Has the Samsung Galaxy S3 Lived Up to Expectations?

If you're not an Apple fan, and the HTC One X has already passed you by without lightening your pockets, chances are you've been waiting for the Samsung Galaxy S3 to make your smartphone purchase in 2012.And who can blame you? In some circles, the S3 has garnered as much excitement as the much-feted iPhone 5. The Galaxy S3 made its UK release on May 29, and it quickly became the most pre-ordered gadget in the history of, well, everything, with nine million pre-orders. With experts predicting that the Samsung Galaxy S3 is going to be the phone that hands Android the smartphone market on a plate, it would be fair to say that expectations have been set high for the S3.

For the most part, Samsung didn't ‘do an Apple’ and stay silent prior to the handset's release, so many of the rumours surrounding the phone were quite true; this means we've had a decent picture of what the S3 will be like for a while. It’s no surprise that the Samsung Galaxy S3 has pulled out all the stops to offer arguably the most hi-tech handset of the year, with top-end specs and cutting-edge technology deployed with perfect precision.  It’s a high-end smartphone that will likely throw up some tough competition for the iPhone 5 when it comes to crowning the phone of the year for 2012.

But enough hyperbole; let's get down to specifics, shall we? The Samsung Galaxy S3 offers a spacious 4.8-inch display, making it one of the largest smartphones currently available. It's a good size, too – big enough to wow a small crowd, but not so big that it looks ridiculous when it's being used as a phone (see: the Samsung Galaxy Note). If you're looking for a phone that will, at a stretch, double as a tablet, then the S3 is a good bet. It's also got an HD super AMOLED display, by the way, so colours are brilliant, vibrant, and deep; the viewing experience on the Samsung Galaxy S3 is, arguably, second to none in the mobile technology industry today.

Of course, what we've all been looking forward to in the Samsung Galaxy S3 is the phone's performance. For a slim little handset, the S3 packs in a powerful punch thanks to its 1.4GHz quad-core processor. Like the HTC One X, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is perfectly capable of handling complex, hi-def content, from 3D games to HD videos. This is no great surprise given the beefiness of the processor, and it's something that the S3 shares with every quad-core handset released this year, from the HTC One X to the Huawei Ascend G300. While your handset is unlikely to be pushed to the limits by any apps from Google Play at present, the S3 certainly offers peace of mind in being able to handle anything that's thrown at it – for now at least.

The S3's massive processor also means that browsing the web is super-fast; in fact, twice as quick as it was on the S2, and a good deal faster than the iPhone 4S. Of course, both of those handsets are simply powered by dual-core chips, so it's no huge surprise. However, the S3 certainly shone in the Antutu benchmark test, which examines memory, CPU speed and graphics. The S3 scored 12,112, which is an impressive score indeed, and much higher than that of the HTC One X; there's no doubt that if you're looking for a hugely powerful handset available right now, the S3 should be your first port of call.

The Samsung Galaxy S3's powerhouse core is bound to take its toll on the phone's battery, however; as is the case with all handsets, users who need a phone with longer lasting battery life would do well to buy something with a little less power – such as one of Sony's latest Experia handsets, all of which offer top-quality features but stick with the dual-core innards. If you do opt for the S3, there are a few ways to increase battery life: keep the screen brightness capped at around half, and keep Wi-Fi and data turned off when you're not using it.

The S3's 2,100mAh battery isn't much bigger than the battery you'll have found in phones released last year, so it's not surprising that the handset chomps up power at a rate of knots. Still, the S3 performs better than a lot of its rivals on the Antutu battery test, where it scored 597 – higher than the HTC Incredible, the LG Optimus 2X and the Samsung Galaxy S2. Not bad, but nothing to turn any heads, either. CNet also report that the S3 streamed an HD video over Wi-Fi for 3.5 hours, which ran the battery down by 40%; while this might sound like a lot, it's actually a pretty decent level of performance from such a phone. If you're browsing the web and making calls throughout the day, you'll just have to remember to recharge your phone every night.

Ultimately then, does the Galaxy S3 live up to expectations? Samsung have settled upon a pretty solid formula, just like Apple have; push the boundaries of technology with every new release, including all the latest mod cons, whilst changing the phone's design just enough to make it contemporary, but not so much that it becomes unrecognisable. The Samsung Galaxy S2 was a great handset, and its successor is everything we thought it would be. Is it worth the £500 you'll pay for a SIM-free handset? Well, if you're looking for a high-end smartphone, that’s the sort of money you’re gonna have to stump up these days. Using a comparison website like Best Mobile Contracts can help you to find the best phone deal available, but you should expect such a high tech piece of gadgetry to set you back quite a bit of money. Thankfully, Samsung’s latest effort doesn't fail to please – the S3 will keep you entertained for at least another 12 months.

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Samsung Galaxy S3 Review: King of Android?

