From the reviews I've seen, the AT &T version with the S4 processor has quite good battery life.
I've also seen a number of complaints about screen issues, and other build quality problems on the international version, but I'm not sure if that's a wide spread thing or just the usual happenings when you pump out millions of any tech product.
But it looks to be an exciting year for phone geeks with all these crazy powerful models with huge, beautiful screens.
When I actually stop to think about it, it's just completely ridiculous what you can really do these days with a smartphone. Back when I was a kid, this shit would literally have been magic.
I disagree. The corners are noticeably more rounded on the GS3, there is clear contrast between phone color and screen, we're back to having that totally unnecessary hardware button, as well as ugly metal bands around the rim (which looked awful on the SG1).Originally Posted by Becoming
Obviously, I'd need to see it in real life to give an accurate verdict, but if I were given the choice of a SGN and SG3 with identical hardware right now, I wouldn't hesitate to chose the SGN.
Fair enough, I'm personally glad to see the blue option as the black slab thing is getting a bit old to me and I like the curves and contrast of the design.
But in the end I just hope that the new shape is comfortable to hold and I'll be happy with it.
Saw some articles today that indicated that the HTC-1' s bootloader is locked and it won't unlock with HTC's tool... apparently at AT&T's demand.
That sucks about the One X bootloader. With vanilla ICS (and maybe the Apex launcher) it'd be awesome. LTE and the improved camera of the One X are intriguing, but the locked bootloader, and the Sense 4 encumbrance take it off the table.
As it is, the Galaxy Nexus is the best phone I've ever owned. The hardware is great, the screen is gorgeous (pentile on such a high res screen is a non-issue sans microsope) and unadulterated ICS is refined and zippy.
Honestly, the GN is such a good phone, its suddenly made the cell enthusiast segment boring. I'm no longer trolling XDA for new ROM's, I no longer care what Apple has in the pipeline for the next iPhone. It just works great. I'm almost sad. It's like you got everything you wanted... now what?
...no doubt in 2 weeks, I'll be convinced to blow something up, but it's genuinely the first time I'm not waiting on the next incremental improvement.
Verizon has announced their version of the HTC One X, sort of. They've downclocked the processor (still an S4) to 1.2GHz, dropped the storage to 8GB of RAM, made the screen a teensy-tiny 4" 960x540 (instead of 4.7" of 1280x720), and made the case somehow even uglier than the Sprint version. Oh, and at least some early rumors have the phone costing $299.
This is insane. The One X is a phone that has gotten raves from everywhere, so why on earth would they so deliberately make it so incredibly awful? It's just baffling.
So anyway, it looks like if you're on Verizon, the GS3 is going to be the phone for you, even if it is worse than the One X, because you can't get the One X. And so much for HTC's plans to unify their device and branding strategy.
Sort of makes me want to just pull up roots and move to Europe just to have quasi-sane carriers available to me. There's no one in the US who manage to have good coverage, good phones, and good policies. You *might* get two out of the three, but in most cases it's just one -.-
Yeah, I feel pretty lucky that in my area Sprint has all three.
Except that their LTE coverage is 0% of the country right now, and their rollout schedule for it isn't exactly super-quick. Still, I think Sprint is on net the best US carrier, too.
Yeah, I never had wimax either, but if they don't screw the pooch on their network upgrade plan I (supposedly) should get LTE here eventually.
But I really don't have a real world use for something that fast honestly. I'd be totally fine with like 2 Mb 3g, which would plenty fast enough for the majority of things I'd really expect to do with my phone on the go.
Of course, remember that current Sprint LTE devices (and I do mean current, not the old WiMax models) are shipping with 4G radios that can only communicate on the 1900mhz band that is about to be activated in several locations this summer. Sprint's long-term plan is to offer 4G service on the old Nextel 800mhz band ensuring greater penetration and range, significantly increasing coverage range over the 1900mhz rollout that's about to start.
