8 ms·

Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone unveiled

47 points by esolyt 15y ago

drivebyacct2 15y ago
I really don't care for its physical appearance but some of its features now seem basically obvious. The "screen stays on while you look at it" or "eye tracking" seem great.
dm8 15y ago
Another oversized phone. When I saw its predecessor I was shocked by the size. How can you properly fit it in pocket? I don't understand why phone manufacturers are engaged in "we are the biggest screen" race? Make your hardware better. Things like Retina display add that wow factor. I have owned two Android phones (none of them were Nexus) and they were marred with hardware and battery problems. Motorola Droid (I used for dev stuff) had amazing hardware but rest other sucked big time. Edit: Grammatical mistakes
- aplusbi 15y ago
  The S2 fits in my pocket better than the HTC G1 did as it is so much thinner. The real problem is that it's too big to fit in my hand. I got the S2 not because of its size but because it was the best Android phone at the time (in terms of hardware anyway, battery life leaves something to be desired).
- nextparadigms 15y ago
  I think people really overstate how much bigger such a phone is compared to an iPhone in your hand. When people hear something like a 4.7" phone vs a 3.5" they must imagine it's like twice as tall or something. Galaxy S3 is only 2 cm taller and 2 cm wider than an iPhone. A picture comparing the 2 here: http://cdn.androidcentral.com/sites/androidcentral.com/files/imagecache/w680h550/postimages/684/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-28.jpg http://cdn.androidcentral.com/sites/androidcentral.com/files... I've tried a 4.3" Galaxy S2 recently (I own a smaller older phone right now), and I could easily use it with just one hand, and yet there's this myth around the Internet ever since that misleading Curtis article that only 3.5" is the "perfect size" for one-handed use. It's not true. And no, I don't have large hands.
  - taligent 15y ago
    I think this photo better exemplifies the difference: http://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-gallery# http://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-gallery#
- eco 15y ago
  You'd have to have some pretty tiny pockets to not have this phone fit. My Galaxy Nexus fits fine in my Levis or suit pants and even feels a lot smaller in my pocket than my Motorola Droid did due to being a lot thinner. Hell, my Galaxy Tab 2 7" can (just barely) fit in my pocket though that's hardly something I'd actually carry around in my pocket. It has a "retina display" (306 PPI) but is a vibrant, high contrast-ratio AMOLED screen. I'm honestly confused about what this nebulous hardware wow factor is that the iPhone has that this phone doesn't[1]. Not every Android phone has great hardware but this one does. [1] http://www.theverge.com/products/compare/5588/2783 http://www.theverge.com/products/compare/5588/2783
- dkrich 15y ago
  I think this is one of those things people will never agree on. I guess it boils down to which you value more- the time the phone is in your pocket or the time it is out of your pocket. I personally prefer a larger screen because it just makes reading and browsing so much nicer and at this size, a relatively small increase makes a drastic difference. Though I know a lot of people who like the smaller screen. Every time I use a Galaxy Nexus and go back to an iPhone I feel like it is just not as nice of an experience.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
dkrich 15y ago
All I can say about this launch is that I can't believe how underwhelming the coverage was. TechCrunch wrote two short posts about the launch event and didn't laud or criticize the S3. In fact the only opinionated piece I saw at all was one explaining why Android isn't "actually" winning in the battle against iOS. This phone is in many ways a better device than the iPhone 4S. While Apple's accomplishments in mobile have been incredible, the fact that Samsung has closed the gap and in many ways surpassed the iPhone is extremely impressive. I don't think Apple is going to get much more mileage out of the "3.5 inches is the right size for a phone and the current iPhone form factor is the perfect design" argument. When you look at the 4S and then the S3 and then the 4S again, it feels like you are going back a generation. Now I have no doubt that Apple will impress with the iPhone 5, but I don't think that is coming until the October timeframe, so in the meantime, Samsung has jumped ahead of Apple in innovation. I can't wait to see what comes out of these two companies over the next several years. My point is not to criticize Apple, but rather that I would like to see a more open approach to Apple competitors. Samsung is for real and is developing devices that are at least as good as Apple in many ways and they deserve equal consideration, and that is good for everybody.
- nextparadigms 15y ago
  I think a lot of people were underwhelmed by the design. They've been iterating on pretty much the same design for years. It might make some sense if it was an iconic amazing design to begin with, but it never was. I also don't like the fact that Samsung seems to be going ever heavier with Touchwiz, instead of the opposite direction like HTC with Sense 4. At this point they are basically fighting Google's improvements, and just replacing them with their own. I think that's the wrong direction for them to take. It's one thing to have the Apple and Microsoft communities against you, but it's quite another if the Android community turns against you for screwing with Android too much. I don't like Samsung's direction, and I think they will feel it in revenues by the end of the year if they keep this up with other flagship devices. The Pentile screen was a real downer, too. I couldn't believe it myself that they actually used Pentile. That was probably the most shocking and disappointing thing for people expecting better hardware from Samsung. One thing I like about the Galaxy S3 - perhaps the only thing - is the processor. It's probably the best on the market right now in both CPU and GPU performance (the only one that beats the iPhone 4S in GPU right now). It seems to have crazy fast browsing. I saw Engadget loading their own website on it, and it was like instant. The benchmarks seem to confirm a significant increase in browser peformance compared to everyone else in the Browsermark test: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5810/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-performance-preview http://www.anandtech.com/show/5810/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-perf... This only makes me more excited for the upcoming Exynos 5250 chip with a totally new CPU (Cortex A15) and a totally new GPU and architecture (Mali T604). I'm hoping this chip will come out in both the next Nexus phone and in the Galaxy Note 2.
