BEST ANDROID PHONE July 10, 2012

Reviewer:  yorkie 

I am an Iphone user for almost three years. I have been trying to use Andorid phone and tablet, I ended up back to iphone and ipad. I purchased this phone a week ago because I want something new but I am not sure if I want to keep this phone when iphone 5 came out.

PROS: Very fast phone, better camera than iphone 4S, better sound quality than iphone 4S, send email attachment directly from the email, not like the iphone.

CONS: Battery drain problem, although this problem is very intermittent, means sometimes the battery last longer and sometimes the phone runs very hot and drain the battery very quickly. Very annoying issue. Wifi needs to be reset once in while.

Great phone but product is prone to having glass shattered even with Gorilla glass November 27, 2012

Reviewer:  Philip Navarro  (Hillsboro, OR) -

Previously owned a Galaxy S and Galaxy SII and both were dropped face down all of the time. I dropped this phone and the glass shattered, even with a case. The difference between the GIII and the other two is the the GI and GII bodies beveled farther the the glass. The GIII's glass bevels past the body and will take the brunt of any fall.

A solid alternative to iPhone 5 November 24, 2012

Reviewer:  GBS 

I recently purchased a Galaxy S3 to replace an older iPhone (both AT&T), and first impressions are very good. The phone seems well built, but the industry-wide race for ever-lighter phone construction has its disadvantages. I wouldn't use this or ANY other high-end phone without a sturdy case, such as an Otterbox. I used Otterbox's "Defender" with my iPhone, and it not only survived numerous drops, it still looks brand new.

The S3's basic functionality is very similar to the iPhone, and the very large screen size makes it a highly competitive alternative to the more expensive iPhone 5. S3 display quality is bright and crisp, system response is rapid, and I've loaded a number of widely-used applications from Google Play without any issues. The interface between my PC-based Outlook Calander and Contacts isn't quite as seamless as with iTunes, but I figured out how to make it work properly with a bit of online research.

This phone has lots of capability that will take a while to fully learn and understand, and not everyone needs everything the S3 can do. Learning takes time, and capability takes battery power no matter what device you're using. Some complain when a bit of effort is required to understand, or that their battery doesn't last as long as they would like. The same solution applies to whatever you buy; take the time to learn about your device and turn off the bells/whistles that you don't want or need! Overall, the battery appears adequate, but will probably not last the fully advertised time when placed under heavy load. Unlike the iPhone, the S3's design allows the user to EASILY swap out the battery, and replacements are inexpensive.

I've not used it long, but it looks like a winner at first glance. Time will tell if it has the build quality of my previous iPhone. I own a number of different Samsung products, and have never been dissatisfied with any of them.

Great device October 4, 2012

Reviewer:  M. Welch 

I recently switched into an S3 from an iPhone 4S, and have to say I'm happy to have made the change.

First, the cons. The phone feels pretty flimsy and fragile out of the box. The first time I opened the back to put my SIM card and battery in, I was half afraid the cover was going to snap in half. The battery adds some much needed weight and makes the back feel more solid as it isn't hollow once the battery is inside. That said, I still wish they had made it another millimeter thicker or went with a more durable material and I recommend investing in a decent case and would avoid opening up the back more often than is necessary.

I also experienced some problems getting the phone to re-connect to saved wifi networks both at home and at my business. It would often give an error claiming poor signal strength even if the phone was sitting next to the router and showed a very strong signal. A Google search told me I wasn't the only person having this problem. Apparently the phone doesn't completely support WPA2 encryption. Changing my network security to WPA mostly fixed the problem, but I still occasionally have to turn off and restart the router to get the phone to connect to the network.

The positives include just about everything else. Hardware wise the phone is very solid. The display isn't quite as good as the HTC One X, but very good nonetheless. The processor is very fast as is the LTE internet if you're lucky enough to live in an LTE market. Even away from LTE though the HSPA+ backhaul network is pretty fast. The signal isn't quite as good as my iPhone, as I have no signal or 1 bar where I previously had 2-3 bars. I live out in the sticks though and always have 4-5 bars in town. When I do have a signal it seems very reliable. Have only had 1 dropped call so far and that was in an area where AT&T is pretty notorious for dropping calls, while previously I had them on a pretty regular basis no matter where I was.

