Thank You... I'll have another July 5, 2012

Reviewer:  Bigknows  (Garden Grove, CA United States) -

(Network AT&T - US Version via Amazonwireless.com)

I purchased this phone for my wife to replace her beat up Motorolo Razr Flip phone. This was her first smartphone and I was a little afraid she would have a hard time using it. I tested the phone before she got home from work and there were many bells and whistles that are very cool and innovative, which made me worried it would overwhelm a simple user like my wife.

After my wife played around with the phone for couple of days, she loves the phone and has started customizing the phone the way she likes it.

I myself own a Samsung Galaxy S Captivate, and have been pretty happy with the phone until now because of the SIII. I am so impressed with the phone, that I will be purchasing one for myself.

Pros:
- Screen: Some say iPhone's Retina Display is better, but I am convinced it is just personal preference. If you like images and the screen to pop out and be lively, Samsung's AMOLED screen is the way to go. If you like softer tones, you may enjoy the iPhone. I personally like the crisp and sharp contrast of the AMOLED screens. Also the screen is pretty large which to me is a plus.
- Battery: I have not benchmarked the battery, so this is not a technical comparison, but since we just got this phone, my wife and I have been using the phone pretty much non-stop and the battery lasts the whole day. I have not seen the battery level go down below 50%.
- Weight: The phone feels really light holding on to it.
- Performance: The phone runs smooth. I'm very impressed how fast the phone downloads files and streams vidoes over AT&T's 4G LTE network (Orange County, CA). I really can't tell the difference between the mobile data speeed with my home's Cable Modem using a Wireless N+ router. It's pretty fast.
- Camera: the rear facing camera takes pretty sharp pictures and videos.

Neutral
- I've read some complaints about the casing feeling cheap. I honestly don't get that. I thought it feels nice and makes the phoen lighter. I didn't know people liked heavy phones so much.
- Over heating? I kid you not, we are constantly using this phone. I personally was using the phone for about an hour straight and didn't feel any uncomfortable heat. My Captivate however feels like it's going to melt. And I've played around with iPhone's. Those get pretty hot also.
- NFC. I think this will only be useful when it becomes more commonplace. For now, it feels gimmicky.

Cons:
- The pen that Samsung makes for this is pretty pricey (for a pen).
- S-Voice. Kind of gimmicky. I don't like Siri to start with, but S-Voice is even more useless.
- S-Suggest. You can disable it, but still find it useless.

Overall, I'm very happy with the phone, and happy that my wife is using it, and having fun with it! I'm planning on getting the blue one soon.

Best phone I've had to date (at the time of this writing of course) October 9, 2012

Reviewer:  Justin D. 

To preface this review, I've had the following smartphones most recently in this order:

iphone 3gs
iphone 4
HTC inspire
Samsung Galaxy s2 skyrocket
Samsung Galaxy s3

PROS:

- screen size and resolution. 4.8"beast 720x1280.
- Screen clarity is amazing. I can clearly read the screen in broad daylight with no strain.
- Processor is blazing fast. No lag with multiple apps open and switching between them.
- size, shape, and weight are all perfect for me. This phone is surprisingly thin.
- speaker phone is loud and clear
- cell phone reception and internet speed are exceptional
- call clarity is excellent
- GPS works MUCH better than the HTC inspire, and as good or better than the skyrocket
- battery life is better than the HTC inspire, and about the same as the gs2 skyrocket (make sure to fully deplete the battery as soon as you get this phone. Then give it a 100% charge without taking it off the charger. Android OS needs to calibrate the battery.)
- built in task manager works very well.
- bottom app bar is customizable.
- camera takes excellent pictures.
- music player sounds great and is very responsive.
- physical home button is nice to have
- typing and playing games are both great experiences due to the huge, super responsive touch screen
- Android 4.0.4 runs MUCH better on this device than it did on the galaxy S2 skyrocket
- Shutter speed on the camera is very fast
- I reliably(so-far) use the built-in clock/alarm app as my everyday wake-up alarm. The smart alarm feature is really cool too!
- Comes with headphones with in-line controls. They are good for the gym, but the sound is a bit lean.

CONS:
- battery life still isn't as good as the iphone4. This is primarily with regards to standby time.
- Touchwiz doesn't seem to have as many pretty widgets as htc sense, but I've found some 3rd party replacements (extended controls, beautiful widgets, etc)
- no more touch-search-button (only menu, back, and home buttons now). I actually liked having that button.
- phone is massive, so one-handed use is very difficult depending on what case you use.
- S-voice is a joke, but you can use a different app...
- Camera photo quality isn't quite up to par with apple's newer offerings, but is still very respectable.
- Over a period of a few months, the samsung branded software keyboard will start to get VERY sluggish. I recommend downloading the stock ICS or Jellybean keyboard from the Google Market!

