I like it, especially the not-gingerbread-y touchwiz, I suppose Samsung decided to give the SGS2 gingerbread look as a selling point to this new phone.
I'm curious why hasn't Sony sent the XPERIA S for review, or has AT ever asked Sony for a review unit, primarily because I want to see AT's view on XPERIA S vs SGS3, aside from the obvious performance difference.
Brian - I don't believe the US specs for the SGIII have been released, yet you have the processor listed as "Dual Core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960" on page 1.
The iPhone wins. The big screens on new phones are just stupid. Other devices I own have bigger screens. Some are mounted on the wall, some fits in my messenger bag. What I want in a mobile phone is for it to be a mobile phone (yet functional), not a portable device.
Exactly. For 20 years cell phones have gotten smaller, now they're making them too big to comfortably hold. Any phone with a screen over ~4" (100mm) is going to be too large.
The 3.5" screen on the iPhone is the lower end of the scale for a touch screen phone.
totally disagree. I LOVE a big screen as long as its under 5" and can still fit in my pocket! love to read, browse, watch movies, and use my fav apps on a bigger screen. its a no brainer! if u want a smaller screen, u have a ton of choices, leave the flagship expensive phones with big screens plz & thank u!
The usefulness of a phone now days comes down to 2 things, screen size, and resolution. You an have a huge device like say the iPad but if it only has 1024 resolution it is hardly more useful than a phone. You can also have a small screen with hirez like the iphone but then you can actually use your fingers to accurately manipulate as much.
So I for one am glad that manufactuers get it. We need big phones, and we need hi resolution. That is what samsung screwed up with the S2, it was no higher resolution than the original.
That being said in the end there is no excuse for companies not just shipping their phones in 3+ sizes. 3", 4" , 5" all with the same specs. And I wish more would throw a physical keyboard on the middle model.
when a phone is not controllable with one hand (the one holding it) it moves over to tabled/phablet status for me. and i can't take those seriously (as a phone).
i'm glad i have the lumia 800 because of that. the 900 is too big for me. still, obviously, choice is great. i just prefer to not focus on flagships as having a need to be huge. they have a need to be functional. phone functionality goes down, once you have to use two hands to control it.
Based on sales what YOU want is not what most people want so dont think the world revolves around you. Anything below 5" is great for me. If they make one bigger maybe I will pass but certainly wont call it stupid just because I prefer a smaller screen.
Why are you discrediting my personal opinion with what everyone want's as an alibi, just before giving me your own personal opinion? That's just sad.
The iPhone and a number of devices are sold in the millions and millions with smaller screens all over the world. One thing does not exclude the other.
Ps. A big screen also increases the weight and gives poor battery performance. The point of a mobile phone is being mobile.
Your personal opinion is not being posted as such - you are making assertions that don't have any sense ... that's why ppl are disregarding them and getting defensive or disputing you -- "iPhone wins" - the iPhone isn't even a matter of discussion here - it's HTC One X and SGSIII -- "big screens are just stupid" - do I need to explain this one? I think not. - "What I want in a mobile phone is for it to be a mobile phone (yet functional), not a portable device." - a 5" screen device is not portable? in what sense? -- I and from what I'm seeing many others don't think it hinders portability. And the obvious flaw -> a moblie phone is a portable device so you can't want one over the other ...
First you get argumentative without making any sense and then you want to know why people are dismissing you?
And again you claim that a device of that size isn't mobile - HOW? -- I can clearly grasp it, have no trouble using it, benefit from workspace and so on, battery life problems or lack there of depend heavily on usage patterns (so you have preference again), the weight of all the devices today in the mobile phone class is so low that claiming that some device is 'too heavy' even if it's 10-15% heavier than it's competition is utterly meaningless and only a talking point or point of prestige and bragging right and nothing else - you can state a preference but claiming as a rule that something isn't usable cause of some aspect of it needs explanation and arguments - just saying it's so isn't much of a selling point...
Excellent post mate. I fully agree..seriously when people argue about weight of a phone I wonder if humans are becoming that pathetically weak all of a sudden lol
In my opinion a device with a 5" screen is more a portable device with calling possibilities than a mobile phone.
A good comparison to explain what i think about the size could be laptop's. The Thinkpad X series was in it's time a leading ultraportable computer you brought with you while the 17" laptop computer was more in it's own right at home on the desk. Though you could also bring this along on a trip. Both did software and both could have innovative premium hardware inside.
I want producers to make great and innovative products in a smaller package as well. That is also why i think iPhone is the real winner today.
"That is also why i think iPhone is the real winner today."
Here you go again, stating your opinions as fact.
From the OSX Dictionary: Fact - a thing that is indisputably the case Fact - chiefly Law the truth about events as opposed to interpretation
By March this year 5 million people bought the Samsung Galaxy Note and by February this year 20 million people bought the Galaxy S II. Clearly your opinion isn't fact by any meaning of the word, so it's a fallacy to state it as such.
I find the iPhone a little on the uncomfortable side to use, it's too small for my wide fingers. During typing for example, I have an increased rate of mistakes compared to with my 4" Focus or a buddies 4.3" SGSII. Web browsing is also much more comfortable on the larger screen, which I do a lot of, so it's a fairly big deal. So while the perfect size for you may be 3.5", I dislike it and find the 4-4.3" range a much better size. Doesn't mean I think all phones should be 4-4.3" though; I recognize that some people want the 5" monsters or 2.4" Blackberrys too.
You need to learn the difference when someone talks about his opinion (for instance what i think) and when someone states a fact (20 million people bought the Galaxy S II since it was launched a year ago (for Norway at least)). I have not checked any sources for your fact though.
When it comes to what is comfortable or not, there is no one winner. I'm saying i want premium hardware in a device with a screen smaller than 5". Since innovative premium hardware is only pushed in to larger devices when looking at the competition it is my opinion that iPhone is the real winner today. And for a fact, sales numbers are not contradicting my personal opinion here.
Saying that MOST people prefer the iPhone because of the sheer amount of sales is incorrect. The vast majority of smartphone users don't own the iPhone. It's true, however, that the iPhone IS the best selling smartphone out of the bunch. That's a fact. Only 28% of smartphone users prefer the iPhone, some consider that percentage a "minority". The 51% majority goes to Android handsets with over 75% of those handsets being 4"+. 75& of the overall 51% means that 38% of smartphone users in the US prefer phones with larger screens. That's still more than those that prefer the 3.5" iPhone.
That said, there's another major flaw in your argument, because there's absolutely NO proof that iPhone sales weren't made BECAUSE of the size of the its screen. Apple's brand, the build quality, iOS, and the "Retina display" (regardless of size), are the major selling features of the iPhone. If the iPhone had a 4-4.3" screen, would you think that the sales numbers would have decreased? I think not.
One person here said that manufacturers should make premium (flagship) handsets in 2 sizes at least, one "small", and another "large". IF Apple made an additional iPhone with a larger screen, and the current sized iPhone still beat it in sales, then your argument would have been half correct only, because those who prefer the smaller iPhone still are NOT the majority whatsoever.
I don know where you get your numbers but they are wrong. You also missed that people like the iPhone because of app quality and selection and service and support. Androids chief attributes to most is that they are cheap.
