The Galaxy S3, is the latest in Samsung’s successful line of advanced Android smartphones, designed to compete with Apple’s iPhone directly. The company’s latest version leaves the iPhone 4S in the dust, along with many of its other Android competitors. It is bigger but lighter and better than anything before and it can only get better from here.

Pros

●        Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

●        Quad-Core Processor

●        4.8-inch 720p Screen

●        Good Battery life
 

Cons

●        Quite expensive

●        Design isn’t stunning

Tech Specs

The Galaxy S3 comes loaded with a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED screen. The front side features a 1.9MP camera, an elongated home button and two soft keys for ‘Back’ and ‘Menu’. Personally, I would have prefered if Samsung just got rid of all the physical keys and opted for soft keys but it still looks quite good.

The lock key is parallel to the volume button on the rightside of the phone. The microUSB port is located at the bottom and the 3.5mm headphone jack is located on the top. The S3 also features a brilliant 8 MP camera, which like the HTC One series, can take still images while recording video. Despite the fact that the S3’ dimensions are 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6mm, it does not feel unwieldy because of the clever placement of the keys and the fact that it is extremely light at only 133g.

Things get even better when you take a look at things underneath the hood. The Galaxy S3 features a 1.4Ghz Quad-Core processor and 1GB RAM, which is perfect for everything from gaming and HD videos to a wide range of multitasking activities. Interestingly, the Galaxy S3, which comes in 16GB and 32GB variants also features a microSD capability. Another version featuring 64GB of internal memory would allow the S3 to boast 128 GB worth of storage space. The S3 also features a well-received 2,100 mAH battery.

Apart from the basics, the S3 also comes loaded with WiFi a/b/g/n, GPS, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0. Standard sensors such as the accelerometer, RGB light detector, digital compass, proximity detector, gyro and barometer are also included.

Interface

The Galaxy S3 comes loaded with Android 4.0 ICS. This has already been surpassed by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and Samsung has yet to confirm if the update will be available for the S3. However, the S3’s interface is still slick and effective. It has completely overhauled the Touchwiz overlay.

One of the most noticeable changes include is the interactive unlock feature which also allows users to open specific applications directly from the lockscreen. Another interesting feature is an eye-tracking software that is designed to track the movement of the user’s eyes and dim the screen when he or she is not looking. A smart alert system also makes it much easier to monitor and respond to messages, missed calls and other alerts.

However, the strongest features are certainly the task management and multi-tasking systems that are very popular. The former allows users to customise notifications, apps, data use, etc. The latter allows users to seamlessly switch between programs without having to constantly open and close apps.

Verdict

Samsung S3 confirms the company’s dominance in Android and may be the most popular Android phone yet. Along with HTC’s One range of phones, the Galaxy series is probably the best thing out there for Android fans. It is certainly quite expensive but given the amazing features on board, one could argue that it is well worth the price.

By Navam Niles