We go hands-on with the latest and greatest Android smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S III.
Despite what's going on in the courtrooms against Apple, Samsung's experiencing great success with Google's Android operating system. Thanks to the mobile OS, Samsung is now one of the world's biggest producers of smartphones. Not only that, but it arguably has the largest brand recognition in the market for Android devices with the Galaxy name, perhaps rivaled only in the U.S. with Verizon's "DROID" branding.
Over the past week, I've been using a Samsung Galaxy S III as my main device, though not unrivaled as I still keep my Galaxy Nexus, iPhone 4 and Nokia Lumia 900 nearby. The Galaxy S III is most directly comparable to the other Samsung-made phone, the Galaxy Nexus; there are similarities in hardware, but much less so in software. I'm on vacation right now, but this could be the perfect time to relay my phone experiences as the more time I spend at a desk with a computer, the less I would be on a smartphone. I'll be on the road in British Columbia over the next couple of weeks, giving me plenty of reasons to pull the phone out of my pocket for some heavy usage days, whether it's to check the weather, maps, or to use the camera to capture the a photo or video.
The version of the Galaxy S III that I'm testing is the North American LTE model (currently running on Bell's 4G network), which actually runs on the dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chipset rather than Samsung's own quad-core Exynos. The reason for the switch was simply to accommodate the LTE radio, but the move from four cores to two should not be viewed as a downgrade. Benchmarks show that the S4's architecture carries its own even against the latest Exynos. Not only that, but the North American models (even those without LTE) get an extra 1GB of RAM to "make up" for that core drop – and that's a very worthy trade to get a phone with 2GB of RAM. (Stay tuned for more technical details in our upcoming review.)
Users of "big screen" phones such as the previous generation of Galaxy won't be too startled by the new 4.8-inch AMOLED HD 1280x720 screen. Those coming from a Galaxy S II will appreciate the bump in resolution more than the size, and those coming from a Galaxy Nexus will feel right at home.
I did find that the slightly larger screen, which appears to be of a slightly higher panel quality than the Galaxy Nexus (that's progress for you), makes single-handed phone operation even more difficult. The Galaxy S III is undoubtedly a phone that's best used with both your hands. It's still not mammoth-sized like the Galaxy Note, but it's definitely at the very outer limits for a device that you can use in one hand while holding a drink in the other.
Besides the increased screen size of the Galaxy S III, there was something else that I had to adapt to when coming from the Galaxy Nexus. The Nexus phone uses software buttons that are rendered by the 1280x720 display, while the Galaxy S III retains the hard-set menu and back keys with a clickable hardware home button. The discussion on which is superior all comes down to user preference, but I can share my experiences. Having the full 1280x720 display that's not cut off for navigation is quite nice, but the placement of the buttons near the bottom of the phone makes for some interesting ergonomics. The back button at the bottom right corner of the Galaxy S III means that I can't grip it with my right hand the same way I do for the Galaxy Nexus, despite being similar in size. When in the right hand, the bottom of my palm grazes the back button when my thumb stretches over to touch something on the left side of the screen. This activates the back button and dumps me out whatever I'm doing. To quote Steve Jobs on the iPhone 4: "Just don't hold it that way." So I've adapted and am now mindful of the back button's position. Keep in mind that this is just a personal experience, and it won't happen to everyone given that people will hold their phones differently, or simply have larger hands than I do.
Someone going from an iPhone to a Galaxy S III will find the jump in size something he or she will have to get used to, especially for the one-handed operators. After getting used to a 4.8-inch screen, it's tough to move back to anything much smaller.
Stay tuned for the next update on the camera, battery life and more.
You sound like the alleged bill gates comment that 640K should be enough for everyone. Eventually phones will need 2GB of RAM..