I also really like the removable battery and the expandable memory, a feature that the current flagship smartphones from Apple and HTC lack. I'm quite careful with my phones so the battery is often the first component to fail so I like knowing that I can replace it easily if I need to. It is worth noting however that the S3 currently does not allow you to store apps or app data to the micro SD card- they must be saved on the internal memory which makes me wish that there was a 32 GB version of the phone available in the US like there is internationally. I didn't realize this when I bought a 64 GB micro SD card. I probably would have gone with a smaller, cheaper 16 or 32 GB card had I known. I hope this changes when Jelly Bean rolls out.

Add in the fact that Android is the best mobile OS available and its tough to make an argument to buy anything else. Plus Samsung gets bonus points for their amazing marketing campaign centered around the S3.

Incredible phone September 27, 2012

Reviewer:  M.G.D "M.G.D"  (Houston, TX) -

I have to start by pointing out that I love technology and as such I like to try everything and rate everything based on usability, design, performance and comfort. That being said, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is a power to be reckoned with. The display is excellent, maybe not as good as the iphone 5 but it's not much behind and in reality, screen resolution on a cell phone is not that important. The phone's speed is also astonishing, more than most will ever need- I can't really comment on gaming performance as I really only play video games on consoles- and with day-to-day use the phone never lags or crashes, even without killing running apps.
I've read on many forums that people think the phone feels cheap, especially when compared to the iphone which in my opinion is false. The phone is made of plastic but it doesn't feel cheap, rather, it feels light for a device its size. However, this is my opinion and each is entitled to their own.

Overall, I think this phone is excellent; the design is beautiful, the processing speed is top tier, and Android is a great platform (especially because it's based on linux). I highly recommend this phone to anybody wanting a phone with a screen that can be used to surf the web and any techie wanting to use a platform that is both user friendly and open for tweaks.

Love This Phone August 19, 2012

Reviewer:  K. L. Fleming  (Florida) -

I was a little hesitant to get a larger phone, but this really isn't that big. Smaller than the Note and larger than the iPhone 4S (although I understand the iPhone 5 will be larger). Great screen and fast speed. I have used a Galaxy Tablet for a while and love it, so I adapted quickly to the phone (I also use a Blackberry Torch which I also love but the screen is small and of course it doesn't have the apps Android does).

The only thing I didn't like was it's reliance on Gmail. Now, I have Gmail and like Google products, but it did some weird stuff when syncing my contacts (which I had the salesman do at the store). I use Outlook as my main contact source, and it pulled the contacts in, but also pulled all kinds of stuff from my Gmail account I didn't want. And many duplicates. So I cleaned it up and am working with Kies, which is their sync system. So far I'm not impressed. It isn't as good as Blackberry, IMO. So I'll have to see how that goes.

Otherwise, I love the phone. I got blue because it's my favorite, and I got the case that has a book-like cover. It still keeps the phone slim and very safe. Oh, and I like the front facing camera.

I just got it a few days ago, so I haven't used a lot of the features, like voice recognition and data transfer. I'll update later. But I'd have to say this is the closest phone I've had that can really replace my camera and maybe my tablet. And I've had a LOT of phones (since 1990, I'm an early adopter).

Great phone with a few flaws July 12, 2012

Reviewer:  rayng5 

I was on the fence with the Galaxy S3. It was either this or the HTC One X. I've always had HTC phones and have loved them. I like their design, the materials they use, and the great features they sport. So I would've gotten the One X except for two very big cons: no removable battery and no MicroSD slot. Not sure what HTC was thinking, but they definitely dropped the ball with the One X.

Now on to the Galaxy S3. What else can I add that hasn't already been said in all the reviews here on Amazon and all the other web sites? Beautiful display, fast processor, removable battery/memory card, great camera for photos and HD video, etc., etc., etc.