We don't know how many Galaxy II s wre sold to people because Samsung doesn't report those numbers. Apple does. This is actually quite well know. Samsung is counting all the Galaxy IIs sitting in shelves and warehouses. Pretty pathetic really.
Bzzt. Shipped not sold. Samsung only reports shipped not sold numbers. Apple only reports sold and in the hands of consumers. I seriously doubt 5 million people have bought the Note.
I think that really depends on what you're doing with your device. If you do a lot of reading or web surfing, the One X screen will probably be better because of the non-PenTile matrix and overall sharpness of text. However, videos will probably go towards the Galaxy S III due to the superior black levels and contrast.
Unless blacks are pitch black on lcds along with having infinite contrast, it will always be a more pleasant experience watching movies on amoleds. Now i haven't seen these new 720p mobile devices but am I wrong in saying they all are very sharp anway?
I've used a Galaxy Nexus that has a 720p AMOLED display and i'd say once you hit 720p it doesn't really matter much if the screen is pentile or not, because the res is so high and the pixels so small now that it makes it a lot harder to notice. Although i could still see it was pentile, but i had to get very close to the display, closer than what you would in normal usage.
If the S3 has more accurate colours than the S2 did then i'd prefer the S3's SAMOLED screen over the One X's LCD because of the superior blacks/contrast.
I assume you mean moot. Mute is not being able to hear. Pentile is inferior and this is obvious. But the now two year old retina display still beats them all.
How old are you? Anyway, nobody uses their phone from 2-3 inches away, especially not one with a 4.8 inch screen. If every screen had to be perfect when viewed at ridiculously close distances, a 42" TV would need to be around 10,752 x 6,048 resolution, which is just pointless.
Besides, I'd rather see higher quality panels with better color accuracy, contrast ratio, and glass that doesn't reflect as much ambient light than needlessly high resolutions. The Lumia 900 is a good example of this, but it seems to have been dismissed as outdated due to its 800x480 resolution. I currently have an iPhone 4, and while having text be clear at tiny sizes is great, I'm still going to zoom in to read it.
Who uses their phone without a back cover? Try using the iPhone without invisible shield or some kind of a cover and see what happens to its glass exterior in a month.
Once you put a nice cover in it, say carbon fibre case cover, the front on the white model looks like a larger iPod Touch.
i never used cover for my original galaxy s, the backside is still glossy and shiny. i've had it for ohh.. about a year now. Never use rubber.. or plastic shields, it takes all the good feeling away.
I can't wait for the full review! I especially want to hear about the battery life results.
In terms of the casing, I think it is really disappointing that Samsung didn't step up their game here. I absolutely despise using external protective cases, but if this is a return to the slippery, cheap plastic of the SGS1 series... well that just sucks.
In terms of all of the work Samsung has done to the software features, I really hope the dev community will be able to offer a cleaner build with the great new features but without the touchwiz taint.
The addition of a microSD slot that supports SDXC 64 GB with exFAT is also a novel feature that stands in stark contrast to the One X's ludicrously small and unexpandable 16 (or 32GB).
Now the questions stands, who will be first? Will HTC get their game together with providing proper dev support for the One X or will I be able to buy an SGS3. Neither device is perfect, but they both look great.
you commented that the camera has an aperture opening of only f/2.6, I am a photographer and the aperture by any means a slow one. Also most probably the lens will have an wide angle(20-30mm in terms of 35mm) so that f/2.6 aperture is very decent.
f/2.6 certainly isn't bad but nothing special. f/2.0 or even f/2.4 would have been better. Don't forget we're dealing with rather tiny sensors so even a bit of increase in aperture opening should help. However, I wonder what the actual T stop would be on different phones. It's possible that one's f/2.4 may gather same amount of light as f/2.6.
Seriously, why is there Note in the comparison equation and tables? The phone freaking rocks, I dont' miss dropping Verizon and paying the early termination fee to go to AT&T for it
And the big screen whiners can stick with their tiny ass 4'' screens, i'm never going back now. And yes, it fits in all my current clothes pockets.
WoW with those scores and the lovely redesigned Touchwiz (which I thought was better than Stock Android in GB form at least with the GS2) then I'll get one of these. Though I want to see the screen in person before I do because Pentile has been really bad on phones I've seen it in so far.
I really hoped common sense would prevail over megalomania - 10 mm longer is simply too much. Yes, it's really nice to have a extra screen area when you need it, but then in 99% of the time you can do with a 4" screen. At least they crammed a nice big battery in the package.
CPU - MSM8960. It's improved. Same as HTC One X (AT&T). OK, it's fast. Sounds great. On the Adreno 225 GPU, this is personal, but I don't play on games on smartphones. The selection is abysmally poor for such a huge user base, so every hardware review site has to resort to lines like "Well, Fruit Ninja felt really responsive!" Yeah, OK.
Here's where the Galaxy S3 disappoints:
Camera - 8MP. I know numbers aren't everything, but some of us were expecting 12MP. Nokia has a 41MP camera phone. Didn't Samsung learn anything with the 5MP Galaxy Nexus?
Battery - 2100mAh. Just No. Motorola has 3300mAh in 8.9mm. That's 57% more battery life.
RAM - 1GB. The SAME amount of RAM in the Galaxy S2. I was hoping for 1.5GB or at least 1.25GB. Not a big deal..
Screen - 4.8" 720p Pentile. What about those of us that don't want a gigantic phone? Seems like Samsung could have easily made 4-4.3", 4.8" and 5.3" versions with the same hardware, since nothing has been added inside. The Samsung Skyrocket already had a 4.52" display, this phone is 6% bigger diagonally. Outside of sites like this, nobody cares about the resolution and certainly not the Pentile arrangement.
I'm not impressed by the custom software at all. NFC is just a waste of time, with transfer speeds of 1.4MB/s (!) and you have to hold the phones near eachother. It adds more vulnerability than usefulness IMHO.
My ideal phone would be a Droid Razr Maxx with MSM8960, 4.6" 720p screen, 12MP camera, more RAM, and a 5000mAh battery for $299 ($649 off-contract). Otherwise don't bother me.
If the most powerful phone in the world disappoints you, nothing will excite you. And the fact that you mentioned a.. Droid as a substitution means a lot to me.
I honestly don't care about the branding, only the specs. Really the only reason I want a Maxx is because it comes stock with a dual battery (3300mAh). This should be standard for smartphones IMO, including the SGS3.
"Camera - 8MP. I know numbers aren't everything, but some of us were expecting 12MP. Nokia has a 41MP camera phone. Didn't Samsung learn anything with the 5MP Galaxy Nexus?"
In this case, numbers mean precisely nothing. If you think more than 8mp on a sensor that size is a good thing, you're a mentalist. The photosites will be tiny. SNR will be hopelessly low. Not to mention the fact that no phone camera lens has a resolving power to match that many pixels, that small. It's false economy and lies. Megapixels in anything other than professional SLR cameras mean nothing. My £4000 pro nikon SLR has 12mp. I wish it had 10 and a lower noise floor.
That's right. 8MP is already a non-optimal use of the silicon, since virtually all images taken by it will only be viewed on sub-2MP screens, where the extra pixels all get averaged. Photodiode size should take priority--not marketing.
" Camera - 8MP. I know numbers aren't everything, but some of us were expecting 12MP. Nokia has a 41MP camera phone. Didn't Samsung learn anything with the 5MP Galaxy Nexus?"
