Even with a name like Galaxy, Samsung builds phones that are nothing alien to a tech lover. I was first introduced to the Galaxy range of Smart-phones a little over 3 years ago. I used them then, and liked them a lot. This was in India. Now I am in Dubai, and Samsung refuse to shy away from the Galaxy name chain. Why change a winning formula.
They launched the first of the “Galaxy S”, the frontrunner of technology in it’s age, in June 2010. In May 2011, the S2 really took the market by storm and introduced some technology that was by far the best in the time zone then. Even today, it is a strong contender for mid range phones.
Let’s circle back to recent history. The Galaxy S3 was launched in May 2012. The phone has created quite a buzz around it with TouchWiz and the large screen. A few other features unique to the handset were also the talk of the town, but, if we bring it down to the hard fact, it is a smart-phone. So how smart is it, really?
Form
while most things are micro, there is nothing micro about the phone
The phone is large. Considering I was instantly upgraded from a 3.7 inch screen to this 4.8 inch screen, yes it was larger than I was used to. This, in no way, is a downside to the phone. It does not make you wish you were Mr. Fantastic. Regular size hand and large phone – is not a problem. Your thumb will be able to access across 2/3rds of the screen so a two handed approach to using the phone becomes mandatory. This will upset the people who wish to text while driving, or are used to a single hand approach to texting on their smart-phone.
The phone is made with lightweight ABS which is a form of plastic. The build on this phone is rather cheap and you do feel plastic-y holding the phone. Slight taps reveal a slight hollowness and this makes it worse. The back comes off and the plastic-y nature of the material used is further revealed.
That is where this feeling ends, because the technology used for the phone is top notch. The back comes off to reveal the big battery (2100mAH) and the slots for the Micro Sim and the Trans-Flash or Micro SD memory card. The memory in built is about 16 GB including the 2 GB sorted out for applications and processes. You can expand the memory up to an additional 64 GB.
The problem for me is that the phone is about the same size as the competition but it was not nearly as comfortable to hold as the other phone. Call me fussy, but that was a big downer.
There is a micro USB adapter that doubles as a charging and connection spot.
Display
be prepared to shield your eyes in the dark
The S3 comes with a 4.8 inch Super AMOLED HD display with a resolution of 720×1280 HD with a colour depth of 16 Million Colours. Pixel Density is 306 Pixels per Inch which is still quite high and gives you a much clearer picture in collaboration with the above specifications.
The display is quite vibrant and I did quite enjoy watching movies on the wide-screen format in Full HD. With no lag, the screen was quite sharp, and had the colour depth as expected from a hand held device. The use of the screen in the day time was hardly a problem. I am in Dubai, and the sun is out shining most of the time and boy it is bright. In that kind of brightness, using the S3 was hardly a problem. Enough detail and I never had to squint even once.
In the night, however, you would be well advised to use auto brightness, because the screen can blind you with its glare. I kid you not. That screen is bright and not even at full brightness. I normally keep my screen at 75% and I had to tune it down. Flashlight, anyone?
Camera
any more and the camera comes with a phone… 
any more and the camera comes with a phone…
The camera is excellent. Great depth, good point focus, excellent modes. It is all fairly standard. Why does this get better than the others? The interface is probably one of the best I have seen. Combined with good hardware, this makes the entire process of using the camera quite nice.
Photography is intuitive for a regular user. Focus on faces, 1080p HD video with simultaneous photo capture, burst mode allows you to take 8 photographs within 3.3 seconds, best picture selection – all these are great because the interface is very precise and allows easy navigation through all the modes and is fun to use.
Interface
I have been harping about the interface in my previous section and therefore this section needs more elaboration. The TouchWiz interface is a step up from the previous versions and quite frankly is a breath of fresh air. That said, the mobile is slightly counter-intuitive. For my podgy fingers, the touch was all sorts of mishap prone. Touch one thing and something else would get activated.
A couple of the features in the interface were really neat, my favourites included Raise to call from a message, swipe in the contact zone to either message or call, and Smart Stay.
Check out this video for more:
Sound
The speaker is small and rather discreetly positioned to look like a small metallic block placed near the camera. It does what it has been designed to do efficiently. It kept up with the bass on Metallica’s King Nothing and the smooth sounds of the flute that my son likes every now and then! So, well done Samsung. My son keeps coming back for an Encore!
Performance
it is no slouch.. make no mistake..
It obediently opened all the apps I needed just so I could “try” to overload it. I could not – I tried and failed.. it multi-tasked with ease. Camera, Gallery, Music, Browser, Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Path.. I thought this would kill it.., but no.. it just egged me on and I happily completed all the tasks I set out to do on all the apps.
There is enough juice in the battery for a Social user to last upwards of 20 hours and a heavy work user close to 12-15 hours. This is not scientific though, so don’t hold me to it.
My Verdict
It is a good device. The competition does outweigh it in terms of design and certain function, but if you are used to the bloatware that Samsung stuff into their phones, then you will be a very happy camper with the S3.
With that said, have a look at this video where you will be introduced to a whole bunch of Samsung original accessories that make using the S3 so much more fun. This is where Samsung win.