Samsung Galaxy S3 review

Samsung Galaxy S III (Front and Rear view)

Highlights

FOR

• Excellent battery life

• Superb screen

• Quad core speed

• Top media management

AGAINST

• Subjective design

• S Voice not optimised

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
	4G Network	LTE (regional)
	Announced	2012, May
	Status	Available. Released 2012, May

BODY	Dimensions	136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm
	Weight	133 g
		- Touch-sensitive controls

DISPLAY	Type	Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	720 x 1280 pixels, 4.8 inches (~306 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 2
		- TouchWiz UI v4.0

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

MEMORY	Card slot	microSD, up to 64 GB
	Internal	16/32/64 GB storage, 1 GB RAM

DATA	GPRS	Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
	EDGE	Class 12
	Speed	HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	Yes, v4.0 with A2DP, EDR
	NFC	Yes
	USB	Yes, microUSB v2.0 (MHL), USB On-the-go

CAMERA	Primary	8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, check quality
	Features	Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization
	Video	Yes, 1080p@30fps, check quality
	Secondary	Yes, 1.9 MP, 720p@30fps

FEATURES	OS	Android OS, v4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
	Chipset	Exynos 4212 Quad
	CPU	Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A9
	GPU	Mali-400MP
	Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, RGB sensor, proximity, compass, barometer
	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS
	Browser	HTML, Adobe Flash
	Radio	Stereo FM radio with RDS
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
	Colors	Pebble blue, Marble white
		- MicroSIM card support only - S-Voice natural language commands and dictation - Smart Stay eye tracking - Dropbox (50 GB storage) - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - TV-out (via MHL A/V link) - SNS integration - MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player - Organizer - Image/video editor - Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF) - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration - Voice memo/dial/commands - Predictive text input (Swype)

BATTERY		Standard battery, Li-Ion 2100 mAh
	Stand-by	Up to 590 h (2G) / Up to 790 h (3G)
	Talk time	Up to 21 h 40 min (2G) / Up to 11 h 40 min (3G)

MISC	SAR US	0.55 W/kg (head)     1.49 W/kg (body)
	SAR EU	0.21 W/kg (head)
	Price group

TESTS	Display	Contrast ratio: Infinite (nominal) / 3.419:1 (sunlight)
	Loudspeaker	Voice 75dB / Noise 66dB / Ring 75dB
	Audio quality	Noise -90.3dB / Crosstalk -92.6dB
	Camera	Photo / Video
	Battery life	Endurance rating 43h

Samsung Galaxy S 3 Front view

Samsung has just started shipping its next generation Galaxy S phone the Galaxy S3 in several European and Middle Eastern countries. The handset comes with lots of incredible new features. The S 3 is now the most advanced handset of the company’s flagship Android handset series. The Galaxy S2 successor boasts of a large display, quad core processor, highly powerful battery and many more improved features. Here is a complete rundown of the device, which will soon be available across the world. It will pose tough competition to the Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5.

Samsung Galaxy S 3 tech specs

Form factor: Apart from all earlier versions of the Galaxy S, the S 3 looks quite spectacular. The handset has a stunning design and form factor, though it is slightly larger and thicker than its predecessor. The new version of Galaxy S features the dimensions of 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6mm and weight of 133 grams.

Display screen: It is one of the areas where the S3 mainly differs from the rest of Android handsets out there. The latest Galaxy S upgrade features a large 4.8-inch display that shows off Samsung’s Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels at a spending 306 ppi. The multitouch display is protected by Corning’s latest Gorilla Glass 2 and it features Samsung’s most recent Android interface TouchWiz UI 4.0.

Processor: The S3 is now the first handset from the Korea tech manufacturer with a quad core processor. Samsung has slotted in its own Exynos 4212 Quad chipset inside the gadget that has a 1.4 GHz Cortex-A9 processor. After HTC One X, we have now Galaxy S 3 as the next major quad core based Android smartphone. But considering many other aspects including the display size, the S 3 has a clear supremacy over the HTC handset.

RAM and GPU: We all hoped that Samsung would add at least 2GB of RAM in its new Galaxy S 3, but, unfortunately the company has surfaced the S 3 with only 1GB of RAM, which is currently the standard RAM capacity of high end smartphones. When it comes to the graphical processor as well, Samsung has used the same Mali 400MP, which we have inside the Galaxy S 2.

Firmware: Yes, the Galaxy S 3 is the second handset from Samsung to come preloaded with the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The first one is the Galaxy Nexus, which debuted the ICS late December 2011. Of course, the latest version of Android is one of the major attraction points of the handset, which delivers a set of amazing features thanks to the ICS.

Storage: To compete with Apple iPhone, Samsung has now rolled out one higher memory option for its Galaxy S 3. The device is now available in three storage options; they are 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. Apple has been selling its iPhone 4S in these three memory variants since October later year. Plus, the device sports a microSD slot that can support SD cards up to 64GB.

Camera: Rumor mills again expected that the third generation Galaxy S handset would emerge with a 12-megapixel or higher rear camera. But shattering all rumors, Samsung launched the handset with the same 8-megapixel camera. Moreover, the company downgraded the device’s front camera from 2-megpaixel to 1.9-megpaixel evidently as part of cutting production costs.

The rear camera further features 3264 x 2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, touch focus, simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, face and smile detection and others. It can record video at 1080p@30fps. The front camera is capable to record video at 720p.

Battery: Yet another brilliant feature of the Galaxy S 3 is its gigantic Li-Ion 2100 mAh battery. It can ensure 11-hour and-40 minute talk time for the device.

What are great?

Large 4.8-inch 720p screen
Slick lightweight design
Quad-core processor
Better onboard storage options
Slot for microSD card up to 64GB.
Excellent battery life
Top media management tools
What are not so great?
Subjective design
S Voice not optimized
TouchWiz interface is not perfect
High price

Conclusion

Anyway, the Galaxy S3 is creating waves in global markets. So far, Samsung has surfaced the device in 28 nations in Europe and the Middle East. The countries include major markets like Germany and Britain. Samsung will launch the device in the U.S. probably mid June. Thanks to huge marketing campaigns by Samsung and key telecom firms, the device may outsell its predecessor.

Samsung Galaxy S 3 Hands on review ( Video)