can't comment re. SGS2 comparison 'cos I've never used that phone. The sound from the note on speaker is mediocre (similar in max volume to n900, possibly slightly louder but not much, and feels "piercing" rather than satisfying if turned up; mono speaker, positioned at back of phone which kills any volume/quality unless you flip the phone over). On the supplied headphones, I found the sound pretty poor too - lacking particularly in bass but generally dull & lifeless. However that was on the stock music player. I now have the cube player and fiddling with its 5 band EQ I've managed to get a reasonable sound out of the headset. Not brilliant, but on a par with N900's supplied earphones. I haven't tried it with a better quality headphone set, so again can't comment.