Its not really 41MP. For a cell phone and a world in which people don't actually print photos, but view ob their 1900x1080 screens... even a 5MP sensor is overkill. A better and bigger sensor would be a real improvement. Trust me, my 8 year old 6MP Nikon dslr D1x ($5000) will smoke any 12MP POS (point and shoot) $150 camera you get at best buy. I use a POS myself, they are tiny and good for quick shots. But I use my cell camera more. Still I set my POS at 5MP because its good enough for 10x12. Why waste drive space? Also the camera saves the shot faster and can get setup for the next.
What matters are the lens and sensor. That's why Canon and Nikon are the only brands that matter. Sony comes in 3rd. I highly recommended Canon for POS.
Yeah I am not doubting that. That's why I opened my post with "I know numbers aren't everything".
One thing is for certain, MP numbers affect sales. I've spoken with several people in person who'd decided the Galaxy Nexus camera was inferior to the SGS2 camera, based on megapixel count. It's a tough sell to say, "This 5MP camera is better than this 8MP camera", although it may be perfectly true.
I think the use of NFC there is supposed to make the negotiation for WiFi Direct transfers easier. It's not used directly to transfer huge files over the air. After the initial negotiation, the two phones can be left apart from each other as far as tens of metres.
I'm a Guy with Guy sized hands and having these super thin extra wide phones SUCK. I've been using my sg1 for almost two years now but with latest updates. At 4' the phone is not comfortable to hold compared to my previous old Sony slider which still blows away Samsung as an alarm clock.
The thin sides means harder area to grip with the finger tips... more likely to drop. For single hand use, the 4" samsungs are at the limit... these 4.8-5" screen Lumina and sg3 are even worse. I guess they are fine in a purse but not fun digging out of your pocket! I've missed calls because of the crappy design of this phone... can't grip it. Weak speakers. I've recently checked out the Lumina 900 and iPhone 4s side by side... I love the look of the Nokia. But the iPhone size is perfect, for a phone. I have a tablet when I need more screen size, a 24" display for even better. How about a phone size screen with hires?
Large screen is the only way Samsung can get HD Res? Lame.
There are some good features on this new sg3 phone which are welcomed... but I don't think I can bring myself to buy another Samsung phone again. Other than the great contrast of their displays, the rest of their phones don't seem to be designed for human use.
I don't really want an iPhone, could care less about siri. But the same size Lumina 800 could cost me $200 more... since att doesn't sell it. The 900 is cheap at $100... if it was usable. I prefer the metro interface over anything else.... which I run on my Samsung galaxy. Smokes android in function. Allows me to have the benifits of android. Can anyone make a perfect phone?
I'm hoping a Lumina 810 comes out soon with wp8 and HD like resolution. And att carries it. My galaxy is wearing out. The GPS has always been crap... and I doubt Samsung has fixed that as well.
i have many women friend who purchased the Note and are loving it. Either you have some hobbit hands or are hating beyond reason. Not once have I heard a Note owner say they think it's too big. Let me break it down for you, you just like smaller phones. And btw, Samsung makes screens for the ipad which I love and appreciate. They know what they're doing when it comes to screens. Did i mention HTC One has screen issues. Im not surprised as they don't make screens themselves.
Finally, a phone powerful enough to give me desktop performance in a beautiful shell that refuses to be scratched or dented even after a million drops. No chipping, no shattering.
No matter how you try to argue or rationalize it the Note is entirely too big as a phone.
I agree that I have never heard a Note owner complain about screen size but that is because I have never seen a Note owner!!!!!!!! Every person I have ever talked to about it has said they would never get something that big and use it as a phone.
haha, unfortunately, im not trying to justify anything. im stating the obvious from the owners of these devices. its not that big and will fit fine in your pocket. Can we just stop all these sensational talk. Really gettin sick of em.
So... its my imagination that these bigger phones takes me an extra 1 to 5 seconds to get out of my pockets... that have keys or wallets etc... wow.
Its amazing that its my imagination that they grip like shit, have cheap back covers and are not comfortable to use as a phone. I'm not complaining about texting. (Which I'm doing on my sgs1 phone)
Well if your wearing those emo tight ass pants that ride your butt crack, im not surprised you can't get anything in or out of your pockets. Don't blame the phone for your crappy sense of style
Keywords there bud. Women = purse. Duhh. You carry a purse? My SG1 barely fits in my pockets. Its always a bitch to get it out. Its thinness means weaker speakers and vibration. I miss calls all the time with this thing in my pocket that I wouldn't with my old Sony.
I already played with the Lumina 900 with its 4.75 screen... its horrible. I'm 6ft tall I have large hands, I prefer a good size mouse... but holding a phone like a girl with super thin phones is stupid. It they can make a 4" phone that is edge to edge, that would help. My Sony is twice as thick. But far more comfortable to hold. It also means a thicker battery with more run time.
If someone makes a windows 7 launcher for iPhone, then I'd go that route.
Samsung has improved nearly every single aspect of the hardware and software here. 720p + larger screen. Significant increase in CPU and GPU performance. ICS software. Camera updates...etc.
Not only are the stats improved, but significantly so in many places. The one concession is the body is still the trademark slick plastic...ok I give you that.
But look at iPhone 4 vs. 4S - you can barely tell them apart. Very few changes overall. I don't get the comparison here.
Higher Res screen. Better phone. Better egronomics. A year ahead of Samsung. I love their TVs and monitors... but I may never ever buy another crappy Samsung phone.
Even their tablets feel like cheap flimsy junk compared to an ipad.
The iPhone screen if 960x640 which is smaller than 1280x720. Better phone? The galaxy s 3 just smoked the iPhone in benchmarks. And you can't "hold it wrong". Plus the iPhone is not LTE. Better ergonomics? The iPhone is like holding a brick. It's just a square. Either you're stupid or just a very bad troll. Year ahead? More like 3 years behind.
They are all like holding a brick. The iPhone4s are not in the same category as these. These are large Smartphones, and their screen is going to obviously be bigger. Apple came out with the screen they did a long ass time ago now, so comparing these phones is retarded. It was only added in the article as a standard as it is popular. Apple/Other will be leapfrogging each other, this is good for the consumer. We would not have screens like this becoming popular this fast if Apple didn't take the initiative. Bashing them because gen1 of these high res handheld screens isnt high, is pretty silly.
1280x720 is perfect for 4.5~ inch screens just as 960x640 is perfect for 3.5inch screens. Some people dont mind huge smartphones, some people want smaller, now put your epeen away.
While i agree to a degree, just thought I'd FYI: Since LG and Samsung developed and manufacture all Apple screens; your statement is in contradiction of itself... (Samsung created the AX CPUs as well)
So if you were to want to claim credit for an achievement then say "Apple, came out with a way... to make the vast majority of the market believe... ...Wouldn't have screens like this if Apple hadn't, made the majority of the market want..." Job's mandated that iConsumers only believe in the size/format of 4" or 10"... and so say they all.
My epeen... if Apple don't up their 4" screen and down their 10" screen... they will eventually RIP like RIM... overconfidence has been your weakness; don't let it become your undoing.
You can't 'hold it wrong' with the iPhone 4S either. You're thinking about the 2 year old iPhone 4 which for a tiny minority of people had minor issues if not being used in a case and held in a particularly strange way.
