For a first smartphone, and for someone who is non-geeky (e.g. my missus) I would recommend an iPhone every time. Thats not to say Android is difficult to use, I just think the iPhone user experience is more polished and you will be up and running quicker.

that may be true, but only if you're already familiar with iTunes and are willing to overlook Apple's rather dubious reputation.

With the new iOS update in Autumn you pretty much don't need iTunes anymore. Not even to activate the phone.

you mean everything you can have with Android right now, rather than in 4-5 months? :-)
And you'll still need iTunes to manage your iCloud account, mange your music etc. it's an illusion to think that iCloud will mean the end of iTunes.

The Media Markt @ Basel SBB has working samples of the Galaxy S II and HTC Sensation (almost side by side) if anyone wants to have a play

was there 15 minutes ago :-) The Sensation does look very nice but I don't think it's as snappy as the SGS 2, tbh

Not got your SGS2 yet?

Still waiting Orange estimate another 8 - 10 days... so much for an early upgrade

I'm well aware that Android has all those features already. But unlike you I prefer a balanced opinion of different smart phones rather than a blind hate for Apple.

The iPhone is an excellent device and with the new iOS upgrade having to use iTunes is severely cut down.

I also think the iCloud music service is a lot better than google music (which nobody outside of the US can use anyway)

You didn't order via Digitec?

Well, apparently the iCloud music services aren't available outside of the US and Canada, either:

http://forum.golem.de/kommentare/int...0384,read.html

While I wholeheartedly hate Apple and everything they produce, the comment above solely aimed at the circumstance that you're comparing products based on features that don't exist at this point. You can't possibly have tried those new features so you simply can't know if they're better than whatever is out there at the moment.

I decided to stay with Orange since Swisscom were not interested in my business, therefore in order to get an upgrade I needed to order from them. I also like the Orange phone insurance, CHF10 a month for a no-quibble replacement of lost/stolen/damaged phones.

Let's not get into an Apple versus Android argument. I was simply speculating on the details that have been released so far for both.

There is no reason to have blind hate for any single product.

Unless its a Windows smartphone

Don't get me wrong: I don't hate the iPhone per se - I believe it's a neat product - but there are alternatives. I simply dislike Apple - probably as passionately as I hated Microsoft 10-15 years ago.

The whole iCloud mumbo-jumbo has widened that rift for me - I'd never give Apple my personal documents, photographs etc. It's enough that they know where I live. On the other hand, Google's whole infrastructure has been built on security. While the company itself probably isn't more trustworthy than Apple, I'm convinced that their infrastructure is much better protected against outside attacks than Apple's will ever be.

Apple has never placed any emphasis on security with their products. Mobile Me was a catastrophe from the get-go in this respect (and has never been fixed). Unencrypted file transfers, unencrypted file storage. Also, in my opinion Mac OS X is not the secure OS Apple wants us to believe. The relatively low number of users and the lingering hatred towards Microsoft most people who grew up in the 80s and 90s still have both helped to make MS the target and let Apple fly under the radar for a long time - that's the only reason why we're not seeing the kind of widespread attacks against Mac OS that Microsoft has been facing for nearly a decade.

The fact that I had to get my credit card cancelled because of the PSN breach didn't help my skepticism towards online storage and syncing, either.

Had it for a day. I still can't believe they crammed so much tech into such a light phone. It's crazy fast, too.

I'm obviously getting one, but when playing around with it I did feel it was a little plasticky as compared to my iPhone 4 and the adjacent Sensation I'm sure any doubts regarding durability will wear off once I finally get one, but its a niggling thought nonetheless.

Yeah, the plasticky feel can't be denied, but I guess it comes with the territory considering the phone is so light. And while it feels plasticky, it certainly doesn't feel cheap, if that makes any sense.

This phone is the Nissan Gt-R to HTC's Ferrari. Yes, it's not quite as "refined", but it's got the goods where it counts.

Now having spent many hours being bored to death of the fantastic reasons to buy a Samsung Galaxy, the only positive I have found is that you can download a "Farting Noise" application. Undoubtably hilarious with friends once applied with alcohol.

Samsung Galaxy II review over. We should all buy one......

Your trolling skills are weak, young padawan.