A new Galaxy is heading our way, the Samsung Galaxy SII Plus.  It’s not entirely new, as it’s more like a refurbished SII, but it has been upgraded to feature some of the goodies of the more popular Galaxy SIII.   And you guessed it, it’s once again time for a comparison piece.

We’ll be comparing the SII+ against the SIII, the Note II and the Nexus 4.   Why these devices?  We’re looking at the more common Android 4.0 Jelly Bean devices on the market, as well as the SII’s big brother, the SIII.

Dimension

SII+: Probably the same as the SII with: Height:125.3mm , Width: 66.1mm , Depth:8.5mm, Weight: 116g

SIII: 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm, 133g

Note II: 151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4 mm, 180g

Nexus 4: 133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1 mm, 139g

Display

SII+: 4.3-inch, 480 x 800 pixel Super AMOLED Plus, Corning Gorilla Glass

SIII: 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED (1280×720) display, Corning Gorilla Glass

Note II: 140.9 mm (5.55″) HD Super AMOLED (1,280 x 720), Corning Gorilla Glass

Nexus 4: Vibrant 1280-by-768 4.7-inch True HD IPS Plus display supported by Zerogap Touch technology, gently curved glass edges allow your finger to slide smoothly on and off the 320ppi screen, topped with scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 2.

Capacity

SII+: 8GB but can be upgraded to 64GB via microSD

SIII: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB user memory – can be upgraded to up to 64GB via MicroSD

Note II: 16/32/64GB User memory + 2GB (RAM)

Nexus 4: 8GB and 16GB

Cellular and Wireless

SII+: Probably similar to the SII with HSPA+ 21Mbps/ HSUPA 5.76Mbps, EDGE/ GPRS Class 12, Quad band GSM 850/900/1800/1900, Quad band UMTS 850/900/1900/2100, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, BT v3.0+HS, USB v2.0, will have a version with NFC,

SIII:  2.5G (GSM/ GPRS/ EDGE): 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz; 3G (HSPA＋ 21Mbps): 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 MHz; 4G (Dependent on market); WiFi a/b/g/n, WiFi HT40; GPS/GLONASS; NFC; Bluetooth 4.0(LE)

Note II: 3G: HSPA+21Mbps; (HSDPA 21Mbps / HSUPA 5.76Mbps); 4G LTE: 100Mbps / 50Mbps; Bluetooth v 4.0 (Apt-X Codec support) LE; USB 2.0 Host; WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5 GHz), Wi-Fi HT40; Wi-Fi Direct; NFC; S Beam

Nexus 4: WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, NFC Android Beam, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS/HSPA+, GSM/EDGE/GPRS (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), 3G (850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100 MHz) and HSPA+ 21

Battery

SII+: 1650mAh

SIII: 2,100 mAh

Note II: Standard battery, Li-ion 3,100mAh

Nexus 4:  2,100mAh Li-Polymer (embedded) / Talk time: 15.3 hours / Standby: 390 hours

Colors and material

SII+:  Pebble Blue and Marble White – polycarbonate material

SIII: Garnet Red, Pebble Blue and Marble White – brushed polycarbonate material

Note II: Marble White and Titanium Gray – brushed polycarbonate material

Nexus 4: Currently featured color is black, but rumored to have a white version as well, no news yet on the material used

Processor

SII+: 1.2GHz dual-core processor

SIII: Exynos 4 Quad processor @ 1.4Ghz for HSPA version, and 1GB of RAM.

Note II: 1.6 GHz quad-core processor

Nexus 4: Cutting-edge Qualcomm Snapdragon™ S4 processor, 2GB of RAM

OS

SII+: Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean

SIII: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgradable to Jelly Bean

Note II: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean

Nexus 4: Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

Camera

SII+: 8MP rear camera with LED flash, 2MP front camera

SIII: Main(Rear): 8 Mega pixel Auto Focus camera with Flash & Zero Shutter Lag, BSI; Sub (Front): 1.9 Mega pixel camera, HD recording @30fps with Zero Shutter Lag, BSI; Best photo

Note II: Main (Rear) : 8 Megapixel Auto Focus Camera with LED Flash, BSI; Sub (Front) : 1.9 Megapixel VT Camera, BSI, Best Photo, Best Group Pose, Low light shot

Nexus 4: High-performance 8MP camera and takes stunning 360° panoramas with Photo Sphere, shoot video in full 1080p and snap still shots while filming, instantly upload photos on Google+, 1.3MP front-facing camera

Sensors

SII+: Probably the same as the SII with Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, A-GPS

SIII: Accelerometer, RGB light, Digital compass, Proximity, Gyro, Barometer

Note II: Accelerometer, RGB Light, Digital Compass, Proximity, Gyro, Barometer

Nexus 4: Accelerometer, Ambient light, Compass, Gyroscope, Barometer and GPS.

Standout features

SII+: Has been upgraded with TouchWiz Nature UX user interface, Smart Stay, S Voice and Pop-Up Play

SIII: Smart Stay, Direct Call, Smart Alert, Social Tag, S Voice, Pop-up Play, S Beam

Note II: Optimized S Pen, Air View, Popup Note, Easy Clip, S Voice, Smart Stay

Nexus 4: Wireless charging, Google Now, Voice Search, Google Maps, Gesture Typing, Android Beam, Google Wallet,  Music Manager

Best Bet?

If you’re looking for a light smartphone, your best bet among the four devices is the SII+, but if you want something with lightning speed, the Note II would suit you more because of its processor, though you’d have to deal with its larger size.

If you want the latest Android version on a device, the Nexus 4 has it.  All of them have voice search/assistant functionality, so that’s one point for the whole bunch.  But if you’re looking for a device that has the right combo of features and size but don’t need too many bells and whistles,  the SII+ would probably be the best option for you.