Flashback: Samsung Galaxy S III had both brains and brawn

01 December 2019
This shiny pebble was one of the most powerful phones of 2012 with many forward-looking features and became one of the best sellers for the year.

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  • S
  • Suga
  • NsB
  • 02 Dec 2019

My 1st Android was the Galaxy Nexus, which was a Samsung model between S2 and S3. I passed it on because I was gifted with the Note 3. I have recently done a factory reset on the Note and it's working as good as new

    • i
    • istoff
    • NsB
    • 02 Dec 2019

    I had one. My first Samsung after 2 HTC's.

    I had huge memory challenges with it. I kept running out of app install storage on the thing. Moving to the S4, the biggest value for me was the ability to keep more apps installed. Installing Apps on SD was a bit flaky back then.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • pKC
      • 02 Dec 2019

      First three generations were enormous leaps, seldom enjoyed anymore.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • PA7
        • 02 Dec 2019

        The worst ever made, screen easily crack, update speechless

          • J
          • Jarret
          • PxF
          • 02 Dec 2019

          Samsung all the best and better forever

            • R
            • RMG
            • yp1
            • 02 Dec 2019

            Best phone ever from Samsung.It was a beauty with brains.

              The S III probably even had HDR photo, which it managed quite well. The AMOLED 720p probably first made its appearence on the Note 2. Samsung was actually a pathfinder for Android in the early years, just like it was the first with a feature packed and actually usable folding smartphone.

              A lot of smartphone companies are just coping features via software and patent infringement. I am ok with Patent infringement because then prices get lower and features luckily trickle down across smartphones much faster. Also I don't like Zaxcomm and RED get patents for obvious products or products and or software that has already been around before the patent. That's just a sign of how IP is just corporate and legal rubbish.

              While Samsung does need to constantly innovate to stay ahead, it also need to lower the price of its mid range phones and improve the quality of photos across all ranges, especially the mid and lower end phones. And it also needs to reduce sharpening just a little bit more. It's video HDR could improve, especially considering it has the 10-bit codec for video. It needs to merget atleast 2 frames of varying exposures and create a video frame with better highlight and shadows.

              I am not sure why Samsung isn't improving or reviving the texture of it's back that phones like the Note2 and SIII had. It could easily add designs on the acrylic sheets within the glass, without too much added expenditure per phone.

              Samsung could be the first smartphone or camera to get rid of the Bayer Pattern limitations. Samsung, ask me how.

                Look at the Galaxy S3's dimensions -

                136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm

                So comfortable to hold with one hand. The Nexus 4 is 2 mm shorter and narrower than that. I wish OEMs can make those same 2012 dimensions but with the same screen-bezel ratio of today.

                Now the #4 is lucky to me than the #3. I was born on the 4th, so that's why. But for some reason in tech, I actually like the #3 better.

                Xiaomi Mi 3 > Mi 4
                Samsung Galaxy Note 3 > Note 4
                Google Pixel 3 > Pixel 4

                I was even close to buying the Apple Watch Series 3. It seems third time's the charm. Only time I preferred the 4th gen over the 3rd gen is PS4 over PS3 because it can read different video formats and it's just faster. I can't include iPhone 4 over 3GS because I never owned the latter. But obviously the 4 was better.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • N70
                  • 02 Dec 2019

                  This was my first 'flagship' phone. Loved that thing, but it had some issues. It got hot and drained the battery for no reason occasionally. And it got pretty slow after a while, but custom roms gave it another life.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • 2@D
                    • 02 Dec 2019

                    Miss the good old days of compact phones

                      My dad had one.
                      The screen was huge haha and quite nice, but the performance was really awful after a while. Changed to an iPhone 6 and never look back from Apple.

                        ecaps24, 01 Dec 2019Are you talking about the same timeline? At that time, S... moreThe S3 was contemporary to the iphone 5, not the 4.
                        Don't know about the sales so, link please?

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • 0p}
                          • 02 Dec 2019

                          Anonymous, 02 Dec 2019I'm still using the 3G version Samsung Galaxy S3 Amber Brown.Same here, changed the cracked screen once, and replaced the battery thrice since 2012, no wastage.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • tPG
                            • 02 Dec 2019

                            I'm still using the 3G version Samsung Galaxy S3 Amber Brown.

                              • s
                              • s-pen pusher
                              • PMT
                              • 02 Dec 2019

                              rakesh0991, 01 Dec 2019yes i remember galaxy s3 advert "designed for humans","phon... moresplit screen was already on the note 2 in 2012.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • 2Au
                                • 01 Dec 2019

                                Anonymous, 01 Dec 2019if you guys want to feel the past memories go to phone fin... moreclick hands-on

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • 2Au
                                  • 01 Dec 2019

                                  if you guys want to feel the past memories
                                  go to phone finder select "YU" and click Yuphoria
                                  phone.

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • 2Au
                                    • 01 Dec 2019

                                    love to see a flashback of apples iphone 6s+ and its
                                    you know...

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • KI$
                                      • 01 Dec 2019

                                      From the days when nobody used to mind plastic body on a flagship phone.

                                        For me personally, 2012 felt like yesterday. I still talk to one of the good friends in the Philippines who I met working in Accenture and he even tells me it feels like yesterday. We can remember so many things from August-October 2012 during our training days. We can't believe it's already 7+ years ago.

                                        I think 2016 was the last year they made decent-sized phones. The last year most of the flagships still had a headphone jack and didn't have a glass rear. I think 2012 was the year most phones were still dual core. We didn't get 2 GB RAM and quad core until the Note 2 and Nexus 4 later that year. Then we moved to Full HD in 2013.

                                        I always felt 2013 was really the turning point for Android for me. Especially when the HTC One M7 was released as well as KitKat later that year. The S3 & S4, Nexus 4 & 5, Moto X, and Xperia ZR were so comfortable to hold in those years of 2012-2013.

                                        I still like the current phones. I'm not really the type who gets nostalgic with tech. We always have to move on and improve the tech we have. My favorite phones are my current ones. Tech are like people. They all get old and then they die.

                                        I wouldn't really go back to smartphones from 2012 and 2013 with only 1 or 2 GB of RAM with outdated software that may not be able to run current apps. It's fun to look back but only because the story is interesting to tell and everyone loves being nostalgic.

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