So I'll just detail the cons that may seem minor, but could be deal-breakers for some people:

--> Crappy battery life: Compared to my old phone, the Inspire 4G, this phone sucks battery life approximately 25% faster. Obviously, if you only use your phone for calls, then this might not be a big deal. But if you're like the other 99% people out there, then you're gonna be playing games, surfing the web, on Facebook, etc. This phone won't get 10-11 hours without consciously saving the battery for most people. I highly recommend buying spare batteries.

--> Small "Home" button: This may be just personal preference, but I seem to have some trouble hitting this button consistently. I like something like the iPhone "home" button or closer to it in size.

--> "Plasticky" feel: I've never liked the feel of Samsung phones because of the seemingly cheap, soft, plastic they use, especially the back cover. This might be personal taste again, but if you've held a HTC phone and a Samsung Galaxy phone, you'll know what I mean.

I don't regret getting this phone, but it does have its flaws. Battery life is extremely bad and that might deter some people from getting it. But even with the cons I listed above, I only took off 1 star.

new phone May 15, 2013

Reviewer:  taz 

My wife just loves this new phone
it does pretty much everything her computer does so now she has a hand held comp.
would recommend the phone to any one m who is computer litterate

Love It May 14, 2013

Reviewer:  J. Randall  (California) -

Great phone. Great size. Great apps. I can't say anything more about this phone than that it is perfect for everyone.

great phone May 13, 2013

Reviewer:  Honest Buyer  (NJ, USA) -

The phone is amazing I love it. The only problem that I have and the reason why its not getting a 5 star rating is that the battery overheats a lot. If you use it for too long and if you charge it for too long its going to overheat guaranteed.

Great Phone May 5, 2013

Reviewer:  Yashica Tate  (Macon,, MS United States) -

Just received my new Samsung S III and I love it even better than the iPhone or my old HTC.

Good Phone for Me (former iPhone 4 user) March 31, 2013

Reviewer:  Les 

After taking some time (I've had the phone since December of 2012) to learn my way around a new system, I have to say that Samsung did a great job on this phone. The only hold up that I've had was--and this is totally my own fault--that I was missing the ability with the iPhone to start typing the name of an app (or often something related to) I wanted to use and have it pop up in a list. Now I know that I can do so in the Google widget on my home page.

As for functionality, I have yet to find anything that I used my iPhone for that I can't do with my Galaxy. Even streaming audio and video to my Apple TV.

Pros:
* I really like the larger screen (than my previous phone). I kind of wish I had went with the Note instead and had an even bigger screen.
* The functionality. As noted above, other than a bit of a learning curve, it does everything I want it to. If I had taken more time to look up stuff it does online rather than learn it all myself, the curve would have been shorter.

Con:
* Battery life. I work on a ship... If I forget to turn off cellular data while I'm inside the metal structure (it make a nice RF shield and causes the phone to sit a search all day long), I'll have a dead phone. It would be nice if I had some way--maybe there is one I don't know about--of telling it to automatically turn off and on before and after work...

I know that Samsung has a new phone out now... If I were up for an upgrade, I'd be looking at it... but for now (and for those not wanting to spend the money on the latest-greatest), the Galaxy S III works great for me.

Best phone I've ever had December 14, 2012

Reviewer:  Sixerschick 

I've had my share of Android phones, and to switch it up decided to try the iPhone 4S last month after my contract expired. Since I'm a big google user, iOs just wasn't gelling for me. Particularly since I use google maps a lot, I couldn't trust apple to get me to where I needed to go. Moreover, it made me realize how overrated Iphones were considering my old DroidIncredible had more capabilities than the 4S [tethering, an open system so I could customize however I liked (like having a win 7 interface which I found more attractive than the stock Android UI), turn-by-turn navigation, easy google syncing, etc].