This will, of course, mark the second time in a row that early 4G adopters get utterly screwed over. At least in the last instance, "early adopter" WiMax device 2-year contracts will probably expire by the time 1900mhz LTE is available (so upgrading to the new network is a given), but with the 800mhz rollout planned to be completed no later than the end of next year, even the last areas to have it added to their 1900mhz service will still have at least half a year on their contracts where their devices are unable to access the improved service and range.
Pretty shitty, IMO. Hell, current rumors are that the EVO 4G LTE is shipping with LTE disabled until a software patch corrects some sort of glaring flaw with its operation, and who knows when that'll be?
Like I said: they ALL screw you somehow.
Based on what I read, they're not going to shut down their 1900MHz stuff, though -- they're going to roll out 800MHz in addition to that. And yes, 800MHz should be better, but it's not like the 1900MHz stuff is a dead-end like WiMax; it should be supported in all the places they currently support 1900MHz CDMA.
Also, are you sure about the 800MHz being done by next year? I read that their initial (1900MHz) rollout will be done by next year, and they'll only start the 800MHz at that point.
At least Sprint has a little lube though and leaves you enough cash to buy yourself a drink after. ;-)
Around my parts, it's either that or a vicious dry hump from AT&T, disappointing US Cellular or even shittier options.
I'm in the market for a new phone. I need to replace my normal, broken, boring Symbian one. I have no clue where to start though, so currently I'm more torn about the size of the device than anything else.
Based on my limited research, I'm on the fence. Either I go for something like a Galaxy W, which is small, cute and has a lot of the same software as the big boys. Or, I go balls out with the new Galaxy S III. Price isn't really an issue, as I'm essentially paying for the practicality.
Last edited by serling; 05-08-2012 at 06:29 AM.
In that case, I say go to a store and don't buy anything until you actually see how it feels in your hand.
Yepp. Planing to do that right after I get off from work today. :)
I've already played around a bit with the Galaxy Y and Galaxy S II. First notion is to go with something practical and small. Second notion, that the S II is really cool and comfortable to use. The smaller one is probably the safest bet though -- any regrets I'd have with it wouldn't imply physical awkwardness. I suspect that might not be the case with the bigger ones. We'll see.
The smallest upcoming phone of decent power is Verizon's (US) mix of the HTC OneX which is only 4" compared to the standard 4.7+. It's sized similarly to the OneS models, but features stronger internals, so it's a weird little beastie.
Being that you're in Norway, I'm not sure how much you'll find that's up-to-date and small.
Smartphones (even iPhones) thrive on being new enough to handle the latest version of their manufacturer's OS and all the apps and games that come along with it with aplomb. Putting iOS5 on an iPhone 3GS isn't always a pleasant experience and the oldschool Droid1/Milestone just doesn't have the RAM to do Android 4.0 ICS justice.
If you're going to be locked in (either by the sheer cost of buying or by a contract of some sort) for a couple of years or more, I'd strongly suggest going with something very new like the SGS3 or the HTC OneX. It's sort of a wash between those two these days--the SGS3 gets deeper blacks and brighter colors, but the OneX has a slightly better "true" resolution thanks to the type of screen it uses; the OneX lacks a replaceable battery but HTC claims their phones are more battery efficient; the SGS3's Exynos processor is quantifiably stronger in most situations, but the Tegra3 chips in most OneX models are oftentimes the "target" for optimized 3D games.
Basically, they're both great phones, especially in the EU where you don't deal with some really bizarre restrictions and changes that keep happening to US territory phones.
Of course, if you don't really live in Norway, then all bets are off.
And if you really want to hack your phone to death and back, just get a Galaxy Nexus :)
Obviously, I'd love to be able to hold on to my phone for as long as possible. The only requirements I have is that it's packed with the latest OS version, and that it is indeed Android, so I can hook it up to my Google account.
All that technical stuff you mention doesn't really matter to me (yet). I'm enough of a tech enthusiast to know that I don't really care about black levels and the other bullet points. It's about the usability and comfort of the thing, and to what degree I am able to adapt my habits to the new device. And in that regard, the Samsung-phones seem to be hitting a sweet spot for me personally. I'm just curios about the size, in the long run.
