Display War : Galaxy S2 vs Sensation

Johnnytoxic · 26 Oct 2011 at 19:36

I've just bought a Sensation. Obviously I'm a little biased.

I hear the Galaxy S2 has richer colours but Sensations are more accurate.

I know colour wise the Galaxy S2 display is superior but I would always certainly sacrifice a bit of colour richness over a higher resolution screen.

Just wondered why Galaxy S2 always comes out on top in this area. I consider screen res especially on smartphones where screen space is limited more important than colours.

Robbo · 26 Oct 2011 at 20:02

I own both of these, and I actually agree in that the screen differences aren't as dramatic as many people make them out to be.

Sensation:

Good - Slightly sharper, smaller text is nicer to read, higher resolution, more realistic colours, very good outdoors

Bad - Looks washed out even if you are a tiny bit off-angle

SGS2:

Good - Real blacks, extremely rich colour contrast, excellent viewing angles, lower power usage

Bad - Not as sharp as other screens, worse outdoors than the Sensation in my experience

The Galaxy S II screen is only really better for gaming and video watching, and most people don't do an awful lot of that really.

SKILL · 26 Oct 2011 at 20:05

The S2 as you mentioned has a slightly lower res, although it's apparently not that big a difference in the real world (I've got the SGS2, never had a problem, but not used the Sensation) however being OLED you get better colours, proper black and 'perfect' viewing angles.

The Sensation however has the slightly higher res, but worse colours, grey blacks, potential for backlight bleed and 'mediocre' viewing angles, note that there are two screens as well, one supposedly worse than the other...

But right now it's a moot point, the Galaxy Nexus is around the corner and whilst it's PenTile AMOLED it's still a massive step up in res (1280x720) on a very slightly larger screen, I'd imagine that beats both the Sensation and SGS2 in screen terms...

sarge78 · 26 Oct 2011 at 23:53

The LG 720p ips is suppost the be the most accurate/power friendly, there's also a 4.3" 720p bravia round the corner too.

Good times.

Caseh · 27 Oct 2011 at 00:02

I personally think the Motorola Razr has the best screen.

This has absolutely nothing to do with me just pre ordering this phone.

kona786 · 27 Oct 2011 at 05:58

Motorola Razr = pentile or rgb stripe?

AndyCr15 · 27 Oct 2011 at 06:52

Having used both, I couldn't help but feel the Sensation looked a little washed out. I don't put a lot in the res difference. If I browse a web page, I usually zoom it in... surely the res difference is then lost anyway?

I've never noticed text looking bad on my SGSII, but I do notice the lack of colour in the Sensation. Just my opinion

SKILL · 27 Oct 2011 at 07:15

kona786 said:
Motorola Razr = pentile or rgb stripe?

Pentile, so 4.3" qHD Pentile AMOLED, not sure I'd class that as the best screen personally

Caseh · 27 Oct 2011 at 09:30

SKILL said:
Pentile, so 4.3" qHD Pentile AMOLED, not sure I'd class that as the best screen personally

I was being bias

mrk · 27 Oct 2011 at 11:23

This whole "Omg it's pentile" thing for the latest phones is a huge non issue. It has been said by all current reviews that the Nexus screen is as good as an iPhone 4 screen.

Sunbed · 27 Oct 2011 at 11:28

Don't samsung make the iPhone 4 screen? If so, seems a bit daft. Dunno where I hear that.

Robbo · 27 Oct 2011 at 12:57

mrk said:
This whole "Omg it's pentile" thing for the latest phones is a huge non issue. It has been said by all current reviews that the Nexus screen is as good as an iPhone 4 screen.

They said that about the Galaxy S II though, which is why I'm concerned.

It's got to be close though, surely.

Sundance said:
Don't samsung make the iPhone 4 screen? If so, seems a bit daft. Dunno where I hear that.

I think LG do.

mrk · 27 Oct 2011 at 13:00

The ppi difference is pretty huge between s2 and Nexus. Less than 10 between ip4 and nexus though.

SKILL · 27 Oct 2011 at 13:00

mrk said:
This whole "Omg it's pentile" thing for the latest phones is a huge non issue. It has been said by all current reviews that the Nexus screen is as good as an iPhone 4 screen.

I agree about the Nexus, but I wasn't talking about the Nexus, I was talking about the Razr which is much lower res, and lower PPI to the point where I can't see it being as good as a non-pentile 4.3" screen, in fact compared directly to the Sensation you have the same res, same size so purely an RGB Vs Pentile argument, and the Pentile loses that one.

kona786 · 27 Oct 2011 at 14:38

mrk said:
This whole "Omg it's pentile" thing for the latest phones is a huge non issue. It has been said by all current reviews that the Nexus screen is as good as an iPhone 4 screen.

Who in here mentioned the new nexus?

Robbo · 27 Oct 2011 at 14:39

kona786 said:
Who in here mentioned the new nexus?

Post #3!

kona786 · 27 Oct 2011 at 15:17

Robbo said:
Post #3!

ah. But no one was criticizing it.

mrk · 27 Oct 2011 at 15:18

I was more speaking generally since pentile seems to be mentioned in every screen conversation.

kona786 · 27 Oct 2011 at 15:30

I agree that pentile on a 720p 4.6" screen is really a non issue. But on a 4.3" qhd screen it may be a lot more noticeable on really small text.