The problems with a Samsung Galaxy S2

This entry will be the first in a series (though not necessarily in any particular order) in which a phones "problems" are looked at. This time we will look at the major issues involving Samsung's lead device, the Samsung Galaxy S2. The S2 has been a huge success and has been one of the standout phones of 2011, though it still has it's issues.

The most notable problems the phone has are the battery issue and the heating issues. Whilst we can do a number of things to "stretch" the battery life by just using the phone in certain ways and also download several apps that can extend the battery the issue is still one that plagues the phone. The problem really sits with the issue that phone batteries were never supposed to be running things like the phone has, mainly a dual core 1.2 ghz processor and a 4.3" Super AMOLED screen. Whilst you can buy improved batteries you will, generally, find yourself putting the phone onto charge nightly with the normal battery.
When it comes to the heating issues of the Samsung Galaxy S2 this is another one that we seem to be stuck with. Whilst firmware updates have helped improve the situation the key problem is that there is a lot going on under the hood of the phone and there isn't really a satisfactory way of letting the heat get out. Generally you shouldn't get a problem from the phone being hot (other than warm fingers) though the general advice is to close the applications your using and give the phone a few minutes to cool down. Again it's not great but it's really the only work around.

The GPS of the phone has been discovered to be...hit and miss and best. Whilst, again, firmware upgrades seem to have helped slightly the phone still doesn't seem to have the greatest of accuracy especially not in the countryside. Whether this is the fault of the handset or the satellites seems to have been a bit of a discussion point on some forums. Sadly, the fact that others phones do the whole thing more accurately means that the phone is the one to blame. At the moment the best idea is to try and avoid relying solely on the GPS but more use it for guidance.

As well as those 3 rather general issues there is a number of smaller minor issues. Things such as the lack of inverse functions for Sin, Cos and Tan on the default scientific calculator (which can be found following this guide if you've not seen it), the size and issues with the Wi-Fi. The easiest of these 3 to solve is the Calculator issue where you can download a free calculator app such as RealCalc which has all the functions you would need. The size is however not something you'll be able to change, you are "stuck" with the phone the size it is, which, personally, I don't have an issue with though others might.The Wi-Fi's main problem seems to be a weak signal, sadly a fix doesn't appear to be out...yet, though as with the battery and GPS issues a Firmware update is expected to help in the future.