Best Color Best Phone October 15, 2012

Reviewer:  Edmund D'souza "IT Guy"  (Davenport, FL) -

Long time android user but I have only had 2 Galaxy phones - the S2 Skyrocket and the S3. The skyrocket is a really nice phone as well but the s3 wins because:
-HD Screen - Apps like bible, eBay, and chrome are much easier to read.
-HD Video - looks much clearer then the skyrocket
-2gb of ram - this is definitely future proof
-supports up to a 64gb memory card for 80gb total!!
-battery lasts until 2 or 4 with heavy use. I haven't drained it completely but I assume it will die if I use it all day and night. I have Bluetooth, GPS, and Wifi on. 4g will definitely have a significant impact on the battery.
-super fast!!
-excellent reception
-excellent call quality
Cons:
-screen cracks easily - so get an Otterbox!
-awkward sometimes to hold one handed but still do-able.

I chose Red because it is the color nobody has. White is too plain/feminine and blue would be my 2nd choice but was a plain jane color too. The red is very deep and does have sparkles. Its almost a maroon color. I ordered a blue otterbox so hopefully it doesn't look too tacky. It is definitely my most favorite phone. Works great with Straight talk wireless!

Best phone I've had to date (at the time of this writing of course) October 26, 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.

Phone is great, amazonwireless not so much... February 24, 2013

Reviewer:  Amazon Princess "Jen"  (S.F. Bay Area) -

Decided to get a new phone after my Samsung Captivate started to get really sluggish and would freeze up at the most inopportune times. I love the Galaxy S III. It's super responsive and easy to use. Battery life could be better, but other than that I have no complaints about the phone.

I give the phone 4-5 stars. I give Amazon wireless 2 stars. They show you a great price in the cart, but neglect to tell you that AT&T will tack on an a bogus upgrade fee that you cannot get waived (I tried escalating with an AT&T customer service supervisor with no luck).

So before you purchase from Amazonwireless, keep in mind that in addition to the fantastic price you see in the cart, you will have to pay taxes on the full price of the phone plus pay AT&T's upgrade fee. So, in short, I really didn't save any money by purchasing from Amazonwireless and I am "not a happy customer."

S3 beats iPhone Hands-Down! February 4, 2013

Reviewer:  Mike 

Let me just say that if you're looking for a powerful, crazy sexy phone than this is definitely the phone for you. I ordered it from Amazon as it was at least $50 less than ATT could even give me and I received it in only 2 days. The screen is amazing even at low-brightness and I have many friends compliment me on it. It's wicked fast and activating it was a breeze even though I was doing a cross-account activation. This means that I purchased this phone on upgrade from one of my eligible family lines and activated it for my own phone. I gave my daughter my S2 and haven't been happier. With a cheap $23 32GB MicroSD I also purchased from Amazon my phone now has 48GB of available storage. It's 4G LTE so it's blazing fast and ATT just released a new update that keeps making the phone better, I couldn't be happier. Definitely purchase a case however and if you have any trouble just visit your local carrier store. They don't care where you bought it! I'm ordering all my phones from now own through Amazon Wireless!

Switched from IPhone October 23, 2012

Reviewer:  Debra Beck 

I was so scared to get away from my beloved IPhone but work with two fellas who talked me into this phone. I'm still learning how to use it but so far, so good. The fact that I don't hate it is very telling as I have been a diehard Iphone user/fan. The pictures on this phone are amazing. I love that you can take the back off and get to the battery (big plus for me) and it seems to keep a charge much longer than the IPhone. The better battery life alone is worth the switch. I've had so many people fawning over my new Galaxy, I feel like a rockstar. ;0)

Owned my S3 4G LTE for several months. May 11, 2013

Reviewer:  Michael R. Dewitt "Legion"  (IL, USA) -

I've read other reviews on here about the Samsung Galaxy S3 being "fragile" "cheap" "hard to use". Let me clarify some things. I used my wifes Iphone 3 GS, and liked it. Shortly after I got my 1st Smart Phone the Samsung Captivate, aka Galasy S. I liked the bigger screen, and the Andriod OS. About 18months later I killed my Captivate, and replaced it with the S3. My wife has an Infuse, aka Galaxy S2, and likes it. The S3... wow.
This is NOT fragile! I have a case that guards the battery cover on the back, and a screen protector( thin plastic film). I've dropped the phone numerous times, dropped stuff on it, fell out of my pocket at about 15mph, and it has survived it all! Yes it has nicks in the phoned, but the screen is perfect. It's also very bright unlike someone elses post, unless you dim the screen via the drop down bar, and you can adjust screen brightness in less than 3 seconds from the home screen.
The phone is not difficult to use, unless you have no patience what so ever to do a little navigating, and learn the phones OS. At first I was thinking "Oh wow I'm in trouble.", and within a day I had everything figured out.
My ONLY complaint about the phone is the LED indicator light for Aps when U have a msg, email, game update, and so on. You turn the indicator off, and some Aps it stays on. That falls on the App IMO, not the phone.
The S3 is an awsome phone. I would GLADLY own another. Would I recomend the Galaxsy S1, no. The S3? Gods yes! Nice 4.8 screen, tough as nails, good battery life, easy to learn with minimal patience. I would know beings as I've had it since Nov '12. Not a few days or a week. Enjoy!

