Samsung Galaxy S III
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Review Samsung's Galaxy S III is one of the most feature-stuffed smartphones yet. Well, at least there’s room, as it's equipped a 4.8in screen. Samsung's Galaxy Note 5.3in tablet-phone aside, this handset touts the largest display you'll find on a mainstream mobile and it packs a quad-core CPU too.
Talk of the town: Samsung's Galaxy S III
Look at the front and it’s nearly all screen. The latest version of its Android 4 OS, Ice Cream Sandwich, allows manufacturers to put the home, back and other buttons into the display itself, enabling larger screens or smaller bodies, yet Samsung has opted for offscreen buttons. HTC has made the same choice on its One X. So under the display is Samsung’s oblong home button. It’s wide and – curiously – slightly raised.
Bigger than you think
And though the latest OS favours a Recent Apps icon as one of the three persistent buttons, Samsung has plumped instead to keep a menu button, alongside a back button. Personally I’d have put the back button to the left and the menu on the right, but there we are. Recent Apps is useful for switching between programs, but menu is more frequently used, surely.
Locked screen and unlocked – widgets aplenty populate the various home screen pages
The phone’s display is very impressive. There are cavils from critics who complain that it uses Pentile Amoled instead of the newer Super Amoled Plus technology, but since the results are so good, it scarcely matters. It’s bright too, but in use the Automatic Brightness setting can often result in the display being unnaturally dim for too long. Otherwise, it’s a great, high-resolution screen.
Apps listing and browser
The case, by the way, is high-gloss plastic. Not everyone will like this, and some will wish for the glass and metal class of an iPhone 4S. But it feels good in the hand. The smooth, glossy finish and the thinness from front to back both make it feel more comfortable than the size would suggest.
Next page: Vocal opinion
COMMENTS
Re: Yawn
Well, there's always this lovely Batman edition Lumia 900
And at only £100 more than the Galaxy S III, its a real bargain to boot. Certainly not run-of-the-mill and you will get many "admiring" glances and comments** as passers-by notice the striking "Batman" logo and cool Batman wallpaper.
** If you consider someone rolling their eyes and muttering "w**ker" to be "admiring".....
Re: Quad Core?
The question isn't does Android need quad core, looking at many other devices, it quite clearly does not.
The point is that it *can use* four cores. That means that you have the option of having several other tasks running in the background without impacting the core system.
Re: Quad Core?
Winpho runs fine on a single core because Microsoft won't let you do anything with it, it doesn't need extra umph because there is nothing on it and when Winpho get 10000 apps that use extra umph, like Dead space, Mass effect 3 or shadow gun, you will be regretting that it isn't single core. However if mine sweeper, solitaire and some god awful in house apps they have written are your bag, then a single core is fine.
Want to put a background on your front page? No.
Want to remove some of the stupid icons / hubs, tiles or whatever MS PR call them, completely from your front screen? No.
Want to develop your own apps and put them on when and where you want? Without MS saying yes? No.
Nokia the "darling of the mobile phone industry"... Eh, what? When? Struggling monolithic, and desperate more like.
The galaxy's only short coming is the plastic case. Not sure I trust that over an aluminium one.
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