The not-yet-released SG3 did marginally beat the 7 month old iPhone 4S in some benchmarks, yes, but that isn't really so impressive with a new iPhone just around the corner.
If you want to talk about holding a 'brick' you need look no further than these large screened phones, the millions of iPhone 4S owners don't find it hard to hold. Books are square too, do you struggle with those?
Particularly disappointing is the Pentile display which means the resolution figures you quote simply aren't full pixels. Pentile is widely documented to be more grainy and this will be exaggerated on a larger screen.
Finally, since so many people said this about the iPhone 4S and iPad 3 - the GPU in the SG3 has to drive more pixels so in the real world it's probably slower than the iPhone 4S.
Is that comment meant to resemble any meaningful rebuttal to any points I made? Or did you deliberately go for the finger in the ears dumb fandroid response?
you see the moment you said "crappy samsung phone" you lost all credibility. no one who know anything about phones would say that. yeah and thats why they won the phone of the year right?
If that plastic crap mean 100bucks cheaper than iphone, its ok with me. Samsung is putting the real money on the hardware, but yes the looks on a phone is half of the fun..
The table of specs on the first page is wrong - both the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy S III can take SDXC cards up to 64GB (so do most modern phones and tablets that have SD slots). I have a Galaxy S II with a SanDisk 64 GB SD card in it - it works fine. I have seen some "official" Samsung specs that say the S III will take 64 GB SDXC, but even if you can't find those it is inconceivable that it won't do the same as its predecessor and competitors.
yea and it has a lot to do with the super hyped up expectation. when I came to my senses i realized it's one of the most beautiful minimalist phone ever created.
No comments on the voice commands or the incoming caller ID anouncement over Bluetooth headset, which is what makies it a useful MOBILE PHONE in a vechicle. California law prohibits handheld cell phone usage in a vechicle. They require handsfree devices. It can be done! My old Motorola V750 meets all the requirements for handsfree, it just does not have all the playtoys of the smart devices which should not be called smart phones, but toys that will let you make a phone call.
Hmm, it's really hard to make choice. Have just impressive by the Samsung Galaxy S II, beautiful 4.3-inch SUPER AMOLED Plus screen, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a great 8-megapixel camera and 2-megapixel front-facing camera, and have collected many tips from aneesoft for it, now the Samsung Galaxy S III really cool, even beat the iPhone 4S! I would think about again~
Now that Samsung has caught up with Apple on the performance front, it makes the SG3 a real contender for me. However, the one issue so many people seem to 'gloss over' is the fact that this phone will probably take a very long time to receive any Android updates.
With all the effort Samsung put into custom software, this just extends the time they will need to release any software upgrades, which is a serious issue for me.
So many purchasers of old Android phones get left in the dark when a new Android update happens and it's a lottery whether they will or wont get the upgrade. This is now the single biggest stumbling block between me and buying an Android phone.
Yeah because rooting is the solution to this problem....
Wake up, moron. People want their phone to be officially supported and prefer not to have to void their warranty with notoriously unreliable unofficial ROMS just to get an update which should automatically synchronise to their phone.
It's absolute insane that Apple fans get a bad name with mental people like you who just refuse to accept any legitimate criticism to Android.
I don't even have an iPhone. God dude you have issues.
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Malih - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
I like it, especially the not-gingerbread-y touchwiz, I suppose Samsung decided to give the SGS2 gingerbread look as a selling point to this new phone.I'm curious why hasn't Sony sent the XPERIA S for review, or has AT ever asked Sony for a review unit, primarily because I want to see AT's view on XPERIA S vs SGS3, aside from the obvious performance difference.
claytontullos - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Brian-
I don't believe the US specs for the SGIII have been released, yet you have the processor listed as "Dual Core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960" on page 1.
jjj - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
Got any info on the wireless charging? There is little info out there.landerf - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
So which screen wins, One X or SGS3?RaistlinZ - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
One X wins for screen, easily.imalex - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
The iPhone wins. The big screens on new phones are just stupid. Other devices I own have bigger screens. Some are mounted on the wall, some fits in my messenger bag. What I want in a mobile phone is for it to be a mobile phone (yet functional), not a portable device.gstrickler - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Exactly. For 20 years cell phones have gotten smaller, now they're making them too big to comfortably hold. Any phone with a screen over ~4" (100mm) is going to be too large.The 3.5" screen on the iPhone is the lower end of the scale for a touch screen phone.
poohbear - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
totally disagree. I LOVE a big screen as long as its under 5" and can still fit in my pocket! love to read, browse, watch movies, and use my fav apps on a bigger screen. its a no brainer! if u want a smaller screen, u have a ton of choices, leave the flagship expensive phones with big screens plz & thank u!PubFiction - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
The usefulness of a phone now days comes down to 2 things, screen size, and resolution. You an have a huge device like say the iPad but if it only has 1024 resolution it is hardly more useful than a phone. You can also have a small screen with hirez like the iphone but then you can actually use your fingers to accurately manipulate as much.So I for one am glad that manufactuers get it. We need big phones, and we need hi resolution. That is what samsung screwed up with the S2, it was no higher resolution than the original.
That being said in the end there is no excuse for companies not just shipping their phones in 3+ sizes. 3", 4" , 5" all with the same specs. And I wish more would throw a physical keyboard on the middle model.
steven75 - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
I can barely fit in an average persons jeans pocket and only if not moving or sitting down.1ceTr0n - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
Perhaps you need to buy different jeans or maybe even loose some weight instead of blaming phone companies?davepermen - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
when a phone is not controllable with one hand (the one holding it) it moves over to tabled/phablet status for me. and i can't take those seriously (as a phone).i'm glad i have the lumia 800 because of that. the 900 is too big for me. still, obviously, choice is great. i just prefer to not focus on flagships as having a need to be huge. they have a need to be functional. phone functionality goes down, once you have to use two hands to control it.
1ceTr0n - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
Unless you have dwarven hands, the S3 and Note are easily used with one hand, the keyboard even has an option to set it for right or left hand use.Try again
shaolin95 - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
Based on sales what YOU want is not what most people want so dont think the world revolves around you.Anything below 5" is great for me. If they make one bigger maybe I will pass but certainly wont call it stupid just because I prefer a smaller screen.
imalex - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
Why are you discrediting my personal opinion with what everyone want's as an alibi, just before giving me your own personal opinion? That's just sad.The iPhone and a number of devices are sold in the millions and millions with smaller screens all over the world. One thing does not exclude the other.
Ps. A big screen also increases the weight and gives poor battery performance. The point of a mobile phone is being mobile.
Latzara - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
Your personal opinion is not being posted as such - you are making assertions that don't have any sense ... that's why ppl are disregarding them and getting defensive or disputing you -- "iPhone wins" - the iPhone isn't even a matter of discussion here - it's HTC One X and SGSIII -- "big screens are just stupid" - do I need to explain this one? I think not. - "What I want in a mobile phone is for it to be a mobile phone (yet functional), not a portable device." - a 5" screen device is not portable? in what sense? -- I and from what I'm seeing many others don't think it hinders portability. And the obvious flaw -> a moblie phone is a portable device so you can't want one over the other ...First you get argumentative without making any sense and then you want to know why people are dismissing you?
