Samsung Galaxy SIII Review

The third-gen Samsung Galaxy S has been waiting a few months ago, but something prevented it and only at the beginning of May we saw the Galaxy SIII unveiled by Samsung. Honestly, the phone deserved to wait for it such a long time, and we must admit the Korean manufacturer has introduced the next piece of art. The Samsung Galaxy SIII is really packed with the best features, and probably until the iPhone 5′s launch there wouldn’t be another smartphone able to compete with it. Even the HTC One X and the Nokia Lumia 900 are out of game, because the Galaxy SIII is a reflection of a perfect smartphone, I mean it shows how the top-end device must look and what features it must sport.

Design

At first sight the Samsung Galaxy SIII looks thinner, but it is not so. The SII was launched measuring 125.3×66.1×8.5mm and weighing 116 grams. The newly released monster’s dimensions are 136.6×70.6×8.6mm and its weight is 133 grams, but we must take into account this smartphone features better battery and way larger screen, which undoubtedly have impact on measurements. On the front of the phone we see a 4.8-inch 720p Super AMOLED touchscreen, below of which is located the standard Home button, while above of it is a 1.9MP camera intended for web chat, though it does other actions as well.

  

  

On the top we can find the headphone jack, while Sammy has located the microUSB socket on the bottom. The power on/off button is on the right edge and the volume rocker is on the left hand side. On the whole, the SIII is made in a style of minimalism, and you wouldn’t found many design solutions in the device, though everything you see lets think we are dealing with an ideal smartphones.

Display

The handset is packed with a perfect screen, though it’s difficult to call the display the best one. Once more, the SIII is equipped with a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen that comes at a resolution of 720×1280 pixels. In comparison with other high-end smartphones, this phone’s screen has higher pixel density, 306ppi, but it still can’t reach to the Apple’s Retina Display.

It’s been supposed the third-gen Galaxy S device will be packed with a 1080p display, but unfortunately it didn’t happen, and everything we have is an HD Ready resolution. Such kinds of displays are also seen on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and we know it’s an HD Super Amoled panel that uses a Pentile subpixel arrangement. It means colors also don’t look quite as accurate, but you don’t get any backlight bleed and colors simply leap from the screen.

Processor

The phone is packed with one of the best processors available in the market. It comes with a 1.4GHz quad-core Exynos 4. This means we are dealing with the fastest smartphone in the world when it comes to graphics performance. Of course, the other top-end smartphones in face of the quad-core HTC One X and the dual-core iPhone 4S are fast as well, but the Samsung Galaxy SIII is too fast when playing games.

Cameras

Here is the biggest disappointing feature of the phone—Sammy didn’t add a 12MP camera, and we must be satisfied with an 8MP snapper that comes with autofocus and LED flash. Shortly this means the camera wouldn’t be as good in dark conditions as outdoors, but the manufacturer has powered it with simultaneous HD video and image recording at 1080p, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization.

The frontal camera is close to HD lens, and it’s able to take videos at 720p. Though the main goal of this camera is taking and transferring video when video calling, it is also used to track the user’s face to adjust brightness.

Hardware

The rest of features are sounds as good as the aforementioned ones. All in all, the Samsung Galaxy SIII sports a 2100mAh battery, which will provide 40 percent more battery life in comparison with its previous version that was launched with a 1650mAh battery aboard. Ro insure you of not staying out of memory there is 1GB of RAM. The SIII will be launched in 16GB and 32GB variants with microSD card slot, though the company promises to launch a 64GB version later.

Among its specs you can aslo find NFC support, WiFi hotspot functionality, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB 2.0 and USB on-the-go connectivity, and I forgot to say the screen is protected with Gorilla Glass 2 technology.

Software

The Samsung Galaxy SIII runs Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich, but saying this I wouldn’t say anything. Because the manufacturer has worked on its customization and the newest TouchWiz UI fits the software perfectly. The company has called it TouchWiz Nature UX and says it called it inspired by nature.

At first the physical home button requires longer pressure to launch the multi-tasking screen. Among other changes I must note the S Voice assistant, which is Sammy’s answer to Apple’s Siri, and it’s able to make a number of actions by a single voice command.

User of the Samsung Galaxy SIII wouldn’t have to stop playing video when a new message or an alert come in, as a new multitasking feature called Smart Stay, which will continue playback in a small video. Users can move that small window wherever they want, and tap on it when wanting to restore the previous size.

In general, there are several ways to transfer large data. The renamed S Beam feature uses NFC to initiate pairing with just a tap of the devices, and send large media files quickly and easily. For example, a 1GB video will be sent to another device within three minutes, or 10MB music file will be transferred in two seconds.

Samsung has added a new feature called AllShare Cast, AllShare Play, and Group Cast, which allows the users to stream video, share files, and share their screen with other devices on the same Wi-Fi network. It’s performed thanks to WiFi Direct, which has its important role in the above-mentioned process as well.

Conclusion

The phone will be launched in two colors– Pebble Blue and Marble White. It’s announced the Samsung Galaxy SIII will hit shelves in Europe in May 29, and will be launched in the US sometime in June. As of now, the consumers can sign up for updates on the device, but they are not able to pre-order it. Thus you can pick your carrier preference – there are the big players like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile but also, Metro PCS, US Cellular and C Spire Wireless. This doesn’t mean the phone will be released via one of these carriers, but Samsung is just gauging people’s interest. Moreover, the device will be launched in LTE and 3G variants, and most likely this feature will affect the processor’s type.

Besides it, the Samsung Galaxy SIII buyers will get 50GB of Dropbox storage for free. It will be available two years once the user has registered his or her Dropbox account on the phone.

Well, the first retailer and the first mobile operator to offer the Samsung Galaxy SIII are known—Phones4U is getting pre-orders for it not requiring anything instead, but you must sign a contract and choose one of those monthly tariffs that start from 36GBP. T-Mobile UK is the only mobile operator yet announced its goals on the phone, though it didn’t reveal any pricing information.