Samsung Stratosphere II side-slider now available from Verizon

The original Samsung Stratosphere was the first Verizon LTE enabled smartphone to offer a side-sliding QWERTY keyboard. Now, a little more than 13 months after the original was launched, the Samsung Stratosphere II is available from Verizon and once again it is a mid-range model.

Some of the specs haven't changed, and some show a nice improvement. Similar to the OG Stratosphere, the device has a 4 inch, Super AMOLED screen with WVGA resolution and a pixel density of 233ppi. There is a major difference under the hood where the new model has a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 versus the single-core 1GHz processor in the first-generation model. The Samsung Stratosphere II has 1GB of RAM on board versus the 512MB of the stuff on the original Samsung Stratosphere. The latter device had a 5MP camera on back that took DVD quality (480p) video, and a 1.3MP front-facing shooter. The new model has a 5MP camera on back that captures video in 1080p and a 1.3MP camera on front. The battery remains the same 1800mAh as on the original and Android 4.0.4 is installed on the sequel. Once again, the model offers LTE connectivity

Verizon is offering the Samsung Stratosphere II online for $129.99 with a signed two-year contract. That includes a $50 web discount. But for Black Friday, you can get the phone for free from Radio Shack with a signed two-year contract. That is a price that is hard to pass up.

source: Verizon via Phandroid