To say that the Samsung Stratosphere was unpopular here at Techcitement would be putting it lightly. However, that was before Samsung became the new reigning champion of Android. Now that there is well over a year’s worth of water under the bridge, surely there is a vast improvement with the Stratosphere II, yes?
In a word? No.
First Impressions
The Stratosphere II is similar to the original Stratosphere in look and feel; it’s bulky, due to being an LTE QWERTY device and not as cheaply built as some phones from other companies. The phone isn’t as solid as other Samsung devices, but that could be the QWERTY build talking.
Interestingly enough, a closed Stratosphere II looks a lot like a closed Stratosphere I. The main change is the button layout. While the Stratosphere I had Menu, Home, Back, and Search, the Stratosphere II has Back, Home, App Select, and Menu. No search key to be found. I can see this confusing the heck out of someone coming from the first gen and relying on muscle memory.
Samsung also tweaked the newer model’s keyboard layout, which we’ll get back to in a bit.
The Software
Oncee again, we’re shown a phone running Android 4.04 in what should be an Android 4.1.x world. Bah, humbug says I. Yet I will admit that it’s an improvement over the last model, which ran Android 2.3. Samsung has chosen to saddle the Stratosphere II with the TouchWiz skin, ruination of high-end hardware. On this mid-range device, the added layer is even more distracting and is just plain in the way.
Samsung and Verizon have dumped a metric ton of apps on this thing. There are three App stores — Amazon’s, Google’s, and Verizon’s. That’s crazy wasteful. Additionally, due to the devices age, you’ve got one app on for a service that doesn’t even exist any more with Color. Users not in the know are going to hate that. Oh, and I don’t know how much money exchanged hands for this one, but the Zappos app comes loaded. So, you don’t have to wait to buy overpriced shoes.
Why is this even a thing?
Some apps can be disabled, but not removed, because Verizon and Samsung laugh at your desire for a bloatware free device.
Performance
It appears that the Stratorsphere II has the same exact screen as the first one, a 4″ SuperAMOLED with 233 ppi. I had a bit more trouble using the screen outdoor than I would like, but it’s incredibly responsive.
Also unchanged is the 1800 mAh battery. Despite the II having a much faster dual-core Snapdragon chip, the battery powers the device well enough, if not better. Could there be some under-the-hood software improvements to battery handling? There are phones with better battery life, but this is passable. There’s also 8 GB of storage instead of 4 and twice the RAM as the Stratosphere I as well.
Samsung struck out on the keyboard with the first Stratosphere and clearly acknowledged that by changing the layout on the second model. The layout is a bit better, but keys remain shallow and a bit slippery, making the software keyboard a bit easier to use, which is a total waste. Also, the auto correct on this version of TouchWiz is insanely aggressive and I kept having to go back and make changes, which is made worse by the poor keyboard. If you care about your words being your own, this isn’t the device for you.
Verizon’s call reception continues to wow, with the handset getting voice and data in areas that other providers/devices don’t. The 4G is equally impressive, with steady connectivity most places that I went and speeds averaging at 11 MBps down and 8 MBps in most areas. If you need speed and don’t mind data caps, this is a great network.
Samsung cheeped out on the camera because it’s 5 MP, but clearly not the same 5 MP, as the original Stratosphere could only do 720p recording and this model can handle 1080p. What the camera can’t do, however, is take a still picture to save its life. I’d show samples, but you would honestly think my two year old had gotten a hold of it. Just craptacular.
Normally, I don’t note GPS on these devices, but I do want to call attention to the fact that the Stratosphere II has one of the swiftest GPS acquisitions of any device I’ve tested. Also notable was that putting the phone on vibrate resulted in what seemed to be a far louder buzz than usual, to the point of being more disruptive than a soft ringtone.
Hackability
The Stratosphere was pretty popular with modders. Alas, I’m not seeing the same level of love for the sequel. Assume the Stratosphere II will never get a software update, so if that is key for you, look hard for a custom ROM.
The Strengths
A good screen, great GPS and a solid network, alas don’t an ubberphone make.
The Weaknesses
The weakness, they do stack up. A horrible keyboard, distracting skin, interfering interface tools, camera of my nightmares, bulky and poor speakers. The interface bits are the worst and almost inexcusable for a company like Samsung. I’d go on, but it feels like I’m being cruel. Someone take this thing behind the shed already.
Pricing & Availability
Out since August of 2012, the Stratosphere is basically free with contract everywhere but at Verizon itself
Wrap Up
I’m going to be blunt here in a way I rarely I am with Techcitement reviews.
I wouldn’t recommend this phone to anyone. Frankly, had this not been a review unit that I knew had to go back to Samsung, I would have gleefully run it over with a car. Twice. I find TouchWiz barely tolerable on a high-end device. On the mid-range, with a mediocre keyboard and an overly aggressive auto-correct function, it is an unpardonable pain in my nether regions. Yes, the QWERTY slider market isn’t a larger one, but a device this poor means Samsung has basically given up against the older yet superior Motorola Droid 4.
Again, don’t buy this phone. Not even for free. The only possible reason to buy this is if you hate someone and want them to suffer.
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