OTHER:
- I recommend the "Llama" app to setup cell phone tower profiles. When I enter my work's cell phone area, my phone automatically turns off wifi and gps, as well as mutes my phone. When I leave work my phone automatically turns my volume back on. When I get home I have it turn wifi on and gps off, and when I leave home it turns wifi off. VERY useful and it saves battery life.

Honestly, this is the best phone I've ever used. Battery life may be a consideration for some people, but the micro USB charging port makes having (or borrowing) chargers pretty convenient. The size of the phone is awesome for me, but you may want something smaller.

Swift & Sweet July 27, 2012

Reviewer:  Pyanfar Chanur  (USA) -

Earlier this year I slipped off to Evo-land and had a great experience with the HTC Evo One X, but at the end of the day, AT&T's version of the One X was too limited: smaller space (16GB instead of 32), no added storage, sealed battery, too much pre-loaded junk, too much data-gobbling. I wasn't ready to live that much in the cloud.

Thus far, the Galaxy S III has been the answer to all of my problems. It has none of the senility of my Galaxy I (which got really weird there at the end), it is far snappier than the Galaxy II I played with, and the Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" OS has me giddy with its response time and smooth transition from one program to another. Yes, the Galaxy S III really can multi-task, and is happy to do so. Best of all, I slipped in my 32GB SD Card and we were ready to go. The HTC One X consumed just over 6GB of its built-in 16GB. This means an AT&T Evo One X has only 9 GB of room. Out of the box, the Galaxy S III takes up a little over 4GB of the native 16, but will allow you to slot in an SD card of up to 64GB in size for even more room. If the battery stops holding a charge one day, I'll just open the case, pop it out, and put in a new one--how handy!

I've seen some people have battery problems, but so far I've managed to go up to two days without having to charge. It all depends on what I'm doing, but even with what I consider to be heavy activity (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, several calls, lots of surfing), I don't have to charge the phone more than once a day.

INTERFACE AND SETTINGS
With the Galaxy S III's interface, there are a LOT of options that let you customize your phone to be just as you want it: it's as if the makers of both the Galaxy III and the Droid OS decided to bend over backwards and hand you the keys to pretty much every feature you can think of. For example, if you hate eating data when someone e-mails you an attachment, you can set the phone to only pull down attachments when on Wi-Fi, or not at all. Check for new messages anywhere from 'continuous' to 'daily' to 'never' (which means 'manually'). Hotmail works much better now that Exchange is supported--my Galaxy I would take forever, drop out, freeze, or give me nagging, 'Too many requests' messages.

Getting around is smooth swiping with the Gorilla Glass on the Galaxy S III's face, but I still went with a so-so Steinheil screen protector. Either way, SWYPEing is easier: not only is the onscreen keyboard huge, with the keys generously spaced wherever possible, but the SWYPE interface draws your swipe line cleanly and it is easy to see what word you are SWYPEing. Word suggest is still annoying--tap out the word "text" and get "Texas" inserted--but once I turned this off, everything else worked well. If there's one disadvantage to the Galaxy S III, it's that both the phone and the screen are a real fingerprint magnet: the Evo X picks up stains and smudges, but was just a bit better about not getting as much smeariness on the glass. Still, with either device the problem is solved by a quick swipe across your shirt.

APPS AND WIDGETS
Android phones now use the Google Play Store instead of the Droid Market and it works fairly well: enter your Google account info and you're ready to go. AT&T customers still get CRapplications they can't remove, but your own third-party apps can also be side-loaded after changing one setting in the options. You can't root the phone (yet, anyway), but I'm not seeing the horrible performance drag of all that AT&T stuff like I used to. I'm especially fond of the side-loaded Amazon App Store, which nimbly pushed all my apps down with no complaints, security warnings, or performance drops (take that, ol' Galaxy I!)

Applications now come in two form factors: Apps and Widgets. When you tap the 'Applications' button from the home screen, the resulting screens are tabbed between a list of Applications and a list of Widgets. Think of an 'App' as meaning "An icon I tap to launch a program" and a 'Widget' as "A thing I may launch, or may just interact with at the screen and never need to open separately" (like the Weather, the media player, or the flashlight). When you swipe from one home screen to another, adding Widgets now gets a Windows Phone like twist: some widgets are double-wide like a Windows Phone 7 tile, and some (like the media player or the clock/weather on the main home screen) take up half the screen--the variety of sizes also resembles the coming Windows 8 Metro interface. Instead of feeling crowded, it reminds me of how much fun it was to play with my first desktop gadgets in Windows Vista.