After a couple of weeks of being annoyed with the iPhone, I exchanged it for Samsung's GS3. I must say, it's a match made in heaven--I'm in love with this phone! I got the S3 in brown (it's like a rich chocolate color with a copperish trim), which I think is the most attractive out of the bunch...it's gotten compliments in fact. There is very little I can't do with this phone, and when I think it can't, I tinker a bit and realize it can (i.e. I love the search buttons on the older model Androids, which the S3 doesn't have, but double tapping the menu button on S3 brings up the search functions.) The front facing camera could use some work, but I'm sure that's for all types of phones, but other than that really no complaints! It's lightning fast, handles multiple operations well, the screen is amazeballs--like my eyes had adjusted so much to the size and quality of the S3 that I literally felt like my DINC was miniature after using it for a couple of operations. Svoice could use work. Siri was a lot of fun to play with. But, I honestly rarely used Siri for anything meaningful. Mostly just to see what kind of witty responses she'd offer up. So I would really give the S3 a 4.5, but since that's not an option, a 5 it is, since it's practically perfect.

Hats off to S3 October 29, 2012

Reviewer:  Nam Chung "Nick"  (Surrey, Canada/British Columbia/North America Canada) -

I love this product period. The speed, easy of all application, for work and school, it's so fun to just play around and very useful all around. I look at test solutions for my school on PDF without installing programs, I can store videos, music anything without opening up any programs, view flashes, install games, transfer files with S Beam through direct wireless connections or LTE, (Direct wireless S beam took me only few mins to transfer 800 MB movie from friends S3.).

I can go on for like hours but no more words. See you all later!
P.S: Best wishes and you'll love the quality of the screen size as well. Samsung Note is very cool too. My dad got the white one, I got blue one and mother has Galaxy note. LOL
Take care everyone~

Great phone with its drawbacks.. July 10, 2012

Reviewer:  R. Chen "XReflection.X13"  (USA) -

The Galaxy SIII is Samsung's newest Flagship phone. It sports a 4.8" HD Super AMOLED screen, a Snapdragon S4 Dual Core processor clocked in at 1.5GHz with 2GB of RAM (the largest amount of RAM you will find on any smartphone today), an 8.0MP back camera and a 1.9MP front facing camera. The phone runs Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.4 and has a microSD card slot and uses a micro sim for phone service.

Overall, this phone is great. It's snappy, the interface is smooth and Samsung has done some nice things with its Touchwiz overlay on the stock Android ICS experience. The screen is vibrant with a 720p resolution and its very easy to read text on the screen. The phone is pretty thin, and although the screen is huge, it doesn't feel too awkward to hold. The speaker is located on the back of the phone and is okay for listening to music and audio, but obviously headphones will be superior. The camera is very good, with burst shot function, autofocus and an LED flash. The front camera is more than good enough for video conferencing on applications like skype. Samsung brings some interesting features with their gesture system (you can stop/play video with your hand, tilt the phone to automatically answer calls etc..) and S-Voice (their answer to Siri)

But this phone is far from perfect. Samsung really takes too much out of Apple's book for styling for some of the features. Of note, S-voice is terrible. Upon entering the application, you can tell they were trying to copy Siri. The layout is similar, but S-Voice lacks accuracy and intelligence. Simply put, its unreliable. An example is for math: Ask it what the sqrt(9) is and it returns 1.41 (another time it returned 2). If the app can't do something as simple as that, why even bother? Coming from a Galaxy Nexus running Jelly Bean 4.1, I have ot say that Google Now is far superior to both S-Voice and Siri.

Other aspects of the S3 that I dislike are the physical home button, lack of a previous apps button, and the sound effects in the touchwiz overlay. For the home button, pushing it down isn't as easy and I miss being able to lightly tap a capacitive button or on screen soft key to go to the homescreen or exit out of an app. It's a severe oversight and you can tell Samsung is trying to take cues from the iPhone (STOP IT SAMSUNG, PLEASE). Samsung also chose to ignore the fact that ICS no longer makes use of a menu button, but instead uses a previous apps button to access the task manager and such. I hate having to hold down the home button to access previous apps. Lastly, the sound effects in Touchwiz are annoying. Samsung was going for a "nature" theme with touchwiz, and while overall I like it (the unlock screen is very cool), the sound of water dropping is irritating after a while. Why couldn't they just keep the normal click sound in stock ICS? Additionally, I dislike how Touchwiz still bases its physical appearance on gingerbread. Get with the times, Samsung!

