A stunning screen, superb performance
and a quality range of pre-installed apps - the S III is quad core’s flag
bearer...
Blue finish
The blue polycarbonate finish on the
Samsung Galaxy S III does make the device standout from the crowd, mainly
because only at certain light conditions can you notice the blue, otherwise It
appears almost black in colour
Picture in picture
The Samsung Galaxy S III comes with a
fantastic video player which has animated thumbnails to show off the videos and
a picture in picture mode so you can watch a video as you type emails or
documents!
Camera features
Not only is the Samsung a great performer,
it also provides a solid camera with a host of features, including an image
stabiliser, auto-focus, full HD video recording and the ability to record video
at the same time as taking pictures
Motion controls
To enhance the user experience the device
comes included with a range of motion controls. One of which allows you to
double-tap on the device to scroll back to the top of a page, eg in your email
client or contacts. Also S-Voice is included for launching apps with your voice
The Samsung Galaxy S III has a simple
design which is used to emphasise the pure quality of its 4.8-inch Super AMOLED
HD screen. It may lack the quality of the One X design, but it is thin and
light, and is built for usability. The buttons at the base light up when
pressed, leaving only the recessed Home button In place; no other ports, with
the exception of the headphone and micro USB, are seen.
Yet despite the minimalist approach the
device is equipped with a removable battery and micro SD card slot which
supports up to 64GB thus providing massive storage potential. Granted, the
build quality is not in the same league as the HTC or Sony, but the blue
polycarbonate plastic looks great and feels sturdy. You do eventually get used
to Its size and you can’t help yourself once you see the vibrancy of the screen
and Samsung’s latest take on the TouchWiz Ul.
To
enhance the user experience the device comes included with a range of motion
controls
The device comes with a series of cool
themes and a range of Interface tweaks which genuinely helped our experience
with the phone. For example, the S-Volce program can be activated to launch
apps with your voice (though this requires a data connection). You can double-tap
on the top of the phone to scroll back to the top of the page within emails or
contacts, too.
The supplied software is also ample, yet
unlike previous Galaxy devices you don't get overloaded with unnecessary apps.
Samsung instead gives you the freedom to download more from the Samsung store,
such as Polaris Office for editing Word documents.
However, we found the pre-loaded music and
video players were fantastic, with the latter providing an eye-catching
picture-in-picture option so you can watch videos as you type.
Its performance was also second to none and
it beat the similarly specified HTC in three of the four benchmarks we ran. In
general use it excelled in games, streaming, browsing and video playback. Mind
you, the 4.8-Inch HD screen was possibly a little darker than the Sony during
the playback in our test videos.
As for the camera, this provided similar
performance and features as the HTC, but it still couldn’t match the Sony In
terms of the image quality. However, what was surprising, given the large
screen, was the battery life which excelled from a video playback point of
view.
Head to head
Design
The phone feels less of a premium device
than the HTC, but the brushed polycarbonate plastic Is sturdy. Its minimalist
persona and thin profile make a great-looking device. What’s more it’s great
being able to gain access to internal parts.
General performance
In the Quadrant benchmark (tests CPU, I/O
and 3D graphics performance) it scored 5201 vs HTC’s 5945. In all other tests
It outperformed its rival with a Vellamo score of 1979 vs 1931, AnTuTu (12882
vs 10727) and CF-Bench score of 13688 vs 13125.
Features
A stack of quality features are provided
which justifies its high asking price. The Ul enhancements, quality HD screen
and supported apps - including the fantastic video player - are joined by a
solid camera performer and memory card expansion.
Battery life
In our video test the Samsung had 84 per
cent remaining, which Is quite remarkable.
In general heavy use, multitasking apps drain
the battery quicker, but by using the Task Manager, the device will last the
day.
Verdict
The S III is pretty much the allround
smartphone offering not only excellent performance, but great features.
Information
Price: $777.6
More information: www.samsung.com
Technical specs
Operating system........Android 4.0.4
Processor...........................Exynos
4412 Quad: Quad-core 1.4GHz Cortex-A9
Memory...............................1GB RAM,
16GB storage, 50GB Dropbox account; micro SD card expansion up to 64GB
Dimensions......................136.6 x
70.6 x 8.6 mm
Weight..................................133g
Display..................................4.8-inch
Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 720 x 1,280 pixels
Connectivity....................Wi-Fi
802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, HSDPA 21Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
Camera...............................8-MP
rear (LED flash), 1.9-MP front camera, 1080p @30fps video recording
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