NETWORKING AND DATA
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are very responsive: connecting to various networks or pairing is quick. If you connect to the type of network that requires you to open a browser and agree to something/provide a user ID before you can connect, the Galaxy S III will prompt you accordingly and automatically open the page you need. There is also a button right on the pull-down menu to turn off packet data so you can conserve your data plan--I like that feature VERY much.

MULTIMEDIA
Multimedia playback is excellent: while my Galaxy I would take quite a while to open and respond to me, the Media Player Widget makes my music quickly accessible. True to form, I get album art, artist/title/album searches, and a very good quality of playback over the included earbuds.

CAMERA
The Galaxy S III has two cameras: one in the front and a much better one in the back. Both are for taking photos and shooting video. The camera on the back is for the serious picture-taking and has a very high-output flash for such a tiny LED. Picture-taking is so fast I find myself accidentally snapping multiple shots! The gallery of my Galaxy S I might take a while to show me newly-snapped photos, but with the S III they are not only instantly available, I can go straight into the Gallery from the Camera and not have to step out to the home screen. Flash can be adjusted on and off, switching cameras is as easy as tapping one icon, and there are a variety of easy-to-access options, from three focus modes (Auto, Macro, Face detection) to generic 'shooting mode' settings: Single shot, burst, HDR, "Smile Shot", Beauty, Panorama, Share Shot, and Buddy photo share. Settings includes the ability to adjust the exposure value, and what's more there are scene modes for sports, night, party/indoor, etc.

CALLS
The feel of the Contacts and Phone Dialing interface haven't changed much, but the look certainly has: icons, contact pictures, and menus are larger on the Galaxy III's generous screen. I found myself making fewer mistakes trying to nudge and poke my way through the touchscreen when I needed to look up a contact or merge their information. Call quality is excellent, and answering the phone is easy. As with all new phones, there are many ringtones, alarms, and message sounds to choose from: I was very pleased with the variety of options this time around--the many sounds you can choose from for your calls range from soothing and tranquil to jarring and noisy.

If you're looking for a new Android Smartphone, the Galaxy S III is a fantastic choice. Its screen is bright, colorful and generous, the OS runs smooth and fast and the screen is very responsive to touch. The number of features at times seems endless, but more importantly, Samsung have executed those features well: this is indeed a great phone.

Great Phone but Nothing's Perfect July 16, 2012

Reviewer:  Michael Consuegra  (Miami, Florida) -

Long review so skip to the section you're most interested in if you don't feel like reading the whole thing.

Physical Aspect:
================
I thought the size of the phone would bother me since it's approaching Galaxy Note size, but I've been pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to handle in my hand. Granted I'm a big guy with big hands, but since I bought one for the wife as well I can tell you that she has not had a single complaint about the size. The screen size is fantastic. Even side to side next to a 4.3" phone the difference while watching a video is pretty significant. I don't feel like I have to squint anymore to catch fine details. I kept hearing about the weight being an issue from the perspective of it being so light that it seemed insubstantial, but to me the size/weight ratio seems just right. The wife and I both have the "marble white" color and I must admit the contrast of the polycarbonate white shell ringed in silver is, visually, very appealing.

The biggest complaint I have in this section are the buttons. For one, the home button at the bottom center is slightly raised (as opposed to all i-devices which have them sunken). This means that in some cases if you have the phone in your pocket and a piece of fabric or something else rubs up against the button it could wake the phone up while in your pocket. It will eventually sleep again, but if this happens multiple times it can affect battery life. A couple of times I've reached for it in my pocket only to discover the screen was already lit up as I took it out. My other problem is the arrangement of the power/volume buttons. I get that the "Galaxy" line has the volume buttons on the left side of the phone, but every other smartphone I've had from HTC to Motorola to Apple has had the volume buttons on the right so you kinda get use to that. One of the biggest annoyances about this is that if you're watching a video in landscape mode you tend to have your index finger and thumb "framing" the phone on top/bottom (a.k.a. left/right in landscape mode) and there is a tendency to raise or lower the volume by mistake.