Sound quality on calls is very good both for listening and speaking. Another thing to keep in mind is that AT&T has not enabled used of Google Wallet. This is a real bummer.

Pros:
- 720p resolution
- Stunning screen
- 2100 mAh battery (battery life is pretty good, much better than the Galaxy Nexus)
- 4G LTE
- Good build quality
- Fast performance
- Despite its size, feels like in the hand
- Good call quality

Cons:
- S-voice (very gimicky)
- Too many cues from Apple's iphone
- Touchwiz overlay
- Physical home button
- No google wallet support (yet)
- Probably will take ages for S3 to get Jelly Bean
- It is a big phone, so for many it may be a big turn off
-

Alot of my gripes are in part influenced by my experience with the Galaxy Nexus. Stock Jelly Bean offers many of the features that Samsung is trying to incorporate into their touchwiz/galaxy series, but it does it leaps and bounds better. If the Nexus had a better screen, larger stock battery and better processor, I would have kept the Nexus. Even with those shortfalls, I'm considering switching back to the Nexus for my daily use phone.

But if you were to evaluate the S3 on its own, it is definitely a phone worthy of the flagship title, but there are many kinks and glitches that really need to be worked out before it can be considered great.

Who needs an IPhone 5 September 16, 2012

Reviewer:  Home Theater Aficionado "Brian"  (Rhode Island) -

After looking at all of the options and plans for a new phone, I decided on the Galaxy S3 to replace my HTC EVO 4G. Why?

Large clear screen

Great call quality- Crystal clear on receiving and calling end.

More on-board memory and faster processor- The 2GB onboard really helps load apps and internet pages faster. A lot better than the 512K of the EVO 4G.

Superior expandability and options- I was able to use my old 32G micro SD card and all my old accessories-car charger, cables- that I had from my EVO 4G.

Better network coverage on AT&T compared to Sprint. I've had more 4G coverage on the ATT network in one week than I had on Sprint for 2 years.

Beautiful camera with loads of options. Love the burst mode and panarama modes.

Ability to share with other devices- Able to share photos, music, and videos on my phone with my TV and AV receiver wirelessly. Also, NFC and S Beam for sharing.

There are some cons- while options to customize the phone are all available, you have to hunt for them.

Address and contact management is lacking slightly. On the EVO 4g, you could start typing contact info on phone keypad. On the S3, you have to use the contacts tab, and search for the name.

As with all smartphones, battery life is good but not great. 8+ hrs I use an expanded battery to overcome. It adds heft to the phone, but still manageable to get 24+ hr usage.

Very happy with this phone, and half the price of a Iphone 5 with more options.

Dang near perfect August 17, 2012

Reviewer:  J. Sayer  (NC, USA) -

I've used smartphones for a long time, even plain PDAs before that, and every one of them was full of compromises. This is the first smartphone that I feel has hit all the right marks.

1) Super thin - I have always wanted my phones to be thinner, this is the first one that I think is perfectly thin. I honestly think going thinner would make the phone too difficult to easily hold properly.
2) Super fast - responds instantaneously, enough said.
3) Super stable - my previous phone was a Motorola Atrix and it would reboot spontaneously several times a week. I have yet to see it happen with this phone. I also use a microcell and the Atrix would lose the ability to connect to it and I would have to reboot it. Not a problem with this phone.
4) Great feel - before actually seeing the new phones in person, I had read about the HTC One X and how awesome the build quality was with its polycarbonate case. When my wife and I went to the store and saw it, we both were struck by how ugly it is. And I find the polycarbonate case cold and hard. The Galaxy SIII just feels smooth and rich, those are the best words I can use to describe it. And the design is beautiful.
5) Beautiful screen - bright and detailed

If I had to choose a few nits, they would be:
1) Battery life - honestly it's not bad at all for a 4G phone with this much horsepower and the huge screen. But we always want better battery life. At least the battery is swappable - a big reason I chose this phone over the competition.
2) A little too much AT&T crud comes preloaded on it. I hate that. There is a lot of Samsung stuff as well, but some of it is actually useful.
3) Finally, while I think this phone has finally reached the perfect thinness, I think they have gone just a tad too far with the screen size, it is just a little large. I think a screen size about halfway between my Atrix and this screen would be perfect.

