Samsung Galaxy S3 - Details Announced

[3GScottishUser]

Samsung has launched it's much anticipated Galaxy S3 tonight at a venue in London.

Not too many surprises but it takes the Android platform to a new level of performance.

Full Details: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17935684

[Ben]

It's huge?

I'm looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about, though, I am.

[Hands0n]

The new Samsung Galaxy S III has been received to very mixed reviews and opinions. Perhaps victims of their own success with the SGS2, that was a marvellous device, the expectation bar has been extremely high for the SGS3.

So it is probably not at all unsurprising that there are very many early blogger responses along the lines of this one --> http://www.intomobile.com/2012/05/04/dear-internet-i-am-incredibly-sorry-overhyping-disappointment-galaxy-s-iii/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IntoMobile+%28IntoMobile%29

I find nothing at all in the SGS3 that would draw me away from the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. I do not see the SGS3 as of significant a lift to encourage me to change to it. More so because of the persistence of Touchwiz that I dislike intensely (second only to HTC's Sense).

[Ben]

Why did they make the screen bigger, that's what I don't understand? Surely the S range should at least have something unifying them together... the SIII, as great as it may turn out to be, looks like 'just another Samsung'.

Such a large screen risks alienating the mainstream smartphone market, which is surely what the S is aimed at. Isn't it trying to compete with the iPhone, which is now positively diddy by comparison?

[Wilt]

A 4.8" screen? This is getting ridiculous. My personal maximum size for a screen on a mobile device is 4" - any bigger and the becomes uncomfortable in my hand. Unfortunately this means that most of the top-end phones are no good for me at the moment. :(

The S2 was already a big phone, and the S3 is (according to GSM Arena) just over a cm taller and half a cm wider. That's two cm taller and one cm wider than the iPhone 4S.

[Sajjad Rahman]

The screen of the new Samsung is quite large, but would be quite amazing when watching movies, videos and browsing.

Though 4 inches is the perfect size is what I believe. Cant wait to check this phone out.

[Ben]

Is anyone else struggling to get excited about this phone?

I was hoping to get one, but the oversized screen and many thoroughly mediocre images of it have put me off. This should've been the go-to iPhone alternative for 2012, but it just doesn't feel like that at all.

The BBC sums up what it thinks are the main contestants in the top-end smartphone space at the moment: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17958274

They all seem flawed in some way or another... the iPhone 5's issue being that it doesn't exist ;)

[Hands0n]

Actually, I am not entirely sure why there was such a frenzied hype around the Galaxy S III. Everyone knew it was coming and Samsung made that one big mistake that they seem to frequently, that is to get complacent. News of overtaking Nokia in global sales and going head to head with Apple seem to have made Samsung just a tad lower their sights.

The Galaxy S III represents a point release of the genre, rather like the iPhone 4S is a small update on the predecessor iPhone 4. Sure, its faster, it has a larger screen, it even has some whizz-bang OS additions to make it more "human". Big deal. Is that sufficient reason to lay out almost £600 for the new iteration? I look at the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Nexus (both of which I've owned) and believe that it really isn't.

The screen isn't that much larger, it isn't even that much higher/better resolution. The quad cores are not going to deliver that much of a practical, noticeable, beneficial performance increase over the S II and Nexus. So what does that leave me with? A "humanised" smartphone? Are you kidding me, Samsung? Maybe things are very different in a market that is not as saturated as the UK's. But I am really struggling with coming up with one single excuse to buy into the Samsung Galaxy S III.

In releasing the Galaxy S III as they have Samsung have left the field clear in 2012 for Apple to announce and release the so-called iPhone 5 later this year. If this were a game of Poker, Samsung just blinked.

[Sajjad Rahman]

Actually, I am not entirely sure why there was such a frenzied hype around the Galaxy S III. Everyone knew it was coming and Samsung made that one big mistake that they seem to frequently, that is to get complacent. News of overtaking Nokia in global sales and going head to head with Apple seem to have made Samsung just a tad lower their sights.

The Galaxy S III represents a point release of the genre, rather like the iPhone 4S is a small update on the predecessor iPhone 4. Sure, its faster, it has a larger screen, it even has some whizz-bang OS additions to make it more "human". Big deal. Is that sufficient reason to lay out almost £600 for the new iteration? I look at the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Nexus (both of which I've owned) and believe that it really isn't.

The screen isn't that much larger, it isn't even that much higher/better resolution. The quad cores are not going to deliver that much of a practical, noticeable, beneficial performance increase over the S II and Nexus. So what does that leave me with? A "humanised" smartphone? Are you kidding me, Samsung? Maybe things are very different in a market that is not as saturated as the UK's. But I am really struggling with coming up with one single excuse to buy into the Samsung Galaxy S III.

In releasing the Galaxy S III as they have Samsung have left the field clear in 2012 for Apple to announce and release the so-called iPhone 5 later this year. If this were a game of Poker, Samsung just blinked.

Very well said bro.