Which brings me to my next peeve with the buttons. A possible solution to my volume problem while watching a video is just to flip the phone 180 degrees thereby having the volume buttons on the top (while in landscape) instead of on the bottom. The problem with this is that they have decided to put the power button on the right side top part of the phone (also a Galaxy trait I believe), but then you can wind up putting the phone to sleep by inadvertently pressing it while in landscape mode.

Performance:
============
I was a little upset when I found out we weren't getting the Exynos quad-core in favor of the Qualcomm dual-core. Although I haven't handled a quad-core at this point I can tell you that this dual core is VERY responsive. I haven't tasked it with much in the way of mathematical computations or heavy gaming yet, but it's handled everything I've thrown at it on a day-to-day basis without a hiccup. I've since consoled myself with the fact that while it's a dual-core, it comes with 2GB RAM while the international Exynos-chipped version comes with 1GB. I'm not sure at what point the bottle-neck of 1GB RAM gives the advantage to the slower CPU with more memory, but from what I've read the differences are not staggering.

Operating System/Features:
==========================
For all the rave about "Ice-Cream-Sandwich" (Android 4.04) I don't see the "earth-shattering" differences. There are improvements, no doubt, but I really only enjoy a couple of things that I didn't have before on Android 2.3.4. NFC is one. I can beam pictures to my wife's phone, but Google Wallet is useless unless you are on Sprint. I definitely like the data-usage metric, but I use to have an app for that on my previous phone, so...no biggie. I like Smart-Stay (where it watches your eyes to see if you're looking somewhere else while standing in front of the phone and turns off the screen if you're not paying attention). But this seems more like a gimmick because sometimes it doesn't detect your face and winds up shutting off the screen. As for S-Voice (the siri competitor). It's been pretty helpful for composing messages or setting calendar appointments while driving, but it doesn't know how to compose emails and it's buggy. Sometimes it understands you and sometimes it thinks your asking about stuff that's not even close to what you said. I've used siri quite a bit on several iPhones and it's not only more responsive, but has a better "bedside manner" when it doesn't know what the hell you're talking about.

One of the things that was highly touted about Android 4.0 on the SIII (or was it the Samsung GUI that sits on top?) is that if you are texting someone, get tired of texting and want to call them instead you can just put the phone up to your ear while their text is on the screen and it will call them. I've only been able to get it to do this for me when I'm on that person's "contact page". I can't get it to do it while reading one of their texts.

I've never been much of a photographer so for me the pictures most smartphones take are "good enough". To those people who are looking for all the controls and adjustments that the phone has to make them "crisp and clear" I say: If the pictures that you take on a daily basis are THAT important to you, you need a good $600+ Digital SLR (Nikon D5100 or Canon EOS T3 come to mind). In the case of smartphone pictures my biggest problem has always been shutter speed. I could never take a shot of my son doing something funny before he went on to something else. With the SIII though, the shutter REALLY is that fast. It is instantaneous and with the burst shot (20 pictures in quick succession) I haven't missed a shot yet. this aspect of the SIII is awesome. I especially like the "Best Shot" feature. During family cookouts now I don't have to ask 12 people to just stand there and smile for 45 seconds while I take a picture and check it to make sure everyone's eyes were open before I let them all go their separate ways. I can just press the button, the phone takes 8 pictures in rapid succession, analyzes them and offers me the best shot where everyone is smiling and looking this way. I can disband the "Fellowship-of-the-ring" before I look to see if I got a good shot, because I usually will get at least one out of the 8.

Hands down I think my favorite feature on the SIII is the facial recognition security. I like to secure my phone, but I hate jumping through the "enter pin" or "connect the dots" hoops to unlock it. The facial recognition just works (in good light) and I set the pin method as a backup in case it can't see me or doesn't recognize me. I love it.

I do hate, however, the music player that comes with the phone. It's very simplistic and I prefer the sweeping carousel of cover art prevalent on i-devices. Although the speaker volume is loud enough to play music without earphones, unlike on my first-gen iPhone.