And again you claim that a device of that size isn't mobile - HOW? -- I can clearly grasp it, have no trouble using it, benefit from workspace and so on, battery life problems or lack there of depend heavily on usage patterns (so you have preference again), the weight of all the devices today in the mobile phone class is so low that claiming that some device is 'too heavy' even if it's 10-15% heavier than it's competition is utterly meaningless and only a talking point or point of prestige and bragging right and nothing else - you can state a preference but claiming as a rule that something isn't usable cause of some aspect of it needs explanation and arguments - just saying it's so isn't much of a selling point...
shaolin95 - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
Excellent post mate. I fully agree..seriously when people argue about weight of a phone I wonder if humans are becoming that pathetically weak all of a sudden lolimalex - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
In my opinion a device with a 5" screen is more a portable device with calling possibilities than a mobile phone.A good comparison to explain what i think about the size could be laptop's. The Thinkpad X series was in it's time a leading ultraportable computer you brought with you while the 17" laptop computer was more in it's own right at home on the desk. Though you could also bring this along on a trip. Both did software and both could have innovative premium hardware inside.
I want producers to make great and innovative products in a smaller package as well. That is also why i think iPhone is the real winner today.
frostyfiredude - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
"That is also why i think iPhone is the real winner today."Here you go again, stating your opinions as fact.
From the OSX Dictionary:
Fact - a thing that is indisputably the case
Fact - chiefly Law the truth about events as opposed to interpretation
By March this year 5 million people bought the Samsung Galaxy Note and by February this year 20 million people bought the Galaxy S II. Clearly your opinion isn't fact by any meaning of the word, so it's a fallacy to state it as such.
I find the iPhone a little on the uncomfortable side to use, it's too small for my wide fingers. During typing for example, I have an increased rate of mistakes compared to with my 4" Focus or a buddies 4.3" SGSII. Web browsing is also much more comfortable on the larger screen, which I do a lot of, so it's a fairly big deal. So while the perfect size for you may be 3.5", I dislike it and find the 4-4.3" range a much better size. Doesn't mean I think all phones should be 4-4.3" though; I recognize that some people want the 5" monsters or 2.4" Blackberrys too.
imalex - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
You need to learn the difference when someone talks about his opinion (for instance what i think) and when someone states a fact (20 million people bought the Galaxy S II since it was launched a year ago (for Norway at least)). I have not checked any sources for your fact though.By the way, 37 million iPhones was sold during the first quarter of 2012 (source: http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/01/25/there-are-n...
When it comes to what is comfortable or not, there is no one winner. I'm saying i want premium hardware in a device with a screen smaller than 5". Since innovative premium hardware is only pushed in to larger devices when looking at the competition it is my opinion that iPhone is the real winner today. And for a fact, sales numbers are not contradicting my personal opinion here.
lilmoe - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
Saying that MOST people prefer the iPhone because of the sheer amount of sales is incorrect. The vast majority of smartphone users don't own the iPhone. It's true, however, that the iPhone IS the best selling smartphone out of the bunch. That's a fact. Only 28% of smartphone users prefer the iPhone, some consider that percentage a "minority". The 51% majority goes to Android handsets with over 75% of those handsets being 4"+. 75& of the overall 51% means that 38% of smartphone users in the US prefer phones with larger screens. That's still more than those that prefer the 3.5" iPhone.That said, there's another major flaw in your argument, because there's absolutely NO proof that iPhone sales weren't made BECAUSE of the size of the its screen. Apple's brand, the build quality, iOS, and the "Retina display" (regardless of size), are the major selling features of the iPhone. If the iPhone had a 4-4.3" screen, would you think that the sales numbers would have decreased? I think not.
One person here said that manufacturers should make premium (flagship) handsets in 2 sizes at least, one "small", and another "large". IF Apple made an additional iPhone with a larger screen, and the current sized iPhone still beat it in sales, then your argument would have been half correct only, because those who prefer the smaller iPhone still are NOT the majority whatsoever.
darwinosx - Sunday, June 10, 2012 - link
I don know where you get your numbers but they are wrong.You also missed that people like the iPhone because of app quality and selection and service and support. Androids chief attributes to most is that they are cheap.
darwinosx - Sunday, June 10, 2012 - link
We don't know how many Galaxy II s wre sold to people because Samsung doesn't report those numbers. Apple does. This is actually quite well know. Samsung is counting all the Galaxy IIs sitting in shelves and warehouses. Pretty pathetic really.darwinosx - Sunday, June 10, 2012 - link
Bzzt. Shipped not sold. Samsung only reports shipped not sold numbers. Apple only reports sold and in the hands of consumers.I seriously doubt 5 million people have bought the Note.
dagamer34 - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
I think that really depends on what you're doing with your device. If you do a lot of reading or web surfing, the One X screen will probably be better because of the non-PenTile matrix and overall sharpness of text. However, videos will probably go towards the Galaxy S III due to the superior black levels and contrast.SamsungAppleFan - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Unless blacks are pitch black on lcds along with having infinite contrast, it will always be a more pleasant experience watching movies on amoleds. Now i haven't seen these new 720p mobile devices but am I wrong in saying they all are very sharp anway?B3an - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
I've used a Galaxy Nexus that has a 720p AMOLED display and i'd say once you hit 720p it doesn't really matter much if the screen is pentile or not, because the res is so high and the pixels so small now that it makes it a lot harder to notice. Although i could still see it was pentile, but i had to get very close to the display, closer than what you would in normal usage.If the S3 has more accurate colours than the S2 did then i'd prefer the S3's SAMOLED screen over the One X's LCD because of the superior blacks/contrast.
1ceTr0n - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
The Galaxy Note has an even higher resolution, so this boohoo about the Pentile matrix screens is really mute unless your just a whiny iphone troll.darwinosx - Sunday, June 10, 2012 - link
I assume you mean moot. Mute is not being able to hear.Pentile is inferior and this is obvious. But the now two year old retina display still beats them all.
cknobman - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Did you not see that picture of the "up close" view of the SGS3 screen?Looks like typical AMOLED subpixel SH!T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HTC One X wins hands down.
After that picture I was thinking "heck no" on this phone until I saw the benchmark scores and now I am torn.
B3an - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
At that level of close up you're going to see pixels on any display. Derp.The human eye cant even focus at that extreme close range anyway, so it's not like you'll ever actually see these pixels without taking macro photo's.
cknobman - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
No you wont. Derp.Looking that close at my phone now and dont see the pixels.
That view is about 2-3 inches from the screen and not a microscopic view of the screen. Derp.
3mp3ror - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
You probably look full retard with a phone that close to your eyes. Derp.duffman55 - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
How old are you? Anyway, nobody uses their phone from 2-3 inches away, especially not one with a 4.8 inch screen. If every screen had to be perfect when viewed at ridiculously close distances, a 42" TV would need to be around 10,752 x 6,048 resolution, which is just pointless.Besides, I'd rather see higher quality panels with better color accuracy, contrast ratio, and glass that doesn't reflect as much ambient light than needlessly high resolutions. The Lumia 900 is a good example of this, but it seems to have been dismissed as outdated due to its 800x480 resolution. I currently have an iPhone 4, and while having text be clear at tiny sizes is great, I'm still going to zoom in to read it.
darwinosx - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Not on an iPhone 4 or 4s. Two year old iPhone has better screen.shaolin95 - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
"Looks like typical AMOLED subpixel SH!T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"Either you are a troll or just plain dumb....seriously retarded post.