dillona 15y ago
I don't know if I really like that the screen got even larger. I often wind up accidentally hitting buttons with my wrist when reaching across the screen with my thumb
- poglet 15y ago
  The most frustrating thing with the Galaxy Nexus (4.65" screen) is trying to 'slide to unlock' it with one hand. I get most of the way across then my palm touches the camera button.
  - drivebyacct2 15y ago
    Spent a significant amount of time before realizing you must be left handed. I've figured out how to hold my GN where my hand isn't too big of an issue. It's so weird holding my old Fascinate though.
modeless 15y ago
I'm disappointed. The hardware face buttons are still there. The volume buttons are still directly opposite the power button (and thus far too easy to accidentally press). No ringer switch. The bezel is a bit smaller, but not enough so to be interesting, and the screen is PenTile. No Cortex A15 CPU. Bright spots seem to be a GPU that can finally compete with what Apple's shipping, and some imagination put into hardware/software features like the eye tracking and proximity-sensor-triggered calling, though TouchWiz is probably still a net loss.
- zurn 14y ago
  It's too bad that you can't really make use of the GPUs in Android. It'd be tolerable if there were only differences in capabilities (that works out OK on iOS after all), but you have to deal with the different sets of bugs in all the GPU drivers. All (?) the OpenGL ES drivers are pretty buggy, so dealing with several at once is not pretty.
kungfooey 15y ago
Yes, the phone hardware looks pretty nice. However, I bought a Samsung Galaxy S (Vibrant) and was subsequently underwhelmed with their lack of ongoing support for the phone itself. I will not be purchasing another phone from Samsung unless it is a Google-branded phone (e.g., Nexus S). Fool me once and all that.
nhangen 15y ago
Why are we still focusing on hardware when it is clear that software is just as, if not more important than appearance and feature set? It has a big screen and fancy processor, but it's still Android, and until that blemish is removed, Samsung will always be a second rate cell phone manufacturer. I say this as someone that will only buy Samsung in almost every other category.
- elithrar 15y ago
  > Why are we still focusing on hardware when it is clear that software is just as, if not more important than appearance and feature set? It's because comparing hardware specifications is easy - it's quantifiable, it's numbers, and techies are familiar with them. How do you objectively compare the effect on that hardware on the software experience, and the quality of the software experience itself (qualitative)? FWIW, ICS (Android 4.0) is a big step in the right direction compared to earlier versions, especially when it comes to making the most of the hardware underneath.
  - i386 15y ago
    Why do consumers care that their phone has quad core gpus or whatever when Apple tells them a simple story about how the device is supposed to fit into and improve their lives? Technology is just a means to an end.
    - mayanksinghal 14y ago
      Because I don't really listen to Apple as much as to my own experience. Well to be fair I have used an iPhone (3S) only for a couple of hours and have been living with an Android phone (HTC Desire S) for 8 months now. May be an iPhone would have made me happier, but to think of it objectively I don't see much difference in utility and ease. I would even make a hypothesis that the extra happiness is largely because of sociological factors.
    - FireBeyond 14y ago
      That's the other iPhone sleight of hand. iPods do video? No-one wants their iPod to do video... [pause] One more thing... iPod now does video Single core, dual core? No-one cares, it's about the experience... [pause] One more thing... the 4S is now dual core!
bookwormAT 14y ago
I find this was a very interesting announcement. Almost the whole presentation was about software, services and addons. Samsung did not talk much about the hardware, and not once use the term "Android" during the whole presentation. This is how I want smartphone providers to make their android-based devices: Either use just AOSP and focus on supporting that well (updates), or make a very unique and improved experience for your customers. Adding differences "just to be somehow different" will only make your phone worse. I don't care much about the gesture stuff, but what they do with the face detection API that came with Android 4 is very interesting. The idea that the screen will not go black as long as I look at it solves one of the most annoying problems I have when using computers. E.g. you think for a few seconds about what you just read on your smartphone, and when you're back you have to turn on the screen again. So annoying. There are also a lot of little nice touches to the ui, like this one: "Pick up the phone when you've got a missed call or text and it will vibrate gently in your hand in combination with the notification light to let you know you're a popular bunny." or that you can hold the phone to your ear while you're texting someone and it will call the person you're texting. Or that you can select a person in the camera and the focus will stay on that person. Or that you can burst 10 photos with one shot and then have the phone automatically recommend the best picture to you. The wireless charger and the HDMI dongle are also very nice.

