Samsung Galaxy S3 Hands on experience first on net
The Samsung Galaxy S3 is certainly impressive. With a large, dazzling screen, super-fast quad-core processor, quality 8MP camera and expandable storage, it ticks all the key boxes for those looking for a truly feature-packed smartphone. Upon first impression, though, we're not totally blown away. This is mainly down to the slightly lacklustre plasticky design, though, and on a technical front it's up there with the best.
Key Features
- 4.8in, 720 x 1280 pixel display
- Quad Core 1.4GHz CPU
- 8MP camera with 1080p video
- Android 4.0 ICS with TouchWiz
Samsung Galaxy S3 - Design and Hardware
Samsung has literally taken something of a step backward with this handset's design, bearing as it does more resemblance to the original Samsung Galaxy S rather than the S2. In particular, the back is all curved glossy plastic rather than the squared-off chequered look of the S2 or Galaxy Nexus. The overall effect is a little underwhelming.
Samsung has literally taken something of a step backward with this handset's design, bearing as it does more resemblance to the original Samsung Galaxy S rather than the S2. In particular, the back is all curved glossy plastic rather than the squared-off chequered look of the S2 or Galaxy Nexus. The overall effect is a little underwhelming.
In terms of practicalities, though, we can have few complaints. While clearly not a ruggedised phone, it feels well put together and will no doubt prove to stand up to the rigours of everyday life, just as the similarly plasticky S2 did. Moreover, despite being a large phone (dimensions of .6 x 70.6 x 8.6mm) it sits reasonably comfortably in the hand thanks to nicely rounded corners, and the power button is conveniently placed on the right edge, rather than the top where you might have to stretch for it. Meanwhile the volume rocker is in its usual spot on the left.
Inevitably it's a bit of a stretch to reach all the whopping 4.8in screen, but then that's the same with all these big-screened smartphones. Also, despite its slenderness, it doesn't feel too unwieldy to handle – it's easy to get a good grip.
Paying homage to its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S2, the navigation buttons consist of a central physical Home button (Apple lawsuit beware) flanked by two touch-sensitive buttons, one for Back and one for bringing up the new Android 4.0 Multi-tasking menu. They seem responsive and easy to use.
Paying homage to its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S2, the navigation buttons consist of a central physical Home button (Apple lawsuit beware) flanked by two touch-sensitive buttons, one for Back and one for bringing up the new Android 4.0 Multi-tasking menu. They seem responsive and easy to use.
Samsung Galaxy S3 - Screen
Some reports were suggesting the Galaxy S3 may feature a bonkers 1080p resolution display but unsurprisingly this isn't the case. Instead we have an essentially Samsung Galaxy Nexus matching 4.8in panel with an HD Ready resolution of 720 x 1,280 pixels. This gives it a pretty high pixel density of 303ppi, just a jot under the iPhone 4S's 326ppi. It looks amazing, packing in a huge amount of detail and making it great for web browsing.
Some reports were suggesting the Galaxy S3 may feature a bonkers 1080p resolution display but unsurprisingly this isn't the case. Instead we have an essentially Samsung Galaxy Nexus matching 4.8in panel with an HD Ready resolution of 720 x 1,280 pixels. This gives it a pretty high pixel density of 303ppi, just a jot under the iPhone 4S's 326ppi. It looks amazing, packing in a huge amount of detail and making it great for web browsing.