Anyways, those are my thoughts, I love this phone and I highly recommend it to anyone shopping for one.

S3(SSS) - Superb Stunning Slim July 3, 2012

Reviewer:  bharath  (denton, USA) -

The new samsung Galaxy SIII( pebble blue)has a beautiful look , the applications in the phone are Awesome, the browsing speed is mind Blowing , it is very light in weight , sleek in design, perfect in hands. The call quality, Music player, camera quality excel every existing phone on earth.

Ridiculously fragile phone April 11, 2013

Reviewer:  Brady Edwards 

About a month after purchasing the phone I knocked it off of my coffee table onto a hardwood floor and the screen cracked. This was an 18" drop onto wood and the screen broke.
I've seen some of the cheaper repairs for the phone where just the glass is replaced and the end result isn't very good, the screen looks cloudy afterwards. Someone I work with had this done.
The screen replacement, that Samsung performs, looks to be about $300, might as well just purchase a sturdier phone (any phone other than the S3) so that I'm not going through this in another month.
The phone is also a little big for jean pockets.
On the plus side, the phone is very responsive, takes good pictures, and has a very nice screen (until it breaks).

I gave up my iphone 4S! Never looked back! November 12, 2012

Reviewer:  H. Hawkins "Cellphone Maven"  (Leander, TX) -

This phone is absolutely awesome in every way! I absolutely love the size of the display and it is perfect for my large hands and my thumb texting, which leaves much to be desired. I appreciate the fact that it has the native ability to place apps into folders; a feature that has been sadly lacking for many iterations of the Android OS. The signal is fantastic, the speech quality is flawless and the noise reduction is suberb. Earpiece volume and quality is excellent, as well. On AT&T (my network), the LTE is lightning fast! The battery life is excellent for a phone of this type (especially given the LTE chipset). Navigation is superb on this phone and I absolutely never use my Garmin (I never need it and this is more user-friendly, especially the Google Navigator.). When set into wi-fi mode, it automatically uses wi-fi for data and uses the cellular network for voice (never tries to use the cellular network for downloading data). Great native email app (finally!) that actually works with Yahoo email! Flashing notification LED! Finally! MINOR GRIPES: Speakerphone location makes audio muffled when placed on a flat surface face up; there should have been a way to design a small groove, or series of grooves for audio output. A simple, but important oversight. I wish there was a way to change the spacing of icons on the screens; the user could fit more icons on one screen. I have not found a way to do that. I have also not been able to find a way to make the notification LED flash in different colors for different things (even though it is a RGB LED). Screen navigation speed is fast, but could be faster. No way to integrate Yahoo Calendar. The native keyboard is good, but I am using the A.I. Slider keyboard app in iphone mode (never a better keyboard made, in my opinion) and it is now perfect! Native email app, while excellent, appears to only increment the screen icon when it actually syncs. It was not initially clear to me that I could set the sync frequency to daily and Yahoo email would still be in (virtually) push mode until I tried it (sync interval only appears to affect the incrementation of the on-screen icon). (Gmail, of course, is truly instantaneous, as always). I spent a long time figuring that one out. Major battery rundown while using Google Navigator! Phone gets very warm during hard data usage (again, using Google navigator) Display is still dim in sunlight (even when maxed out) and could be higher resolution. I wish Samsung would stop using AMOLED displays; I really do. I just don't think they will ever measure up to LCD-type displays. Major gripe: Annoying beep on dialing! I hate that! Samsung, get with the program and provide a way for us to remove that without having to root an otherwise-perfect phone! It makes the phone sound tinny, cheap and toylike. Would I buy another one? Absolutely! Nothing is perfect. Would, and do I, recommend them to friends and associates? Absolutely! All in all, finally, the phone that beat the iphone! Apple, eat your heart out and suck an egg; you're sorry! Stop suing Samsung and admit that you're licked!