Samsung Galaxy S III Review

Having used a Samsung Galaxy S II for around 10 months it was refreshing to upgrade to Samsung’s latest and greatest, the Galaxy S III. The first difference I noticed was how massive the screen was in comparison to the S2 and also how sharp the resolution is. My main problem with the SII was battery life. Halfway through the day it would be less than 20% so I would need to charge or rotate a second battery. Now with the S3, with the same amount of usage, I can easily get 14 hours of battery life. On this alone it was worth upgrading.

Samsung Galaxy S III – My bat phone

This variant of the Galaxy S III has 16GB internal storage (also comes in 32 and 64GB), but with a slot for an external micro sd card, I added another 16GB. Plenty of space for some music, videos and other files. When the phone was announced I was surprised to see it only came with 1GB of RAM. This is the same amount as the S2. Unlike the S2 however, the S3 has a much better processor – the Exynos 1.4 GHz Cortex-A9 processor. Equipped with this beast it feels very fast and responsive. It will be interesting to see how much faster it can operate with Jelly Bean when it is available.

As noted earlier the screen is absolutely stunning. It’s a 4.8 inch Super AMOLED 720 x 1280 pixel screen and is perfect for watching videos or looking at photos. Although it’s quite large it still fits comfortably in pocket or hand. Any larger and we move into phablet territory.

The Galaxy S 3 has an 8MP rear camera capable of recording in 1080p. I was contemplating buying a digital camera before getting this phone but decided there isn’t a need as the camera on the S III can take superb shots. There is also a 1.9MP front facing camera which is great for Skyping and video calls.

It’s really a lot of little things that make using this phone a joy. The built in alarm tones are so peaceful, the virtual water ripples on the lock screen aesthetically pleasing, the way you can hold the phone to your ear whilst in a Text message and it will automatically call the person, the quick share button for easy sending a photo, true video multitasking, 0 camera shutter lag, these are the 1 percent difference-makers which set it apart from the other smartphones on the market.

There are a few new features on this phone which I do not use though. This includes S-Voice and the Eye detection that puts the phone to sleep when you look away from it. I find them a bit gimmicky and prefer Google’s own voice software, such as the one found in Google Now. Unfortunately Google Now is only available in Jelly Bean so we will have to wait for an upgrade to become available on the S III as it runs Android 4.0.x – Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box.

For anyone with a Galaxy S2, unless you have battery issues like I had, or can get the S3 at a reasonably good price, then it probably isn’t worth upgrading. Those with an original Galaxy or an iPhone won’t be disappointed at all upgrading to a Samsung Galaxy S III. In my opinion, at the time of writing, the Galaxy S III the best smartphone available.

Buy Samsung Galaxy S III on Amazon

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