I haven't relocated since my last post. So yes, I'm still here! :)
Thanks for the reply.
At bare minimum, then, I'd shoot for a device with a dual core processor and 1GB of RAM, as I strongly feel like those two things are essential to comfortably running ICS and being prepared for future updates. A phone with a replaceable battery and expandable storage is nice insofar as these are sort of defining traits for Android (vs. iOS at least), but you might not really care about either :)
Basically, HTC OneX, Galaxy S3, and Galaxy Nexus are the top dogs ATM. The OneS might be closer to your preferred size category, although the display's a bit lower-res (still looks great because it's half an inch smaller) and the [non-replaceable] battery is sort of dinky, mostly due to the smaller phone size.
So, Amazon is offering a subsidized HTC One X for $149, and now Walmart is offering a subsidized HTC One X for $158. This is really aggressive pricing for a latest-gen LTE Android phone, and I think it's a good trend if it spreads to other high-end phone makers. Samsung with their Galaxy S3 and Sony with their Experia Ion will have their work cut out for them with the earlier-to-market advantage and pricing of the One X.
I would consider going with the Galaxy Nexus in that case. It has just come down in price (̃it can now be got for ~3000 NOK, as compared to it price as new - and the SG3 price - of ~5000 NOK) and will receive updates to Android a lot faster than the Galaxy S3. Obviously, it is not as highly specced, but it should still last you for a while.
The main reason not to take it, I think, is if you plan to use it a lot for taking photos. It's OK, but nothing more. While I've not yet read any comparions - I'd expect the GS3 camera to be an improvement.
If you can find a store that has it in, of course, the best thing is still to go in and take a look, but I wouldn't expect to see any GS3's in before the middle of next month.
No SD expansion slot. That is such a kick to the groin. :(
True. It's not a problem for me, since I don't use it as a walkman/vid player, so the 13-14GB that is available is enough for me. If you use/need more space, of course, another phone would definitely be preferable.
It's more of an issue for those of us on carriers with strict usage limits for data. For instance, the SD card-less OneX variant on AT&T in the US is stuck on a "4G" network that only allots 2GB/mo at the $30 price point, last I checked. You're not going to stream a lot of music or video on that sort of connection before you're paying per gigabyte. Canadians and Aussies have it even worse.
As such, it's in your best interests to load the phone up with the media you want to enjoy. . . except that since you're limited to (not even all of) a 16GB partition, you're likely to have to do a fair amount of micromanaging. . . especially if you want musical variety AND some TV shows.
I agree absolutely. In my case, though, the smartphone is a phone/internet/development device, so this is not a problem for me (and the latter usage makes keeping up to date with the latest OS version extra important).
For usage as a media viewing device, I would certainly go with something that can be extended with an SD slot - probably the S3 (I am not a fan of HTC due to some issues I had with them over my original HTC Magic).
Given the crappy battery life of modern smartphones, I'm not at a point where I'd comfortably give up my iPod. I don't want to risk being left without a phone because I was listening to music or playing games, and I don't want to be left without music/podcasts because I was browsing the web. So storage isn't really an issue for me. As long as a phone can hold a few HD movies, that's fine for me.
This is a really nice comparison between the two big boys on the block at the moment.
http://m.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy...review-759.php
I'm still waiting for info on the US version of the GS3, but my it is certainly holding up nicely there.
USB batteries are great. I picked up a 7400 mah one for $30.
The timeframe mentioned here is why I can't get too worked up about it.
For me (tech-head), there is probably zero chance that I will be using the same phone 18 months after buying it, let alone for a significant period of time afterwards. But even for most (?) people on a 2 year cycle, it probably won't affect them for much of their contract. By then there will be plenty of other reasons to upgrade, making it not so big of a deal when taken in context.
Where?
Monoprice introduced some "PoweRocks" bricks last Summer but doesn't seem to be selling them anymore.
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