I am thinking about getting a Galaxy S2. It seems like a great phone, but I have some concerns about the system stability.
I hear from Android users that Samsung's original ROM is very slow and heavy (and doesn't handle right-to-left languages very well - I speak Hebrew), and that other ROMs have their own problems and the releases are not so reliable.
Is any of this true?
As an Android user for about 2 years (and an iPhone user for 2 years before that), I feel that Android is very stable.
BUT you have to remember, that with the ability to load widgets, and background applications - you can certainly bog down your phone and decrease its performance.
In Apple's walled garden this isn't a problem, but you also don't have the freedom and choice.
As a modern computer user, I want the choice to slow down my phone if I want :)
The best part about android is first the freedom, second the community. Like NPike said, you can do whatever you like with your phone, causing it to be more or less stable. You can customize as far as you can imagine (and possibly program), but if you do too much or incorrectly, yes, you will bog down your device. But there's nothing a good wipe can't fix :)
Second is the community. If it's roms you're looking for, there's always one that you'll like, or there's one being developed with new features you want. Or you can make your own! Android enthusiasts are always innovating and finding new ways of helping each other out. So if you do have stability issues with your device, chances are there's someone who can help you :)
I run a custom ROM on my Samsung Galaxy S. The hard part is knowing which ROM to pick. If you want stability, I would stay away from Cyanogen, because they tend to be more experimental and bleeding edge.
If you visit the XDA forums for Galaxy S 2 and go to the Android Development page, the most popular ROMS will be on the first or second page. Typically you can get an idea of the stability of the ROM by looking at the change log and how frequently bug fixes have been made to the ROM recently. For instance, if a new ROM was just released, or it seems to have very frequent serious bug fixes, you may want to stay away for a while. However, if you find one that has been out for a while and the serious bug fixes have died down (as opposed to feature updates), then it is probably okay.
You can usually find reviews of ROMs on various Android community sites, but I'm not familiar enough with where to go.
To reply to your question,
I just got a Samsung Galaxy S2, and it is amazingly fast!! and of course very stable, as any other android phone I tried.
I am not sure about right-to-left languages, but the original Samsung rom on the Galaxy S2 is nothing like "slow and heavy", it offers really good performance in every aspect, this is certainly the fastest Android phone I ever tried (or fastest smartphone, all platforms included)