[Ben]

samsung once again makes blast in uk mobile market with its greatest smartphone ever samsung galaxy s3.
Hello! Nice headline; got anything to accompany it? :p

[miffed]

To me the launch, presentation of "new features" etc, build up , hype is all just another example of Samsung trying to be Apple. Really wouldn't surprise me if they fake the CEO's death & announce his biography after the next launch.
Unless all the SGS2 owners I know have been lying to me , they won't want the S3 as the screen is too big (not a notion I subscribe to, but I remember a lot of them telling me the Galaxy Nexus's screen was too big)
The big battery is good news - but I suspect the S3 NEEDS it if the camera and audio sensors are running all the time ? or am I misunderstanding this.
It does seem to me that most of the new features are just software, ... I know another company that gets ripped to shreds for keeping some features on current devices and not letting older devices have it !

Yep to me , looks like a very simple case of "If Apple can do hype , then so can we" .. will be interesting to see if Samsung can actually back it up with anything.

[Ben]

The big battery is good news - but I suspect the S3 NEEDS it
This occurred to me also. Apple basically doubled the size of the battery in the new iPad as a necessity, not as a bonus to end users. I see a lot written on sites selling the SGSIII about massive battery capacity... but I expect that's simply required to drive the large screen, quad core processor, and allow the active software to run. We'll see!

[Hands0n]

I wonder if Huawei is just about to upstage Samsung. The Chinese company is about to let loose its Huawei Ascend D Quad smartphone that meets the Galaxy shoulder to shoulder in very many respects. A big decider could be how much the device sells for SIM-free and on contract or PAYG.

There is a side-by-side comparison here --> http://www.knowyourmobile.com/comparisons/1365841/samsung_galaxy_s3_vs_huawei_ascend_d_quad.html But I'd treat the result with a pinch of salt. At the end of it all the choice you make should be on the basis of your own requirements.

Will the Samsung Galaxy S III repeat the global sell-out that was the S II predecessor?

[Ben]

That Huawei looks good, and I've always found their kit performs excellently in terms of signal strength/quality... very tempted to make this my text phone to review!

[Hands0n]

The amazing thing is how pervasive Huawei technology already is. Most of us come into contact with it at one time or another without knowing it. They are not some shoddy like Chinese copy shop but a huge conglomerate set to take over the telecomms world big time.

Much mobile network kit is Huawei these days, from the telephone switches in the core to radio equipment at the edge. Further still, that USB or WiFi dongle is more than likely a Huawei product.

But their earlier handsets did draw some scorn for being rubbishy and trashy. And they were. Huawei have learned as they've gone along, their designs are becoming ever more evocative and appealing. I do think that 2012 will be their year for smartphones, and with designs like this I do believe that I will not be proven wrong.

Samsung, meanwhile, will have to up their game in the face of the Chinese if they are not to fall into their wake.

[miffed]

But their earlier handsets did draw some scorn for being rubbishy and trashy. And they were.

But to be fair, they were specifically targeting the lower end of the market right ? At the time the T-mobile Pulse came about there was very little to compete with it ? I had an HTC Magic at the time and IIRC the HTC Hero was really as good as things got , the Pulse was about a third of the price of the HTC Magic and was Probably about 75% the phone that the Magic was.
I certainly felt I got value for money.

[Hands0n]

Perhaps I was being a bit harsh. But wait ... whats this in my box of bits? A Pulse Mini! Now that is one awfully awful Android phone :p

Seriously, you're right, bottom end of the market, possibly as a tester to see what this Android nonsense is about. Then they went quiet for a couple of years (it seems) until 2012 when they have launched a bevy of beauties to take on the mainstream. Even their budget device out on Vodafone this year is remarkably good for a £150 smartphones on PAYG.

So perhaps I should be a bit nicer to Huawei after all :d

[miffed]

My experience of Chinese manufacture is that they can do whatever you ask of them ! At my old company we presented one of the companies with one of our products and asked them to copy it. They asked use how much we wanted to pay and we were a bit taken aback by this. We said "as little as possible" then shortly afterwards received and awful quality sample ! ... We were then presented with the price - they would charge us (assuming container load - delivered) £2 per item , we were currently paying £30 from a UK manufacturer for albeit a far better quality product, but even so it's easy to see how come the market is flooded with cheap crap , and also how come Chinese manufacture gets such a bad rep.
But the fact is we DID tell them we wanted to pay as little as possible, and it seems the chinese are far more "straight talking" about such matters , once we found our feet with them we got them to match our quality product for around £12 a piece delivered.
I feel Chinese manufacture is actually very good , the problem is wholesalers wanting to make a quick buck actually ASK for impossibly cheap crap and the Chinese oblige - ask them for quality and they'll do that too !

[Ben]

ASK for impossibly cheap crap and the Chinese oblige - ask them for quality and they'll do that too !
Love your anecdote, and yes I think that rings very true. What's also interesting is that with the Ascend D, Huawei are no longer at the simple copy-for-less stage but are actually producing high-end handsets based on the technology available at the moment. With a few exceptions, that's essentially what Samsung ended up doing with the SGSIII - and it will be to their peril, because companies like Huawei will do it cheaper and, probably, to the same quality level if not better.