Data/Call quality (Carrier: T-mobile):
======================================
The T-mobile version seems to be the red-headed stepchild of the different versions because it's the only one that will not support LTE 4G when it does roll out on T-mobile. The up-front costs are also a little higher. The reason I chose it was because I did some research on Root Metrics ([...]) and found that although T-Mobile is the smallest of the nationwide carriers (by subscribers) they have been quietly upgrading their data network. It's HSPA+ so it's not truly "4G", but frankly, what I care about is data throughput, and 4G data doesn't carry a special badge that says it's 4G so who cares what network it's on, as long as it's fast. Thus far, I average between 8-15Mbps downstream and between 1.2 and 3.3Mbps upstream on 4G in most areas around Miami. That's on the order of several times faster than the DSL I had coming into my home till a few weeks ago when I switched to Comcast. The fact that T-mobile is last among the major carriers means that they offer great prices. I know Verizon is considered the fastest in data, but at the end of the day, how much better quality can an HD video get from watching it on 15Mbps connection than on a 22Mbps connection? 1080p requires between 8-10Mbps so it's like shooting a chicken with a bazooka. As for the phone not supporting LTE...The way I figure it by the time LTE is as ubiquitous as 3G is today this phone will be obsolete and I'll be on to the next greatest thing...so who cares that I won't be able to use it with the technology of 5 years from now? If Google glass is any indication by that time we'll be wearing our wireless devices instead of carrying them around in our pockets.

Lastly, T-mobile's data plan is 2GB of 4G data per device versus Verizon's "share everything among all your devices" plan. And you don't incur overages because once you go over your 2GB limit they slow you down, but you still get data and no additional fees. Oh and call quality is quite good also...but who uses phones to make calls now-a-days anymore? Pfft!

Nice Size Screen, Snappy ICS 4.0, Great Phone July 15, 2012

Reviewer:  electronicnut 

The US version of the phone differs as it has a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Processor with 1.5 GHz Dual-Core CPUs, while the the rest of the hardware specs are the same as the international version.

I switched from an HTC EVO 4G to get this phone and so far it's been great! Here are the things I like about the phone:

* The phone is a nice size, it's lighter than my HTC EVO 4G.
* The processor is one of the fastest US released Android phone, and it comes with 2 GB of RAM.
* I played around with the camera and video camera and the quality is great in my opinion. (I'll post some pics or a video later.)
* The ICS 4.0 is really snappy and it opens up applications quickly.
* It comes with Google Wallet. I signed up and got a free $10 to use. (I'm going to McDonald's to test it out!)
* I've only use the S Voice application a few times, but it seems to be just like Siri on my wife's iPhone 4S.
* It comes with a micro SD slot in case more space is needed to save pictures, videos, etc.
* You can change out the battery if needed.
* Battery life last twice as long compared to my HTC EVO 4G.

Now for some cons:

* This is carrier related and not the phone itself, but the 4G LTE is not all in all areas so be sure to check your carrier if internet speeds is a deciding factor in purchasing this phone. If not you'll be stuck with 3G speeds.
* The phone is so nice, that I baby it all the time!

I was on the fence about getting this phone or the HTC EVO 4G LTE aka HTC One X. The main things that I like over the the Samsung Galaxy 3 over the HTC EVO 4G LTE is that it comes with the Micro SD slot and also the battery can be changed if it ever goes bad.

I love this phone! :)

Galaxy S3 blows the iPhone 5 out of the water! December 31, 2012

Reviewer:  Taylor W. Moore  (USA) -

I have been an iPhone fan for a long time and let me tell you that the Galaxy S3 blows the iPhone 5 out of the water. I was skeptical at first about the Galaxy S3 because I was not sure how it would compare against the iPhone 5 but there's no competition because the Galaxy S3 wins hands down. I was blown away by this phone and I can't stop using it everywhere I go. Even my family who has been using an iPhone since they first came out is blown away by this phone. I have even caught them using my phone when they thought I was sleeping because they just love the big screen and the customization that it has compared to the iPhone 5. There are many reasons why I chose this phone over the iPhone 5 but the main reason is the screen size and the battery. It got to the point where the iPhone was too small for my hands and I'd have to charge it at least four times a day.

These are some things that the Galaxy S3 has over the iPhone 5 and other high end phones:

Pros:

-Screen: The Galaxy S3 has a nice 4.8 inch Super AMOLED screen that makes everything stand out when you see it. The resolution on this phone is a nice 720 x 1280 which makes every look sharp. It has a significantly higher resolution than the iPhone 5(640 x 1136). Also, the iPhone 5 is only 4 inches which is way to small for most people.
-Android OS: This phone now ships with Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) which is the fastest Android version yet. The phone feels way faster than Android 4.0.4 (ICS) thanks to project butter which makes the CPU work at a high frequency as soon as you touch the screen to reduce lag and slow downs.
-Design: I was getting tired of the same design with the iPhone and the Galaxy S3's design is sexy and very comfortable to hold in your hand. It has a nice feel to it that makes you want to hold it.
-Camera: The camera on this phone is super awesome and takes some of the best pictures I have ever seen. Even the front facing camera is great when you are Skyping or even taking pictures of yourself.
-Battery: The battery wasn't that good with Android 4.0.4 (ICS) but with the release of Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean), the phone lasts me now 2x as long as before. I can get through a day with a single charge and I can still have 20% left at the end of the day.
-Storage: With the option of an external sdcard, this phone simply destroys the iPhone 5. I can store as many pictures and HD videos as I want and it will never be full. I am the type of person who stores large collections of pictures and videos and this phone lets me do all of that easily. I also play games that require a minimum of 1GB space.
-Processor: The Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 does an amazing job at keeping this phone lag free and blazing fast. I have never experienced a slow down with this phone. I have even tested this phone by playing GTA Vice City that was just released on the highest settings and there was no slow downs whatsoever. I was very impressed.
-Removable Battery: Who doesn't love this? I always carry extra batteries whenever I travel somewhere and I can easily swap my battery with another one when the phone is low on battery. This is a big plus for this phone.

Cons:

-S Voice: Doesn't really work most of the time for me. I have to constantly repeat the same thing so it hears it correctly.
-Fingerprint magnet: While this may bother some, this can easily be fixed by buying a case.

Overall it's a great phone and doesn't disappoint. With the amazing high resolution and screen size, this phone puts other phones to shame. The Galaxy S3 is the best phone of 2012.

Incredible Phone! December 5, 2012

Reviewer:  Andrew Dyer  (Boone, NC United States) -

I bought this phone back in July, but I wanted to give it a few months before reviewing it. As the update to Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) is now available, this is the perfect time to finally review it.

To put it succinctly, I love this phone!

Now, for the more detailed review. My biggest concern when I upgraded from the Samsung Captivate was the screen size. I was very happy with the Captivate's 4 inch screen and I was worried that the S3's 4.8 inch screen would be to much. This fear proved to be unfounded as the S3 is barely larger than the Captivate, the extra screen real estate being due to the smaller bezel. My mother, who has the iPhone 4, constantly mentions how much nicer my phone is than hers, because it is big enough to see stuff on. I'm also a sucker for AMOLED displays as I prefer more vibrant colors that AMOLED displays have to offer. For those of you that may have read complaints about the Pentile screen, I cannot notice any jaggedness in the images; especially with it being a high-definition screen. All-in-all, this is an excellent display.

This phone is also super-fast. When I tell it to do something, it does it. My Captivate, even from the beginning, would sometimes stall on tasks. The only time the S3 ever has an lag is when I exit from the stock messaging app. Apparently, based on what I have gathered online, this is due to the stock clock widget not wanting to share RAM and then forcing a screen redraw (Although I haven't had this problem in the 1 day since I updated to Jelly Bean). Throw in AT&T's LTE service and 802.11n connectivity, and it pulls data with no delay (I've pulled down as fast as 57 Mbps in Northern Virginia)

However, what I love the most about this phone is Android 4.0/4.1. It is much more polished than previous versions, with better software to boot. I recommend installing the Chrome web browser, which doesn't work in previous versions of Android, so you can sync your bookmarks between your phone and your Chrome on your computer. Samsung's improvements to the TouchWiz interface are also much appreciated. All the complaints I had about previous versions have been fixed. It supports scrollable widgets, you can display the battery icon with a percentage, it supports shortcuts and weather information on the lockscreen, and contains more useful options on the taskbar. With all that discussed, I have to mention my favorite new feature: SmartStay. Samsung added the capability that when your screen is set to turn off, the front facing camera turns on and looks to see if it can see a face. If it does, it doesn't turn off the screen. This is great for reading on, as you don't have to make sure to tap the screen every thirty seconds or so. The only negative change is that you the application launcher icon can't be moved from the lower right hand corner.

I also wanted to note that the GPS is much improved from the Galaxy S1 series of phones (including my old Captivate). I've never had a problem and it has always been spot on.

I did want to give a couple of final caveats to this review. First, I don't hardly use the camera. What I have used it for seems to work great, but I don't use any advanced features and can't really comment on them. Second, I'm one of the few people who seems to like TouchWiz. But if that's not your thing, there are plenty of launcher replacements available. Finally, since this is a review of a phone, I should probably mention that the call quality is good. I've not had any real problems using this as a phone.

I also wanted to note one common problem that I've read about others experiencing and I experienced once. There is some problem with some phones having their clipboards corrupted. This happened to me about a month into owning the phone and I fixed it with a factory reset. So far, it hasn't happened again.

I highly recommend this phone.