1ceTr0n - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
Complete and utter troll post either from a biased/bitter iphone user or just plain non informed personbiassj - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
This thing can run Crysis damnnnSamsungAppleFan - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Haha, so true. I can imagine in one of it's commercials with those movie voice guys saying, "YES.... This thing CAN run Crysis.. daaaaaammmmlilmoe - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
they should have Crynet present the gaming capability of the next galaxy (galaxy s4)1ceTr0n - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
Its CrytekCyberAngel_777 - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
I thought it was Skynet...ilkhan - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
Did you happen to get any info on frequency support for the international version?Also any additional info on the wireless charging mentioned in their presentation would be appreciated.
hchristian - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
Are those scratches on the back of the case I noticed?It looks too plasticky and cheap for a flagship phone
This one : http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/1934/SGS3-10...
RussianSensation - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Who uses their phone without a back cover? Try using the iPhone without invisible shield or some kind of a cover and see what happens to its glass exterior in a month.Once you put a nice cover in it, say carbon fibre case cover, the front on the white model looks like a larger iPod Touch.
hchristian - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
I use my iPhone without any casing, there is only 1 visible nick that I see, the glass is actually quite durableLeonick - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
Same here, only under a strong light can you see a few tiny scratches on mine and I've actually dropped it a few times...SamsungAppleFan - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
i never used cover for my original galaxy s, the backside is still glossy and shiny. i've had it for ohh.. about a year now. Never use rubber.. or plastic shields, it takes all the good feeling away.blackbrrd - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
I don't use a cover for my Huawei U8800. Not putting it in the same pocket as my keys has kept it scratch free for over a year now.amdwilliam1985 - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
My Samsung Galaxy S2 is running "naked" for more than half year now without a scratch.Gnarr - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
I've been using my Nexus S for more than a year without a cover or screen film and it doesn't have a single scratchImSpartacus - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Those look like nicks to me.I guess HTC and Nokia really were onto something with that solid unpainted plastic chassis. Let's hope Sammy catches on soon.
SamsungAppleFan - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
dude... you seriously need glasses lol. those are reflections.1ceTr0n - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Its just the reflection from the blue neon/LED's that were all over the show floor and main lobby, there not scratchs3DoubleD - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
I can't wait for the full review! I especially want to hear about the battery life results.In terms of the casing, I think it is really disappointing that Samsung didn't step up their game here. I absolutely despise using external protective cases, but if this is a return to the slippery, cheap plastic of the SGS1 series... well that just sucks.
In terms of all of the work Samsung has done to the software features, I really hope the dev community will be able to offer a cleaner build with the great new features but without the touchwiz taint.
The addition of a microSD slot that supports SDXC 64 GB with exFAT is also a novel feature that stands in stark contrast to the One X's ludicrously small and unexpandable 16 (or 32GB).
Now the questions stands, who will be first? Will HTC get their game together with providing proper dev support for the One X or will I be able to buy an SGS3. Neither device is perfect, but they both look great.
Chaitanya - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
you commented that the camera has an aperture opening of only f/2.6, I am a photographer and the aperture by any means a slow one. Also most probably the lens will have an wide angle(20-30mm in terms of 35mm) so that f/2.6 aperture is very decent.Cattykit - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
f/2.6 certainly isn't bad but nothing special. f/2.0 or even f/2.4 would have been better.Don't forget we're dealing with rather tiny sensors so even a bit of increase in aperture opening should help. However, I wonder what the actual T stop would be on different phones. It's possible that one's f/2.4 may gather same amount of light as f/2.6.
1ceTr0n - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Seriously, why is there Note in the comparison equation and tables? The phone freaking rocks, I dont' miss dropping Verizon and paying the early termination fee to go to AT&T for itAnd the big screen whiners can stick with their tiny ass 4'' screens, i'm never going back now. And yes, it fits in all my current clothes pockets.
steven75 - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
It doesn't fit in a normal humans jeans pocket while walking or sitting. Fail.1ceTr0n - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
Yes it does, but not if you wear those retarded skin ass tight emo jeans.Wolven - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
I got a HTC Sensation with the Virtuous Inquisition ICS rom on it and it scores over 80k points in browsermark. Is the stock system really that bad?scaramoosh - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
WoW with those scores and the lovely redesigned Touchwiz (which I thought was better than Stock Android in GB form at least with the GS2) then I'll get one of these. Though I want to see the screen in person before I do because Pentile has been really bad on phones I've seen it in so far.gvaley - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
I really hoped common sense would prevail over megalomania - 10 mm longer is simply too much. Yes, it's really nice to have a extra screen area when you need it, but then in 99% of the time you can do with a 4" screen. At least they crammed a nice big battery in the package.flyingpants1 - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
This phone is nothing special.CPU - MSM8960. It's improved. Same as HTC One X (AT&T). OK, it's fast. Sounds great. On the Adreno 225 GPU, this is personal, but I don't play on games on smartphones. The selection is abysmally poor for such a huge user base, so every hardware review site has to resort to lines like "Well, Fruit Ninja felt really responsive!" Yeah, OK.
Here's where the Galaxy S3 disappoints:
Camera - 8MP. I know numbers aren't everything, but some of us were expecting 12MP. Nokia has a 41MP camera phone. Didn't Samsung learn anything with the 5MP Galaxy Nexus?
Battery - 2100mAh. Just No. Motorola has 3300mAh in 8.9mm. That's 57% more battery life.
RAM - 1GB. The SAME amount of RAM in the Galaxy S2. I was hoping for 1.5GB or at least 1.25GB. Not a big deal..
Screen - 4.8" 720p Pentile. What about those of us that don't want a gigantic phone? Seems like Samsung could have easily made 4-4.3", 4.8" and 5.3" versions with the same hardware, since nothing has been added inside.
The Samsung Skyrocket already had a 4.52" display, this phone is 6% bigger diagonally. Outside of sites like this, nobody cares about the resolution and certainly not the Pentile arrangement.
I'm not impressed by the custom software at all.
NFC is just a waste of time, with transfer speeds of 1.4MB/s (!) and you have to hold the phones near eachother. It adds more vulnerability than usefulness IMHO.
My ideal phone would be a Droid Razr Maxx with MSM8960, 4.6" 720p screen, 12MP camera, more RAM, and a 5000mAh battery for $299 ($649 off-contract). Otherwise don't bother me.
SamsungAppleFan - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
If the most powerful phone in the world disappoints you, nothing will excite you. And the fact that you mentioned a.. Droid as a substitution means a lot to me.flyingpants1 - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
I honestly don't care about the branding, only the specs. Really the only reason I want a Maxx is because it comes stock with a dual battery (3300mAh). This should be standard for smartphones IMO, including the SGS3.steven75 - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
I noticed you didnt refute even a single one of his arguments._tangent - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
"Camera - 8MP. I know numbers aren't everything, but some of us were expecting 12MP. Nokia has a 41MP camera phone. Didn't Samsung learn anything with the 5MP Galaxy Nexus?"In this case, numbers mean precisely nothing. If you think more than 8mp on a sensor that size is a good thing, you're a mentalist. The photosites will be tiny. SNR will be hopelessly low. Not to mention the fact that no phone camera lens has a resolving power to match that many pixels, that small. It's false economy and lies. Megapixels in anything other than professional SLR cameras mean nothing. My £4000 pro nikon SLR has 12mp. I wish it had 10 and a lower noise floor.
