Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III review: S to the third

20 May 2012
Today is no ordinary day for the GSMArena test track, which is about to see the Bugatti Veyron of smartphones do the rounds in an attempt to beat the lap record of its predecessor. Samsung have spared no effort to protect the Galaxy S III against any odds.

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  • 24 May 2012

Anonymous, 24 May 2012Last I checked, most people who seem to be making a big dif... moreHere here! THANK YOU!!!

Hopefully people will now get both these points - especialy about all the carry on about a "quality" finish.

And yes, technically we can call that being superficial. After all, isn't it what's on the inside that counts??? However....

To all those geeks who think like this, if your satisfied with a Bugatti Veryon on the inside that looks like a VW Beetle on the outside and still pay the full Veryon price - good for you!

Me? I'm a geek that prefers my Bugatti to be a Veryon on the inside and look like it on the outside too... especially if I'm paying $750K for one (or $750 for a phone to buy outright).

Sure, this is a phone not a car (someone please tell GSMA that...); but why should anything look & feel cheap & ugly if it doesn't have to?

NOTE: I said FEEL Cheap and not IS Cheap. And, if for no other reason, because isn't cheap IT SHOULD NOT LOOK/FEEL CHEAP!!

Bottom line: Perception IS Reality (regardless of the facts). Hence why iPhones sell so well.

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    • holla
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    • 24 May 2012

    Anonymous, 24 May 2012What part of what I said was incorrect? The real life perfo... moreyou always get alot of flexability with samsung and thats what i love about them :) for instance, you can choose between 4 screen modes to adjust saturation, i mean come on, who else has got that level of flexability. You can even change the colour of the keyboard to white on black, white on grey, black on white and others. The video player is the best too.

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      • Anonymous
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      • 24 May 2012

      Jackskellington6sic6, 24 May 2012Typical for someone to take something that performs better ... moreWhat part of what I said was incorrect? The real life performance differences are negligible. I doubt the real life audio differences are significant as well. The only advantages I see for the GS3 are the battery life (it is notably better), expandable storage (if you need it- I don't), and the removable battery (only became an issue after the GS3 was released and compared to the HOX for some reason lol).

      The advantages I see for the HOX are better low light camera/video and better bokeh, better design, and arguably better UI (IMO Sense UI rocks Touchwiz although a few of the new GS3 features are neat like smart stay.

      Everything else is just fluff and fanboy talk.

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        • 24 May 2012

        whats with the annoying people complaining about the design? do u own one? or held 1 in ur hands? then NO... even in the review they said the design looks alot better if u see it in person..

        people should only comment about looks when they actually held/own the phone.

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          • Mikey
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          • 24 May 2012

          I'm sure no matter what your opinion is on the GSIII's finish, Samsung will laugh all the way to the bank. When you consider how many people cover their iPhones/Smartphones with cheap plastic cases for protection, how much of an issue is Glass v Plastic v Metal anyway? I own a GSII and the finish is not a problem for me, I'm more concerned with it's interior. These modern phones can be VERY fast, but a lot depends on your coverage. A weak network signal or poor WiFi coverage can mean a very slow phone, no matter how 'fast' it is on paper.

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            • Damien
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            • 24 May 2012

            Anonymous, 24 May 2012actually its cheep because of the word SAMSUNG lollllSo what is praiseworthy according to you if Samsung is Cheap???
            You can't even spell it right and you say Samsung Cheap...

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              • MkX
              • 24 May 2012

              Carphonewarehouse will be delivering the Samsung Galaxy SIII to its pre-orderd customers on the 29th May,1 Day ahead of general launch, I just hand a text confirmation of this.

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                • Jackskellington6sic6
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                • 24 May 2012

                AnonD-39775, 24 May 2012hi. i have htx one x with only 20 hours stanby, with a litt... moreYou have to take many things into consideration.
                First iPhone is the only phone Apple works on. Next that it has a non HD tiny little 3.5inch screen. Next its underclocked. 4th IOS is crippled and doesn't need as much because it doesn't do as much.

                These things will give it a slight edge in Battery life.
                Sadly even though Apple are one of the few that actually use a lithium polymer battery they make it physically so tiny so that at about 1/3 or 1/4 the size of a normal battery it has almost the same capacity. This is one of the biggest things that help them achieve such a slim and short device. They could've given everyone at least an 1800 or 2000 math battery...but they are apple.

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                  • 24 May 2012

                  Anonymous, 24 May 2012Last I checked, most people who seem to be making a big dif... moreTypical for someone to take something that performs better in almost every way and make it seem like everything it does better is meaningless just cause its better. Lol. Good job trolling.

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                    • Anonymous
                    • q8Q
                    • 24 May 2012

                    Anonymous, 24 May 2012actually its cheep because of the word SAMSUNG lollllMost widespread, powerful, inventive, and innovative means cheap?

