Is Samsung Galaxy S 2 the best Apple iPhone 5 alternative?

Apple's delay in launching iPhone 5 has been Samsung Galaxy S 2's gain as the ultra-thin smartphone recorded phenomenal global sales of 3 million units in 55 days.

Galaxy S 2 was released at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February and since then the phone has continued its march. The phone has been found capable enough to fill Apple iPhone's shoes, as the champ from Samsung's camp has been ordained as a replacement for the aging iPhone 4, until the elusive iPhone 5 arrives.

Samsung Galaxy S 2 embodies most of the rumored iPhone 5 hardware upgrades. The phone is super-thin measuring merely 8.5mm (0.33-inch) in thickness and weighs about 4 ounces. These specifications beat iPhone 4's vital statistics as the Apple smartphone weighs 4.8 ounces and is 9.3mm (0.38-inch) thick.

Galaxy S 2 features a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED screen with 800x480 screen resolution. It is powered by a dual-core 1.2 GHz Orion chipset. The phone comes in 16/32GB internal memory configuration with 1GB RAM. Galaxy S 2 sports an 8MP rear-facing camera with 1080p video capture capability and also has an additional 2 MP front-facing camera for video chat.

Apple listed Galaxy S II in its patent lawsuit list of Samsung device which it deems is a result of flagrant copying of its devices. And with Galaxy S 2 booking 3 million in sales, the fact will certainly unnerve Apple as it prepares to release its next rendition of iPhone, the iPhone 5.

The iPhone 5 is rumored to feature a 3.7-inch curved glass display. However, it is surmised that iPhone 5 will not feature an AMOLED screen. Currently, Samsung is one of the largest suppliers of AMOLED panels meeting a major portion of the global AMOLED demand. In the light of the continuing patent scuffle, Apple will restrain from depending entirely on Samsung for AMOLED supply. Thus, until other major suppliers come forward Apple will avoid committing hara-kiri. Thus, Apple will possibly offer a higher-resolution retina display screen rather than go for AMOLED panels.

Galaxy S 2's Super AMOLED display is superior to an LCD screen as it shows less signs of discoloration when tilted.

It is also rumored that iPhone 5 will be powered by the dual-core A5 processor which powers the iPad 2. However, Galaxy S2 can offer more speed in the micro-chip department with its dual-core 1.2GHz chipset.

In the camera segment Apple iPhone 5 will feature an 8MP camera as a recent report confirmed that Apple has placed an order for 90 percent of the 8MP camera sensors from OmniVision. It is also rumored that iPhone 5 will feature a dual-LED flash as Apple recently reduced its order of LED flash which it fits in its iPhone 4 from Philips.

It is expected that iPhone 5 will feature voice-recognition capability which is already provided by Samsung Galaxy S 2, as it allows users to control the phone with a few selected words. Key functions like calling, messaging, music and apps launching can be activated through voice commands on Galaxy S 2.

Samsung Galaxy S II also brings the goodness of contactless mobile payment as it is NFC-enabled. However, Apple is expected to forgo NFC-capability in the upcoming iPhone 5 as UK carriers revealed that Apple will abstain from NFC as it believes that there is no industry standard related to the technology.

Also Samsung Galaxy S 2 brings the goodness of Android 2.3 or Gingerbread with its own twist in the form of TouchWhiz 4.0 customizations. Apple iPhone 5 will feature its recently showcased iOS 5 when it arrives in September.

Galaxy S 2 has also been endowed with enterprise features which will appeal to business users. The phone features Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, on device encryption, virtual private network through Cisco's AnyConnect and Cisco's WebEx.

Other rumored features coming the iPhone 5 way are a tear-drop design, 1080p native video playback support, a worldphone SIM-less design and edge-to-edge screen, all of it packed in a thinner frame.