AnnonymousCoward - Thursday, May 10, 2012 - link
That's right. 8MP is already a non-optimal use of the silicon, since virtually all images taken by it will only be viewed on sub-2MP screens, where the extra pixels all get averaged. Photodiode size should take priority--not marketing.Belard - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
" Camera - 8MP. I know numbers aren't everything, but some of us were expecting 12MP. Nokia has a 41MP camera phone. Didn't Samsung learn anything with the 5MP Galaxy Nexus?"Its not really 41MP. For a cell phone and a world in which people don't actually print photos, but view ob their 1900x1080 screens... even a 5MP sensor is overkill. A better and bigger sensor would be a real improvement. Trust me, my 8 year old 6MP Nikon dslr D1x ($5000) will smoke any 12MP POS (point and shoot) $150 camera you get at best buy. I use a POS myself, they are tiny and good for quick shots. But I use my cell camera more. Still I set my POS at 5MP because its good enough for 10x12. Why waste drive space? Also the camera saves the shot faster and can get setup for the next.
What matters are the lens and sensor. That's why Canon and Nikon are the only brands that matter. Sony comes in 3rd. I highly recommended Canon for POS.
shaolin95 - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Good to see camera people clarifying this nonsense about Mega Pixels...more with those tiny sensors, as explained, is worst not better.flyingpants1 - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
Yeah I am not doubting that. That's why I opened my post with "I know numbers aren't everything".One thing is for certain, MP numbers affect sales. I've spoken with several people in person who'd decided the Galaxy Nexus camera was inferior to the SGS2 camera, based on megapixel count. It's a tough sell to say, "This 5MP camera is better than this 8MP camera", although it may be perfectly true.
yjwong - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
I think the use of NFC there is supposed to make the negotiation for WiFi Direct transfers easier. It's not used directly to transfer huge files over the air. After the initial negotiation, the two phones can be left apart from each other as far as tens of metres.1ceTr0n - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
Don't bother us either then.Belard - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
I'm a Guy with Guy sized hands and having these super thin extra wide phones SUCK. I've been using my sg1 for almost two years now but with latest updates. At 4' the phone is not comfortable to hold compared to my previous old Sony slider which still blows away Samsung as an alarm clock.The thin sides means harder area to grip with the finger tips... more likely to drop. For single hand use, the 4" samsungs are at the limit... these 4.8-5" screen Lumina and sg3 are even worse. I guess they are fine in a purse but not fun digging out of your pocket! I've missed calls because of the crappy design of this phone... can't grip it. Weak speakers. I've recently checked out the Lumina 900 and iPhone 4s side by side... I love the look of the Nokia. But the iPhone size is perfect, for a phone. I have a tablet when I need more screen size, a 24" display for even better. How about a phone size screen with hires?
Large screen is the only way Samsung can get HD Res? Lame.
There are some good features on this new sg3 phone which are welcomed... but I don't think I can bring myself to buy another Samsung phone again. Other than the great contrast of their displays, the rest of their phones don't seem to be designed for human use.
I don't really want an iPhone, could care less about siri. But the same size Lumina 800 could cost me $200 more... since att doesn't sell it. The 900 is cheap at $100... if it was usable. I prefer the metro interface over anything else.... which I run on my Samsung galaxy. Smokes android in function. Allows me to have the benifits of android. Can anyone make a perfect phone?
I'm hoping a Lumina 810 comes out soon with wp8 and HD like resolution. And att carries it. My galaxy is wearing out. The GPS has always been crap... and I doubt Samsung has fixed that as well.
Seriously, Samsung could do better.
SamsungAppleFan - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
i have many women friend who purchased the Note and are loving it. Either you have some hobbit hands or are hating beyond reason. Not once have I heard a Note owner say they think it's too big. Let me break it down for you, you just like smaller phones. And btw, Samsung makes screens for the ipad which I love and appreciate. They know what they're doing when it comes to screens. Did i mention HTC One has screen issues. Im not surprised as they don't make screens themselves.Finally, a phone powerful enough to give me desktop performance in a beautiful shell that refuses to be scratched or dented even after a million drops. No chipping, no shattering.
cknobman - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
No matter how you try to argue or rationalize it the Note is entirely too big as a phone.I agree that I have never heard a Note owner complain about screen size but that is because I have never seen a Note owner!!!!!!!! Every person I have ever talked to about it has said they would never get something that big and use it as a phone.
SamsungAppleFan - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
haha, unfortunately, im not trying to justify anything. im stating the obvious from the owners of these devices. its not that big and will fit fine in your pocket. Can we just stop all these sensational talk. Really gettin sick of em.Belard - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
So... its my imagination that these bigger phones takes me an extra 1 to 5 seconds to get out of my pockets... that have keys or wallets etc... wow.Its amazing that its my imagination that they grip like shit, have cheap back covers and are not comfortable to use as a phone. I'm not complaining about texting. (Which I'm doing on my sgs1 phone)
1ceTr0n - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Well if your wearing those emo tight ass pants that ride your butt crack, im not surprised you can't get anything in or out of your pockets. Don't blame the phone for your crappy sense of styleSamsungAppleFan - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
ROFLyjwong - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
My female friends keep their Galaxy Note in their purse. Which are BIG by the way (;1ceTr0n - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Uh sure. So explain why I dropped Verizon then and my Droid X because I wanted a Note that bad. Not all think as you doBelard - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Keywords there bud. Women = purse. Duhh. You carry a purse? My SG1 barely fits in my pockets. Its always a bitch to get it out. Its thinness means weaker speakers and vibration. I miss calls all the time with this thing in my pocket that I wouldn't with my old Sony.I already played with the Lumina 900 with its 4.75 screen... its horrible. I'm 6ft tall I have large hands, I prefer a good size mouse... but holding a phone like a girl with super thin phones is stupid. It they can make a 4" phone that is edge to edge, that would help. My Sony is twice as thick. But far more comfortable to hold. It also means a thicker battery with more run time.
If someone makes a windows 7 launcher for iPhone, then I'd go that route.
PS: wp7 launcher shows battery in %... I love it.
Skiddywinks - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
What fucking pants are you wearing man? Your gf's skinnies?SamsungAppleFan - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
Kid, stop lying. I own the GS1 and it fits perfectly fine in any pocket. no point in conversing with a liar.steven75 - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
So you carry a women's purse then? Ok...merlocka - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Did you try the HDMI dongle?Rocket321 - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Samsung has improved nearly every single aspect of the hardware and software here. 720p + larger screen. Significant increase in CPU and GPU performance. ICS software. Camera updates...etc.Not only are the stats improved, but significantly so in many places.
The one concession is the body is still the trademark slick plastic...ok I give you that.
But look at iPhone 4 vs. 4S - you can barely tell them apart. Very few changes overall. I don't get the comparison here.
Belard - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Higher Res screen. Better phone. Better egronomics. A year ahead of Samsung.I love their TVs and monitors... but I may never ever buy another crappy Samsung phone.