47 points by esolyt 15y ago

I really don't care for its physical appearance but some of its features now seem basically obvious. The "screen stays on while you look at it" or "eye tracking" seem great.

dm8 15y ago

Another oversized phone. When I saw its predecessor I was shocked by the size. How can you properly fit it in pocket? I don't understand why phone manufacturers are engaged in "we are the biggest screen" race? Make your hardware better. Things like Retina display add that wow factor. I have owned two Android phones (none of them were Nexus) and they were marred with hardware and battery problems. Motorola Droid (I used for dev stuff) had amazing hardware but rest other sucked big time. Edit: Grammatical mistakes

aplusbi 15y ago
The S2 fits in my pocket better than the HTC G1 did as it is so much thinner. The real problem is that it's too big to fit in my hand. I got the S2 not because of its size but because it was the best Android phone at the time (in terms of hardware anyway, battery life leaves something to be desired).
nextparadigms 15y ago
I think people really overstate how much bigger such a phone is compared to an iPhone in your hand. When people hear something like a 4.7" phone vs a 3.5" they must imagine it's like twice as tall or something. Galaxy S3 is only 2 cm taller and 2 cm wider than an iPhone. A picture comparing the 2 here: http://cdn.androidcentral.com/sites/androidcentral.com/files/imagecache/w680h550/postimages/684/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-28.jpg http://cdn.androidcentral.com/sites/androidcentral.com/files... I've tried a 4.3" Galaxy S2 recently (I own a smaller older phone right now), and I could easily use it with just one hand, and yet there's this myth around the Internet ever since that misleading Curtis article that only 3.5" is the "perfect size" for one-handed use. It's not true. And no, I don't have large hands.
- taligent 15y ago
  I think this photo better exemplifies the difference: http://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-gallery# http://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-gallery#
eco 15y ago
You'd have to have some pretty tiny pockets to not have this phone fit. My Galaxy Nexus fits fine in my Levis or suit pants and even feels a lot smaller in my pocket than my Motorola Droid did due to being a lot thinner. Hell, my Galaxy Tab 2 7" can (just barely) fit in my pocket though that's hardly something I'd actually carry around in my pocket. It has a "retina display" (306 PPI) but is a vibrant, high contrast-ratio AMOLED screen. I'm honestly confused about what this nebulous hardware wow factor is that the iPhone has that this phone doesn't[1]. Not every Android phone has great hardware but this one does. [1] http://www.theverge.com/products/compare/5588/2783 http://www.theverge.com/products/compare/5588/2783
dkrich 15y ago
I think this is one of those things people will never agree on. I guess it boils down to which you value more- the time the phone is in your pocket or the time it is out of your pocket. I personally prefer a larger screen because it just makes reading and browsing so much nicer and at this size, a relatively small increase makes a drastic difference. Though I know a lot of people who like the smaller screen. Every time I use a Galaxy Nexus and go back to an iPhone I feel like it is just not as nice of an experience.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

