There are few sectors of the market as hotly contested as smartphones. Apple definitely got in the first punch with the original iPhone and has been building on the momentum ever since.

However, Samsung has not taken this lying down, and the Samsung Galaxy S2 is a very worthy challenger for the crown.

When Digicel handed me a Samsung Galaxy SII to review, I must admit I was quite excited. Would this phone live up to the hype, and would it match the experience I had become used to from a succession of Apple devices? I must admit that after a couple of weeks of playing around with it, I am thoroughly addicted. This is a really great phone.

The first thing you notice about the phone it how thin (8.49mm) and light (116g) it is. In fact, it makes the iPhone 4 seem positively clunky in comparison. However, the biggest difference is the big, bright screen. It is noticeably bigger than that of the iPhone 4, which makes it much more fun for watching videos. The screen is also very vivid, with colours having some real pop.

Add to that an 8 megapixel camera and you have a media device that can take on the best out there.

The Galaxy S2 is also an HSPA+ capable device, unlike many of its competitors which are ‘mere’ 3G devices. This means that the phone can make use of the new 4G mobile network Digicel has running in Cayman, which means the best browsing speed. And with content really making or breaking a smartphone, a faster network is a vital piece of the puzzle.

According to Digicel, their postpaid and 4G packages are designed to suit each individual’s needs. Their 4G 4GB package is available for all plans, and according to the company it is highly unlikely for an individual to exceed 4GB of data. However, should more be required, the option is there to do so.

Of course, in spite of everything a smartphone can do, it remains a phone, which means that the calling plan attached to it is also quite important. Digicel’s plans gives customers options to choose their calling destinations through bundled minutes within their packages, including destinations like the USA, UK landline, and Canada minutes, World minutes and Caribbean minutes.

Social media

For those addicted to social media, the Social Hub application on the Galaxy SII is one of the best features on the phone. Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or your Gmail account, you can view messages or feeds from all the accounts in one place. Very convenient when you want to stay up to date with what your friends and contacts are doing and saying.

Memory

One of the key advantages of the device is that the memory is user expandable through the use of a microSD card. This means you have no worries when it comes to making full use of that 8MP camera (with a flash so bright your victims will be seeing bright spots for hours afterwards) or the full HD video capability. One more thing – the phone uses a regular SIM card, which means that unlike an iPhone you can just pop your current card out of your old phone and into the Galaxy S2.

Flash

The Galaxy SII can also runs Adobe Flash, which means website will display the way they were intended to, unlike other smart phones that tend to forsake Flash compatibility.

However, it is worth noting that Adobe has announced they will be discontinuing development of mobile Flash, which will probably reduce the importance of this advantage in the foreseeable future as more website switch to HTML5. However, in the foreseeable future this is one place where the phone has a definite edge over some of its competitors.

So is there a downside?

After lots of playing around with the phone, the only downside I could come up with was the back cover of the phone feels a little bit too plastic. And as is to be expected with such a high performance phone, you need to be prepared to charge the battery daily.

However, the big screen and awesome performance more than makes up for this. If you want a phone that is all about performance, and looks the business as well, the Samsung Galaxy S2 is worth a serious look.