Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket (black, AT&T)

Pros: -Excellent Battery life for an LTE-enabled phone
-Blazing-fast LTE speeds (55Mbps down!!!)
-Super AMOLED Plus screen is great
-Mobile Wi-Fi tethering included
-Loud Speakers
-8MP camera takes great pictures

Cons: -NFC (Near-Field Communication, for Google Wallet, etc.) is included, but is disabled for some reason
-No LTE on/off switch for saving battery, but the included battery is more than adequate to last the whole day

Summary: Have owned BlackBerry phones for most of my life (8800, 9000, 9700)but was so disappointed by the Torch 9800 that I finally ditched it for a Galaxy S Captivate, which was my first taste of Android OS. My contract was up and the choice for me was between the Samsung Infuse (the non-LTE Galaxy S II that ATT sells), the HTC Vivid, and the Skyrocket. I live in Atlanta so I wanted to take advantage of the LTE capabilities offered here. I ended up choosing the Skyrocket because of its far superior battery life than the Vivid, and I can say that this is the best phone I have ever owned. Absolutely blows the iPhone 4S out of the water (and I own a MacBook Pro and iPad2, so I am an Apple fanboy). $250 might sound a little steep but the extra $50 over the other two models is absolutely worth it. TouchWiz isn't the battery hog that Sense is, and if you don't like it then just use LauncherPro. The phone's responsiveness is blazingly fast, and the speeds achieved by LTE and even HSPA+ are fantastic. As far as reception goes, this is really the first ATT phone I've owned that i can consistently say has excellent reception. I was in the GA Dome for the Falcons game Saturday, and my friends with iPhones and the like had no service while I was happily zooming along with 4-5 bars of LTE. Even if you currently don't live in an area with LTE capability, H+ works just fine as well. Additionally, ATT has promised an update to Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) after Xmas.


Additionally, ATT's LTE network is STOOPID fast. I was achieving speeds of 55Mbps down at one point in the GA Dome. Speeds will drop off some as more LTE users come onto the network, but it still puts it well above Verizon's LTE speeds.

The 8MP shooter included in the Skyrocket takes exceptional pictures. Predictably, low-light shots suffer some minor saturation issues but otherwise the camera is very good and would be more than adequate for taking pictures on a regular basis.

In short, you honestly will be doing yourself a disservice if you don't buy this phone. Samsung has come through with a clear winner and I promise you won't regret your purchase.

Updated on Nov 28, 2011

EDIT: I gave the phone 4.5 stars because obviously no phone is perfect, and the disabling of NFC and the lack of an LTE on-off switch do detract slightly from a perfect score imo. But the Skyrocket still is the phone to beat among ATT's offerings :)