dkrich 15y ago

All I can say about this launch is that I can't believe how underwhelming the coverage was. TechCrunch wrote two short posts about the launch event and didn't laud or criticize the S3. In fact the only opinionated piece I saw at all was one explaining why Android isn't "actually" winning in the battle against iOS. This phone is in many ways a better device than the iPhone 4S. While Apple's accomplishments in mobile have been incredible, the fact that Samsung has closed the gap and in many ways surpassed the iPhone is extremely impressive. I don't think Apple is going to get much more mileage out of the "3.5 inches is the right size for a phone and the current iPhone form factor is the perfect design" argument. When you look at the 4S and then the S3 and then the 4S again, it feels like you are going back a generation. Now I have no doubt that Apple will impress with the iPhone 5, but I don't think that is coming until the October timeframe, so in the meantime, Samsung has jumped ahead of Apple in innovation. I can't wait to see what comes out of these two companies over the next several years. My point is not to criticize Apple, but rather that I would like to see a more open approach to Apple competitors. Samsung is for real and is developing devices that are at least as good as Apple in many ways and they deserve equal consideration, and that is good for everybody.

nextparadigms 15y ago
I think a lot of people were underwhelmed by the design. They've been iterating on pretty much the same design for years. It might make some sense if it was an iconic amazing design to begin with, but it never was. I also don't like the fact that Samsung seems to be going ever heavier with Touchwiz, instead of the opposite direction like HTC with Sense 4. At this point they are basically fighting Google's improvements, and just replacing them with their own. I think that's the wrong direction for them to take. It's one thing to have the Apple and Microsoft communities against you, but it's quite another if the Android community turns against you for screwing with Android too much. I don't like Samsung's direction, and I think they will feel it in revenues by the end of the year if they keep this up with other flagship devices. The Pentile screen was a real downer, too. I couldn't believe it myself that they actually used Pentile. That was probably the most shocking and disappointing thing for people expecting better hardware from Samsung. One thing I like about the Galaxy S3 - perhaps the only thing - is the processor. It's probably the best on the market right now in both CPU and GPU performance (the only one that beats the iPhone 4S in GPU right now). It seems to have crazy fast browsing. I saw Engadget loading their own website on it, and it was like instant. The benchmarks seem to confirm a significant increase in browser peformance compared to everyone else in the Browsermark test: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5810/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-performance-preview http://www.anandtech.com/show/5810/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-perf... This only makes me more excited for the upcoming Exynos 5250 chip with a totally new CPU (Cortex A15) and a totally new GPU and architecture (Mali T604). I'm hoping this chip will come out in both the next Nexus phone and in the Galaxy Note 2.

dillona 15y ago

I don't know if I really like that the screen got even larger. I often wind up accidentally hitting buttons with my wrist when reaching across the screen with my thumb

poglet 15y ago
The most frustrating thing with the Galaxy Nexus (4.65" screen) is trying to 'slide to unlock' it with one hand. I get most of the way across then my palm touches the camera button.
- drivebyacct2 15y ago
  Spent a significant amount of time before realizing you must be left handed. I've figured out how to hold my GN where my hand isn't too big of an issue. It's so weird holding my old Fascinate though.

