S3 review US reviews

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May 29, 2012
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Anandtech posted this review of the S3:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6022/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-review-att-and-tmobile-usa-variants

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57456823-1/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-htc-one-x-compared/

I have been looking forward to getting this phone for awhile but these reviews make me reconsider getting the HTC one X. The one X seems to lead in most hardware categories and better screen (although slightly smaller). MicroSD card expansion and battery replacement definitely huge pluses for S3 ( lack of these features is one of the many reasons I hate apple phones)

I'm upgrading from HTC incredible and have been happy so far with this brand. Whats everyone's thoughts on these two phones?
 
if you must choose between the two...

on at&t, get the one x.

on sprint, get galaxy s3. (the evo lte deviates from the international design.)
 
why the one x on AT&T over the GS3?

I'm not getting a phone with out expandable storage or removable battery.
 
I would strongly consider importing the Intl one. I am using one on AT&T, and it gets 10$ a month unlimited data on their dumb phone plan, and the quad core is blazing fast. The prices on them are dropping as well, you can get them ~500 and not have to extend your contract. That said, if you are going on Contract, get the OneX in my opinion, as the screen is slightly better and has the same processor.
 
What's the $10 a month unlimited data plan?

if you must choose between the two...

on at&t, get the one x.

on sprint, get galaxy s3. (the evo lte deviates from the international design.)

I would actually have it the other way around... the Evo 4G LTE has a micro SD slot and camera shutter button to go along with a beefier battery (important w/o removable battery imo)
 
What's the $10 a month unlimited data plan?

AT&T has a media net plan for any phones that are not AT&T branded smartphones. Since the GS3 international version does not have an IMEI that they recognize, you can sign up for this plan. Currently, I am getting unthrottled unlimited data on my phone for 10$ a month :)
 
AT&T has a media net plan for any phones that are not AT&T branded smartphones. Since the GS3 international version does not have an IMEI that they recognize, you can sign up for this plan. Currently, I am getting unthrottled unlimited data on my phone for 10$ a month :)

Interesting. How do you do voice and text messaging? Are they on the same plan?
 
I am on a family plan, so we have unlimited texting and our minute as a group anyway. But you would just add this to any of their standard plans. It's sure cheaper than the 3GB/30$ a month that you'll pay if you get the LTE version of the phone, and TBH HSPA+ is fast enough in everyday use. I had the Galaxy Note on LTE with them, and it was not so much faster that I feel slow now.
 
I am on a family plan, so we have unlimited texting and our minute as a group anyway. But you would just add this to any of their standard plans. It's sure cheaper than the 3GB/30$ a month that you'll pay if you get the LTE version of the phone, and TBH HSPA+ is fast enough in everyday use. I had the Galaxy Note on LTE with them, and it was not so much faster that I feel slow now.

Yeah, I read the xda-developers thread on what you did, and it sounds like an option.

I agree that HSPA+ and LTE for the most part isn't a huge difference at this point in the game, though that might change depending on how their future deployment goes

An alternative to going AT&T, if one goes with a retail/carrier phone I realized, is going T-Mobile - yeah, their phone cost starts higher, but their ETF is quite cheap and their plans are the cheapest around. And T-Mobile HSPA+ is extremely fast, on par with LTE in a lot of markets. And you can get month to month plans for T-Mobile.

Only con is that T-Mobile phone coverage can be spotty in some areas, and the T-Mobile version of the phone doesn't have an LTE radio. It does cover more 3G bands than the AT&T version though. So it would be interesting to see what resell is on the phones (though I suppose the point is moot if T-Mobile is indeed moving their LTE to 1700 MHz and refarming their 1900MHz to support HSPA+ - in which case the AT&T phone covers all spectrums).
 
If you saw posts by "daveop" that's me over there as well :) I have had an extremely positive experience so far using this trick. Speeds are exactly the same, if not just a little bit faster than they were on my iPhone 4S. Most websites load so fast on AT&T HSPA+ that I don't find myself wishing I had LTE and the associated battery drain.
 
If you saw posts by "daveop" that's me over there as well :) I have had an extremely positive experience so far using this trick. Speeds are exactly the same, if not just a little bit faster than they were on my iPhone 4S. Most websites load so fast on AT&T HSPA+ that I don't find myself wishing I had LTE and the associated battery drain.

