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Verizon Samsung Stratosphere II Review
February 20, 2013 by Jacob Krol in Mobile Phones, Reviews
Our friends over at Samsung have sent us the Verizon Stratosphere II for us to review. This is the next generation Galaxy Stratosphere device for the carrier. It combines Galaxy device with a full QWERTY keyboard. It seems like a good starter smartphone and it has the added bonus of the QWERTY keyboard. Will this be your next smartphone? We will answer that in the full review which begins now!
In The Box
NJTechReviews unboxed the Verizon Wireless Samsung Stratosphere II and you can check it out the video below!
Design And Keyboard
Samsung changed the design of the Stratosphere line with the second generation device. It looks more like a Samsung Galaxy device, it has a more plastic build and has a smooth feel. It seems slimmed down more as well, edges of the device are more rounded and don’t take up as much space. It feels nice in the hand and feels like other Galaxy devices. As with other devices that feature the slide out QWERTY keyboard, this is not the thinnest device in the world. It comes in at 0.53-inches thick and this due to the QWERTY keyboard. It adds some weight to the device as well, it comes in at 5.43 ounces. You can certainly feel it in your hand when you hold it. Going around the device you have an aluminum siding and this provides come color to the device. As it is a light black color and the back seems to be a fake carbon accent. The volume rocker and power buttons are black as well and they do blend in with the color of the phone. Above the display you will find a silver earpiece, a Verizon logo, and a 1.3 megapixel camera. Below the display you will find the Samsung logo, and 4(four) touch buttons. Those buttons being the back, home, multitasking, and menu buttons. They do light up when you are using the device with keyboard still under the device. The right hand side is home the power button, while your volume rocker lives on the left hand side. You will find the headphone jack on the top of the device, while your micro USB port is located on the bottom. The back of the device is home to your 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, Verizon logo, 4G LTE logo, Samsung logo, and a speaker. If you pop the plastic back cover off you will find the 1800mAh battery, micro SD card slot and the SIM card slot. The micro SD card slot is hidden above the SIM card slot. Now, let’s talk about the QWERTY keyboard. It slides out from left hand side of the device, simply push the screen to the right and it slides right out. The sliding mechanism is made nicely and works easily. The keyboard did get a redesign and some of the shortcuts are gone. For instance there is no longer a home button built directly into it. A lot of the new shortcuts are accessed via the function key and at times it takes a lot of scanning around the keyboard to find the shortcut you want. The functions of the keys are in orange on the left side of the keys, almost all of the keys are function keys. They did keep shortcuts for searching, going to the web, and texting. I was happy to see those kept on the device. You do have arrow keys which can control the display. Texting on the keyboard takes a while to get used too, but it can be done. The keys are spaced out for the most part and are backlight. Samsung did make some improvements with the keyboard but, I would have liked to see some of the original shortcut keys still there.
Hardware And Software
There are a few hardware improvements on the Stratosphere II but, some of them stay the same. You get a quick 1.2GHz dual-core processor and it performs quite well. Multitasking happens quickly and it is comparable to other entry-level smartphones on the market. I am very happy with updated processor and it does perform much better than the original processor in the Stratosphere. For even more speed it is running on Verizon’s insanely fast 4G LTE network! Data speeds were impressive on the device but, keep in mind that it does depend on Verizon’s coverage in your specific area. For power you can expect around 12 hours of daily usage, and this is an improvement from the original Stratosphere. Powering the Stratosphere II is a 1800mAh battery and it does give you some good battery life. The Stratosphere II appears to have the same display as the original Stratosphere. That would be the 4-inch Super AMOLED WVGA 800 X 480 display, it is a very vibrant display. Colors look very nice and the quality of images is very nice. In terms of storage you get 8GB of built-in storage and you can expand your storage thanks to a micro SD card slot. The 5 megapixel back camera on the Stratosphere II is basically the same as in the originally. However, images are coming out brighter and more vibrant. You can now record video in 1280 X 720 which is a bump up and the overall quality is much better. The front facing 1.3 megapixel camera is great for taking selfies or video chatting while on the go. The Stratosphere is running Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich with Samsung Nature User Interface. Samsung has not said anything about an upgrade to Android JellyBean. As you may know the Nature User Interface is the user interface of the Galaxy S III and it runs nicely on the Stratosphere II. The home screens are very smooth and swiping between them happens quickly without any lag. You do get several of the Samsung widgets like the Weather, Media Hub, Clocks, and others. S Beam and S Voice work great on the device and I they are welcomed editions to the Stratosphere II. In terms of pre-loaded applications you get the Google App Suite, Amazon App Suite, Let’s Golf 3, IMDB, Color, Mobile Hotspot, My Verizon Mobile, Quickoffice, Plants VS Zombies, NFL Mobile, Navigation, Verizon Video, VCAST Tones, VZ Navigator, YouTube, and others. Overall, the hardware and software complement the Stratosphere II.
Bottom Line
The Verizon Wireless Samsung Stratosphere II is a nice device that has some interesting features. Those looking to get their first smartphone will enjoy this device. The Samsung User Interface makes it very easy to use Android 4.0.4 and if you like a physically keyboard you have it on the Stratosphere II. It features a great 4-inch display and a nice 5 megapixel camera. Verizon 4G LTE and a 1.2GHz dual-core processor keep the device moving. You get a micro SD card slot which means you can expand your storage if needed. The new design of the Stratosphere II is very nice and simple. I would recommend the Stratosphere II as first time smartphone or someone looking for a simple smartphone with a keyboard. The Verizon Wireless Samsung Stratosphere II is $129.99 with a 2-year contract. Verizon is currently selling the Stratosphere II offer just $29.99 with a 2-year contract on there website(This is as of the time the review was posted). This is a limited time offer and is currently available as of the time this review is being published. This is an even better deal for the Stratosphere II and it won’t hurt the bank as much! For More Information On The Verizon Wireless Samsung Stratosphere II, Please Click Here. We would like to thank Samsung Mobile USA for providing us with a copy of the “Verizon Wireless Samsung Stratosphere II”.
About the Author: Jacob Krol
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