AT&T on Wednesday said that it will sell the Samsung Galaxy S II, a 4G smartphone, for $199.99 starting Oct. 2.
The Android 2.3 device features a 4.3-in. Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen display and a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, making it the fastest of AT&T's smartphones.
The Galaxy S II will work on AT&T's HSPA+ 4G network, which is different from the 4G LTE network that the carrier just began rolling out in five cities. While it's not LTE, HSPA+ is still much faster than 3G, offering download speeds of up to 21Mbps.
The Galaxy S II is the nation's thinnest 4G smartphone, measuring 0.35 in. (8.89mm) at its thinnest point, according to AT&T. With HDMI output of 1080p, the Galaxy S II enables users to rent or buy movies from Samsung's Media Hub and view them on a television with an HDTV smart adapter, sold separately.
The phone also comes with two cameras -- a setup that's becoming standard in smartphones to enable video chat. The rear-facing camera is 8 megapixels, making it one of the higher-end smartphone cameras, and the front-facing camera is 2 megapixels.
The Galaxy S II, which is sold under different names for different carriers, is Samsung's fastest-selling smartphone, according to a statement from Samsung. The international model launched in April and racked up sales of 5 million units in just a few months.
Sprint began selling its version, the Epic 4G Touch, on Friday. Verizon has said it won't offer a version of the Galaxy S II because it already has an extensive portfolio of Android smartphones. Verizon has become a top seller of Android phones, including the Samsung Droid Charge and the Motorola Droid Bionic, which went on sale Sept. 8 for $299.99, a full $100 above the price of AT&T's Galaxy S II.
Verizon is expected to sell the Samsung Stratosphere soon, and it could be Verizon's version of the Galaxy S II, according to blogger reports.
Several of the most powerful phones on fast networks like LTE and HSPA+ have disappointed some users who have found that the devices' batteries don't last very long. In March, when Verizon started selling the HTC ThunderBolt for use on its LTE network, the ThunderBolt's battery life was a concern, according to an independent Computerworld test. Computerworld reviewer Dan Rosenbaum said the Bionic was "slim and lightweight" but suffered from short battery life.
Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen, or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed. His email address is mhamblen@computerworld.com.