Unreliable March 19, 2013

Reviewer:  Dan Davidson 

I loved this phone until the January update to the new OS. The GPS constantly fails which wouldn't bother me too much except for I use it on my runs. I love the power of the phone, it's screen, the Android functionality of it. How deep it is compared to the iphone, but while the iphone bugged me because it got boring, the Galaxy is BUGGY. MP3 files are copied twice, the GPS, when I get emails, the headphone speaker cuts out and goes to the external speaker?????? What in the world?

I've got a year and a half left with this phone. Hopefully Android or Samsung or whoever is really to blame cleans this mess up buy then. But if not it's probably back to the boring but reliable iphone.

Great phone! May 22, 2013

Reviewer:  mcdmom  (St. Louis, MO) -

This is my first "smart phone". It does everything I expected it to and so much more. Great phone and great value. The battery seems to run out quickly though. I have to charge it a couple times per day. Not sure if this is because something is wrong with it or I am using it a lot.

Finally - I am up-to-date! Love my phone May 21, 2013

Reviewer:  Rose L. 

I finally see what everyone else has been experiencing all along. I love my phone, I have only had it a short period, so I am still in the learning phases of it. There is so much to do and I discover something new about it everyday.

I hardly ever turn on my computer anymore and I forget that I have a Kindle HD. It does everything!

Extremely fragile May 2, 2013

Reviewer:  Callie Burwell  (FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, US) -

I just bought a brand new Samsung galaxy s3 on April 10. I purchased a clip in leather case and placed the phone in. On April 30 the phone was in my jacket pocket at work. Got in my car and plugged it in, screen was completely broken. Visually there is no damage, I took it to the store and they said it was a "pressure crack" that couldn't have been caused by my case. I am extremely disappointed and of course this damage isn't covered by the phones warranty. This is my first Samsung and I'm doubtful I will purchase anymore.

Love the phone April 25, 2013

Reviewer:  James D. McGuire  (Central Florida) -

Moving from Apple, to Android was not as bad as we thought. I had gotten tired of all the restrictions and limitations that they put on their phones. I wanted to give the (Dark side) a try. I am happy to say I am glad I did. Rolled the entire family to androids and there is no going back. The phones are very responsive and best of all they are PHONES, not a single dropped call since we changed. I use to drop calls every afternoon on my way home, as I switched towers. Same route, same time of day, 1 1/2 months of use and not a single dropped call. I love all of the bells and whistles, but at the end of the day it is a phone. If it can't handle its primary use, then there is a problem. We were an apple family for 7 years, but we are an Android family now.

Decent iPhone Competition April 17, 2013

Reviewer:  NJ Contributor "Eddie" 

This phone is a great choice for those wanting to try something else than iPhone. However, due to Apple's massive user base, you will find yourself dealing with incompatibility issues.
First issue I found was something as simple as texting to/from Android/iOS. Regardless the IM client installed in the Android device, you find yourself missing emoticons, messages getting broken down into several messages and arriving out of order, among other nuisances. At first, I tried to deal with it by downloading all available IM clients + plugins to no avail. I grew tired of it.
Second issue I found is corporate internal apps. Let's face it, when a company decides to roll out apps, they allocate resources for iOS apps and Android comes months or year later. I use my phone heavily for work and I found myself to be an 'outsider'. Also, iOS is known to release frequent updates to improve their products or add new features. Not as often that occurs with Android and it is carrier/phone model dependent. With iOS, every the iPhone 3 is still getting updates. That helps the resale value and productivity on your phone for years to come.
Third issue and this one broke the camels back. My phone developed a crackling noise while connected to the car's aux port. I use this setup quite heavily as I travel long distances and listen to Pandora constantly. If you do a search, you will find many GS3 users complaining about the same thing.

Overall, the phone is very nice looking. The screen is huge and people tend to notice you more as you don't have a common phone (iPhone).
However, it is cheaply made and the operating system and apps are not as refined as the iPhone operating system and apps.

Good iPhone option and bring some competition into the market but I will stick with the Apple Eco-System for now.

Phone went back to Amazon Wireless after a long 10 days of heavy use.

Poor screen brightness !!! November 11, 2012

Reviewer:  R. Bob Russell  (Colfax WA. United States) -

I took a look at several Samsung products (including this model S3) at the ATT store today. I was very dissapointed with the screen brightness. All the newer Samsung phones displays were much dimmer than my current old LG Smart phone. These Samsung phones were all set to their highest brightness settings. I had the ATT store reps check the S3 brightness settings and they agreed the S3 is not very bright even on it's highest brightness setting...

get the iPhone 5. January 1, 2013

Reviewer:  John Adams 

This cell phone is way to complicated, and feels very cheap and plasticy. The iPhone also had much better battery life. Returning this asap.