Dreamy like a teen idol November 19, 2012

Reviewer:  Wondrme 

I purchased this phone on the Sprint carrier. I was previously an iPhone user, however after familiarizing myself with the Android operating system and the Google Play Store, I was ready to take the leap "to the dark side".

Hardware: This phone is BLAZING fast. ULTRA responsive. You click to open an app, and BAM! the app is open, without hesitation. I _LOVE_ the screen. Sorry, I have read and read reviews on this phone and its competitors, but I, as your average 30-something year old female user, find it to be brightly lit, easy to read, crisp, LARGE, detailed, , and with a pixel count that is gratifying. I _LOVE_ the huge display. Netflix, with some ear buds in sucks me right in! I am in lurve :).

Software: Honestly, I don't know enough about the different Andriod OS's to say that this particular OS is any better or worse than the most recent (Ice Cream Sandwich) or earlier variations of it. I will say that the apps that I have installed on it are very responsive and snap right open, without _any_ delay. I won't mention the differences between the iOS and the Android OS (I'm not familiar with the Windows mobile OS), as it's apples and oranges.

Camera: It has both front and back cams. Toddlers LOVE this lol. Hand them your phone to check themselves out in and it's almost as entertaining as Netflix! At 8 Megapixels on the outward facing camera, and the fact that it has a flash, 5x7 prints won't look like that on your average phone! The video is _slightly_ jumpy, however, it's clear in both image and sound quality.

Speaker: This sucker can get LOUD! Which is awesome! Does it sound like a little speaker on a phone (that slightly distorted phone speaker sound)? Yeah, some. How does it compare with the other Androids that I've heard? It's louder, and less distorted.

Battery life: This is my ONLY _very minor_ complaint about this phone. Not that it goes through the battery quickly, but the charging time. Actually, it takes quit a bit of hard processor work to get this battery worn out, but once you do, the battery takes a good bit to charge. This seems to be a common theme with Android phones, though. So it's not really a surprise, nor a disappointment.

Would I recommend this phone if someone was considering an Android phone. Yes! A LOT! It'll fit into your back pocket, but barely. It's NOT a compact phone, but it's a slim, lightweight phone considering the size of it. I am a small woman (5'2") with small hands and I don't find that it hinders me at all. Between the speed, the large screen size, the camera, the WiFi hotspot (ROCK!), and the speed of it, I don't know how you couldn't like it. Not to mention, with Androids, as opposed to iOS operated phones, you can upgrade the memory (relatively cheaply) and you can purchase extra batteries if you need them.

Best snartphone phone today July 18, 2012

Reviewer:  Guy David 

I went from using the iphone 4s (jailbroken), to the HTC one x, then to the Galaxy s3, so I can reallly say that this phone rocks.

Pros:
1. Android is very customizable, I'm using the nova launcher and will try another rom soon.
2. Power button placement is perfect, so you can easily turn it on or off, unlike the htc one x. Volume button placement is good, and is on the left side like the iPhone, unlike what one confused reviewer was complaining about. Plus, the home button can wake the device, unlike the htc one x.
3. Great battery life with power saving mode on. And you can surf the net with inverted (black and white) on the stock browser, which just about doubles browsing time for me (iPhone can invert, but the lcd screen didn't save battery like an amoled does on black pages).
4. Plastic feels fine in the hand, don't know why ppl complain. I use a case most of the time anyway.
5. Speaker is loud.
6. Has dedicated notification leds, unlike the iPhone. The htc one x leds are barely visible under the speaker grill.

Cons:
1. IPhone has more apps.
2. IPhone headset has better bass.

Awesome September 7, 2012

Reviewer:  Compgeek 

Upgraded from HTC Inspire 4g... this phone is unreal.

Battery is 100% better than Inspire, screen is beautiful and this thing is fast. Videos look amazing. Love the quick burst photo option that takes several photos and chooses the best one. I ran several custom ROMs on my Inspire, so far, no need with this - it's great out of the box.

Simply the best! July 19, 2012

Reviewer:  BK 

I've been using the phone for a few weeks now, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the experience.

Pros:
Beautiful, slim design that feels just right in the hand (definitely does not look nor feel cheap as some claim, imho).
Fast, lag-free, and fluid.
Amazing battery life (easily lasts a full day's usage with 7hours+ screen time).
LTE is just awesome. Extremely responsive and fast (59ms ping, 56943 kbps down, 15153 kbps up just the other day).

