Samsung Galaxy S III : An Owner's Review
Being an iOS user for quite sometime now I won't be wrong if I said, iOS got boring beyond tolerance. The lockscreen and ridiculously rigid icon homescreen got so drab that even wallpaper changes didn't help. I desperately needed a phone change and decided to buy the Galaxy S III after much research on the internet. I decided to go with Android because clearly iOS wasn't an option and the Windows 8 platform still needs more development and app support, therefore Android is very much the best option with its awesome customizable interface and new additions of the latest update - Jelly Bean.
Having used the phone for over three months, my review is completely based on my user experience and not influenced by anything.
Hardware
The very first thing that comes to notice when you first hold the Galaxy S3 is the 4.8 inch Super Amoled display surrounded by a thin strip of white glossy plastic all covered with one piece Corning Gorilla Glass 2. It is only justified that Samsung decided to keep thin edges in order to reduce the width of a wide 4.8 inch display or just to give a placebo effect of making it look less wider than it is. Either way, for a device with a 4.8 inch screen it is very well designed keeping in mind aesthetics and ergonomics. Any average palm size can reach all the four corners of the screen without having to use the other hand. This being an honest observation from an iOS user accustomed to 3.5 inch screen.
The front of the device as mentioned is covered entirely with glass with capacitive hardware keys and an elevated home button. A silvery band wraps the sides of the device running all around the four edges and extending slightly towards the back panel entirely brushed to look like metal. Some might say this makes the Galaxy S3 look rather less expensive, though that is true to a certain extent with the pebble blue color variant but on the contrary it feels quite nice on the white variant as shown below.
The front of the device as mentioned is covered entirely with glass with capacitive hardware keys and an elevated home button. A silvery band wraps the sides of the device running all around the four edges and extending slightly towards the back panel entirely brushed to look like metal. Some might say this makes the Galaxy S3 look rather less expensive, though that is true to a certain extent with the pebble blue color variant but on the contrary it feels quite nice on the white variant as shown below.
The back panel of the phone is made of typical Samsung plastic with a glossy finish which Samsung likes to call 'Hyper Glaze'. The panel is extremely light and bendable but very durable nonetheless. The glossy coating gives off a nice feel but is very susceptible to smudges or finger prints.
The volume rocker is present on the left edge of the device and the power button on the right like all Samsung phones. The 3.5mm headphone jack is positioned at the top.
For a phone as big as the Galaxy S3, Samsung has definitely done a good job making it feather lite and ergonomical. The device might not score a perfect 10 on looks but it certainly covers up with its other features.
The volume rocker is present on the left edge of the device and the power button on the right like all Samsung phones. The 3.5mm headphone jack is positioned at the top.
For a phone as big as the Galaxy S3, Samsung has definitely done a good job making it feather lite and ergonomical. The device might not score a perfect 10 on looks but it certainly covers up with its other features.
Display
The display is perhaps the main feature of a phone that defines a user's experience. The super Amoled technology that ships with Samsung phones delivers exceptional viewing quality. Though the display on the Galaxy S3 is a pentile display, the pixelated edges cannot be seen by the naked eye and presents a vibrant color rich viewing experience.
The auto brightness setting of the Galaxy S3 is a bit problematic in my opinion. It fails to illuminate itself correctly when changes in the environment are rather sudden, and in some cases over illuminates itself when not needed. This glitch is noticeable much more in Ice Cream Sandwich, but with the latest Jelly Bean update that has been rolled out in India, the issue seems to have been somewhat fixed.
Overall, one can't complain with the color rich dyanamic display of the Galaxy S3. Viewing pictures, videos and surfing through internet is a visual treat.
Camera
The Galaxy S3 comes with an 8 megapixel rear with Led flash as a primary camera and a 2.9 megapixel front facing camera. The images taken by the Galaxy S3 are simply exceptional. The camera on this phone outperforms many good point and shoot cameras in the industry and no doubt defeats all present 8 megapixel phone cameras.