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                      • AnonD-39775
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                      • 24 May 2012

                      hi. i have htx one x with only 20 hours stanby, with a little talk time, no internet, no 3g, no nothing,display light at minimum, but is charghing 3 hours full. i also have iphone 4s with over 50 hours in the same conditions like those described at htc one x. iphone 4s is charging in maximum 2 hours. how about galaxy s3? is like htc one x or like iphone 4s? because htc one x is a real horror!!!

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                        • Anonymous
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                        • 24 May 2012

                        AnonD-252, 24 May 2012It does not feel cheap! Have you actually felt it, or do yo... moreactually its cheep because of the word SAMSUNG lollll

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                          • 24 May 2012

                          Anonymous, 24 May 2012Last I checked, most people who seem to be making a big dif... moreIt does not feel cheap! Have you actually felt it, or do you only think it will feel cheap because of the "word" "plastic"! You can not lump polycarbonate together with regular plastic despite the fact that polycarbonate is a type of plastic, because of the general connotation that "plastic" is cheap and flimsy. This is not at all the case with polycarbonate, which actually can be on par with the Kevlar fiber case found on the Motorola RAZR. With the rise of polycarbonate, it may be time to reset our definition and ideas about plastics. Polycarbonate isn't just a "fancy name", it's a completely different class of material. The casing of the Samsung Galaxy S III is not the same as the material used on keyboards, mice, game controllers, or remote controls. That's regular plastic, which can certainly be cheap and not feel very nice. But, polycarbonate is no more the same material as that as is Gorilla Glass compared to glass used in a champagne flute.

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                            • Anonymous
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                            • 24 May 2012

                            AnonD-49280, 23 May 2012Baffles the hell out of me whey soooooo many people are mak... moreLast I checked, most people who seem to be making a big difference about these milliseconds in differences between smartphone performance are Samsung supporters (because I guess there's not much else about the GS3 that impresses them).

                            Second, the argument that the GS3 uses polycarbonate as well is really tired. No one is saying the GS3 isn't durable. They're saying it FEELS CHEAP. Yes, it's a purely superficial idea, but it's still important to a lot of average joes who want a premium feeling phone rather than one that feels like a toy. I'm sure millions of android spec nerds will pick up this phone anyway.

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                              • rcl4444
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                              • 23 May 2012

                              AnonD-49280, 23 May 2012Baffles the hell out of me whey soooooo many people are mak... moreActually I absolutely agree with you.

                              My point is not about needing to be the fastest, etc... It's GSMA now claiming that this IS without doubt the case with SGS3, whereas their own reviews in other articles shows this is NOT clearly the case.
                              My personal view is more to say that Samsung has the current ability & tech to have made the SGS3 a clear(er) class leader in all areas - hence my and many others feelings of disappointment.
                              I think it's a bloody good phone, just not bloody brilliant.

                              And your right about the cases - don't judge without trying. But perception IS important, especially when your paying top dollar. People do expect to get a quality product through & through when paying a quality price. If it was made of Kevlar or the same ceramic used on the Space shuttle heat shield people would feel their expensive cutting edge tech investment is protected by something special. Yes the S3 is made of polycarbonate, but the look of that polyc is cheap & flimsy; not like (say) the 'quality look & feel' of the polycarbonate of the Nokias.

                              Give me the SGS3 phone inside a HCT OneX case with a SAmoledPlus(RGB) screen and at 1500Ghz - is that so much to ask?

                              Oh, or maybe with this design :-)
                              http://techthingdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/s3_mockup-900x506.png

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                                • 23 May 2012

                                AnonD-55886, 22 May 2012Was really excited about this new phone, but the Audio qual... moreSorry, your likey wrong on both counts.

                                The SGS3 in particular has been noted for it's excellent sound codecs and subsequent sound quality & volume - both in headset and speaker.

                                Granted, the colours on S2 are strong/bright. They only seem 'fake' to people who are used to screens with duller colours. All my friends with iP4 and 4S's get me use my S2 to take pics because they like the S2 pics better... they say it takes brighter, better coloured images then their phones.

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                                  • 23 May 2012

                                  Anonymous, 23 May 2012Gorilla Glass IS still only glass but everyone know Gorilla... moreLike i said its made from Polycarbonate like n900.

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                                    • 23 May 2012

                                    AnonD-49280, 22 May 2012People complaining about the size of this handset in parrot... moreEhem sgs III-S is made from Polycarbonate you can research about that. Its only glossy because of the hyper Glaze coating

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                                      • 23 May 2012

                                      Meehhh!!!, 23 May 2012Does it run 1920 x 1080 resolution files at full HD ( 1080 ... moreUndoubtedly

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                                        • Anonymous
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                                        • 23 May 2012

                                        AnonD-55886, 22 May 2012Was really excited about this new phone, but the Audio qual... more@Waynester
                                        How would you know that your iphone 4S sound better? You have yet to owned a S3. Also 64GB is no different to 16GB iphone. If the 16GB sound quality is not as balanced as the S3 then what make the 64GB sound better? :) from the result table I can see that S3 sound is rather good comparing to iphone.
                                        Common sense mate.