flyer, you choose between a 3G-enabled and Wi-Fi-only version. Either way, phone calls are not available.

So much for raw specs and expectations. What we’re here for is the actual performance. We’re back after the break and eager to see how the Flyer handles pressure.

The Galaxy S lineup is no stranger to versioning – the original Galaxy S relied on half a dozen different editions to achieve its market success. Its successor will obviously take a similar path as we just got its first body double in the face of the Samsung I9103 Galaxy Z. With Tegra 2 stepping in for the Exynos chipset and SC-LCD taking the place of the new generation SuperAMOLED Plus, the Galaxy S Z should be covering for the cases when the Galaxy S II is just slightly out of budget, while at the same time saving on the precious AMOLED panels.

Now, the Samsung I9100 is obviously a winning formula so Samsung should be extra careful with any changes that it introduces.

Tegra 2 is a fine alternative to Exynos and we already know what kind of performance to expect. We’ve seen the switch to SC-LCD before – with the I9003 Galaxy SL. With the numbers the SuperAMOLED Plus packing I9100 is selling, it’s no surprise that Samsung will try to sell a few units that don’t use up their scarce SuperAMOLED recourses.

We’ve summarized the specs of the Samsung I9103 Galaxy Z to get you acquainted with the device quickly, so we can move on to the fun stuff.

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, 3G with HSPA
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone
• Dimensions: 125 x 66.1 x 9.5 mm, 135g
• Display: 4.2″ 16M-color SC-LCD capacitive touchscreen, 480 x 800 pixels
• CPU: Dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, GeForce GPU, Tegra 2 chipset
• Memory: 1GB RAM, 2GB ROM, 8GB storage, microSD card slot
• OS: Android OS, v2.3.3 Gingerbread with TouchWiz 4.0
• Camera: 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash; face detection, geo-tagging; 1.3MP front-facing camera
• Video recording: 720p video recording
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, FM radio
• Battery: 1650mAh
• Misc: Built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor, Swype text input, Office document viewer/editor

Clearly, the I9103 Galaxy Z is meant as a companion of the I9100 Galaxy S II – early pricing info also suggests that the two belong to different market segments.

We would have liked an 8MP camera and 1080p video capture, but if sticking to the 5MP/720p camera specs means we can munch on Gingerbread for less cash than the S II would cost, then we won’t complain. After all, the original Galaxy S had a similar camera module and we’re quite pleased with it.

Before proceeding further, we should point out that we’re using a pre-production model of the Samsung I9103 Galaxy Z and the hardware might change before the design is finalized. The software looks identical to the one in the I9100 Galaxy S II, so that probably won’t see much (if any) changes. Further optimizations to suit the new chipset seem likely though.

It may not have the slender, 8.5mm frame of its big brother, but the I9103 Galaxy Z is a good looking device. Join us on the next page, as we do a proper inspection of its hardware.