LTE is in my market so it should be a step up from AT&T HSPA+ which isn't as good in this area, though I've gotten used to just toggling the radios if drain is a problem... hopefully they have a widget for this

That said, I don't know what people are doing asking for 20Mbps+ speeds since that's going to hit your cap real soon
 
I would actually have it the other way around... the Evo 4G LTE has a micro SD slot and camera shutter button to go along with a beefier battery (important w/o removable battery imo)
Me, I just like the international designs better. Which means better and larger number of accessories and, if heaven forbids, cheaper parts for repair.
 
Me, I just like the international designs better. Which means better and larger number of accessories and, if heaven forbids, cheaper parts for repair.

One of the reasons I think its good to see Samsung forcing all carriers to take the same size model (even if the specs are different).
 
I was surprised to see that in most of Anandtech's benchmarks, the One variants pretty much all came out on top vs the GS3, despite using the same SoC
 
One of the reasons I think its good to see Samsung forcing all carriers to take the same size model (even if the specs are different).

Agreed. The Galaxy Nexus had issues with that since the CDMA variants were slightly different. Some accessories just never showed up for Verizon IIRC, this should be a totally different experience.

I went ahead and bit the bullet on pre-ordering one of these since it was the only "next-gen" LTE phone that is likely to launch before the 28th on VZW (seriously..wtf happened to the Inc4G??). Already picked up a 32GB card and a USB cable to hook up accessories so they'll be ready to go when the phone comes.

Next up would be a case and there are already a lot of them available in Europe that should work just fine over here thanks to Samsung demanding a universal design. Liking this one with the built in coin stand which I think is pretty clever. Even if it sucks I'm only going to be out ~$20..What cases are you guys looking at?
 
Can the S3 screen be turned on easily, like the iPhone ? On the iPhone you press the bottom thumb button, to wake the phone, then slide across to wake. Does the bottom button on the S3 work the same way, to wake the device ? Or do you have to press the side power button only to unlock ?

This is a big concern for my Brother trying to switch over from his iPhone4.
 
Can the S3 screen be turned on easily, like the iPhone ? On the iPhone you press the bottom thumb button, to wake the phone, then slide across to wake. Does the bottom button on the S3 work the same way, to wake the device ? Or do you have to press the side power button only to unlock ?

This is a big concern for my Brother trying to switch over from his iPhone4.

Not sure why that's such a big deal but according to the manual (page 30) yes you can use the home key for this.
 
Can the S3 screen be turned on easily, like the iPhone ? On the iPhone you press the bottom thumb button, to wake the phone, then slide across to wake. Does the bottom button on the S3 work the same way, to wake the device ? Or do you have to press the side power button only to unlock ?

This is a big concern for my Brother trying to switch over from his iPhone4.

So its a big concern whether one button wakes the phone vs another button? Well both can wake the phone and you can apparently do as little as look at the phone to wake it. How well that will work is unknown to me though.
 
Next up would be a case and there are already a lot of them available in Europe that should work just fine over here thanks to Samsung demanding a universal design. Liking this one with the built in coin stand which I think is pretty clever. Even if it sucks I'm only going to be out ~$20..What cases are you guys looking at?

I haven't seen a lot of cases that caught my eye yet for the SGS3. Right now I'm using a fishbone-style case for my Fascinate and I love it. Kind waiting to see if one of those will get released around the time I get the phone. Otherwise I guess I'll have to get some cheap case in the meantime.
 
So its a big concern whether one button wakes the phone vs another button? Well both can wake the phone and you can apparently do as little as look at the phone to wake it. How well that will work is unknown to me though.

I have zero problem whatsoever with the power button to unlock my Android phone, but my Brother being with iPhone for years, is so used to that bottom button to unlock the screen, he said the HTC having the power button way on top, really annoyed him greatly. Said these new Android phones are already hard to get used there bigger size, and then having to reach his finger way on top to activate it, pissed him off.
 
Went to pick mine up at the Sprint store this morning and they told me the launch was delayed.....
 
Seriously, wtf? Go in with a gun because a PHONE LAUNCH was delayed?

Anyways, as to the person asking about the home button waking the phone, I can verify that it works just fine.
 
Coming into this I knew that the spec for HTC was a little better than the S3 but those browser benchmarks make me wonder if the One X is alot better. I have a pre-order for S3 in with verizon (to lock in my unlimited data plan) hope its the right choice.

Damn Verizon delaying all the time. Does anyone know if these delays are just from each carrier modding the phone to its liking or is it something else?
 
Are there any US vs International comparisons yet? The video demos of the S3 playing back 720p 10bit in software mode is pretty amazing. But i'm presuming that those were shown on the quad cores. Would the dual core variants still be able to do the same?
 
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