You sound like the alleged bill gates comment that 640K should be enough for everyone. Eventually phones will need 2GB of RAM..
yes looking at the power it got it could use 2 gig ram, and ram is not really expansive so why not. damn you nokia gif me 808 already : (
Exactly, I got the TMobile 4.5" SGS2, it was awkward at the beginning. Now that I got used to it, I can't type on the puny 3.5" on the iPhone. FYI, I can touch every inch/corner on my SGS2 with no problem with my left hand, so it is an one-hand phone to me
The TMobile SGS2 has very similar physical dimension to the SGS3.
Apparently Apple are not the only ones with talented designers on staff :-)
iPhone is a brick, even my HTC Incredible had slightly rounded edges to be more comfortable in your hand. I can't use an iPhone for long, one it's too small (I have big hands, had same problem with my Incredible) and 2 it ends up hurting my hands cause of the shape since I am used to more comfortable rounded edges phone like my Incredible and my Bionic.
Firstly, it's not. It just isn't. That's why its not in ALL the S3s produced world wide, rather than just the ones Samsung were forced to put it in.
Secondly, why do you care!? Its still massively quick in its slightly inferior US variant and you have LTE! As a Brit, I'm almost certain I'd prefer it that way round.
Gah.
"Better" or "Worse" is hard to quantify since the phone has so little runtime in the real world so you are right that any attempt (including your little "slightly inferior" jab) to rate the CPUs like that lacks merit.
And yes, LTE giving me 20Mbit+ download speeds, on my PHONE, is quite awesome. So there.
Wow. Not saying it is, but if your biggest problem in life is that your smartphone hurts your hands when you hold it, you can consider yourself luckier than 99.9999% of the world.
The problem is phones wouldn't need 2GB of RAM anytime soon if Google would optimize the Android OS.
I have the Bionic, and while I am by no means someone who downloads hundreds of app or has dozens of widgets running (I have maybe 5 widgets running) it seems I have 650MB of 1GB RAM used.
The main reason for this is the ridiculous amounts of programs Android will just start that I never started. Anytime there is a data drop, Play Market, GMail, Slacker, Music, G+ and several other apps start by themselves. The email will also automatically check itself though I have it set for Manual in the settings. There is just no good reason why all these apps need to start up by themselves. Many I don't even use, but can't uninstall unless I root which takes me off the OTA path if I do uninstall the apps.
Many people say "Well Android will free up memory by closing apps". This is true, but the problem is it doesn't shut down apps that aren't wanted. The first thing it will shut down is the launcher replacement. Obviously I want that running, so by closing it, this automatic clearing of memory is more of a hassle.
It's also ridiculous apps don't all have Exit buttons. I know it can be done, Tunein and Weather Channel have them, as does a couple other apps. When I hit Exit, those programs close and stay closed until I want them open. Opening these apps doesn't take any longer to bring them up than it does an app already loaded into memory, at least not any longer that is noticeable. It's ridiculous my phone uses almost as much memory as my Windows desktop.
Perhaps if Android didn't think it knew better than me how I want to use my phone, it wouldn't need so much RAM, at least not anytime soon.
well its not like anyone will be playing graphic intensive games like call of duty or battlefront on smartphones someday. all people will use phones for are apps for functionality and word processing and you do not need 2GB+ ram for that. tablets are a different story because of the bigger screens
well I do play intensive games on my smartphone
But I still don't care for its cheap-plastic glossy feel... I've been playing with a GS3 in the store along with the HTC... waiting for the new Motorola to come out to decide. But then again, the smaller iPhone4 is a lot easier to hold.
Actually, I think phones will eventually need about 8 GB of RAM if they end up being used as I foresee them...as basically something that can run Crysis...well...and much much more through a docking station and take the place of a Desktop PC. But, probably not until they are able to cram the equivalent of a Core i7 3770k and GTX 680 into a Smart Phone. You think the battery life in the DROID RAZR MAXX is great, now...just wait for that. Speaking of, the battery life in the Samsung Galaxy S III looks pathetic in comparison. I wish Toms had done a comparison between the two.