Galaxy S II in 2026: 15 Years Before S26 Ultra, It Was Actually GREAT

Why It Matters

The S2 illustrates a pivotal moment when Samsung transitioned from follower to leader in Android hardware, laying technical and design foundations (Exynos, AMOLED improvements, software features) that shaped the company’s premium smartphone strategy. Understanding that evolution clarifies how early engineering and UX bets enabled Samsung’s long-term dominance in the mobile market.

Summary

The video revisits the Samsung Galaxy S2 as a landmark 2011 smartphone that helped establish Samsung as a serious iPhone challenger by combining a lightweight, thin plastic design with cutting-edge tech for its era — notably Samsung’s first Exynos chip and the Super AMOLED Plus display. The host highlights the phone’s standout features: a 1.2–2.0 GHz dual-core CPU that led performance charts at the time, an advanced subpixel display offering vivid colors, removable battery and microSD expansion, and ergonomic one-handed usability. It contrasts the S2’s strengths with modern phones, noting its poor daylight screen visibility, dated Android experience, and disabled legacy services, while acknowledging how its hardware and TouchWiz innovations presaged Samsung’s later success. The video also frames the S2 as an artifact of simpler mobile usage and explores whether a modern OS can be retrofitted onto the device.

Original Description

If you want an example of just how much mobile technology has transformed in the past decade and a half, then look no further than this: The Samsung Galaxy S2. Although comically tiny and underpowered by modern standards, the S2 was a key player in the early-2000s smartphone boom, putting Samsung on the map as a major challenger to the iPhone.

If you used one, you probably remember how fast it felt, how gorgeous that SuperAMOLED Plus screen looked -- and how amazing it was to take real 1080p Full HD video from something that could fit in your pocket without you even noticing it was there.

In many ways it's the antithesis to the smartphones we have today. The Galaxy S26 here is infinitely more capable as a web browser, a photo and video camera, a mobile wallet and a multi-tasker. The S2 is a smaller, simpler device for less complicated times -- where reading tweets on the train was a fun little novelty, not a daily digital doom loop.

So join me as I take a look back on how this artefact of early-2010s tech came to be, revisit its strengths and foibles -- and perhaps even see if it's possible to get something approaching a modern operating system onto it. Let's get into it.

0:00 Intro

1:16 Meet Samsung's Plastic Powerhouse

3:13 Development History & Key Tech

8:18 Launch & Reception

9:42 Cameras, Photo & Video

11:10 Software, Android 13 ROM & Legacy

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