*Do note that this is the International Version of the Samsung Galaxy S3 being tested. US carrier variants may choose to vary their specs. Phone was tested for a period of 7 days.*

Hot off the heels of its quad-core competitor, the HTC One X, the Samsung Galaxy S3 places itself in a hugely dilemmatic position – those who wanted a quad-core phone would’ve went with the HTC One X; those who waited would probably wait till the hotly rumored iPhone 5 or “new” iPhone to launch, anytime from the WWDC ’12 till October timeframe. So what makes the Galaxy S3 stand up above the crowd? Or does it at all?

The Design

Samsung made a bold attempt here to distinguish itself from the numerous slabs of black, brick-like and boring smartphones in the market. The Galaxy S3 features a curved display for easy navigation while keeping the front very minimalistic, with only a home button flanked with a Menu and Back button. Samsung marketed this phone as “designed for humans” (which phones were designed for gorillas, anyone?) and that the phone mimics the shape of a pebble. It’s smooth curves, flat surface and screen-dominating front really stands out from the overpopulated smartphone market. While it is possible to suggest that Samsung went with this design to avoid another lawsuit from Apple, many users might actually prefer this design. However, I still prefer HTC’s approach in terms of design with the HTC One X. I was also disappointed that we did not see the ceramic backing featured on the Galaxy S3, something that the rumor mill had been churning out for months. Nonetheless, the smooth curves means that it fits the hands perfectly and I have no problem sliding it into my pocket at all.

The Screen

The Samsung Galaxy S3 features a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED 1280 X 720 display, which is unfortunately Pentile. Samsung argued that using a Pentile display is to increase the device longevity since the blue subpixel in the RGB arrangement is usually the first to degrade, making a screen with more subpixel density will make the deterioration overtime less noticeable. Now with that being said, what’s the problem with Pentile displays? They’re less clear and sharp compared to others in the market, say, the Retina display. But the question is, who is actually likely to keep the phone for more than 2 years (contractual obligations), judging by the speed the mobile industry is at right now? I say, give me a better screen, rather than a screen that is uglier but lasts longer. If I’m going to be staring at my phone’s screen for several hours a day, it better be the best screen there is out there.  The first thing I look in the morning and the last thing I see before I go to bed at night is my phone’s screen and if it is bad, then well, it’s not going to cut it. With that being said, the Galaxy S3’s screen is still respectable, which is typical from a high end Samsung smartphone. I felt like the colors on the HTC One X are more vibrant compared to the Galaxy S3’s screen but then again, the average consumer would probably not notice it in a day to day operation. Videos and photos look great on the Galaxy S3, thanks to the real estate. While the screen size is encroaching into the Galaxy Note’s territory, I feel that the Galaxy S3 is a lot more user friendly in terms of handling. All in all, while the screen wasn’t as impressive as I have expected, it’s still one of the best around.

Buttons

On the front of the phone, we’re presented with a home button in the center, flanked by a Menu and Back button. These buttons only light up during use and are usually invisible when the display is in sleep mode, which blends in nicely with the pebble white color of the Galaxy S3. While the home button is clickable, the menu and back buttons are not but rather, they’re touch sensitive. I don’t really prefer this since it makes it easier to accidentally hit one of those touch sensitive buttons while playing a game or doing something else, which might be a slight annoyance. I really did prefer the international version of the Galaxy Note’s layout: just one Home button. The Home button have two functions here, the first being, well, going back to the homepage and the second can be can activated by holding down the home button for around 2 seconds to open up the multi-tasking window. Form there, you get the neat option of just hitting a button to close all of your recently opened and running apps right away, freeing up memory space. Double clicking the home will activate S Voice, which I still think is a Siri-copycat. A well done one, at that. After having tried it, I can safely say that it performs as well as Siri. Currently exclusive to the Galaxy S3 only, S Voice also allows you to execute several different commands, such as telling the phone to activate the Face Unlock feature, currently only available for Ice Cream Sandwich.

Motion Sensing

Almost entirely new to the consumer smartphone market is the motion sensing features, mainly Direct Call and Smart Stay. Direct Call is a pretty cool function, but I’m not sure how many people will remember this feature once they buy the phone. Direct Call basically enables you to directly call someone, if say; you’re reading a text from them. A better analogy would be if one day, your mom sent you a text saying, “Please call me now”. By simply bringing the phone up to your ears (without having to exit the Messages app), you’ll engage in a phone call with your mom. I’ve only used this feature once during my testing period. The rest of the time, I did the traditional way – exiting the app and calling her from the dialer. Old habits die hard. The second piece of software that caught my attention was Smart Stay. Smart Stay basically an eyeball-tracking feature (this sounds weird, I know) that allows the Galaxy S3 to detect where you’re looking. If it detects that you’re still looking onto the screen, it will put the phone into sleep mode or dim the brightness. I thought this was a gimmicky feature but after using and testing it for several days, I can safely say that it works 90% of the time. Impressive.

Full Review