Android Smartphone Round-Up: November Edition

Changing Leaves. Black Friday. And Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. These are the cornerstones of the month of November. Releasing new phones, however, is not. Unfortunately, this means that our Android Smartphone Round-Up for November is a bit lean, but we’ve still managed to pick out a few handsets worth your valuable consideration.

Without further ado, these are our favorite November releases of the Gingerbread (2.3) persuasion: The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket (AT&T), the HTC Rezound (Verizon), and the Samsung Captivate Glide (AT&T). They range between a solid $300 to a cool $149 (all with a two-year agreement, of course), and each has its claim to fame.

Onward!

HTC Rezound:

Features:

• 4.3-inch 720×1280 S-LCD display
• 1.5GHz dual-core processor
• 8MP rear camera (1080p video capture), 2MP front camera
• Sense 3.5
• $299.99

Pros:

• That 720p display is no joke, and one of the first of its kind
• Beats Audio integration, and accompanying Beats earbuds
• 4G LTE support from Verizon

Cons:

• It’s a fat little guy — steer clear, Razr fans
• 4.3-inch is admittedly a pretty large screen, but we also have a few 4.5-inchers on the market that provide an advantage in gaming
• Sense 3.5

The HTC Rezound is certainly a powerful little beast, but you can tell it’s already started packing on the pounds for winter (that joke was reaching at best, forgive me). It’s more than half an inch thick, and it feels that way at 6oz. It does have a nice textured finish on the back for extra grip, and seems to pull from the Droid Incredible 2 design style.

Under the hood, things get way more impressive: the combination of that dual-core 1.5GHz processor and Verizon’s LTE is pretty unbeatable. It’s super responsive, and you can’t help but fall in love with its 4.3-inch 720p display. Beats integration doesn’t change my entire perspective on audio or anything, but the included set of Beats ear buds is definitely a plus.

The Rezound is available now from Verizon for $299 on-contract.

---

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket

Features:

• 4.5-inch 480×800 Super AMOLED Plus display
• 1.5GHz dual-core processor
• 8MP rear camera (1080p video capture), 1.3MP front camera
• 4G LTE support from AT&T
• $249.99

Pros:

• The Samsung Galaxy S II is one of the best-selling Android phones out there, and the Skyrocket just adds AT&T 4G LTE
• Thin, light, elegant design
• Beautiful Super AMOLED Plus display

Cons:

• TouchWiz, TouchWiz, TouchWiz…
• Not everyone lives in one of AT&T’s 14 LTE-supported markets
• Feels a bit plasticky

I won’t be shy about how much I like the Samsung Galaxy S II, and the Skyrocket merely adds faster speeds. It packs everything you can ask for out of an Android device, and at a relatively reasonable price. The screen is beautiful, the phone itself is super snappy, and it looks and feels pretty slick.

What’s better, AT&T’s 4G support isn’t the only advantage the Skyrocket has over the other Galaxy S II variants. It also upgrades to a 1.5GHz dual-core processor instead of its original 1.2GHz CPU.

The Galaxy S II Skyrocket is available now at AT&T for $249 on-contract.

---

Samsung Captivate Glide:

Features:

• 4-inch 800×480 Super AMOLED display
• 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor
• 8MP rear camera (with 1080p video capture), 1.3MP front camera
• Full four-row sliding QWERTY keyboard
• $149.99

Pros:

• Super responsive
• Strong battery life
• It’s a comfortable size for a QWERTY

Cons:

• Somewhat chintzy build quality
• Keyboard is super flat, makes typing tough to get used to
• Too much plastic (again, Samsung)

The Captivate Glide is a nice marriage between the Samsung Galaxy S II and a full QWERTY keyboard, however the keyboard itself seems to be “irritatingly flat.” That said, the specs on this guy are pretty great considering its $149 price point, so if you can deal with a somewhat cheap feeling phone (re: plastic), the Glide certainly performs well. It’s what’s on the inside that counts, right?

The Samsung Captivate Glide is available now at AT&T for $149 on-contract.

---