Pictures taken by me
Both the images you see above are taken by the phone. The camera comes with an auto focus which works rather well for a phone camera, this is quite evident in the second picture where the camera brilliantly focuses only on the leaf. Night time pictures are also nicely captured given that there is sufficient light surrounding the subject. The strong led flash tends to wash out the pictures at times but the resulting image will seem crisp and vibrant to the average eye.
The phone also records video at 108op 30fps. The raw video which is saved is truly of exceptional clarity. I've uploaded a sample of the same below.
Note: Watch in HD
Software
The Galaxy S3 ships with Android ICS out of the box. Unless you buy the GT I9305 model which is of the 2GB variant and ships with Jelly Bean 4.1, it is highly unlikely you will come across the GT I9305 model in India. But worry not! the GT I9300 which is being sold in the country is the popular one of either models and has the second largest developer base at XDA developers. So receiving tech support is a breeze.
Samsung has released the new Touchwiz skin on top of Android. It is solely developed by Samsung and is the skin that makes all the Samsung phones look similar. Unlike the Nexus series, Touchwiz is a Samsung developed UI and all it does is provide some eye candy and bring new motion features that Samsung proudly advertises as 'Designed for Humans'.
Features like Smart Stay, Swipe Capture, Vibrate Alert etc are just some of the motion based features that the S3 is packed with. All these make the entire android experience an enjoyable experience.
There is only one word which describes the Galaxy S3 when it comes to performance: BEAST
Forget the Nvidia Tegra 3, forget the Qualcomm Snapdragon. The Samsung Exynos 4 quad core chip that powers this mammoth, beats everything else in its category hands down. Reaching Quadrant Benchmark scores of over 5300+ without being overclocked is simply breathtaking for a mobile device. This might not mean much to the average user of but to put it in short a smooth non laggy and fluidic android experience is GUARANTEED.
The S3 also features the ARM Mali 400-mp graphics chip and paired with the Exynos Quad, gaming and graphics intense activities like video playback and screen recording are a pleasure. Not once has the device failed to load up games smoothly or stutter while a game is being played. The 1GB ram lets you run multiple apps at once and multitasking on the Galaxy S3 is as smooth as it gets.
The phone is powered by a 2100mah battery that adequately fuels this juggernaut of a device. The power hungry quad core Exynos chipset might consume considerable amount of juice from the battery, but with proper optimization and customization battery life can be extended uptil 2 days at 100% charge. 2 days uptime for discharging is pretty good for present day Android phones. If need be, one can also purchase an extended 4300mah battery to supplement an additional 1.5 days of continuous use.
Performance
There is only one word which describes the Galaxy S3 when it comes to performance: BEAST
Forget the Nvidia Tegra 3, forget the Qualcomm Snapdragon. The Samsung Exynos 4 quad core chip that powers this mammoth, beats everything else in its category hands down. Reaching Quadrant Benchmark scores of over 5300+ without being overclocked is simply breathtaking for a mobile device. This might not mean much to the average user of but to put it in short a smooth non laggy and fluidic android experience is GUARANTEED.
The S3 also features the ARM Mali 400-mp graphics chip and paired with the Exynos Quad, gaming and graphics intense activities like video playback and screen recording are a pleasure. Not once has the device failed to load up games smoothly or stutter while a game is being played. The 1GB ram lets you run multiple apps at once and multitasking on the Galaxy S3 is as smooth as it gets.
The phone is powered by a 2100mah battery that adequately fuels this juggernaut of a device. The power hungry quad core Exynos chipset might consume considerable amount of juice from the battery, but with proper optimization and customization battery life can be extended uptil 2 days at 100% charge. 2 days uptime for discharging is pretty good for present day Android phones. If need be, one can also purchase an extended 4300mah battery to supplement an additional 1.5 days of continuous use.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy S3 is definitely worth the purchase. It might be priced a bit high in the Indian market but the extensive set of features and massive performance that it offers makes it a valuable purchase. When compared to other phones in the same category it is certainly the better option. If you're looking for a good combination of performance and looks, the Galaxy S3 is perhaps the only device offering both in unison. Look no further.