Even their tablets feel like cheap flimsy junk compared to an ipad.
cmdrdredd - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
The iPhone screen if 960x640 which is smaller than 1280x720. Better phone? The galaxy s 3 just smoked the iPhone in benchmarks. And you can't "hold it wrong". Plus the iPhone is not LTE. Better ergonomics? The iPhone is like holding a brick. It's just a square. Either you're stupid or just a very bad troll. Year ahead? More like 3 years behind.UltraTech79 - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
They are all like holding a brick. The iPhone4s are not in the same category as these. These are large Smartphones, and their screen is going to obviously be bigger. Apple came out with the screen they did a long ass time ago now, so comparing these phones is retarded. It was only added in the article as a standard as it is popular. Apple/Other will be leapfrogging each other, this is good for the consumer. We would not have screens like this becoming popular this fast if Apple didn't take the initiative. Bashing them because gen1 of these high res handheld screens isnt high, is pretty silly.1280x720 is perfect for 4.5~ inch screens just as 960x640 is perfect for 3.5inch screens. Some people dont mind huge smartphones, some people want smaller, now put your epeen away.
cmdrdredd - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
Anyone who buys apple is buying a turd except it has a new coat of paint every 6 months.darkcrayon - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
Significant improvement about every 12 months you mean.WildAntics - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
While i agree to a degree, just thought I'd FYI:Since LG and Samsung developed and manufacture all Apple screens; your statement is in contradiction of itself... (Samsung created the AX CPUs as well)
So if you were to want to claim credit for an achievement then say "Apple, came out with a way... to make the vast majority of the market believe... ...Wouldn't have screens like this if Apple hadn't, made the majority of the market want..."
Job's mandated that iConsumers only believe in the size/format of 4" or 10"... and so say they all.
My epeen... if Apple don't up their 4" screen and down their 10" screen... they will eventually RIP like RIM... overconfidence has been your weakness; don't let it become your undoing.
doobydoo - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
You can't 'hold it wrong' with the iPhone 4S either. You're thinking about the 2 year old iPhone 4 which for a tiny minority of people had minor issues if not being used in a case and held in a particularly strange way.The not-yet-released SG3 did marginally beat the 7 month old iPhone 4S in some benchmarks, yes, but that isn't really so impressive with a new iPhone just around the corner.
If you want to talk about holding a 'brick' you need look no further than these large screened phones, the millions of iPhone 4S owners don't find it hard to hold. Books are square too, do you struggle with those?
Particularly disappointing is the Pentile display which means the resolution figures you quote simply aren't full pixels. Pentile is widely documented to be more grainy and this will be exaggerated on a larger screen.
Finally, since so many people said this about the iPhone 4S and iPad 3 - the GPU in the SG3 has to drive more pixels so in the real world it's probably slower than the iPhone 4S.
doobydoo - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
Oh and LTE isn't even available in most countries.1ceTr0n - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
Sounds like you just need to stick with paying off Steve Jobs funeral then by keep buying iphonesdoobydoo - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
Is that comment meant to resemble any meaningful rebuttal to any points I made? Or did you deliberately go for the finger in the ears dumb fandroid response?SamsungAppleFan - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
you see the moment you said "crappy samsung phone" you lost all credibility. no one who know anything about phones would say that. yeah and thats why they won the phone of the year right?AbRASiON - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
The gloss one is not only ugly, it's impractical for the lack of the non slip mesh.1ceTr0n - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
Uh, millions of people have glossy phones and don't have issuse with them. Perhaps washing your hands every once in awhile might help?darwinosx - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Cheap and plasticky like every Samsung phone.Oversaturated grainy screen.
Touchwiz.
Bleh.
SamsungAppleFan - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
mehhh.. meehhhshaolin95 - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
BS comment...nothing but pointless rant.UltraTech79 - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
That screen is sort of a letdown. RGBG? Come ON. The rest of it is great aside from this.sonci - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
If that plastic crap mean 100bucks cheaper than iphone, its ok with me.Samsung is putting the real money on the hardware,
but yes the looks on a phone is half of the fun..
pheadland - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
The table of specs on the first page is wrong - both the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy S III can take SDXC cards up to 64GB (so do most modern phones and tablets that have SD slots). I have a Galaxy S II with a SanDisk 64 GB SD card in it - it works fine. I have seen some "official" Samsung specs that say the S III will take 64 GB SDXC, but even if you can't find those it is inconceivable that it won't do the same as its predecessor and competitors.tytung - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
This is fugly....so I'm still happy with my Galaxy Note :)BTW, where's the review of Note from Anandtech???
SamsungAppleFan - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
If you think your note is better looking that this new Galaxy somethings wrong there. GS3 is one of the most beautiful phone ever produced.1ceTr0n - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
As another Note owner, I like the looks of my Note better as well. And simply that sexy as hell 5.3'' screentytung - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
Apparently that is not the view of majority:http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/05/04/the-samsun...
People goes so far as to say it's being designed by lawyers.
1ceTr0n - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
Wow, that entire article was the most biased, biggest pile of shit i've read in a long timetytung - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
actually I agree...it's really uglier than Galaxy Nexus.1ceTr0n - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
Go back to your 4S trollSamsungAppleFan - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
yea and it has a lot to do with the super hyped up expectation. when I came to my senses i realized it's one of the most beautiful minimalist phone ever created.sjprg2 - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
No comments on the voice commands or the incoming caller ID anouncement over Bluetooth headset, which is what makies it a useful MOBILE PHONE in a vechicle. California law prohibits handheld cell phone usage in a vechicle. They require handsfree devices. It can be done! My old Motorola V750 meets all the requirements for handsfree, it just does not have all the playtoys of the smart devices which should not be called smart phones, but toys that will let you make a phone call.darkcrayon - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
Nice that the GPU bar has finally been raised over that of the iPhone 4S...doobydoo - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
The only issue is that with the number of extra 'fake' Pentile pixels, that GPU needs to be faster to run at the same speed.Janet55 - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
Hmm, it's really hard to make choice. Have just impressive by the Samsung Galaxy S II, beautiful 4.3-inch SUPER AMOLED Plus screen, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a great 8-megapixel camera and 2-megapixel front-facing camera, and have collected many tips from aneesoft for it, now the Samsung Galaxy S III really cool, even beat the iPhone 4S!I would think about again~
doobydoo - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
Now that Samsung has caught up with Apple on the performance front, it makes the SG3 a real contender for me. However, the one issue so many people seem to 'gloss over' is the fact that this phone will probably take a very long time to receive any Android updates.With all the effort Samsung put into custom software, this just extends the time they will need to release any software upgrades, which is a serious issue for me.
So many purchasers of old Android phones get left in the dark when a new Android update happens and it's a lottery whether they will or wont get the upgrade. This is now the single biggest stumbling block between me and buying an Android phone.
1ceTr0n - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
Learn to root, otherwise, stick to your iphone.doobydoo - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
Yeah because rooting is the solution to this problem....Wake up, moron. People want their phone to be officially supported and prefer not to have to void their warranty with notoriously unreliable unofficial ROMS just to get an update which should automatically synchronise to their phone.
It's absolute insane that Apple fans get a bad name with mental people like you who just refuse to accept any legitimate criticism to Android.
I don't even have an iPhone. God dude you have issues.
1ceTr0n - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
This coming from the dude who's avatar is the screwed up tv doctor. Pot calling kettle black anyone?doobydoo - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
Yeah you really addressed all of my points by referring to my avatar.....SamsungAppleFan - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
anandtech.. time for some new articles with the GS3.. cmon, whats taking so long lol