modeless 15y ago

I'm disappointed. The hardware face buttons are still there. The volume buttons are still directly opposite the power button (and thus far too easy to accidentally press). No ringer switch. The bezel is a bit smaller, but not enough so to be interesting, and the screen is PenTile. No Cortex A15 CPU. Bright spots seem to be a GPU that can finally compete with what Apple's shipping, and some imagination put into hardware/software features like the eye tracking and proximity-sensor-triggered calling, though TouchWiz is probably still a net loss.

zurn 14y ago
It's too bad that you can't really make use of the GPUs in Android. It'd be tolerable if there were only differences in capabilities (that works out OK on iOS after all), but you have to deal with the different sets of bugs in all the GPU drivers. All (?) the OpenGL ES drivers are pretty buggy, so dealing with several at once is not pretty.

kungfooey 15y ago

Yes, the phone hardware looks pretty nice. However, I bought a Samsung Galaxy S (Vibrant) and was subsequently underwhelmed with their lack of ongoing support for the phone itself. I will not be purchasing another phone from Samsung unless it is a Google-branded phone (e.g., Nexus S). Fool me once and all that.

nhangen 15y ago

Why are we still focusing on hardware when it is clear that software is just as, if not more important than appearance and feature set? It has a big screen and fancy processor, but it's still Android, and until that blemish is removed, Samsung will always be a second rate cell phone manufacturer. I say this as someone that will only buy Samsung in almost every other category.

elithrar 15y ago
> Why are we still focusing on hardware when it is clear that software is just as, if not more important than appearance and feature set? It's because comparing hardware specifications is easy - it's quantifiable, it's numbers, and techies are familiar with them. How do you objectively compare the effect on that hardware on the software experience, and the quality of the software experience itself (qualitative)? FWIW, ICS (Android 4.0) is a big step in the right direction compared to earlier versions, especially when it comes to making the most of the hardware underneath.
- i386 15y ago
  Why do consumers care that their phone has quad core gpus or whatever when Apple tells them a simple story about how the device is supposed to fit into and improve their lives? Technology is just a means to an end.
  - mayanksinghal 14y ago
    Because I don't really listen to Apple as much as to my own experience. Well to be fair I have used an iPhone (3S) only for a couple of hours and have been living with an Android phone (HTC Desire S) for 8 months now. May be an iPhone would have made me happier, but to think of it objectively I don't see much difference in utility and ease. I would even make a hypothesis that the extra happiness is largely because of sociological factors.
  - FireBeyond 14y ago
    That's the other iPhone sleight of hand. iPods do video? No-one wants their iPod to do video... [pause] One more thing... iPod now does video Single core, dual core? No-one cares, it's about the experience... [pause] One more thing... the 4S is now dual core!

bookwormAT 14y ago

I find this was a very interesting announcement. Almost the whole presentation was about software, services and addons. Samsung did not talk much about the hardware, and not once use the term "Android" during the whole presentation. This is how I want smartphone providers to make their android-based devices: Either use just AOSP and focus on supporting that well (updates), or make a very unique and improved experience for your customers. Adding differences "just to be somehow different" will only make your phone worse. I don't care much about the gesture stuff, but what they do with the face detection API that came with Android 4 is very interesting. The idea that the screen will not go black as long as I look at it solves one of the most annoying problems I have when using computers. E.g. you think for a few seconds about what you just read on your smartphone, and when you're back you have to turn on the screen again. So annoying. There are also a lot of little nice touches to the ui, like this one: "Pick up the phone when you've got a missed call or text and it will vibrate gently in your hand in combination with the notification light to let you know you're a popular bunny." or that you can hold the phone to your ear while you're texting someone and it will call the person you're texting. Or that you can select a person in the camera and the focus will stay on that person. Or that you can burst 10 photos with one shot and then have the phone automatically recommend the best picture to you. The wireless charger and the HDMI dongle are also very nice.