Cons:
S-Voice is rather silly.
I spend way too much time playing with this phone.

top-of-the-line, very few faults, $10! May 15, 2013

Reviewer:  Joel Bergsman  (St Leonard, MD USA) -

I traded up from a Nexus S (Android 2x, a 3g phone) which I liked just fine, when the Samsung s4 came out and the S3 became available for $10. (of course i had to commit to two more years on AT&T but I was going to continue to use them anyhow.) Needless to say the Android 4x is a huge improvement over the 2x. The phone does everything well; the only thing I would change is the size -- since I don't read books or watch movies on my phone, I prefer a slightly smaller instrument. The size of the Nexus S was perfect for me; the Samsung S3 is a bit larger and just a tiny bit less easy to hold or to slip in a pocket. But that's just a nit. Unlike the Nexus, the Samsung is loaded with junk but I don't mind; the three home screens (weird but it works) hold the icons for every app or shortcut I need, so once I set those up I basically never have to page through the app screens. And memory is no problem for my usage.

I don't know why anyone would pay $200 or $250 for the S4 when the S3 is (or was, anyway) available for $10. I could afford the $250 but I just don't see why I should spend it.

Love It! May 14, 2013

Reviewer:  J. Randall  (California) -

So happy we bought it. It's a great size and works fantastic. It's a very good phone to have & use.

great phone May 11, 2013

Reviewer:  Richard Rodrigues 

i have used atrix for 2 years and most of the features are similar in the SG III. However, the graphics in SGIII is great and a bigger screen is always good. And because I got it in an upgrade it was the best $10 ever spent.

Love It!!! May 10, 2013

Reviewer:  Sunny  (Pennsylvania USA) -

I love my Samsung Galaxy S III...I really like the size of the screen which is not too large to fit in my purse or pocket and yet big enough to enjoy movies. The brilliance of the screen amazes my IPhone using friends. Speed is excellent too. I haven't had any more problems with battery drain than my previous phone which was Motorola Atrix 2. I just keep it charged regularly and no problems.

User friendly and fast May 9, 2013

Reviewer:  Anthony Kane 

This phone is a marked improvement over my previous Windows phone, now I can finally get Apps and enjoy the phone.

Awesome Phone! March 13, 2013

Reviewer:  B. Wheeler "dolphin feather" 

I sought assistance in purchasing my phone, and asked for a phone that an idiot could download music onto. I found it! Not only that but I had no problems pairing it with my vehicle. I'm ashamed to say I did have a little difficulty figuring out how to answer the phone. Now that little glitch has been resolved, I totally love it! I had no problem with the speech to text (and I have a minor speech impediment!), music sounds great on it. When I text, I'm not typing... Best phone I've ever had!

Super phone December 17, 2012

Reviewer:  tony  (atlanta, ga) -

The phone is 4.8 inches, yet it is thin. The phone has excellent screen clarity and is as identically or discernibly sharp as my old iphone 4. The phone is super fast and enables me to multitask among apps. The battery life is good but not excellent. I have a lot of gaming apps and apps on my phone so this could influence my battery life. The navigation is state of the art and is better than my 2010 mdx navi.The sound of music is great though not amazing because i am a Bose user. It came pre-installed with android 4.0 which was ok until 4.1 arrived, which I used Kies to update it.The phone made several improvements and is incredibly stable and operates fluidly. Most important to me was the user control. It allow me to have more control over my phone and change the settings. I was a former iphone 4 user and wifey has an iphone 5, so I used both phones before commenting. Now I am sold on this Galaxy s3 and overall loved this phone.

Incompatible with Car Audio July 13, 2012

Reviewer:  Tanya  (Michigan) -

My biggest complaint is that the phone does not integrate well with my car audio. I drive a lot and listen to music and podcasts on my phone connected with an audio cable. I also have bluetooth in the car. If the phone is connected with the audio cable and a call comes in, you have to unplug the audio cable for the phone to work. My old Droid X would allow the call to ring through the bluetooth seemlessly. It also does not show the phone on my navigation screen so I have to manually start and end a call from the phone. I contacted Samsung today and they said that's just how it works. I would have expected a new phone to be more compatible with hands-free devices than less. The phone also seems to hang up when typing to accessing web pages more than my old phone. The camera isn't very good either. I had a hard time getting a clear picture even for stills. I'm going to be returning this one.

Samsung Battery July 28, 2012

Reviewer:  Walter Avery "Watcher"  (DC) -

Get the Droid Razr Maxx. S3 has great features, but even with minimum use my Samsung S3 will not go 10 hours without the battery going dead, If you dare use the 4G expect 3 - 4 hours. If you purchase this phone you must prepare to keep a charging unit nearby.