[soothslyr]

i was all psyched to get a Galaxy S3 in 2 weeks when it launches in the US, but then I stumbled upon this article:



and it got me to thinking. we're all drooling over the HOX and the SIII, but Cortex A15 chips are said to be released "this fall", and "near the end of the year", so this brings me to the question...

is it really worth going gaga over a phone that is essentially using the best of yesterday's technology?


P.S. - i am basing this on the universally agreed view that Cortex A15 and Exynos 5250 chips will blow the current ones out of the water, both graphically, and capility-wise.

[20blks]

If you let things like that get to you, you'll never buy a phone. There's always something new around the corner. Just get the SIII now and get another phone when the next "latest and greatest" comes out

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Android Central Forums

[bigdaddytee]

And also cooler, with lower power/better battery. But I needed a phone now, so I got the GNex. You could upgrade now, and eBay the phone in six months or so...

Sent from my (pretty awesome) SCH-i515

[soothslyr]

that's what i am thinking. i just don't want to settle for pretty girl at the ball, right before the supermodel walks in lol.

i am coming from iOS, so i guess any superphone will blow my mind

[TechNut79]

If you're coming from iOS, Android's ICS is surely going to blow your mind.

[firetruck41]

IIRC, the Galaxy S3 (and HTC one x) uses A15 architecture, which is what reportedly makes it superior to all other dual core, and some quad core devices.

Sent from my A500 using Android Central Forums

[soothslyr]

i am a heavy jailbereaker, so not that much lol.

i will miss the music player though. i haven't found one for android that is as robust as itunes.

sorry, i just don't buy google music as an equal when it comes to options, playlists, and overall media capabilities.

[LazrRocketArm]

It is not the best of yesterday's tech, it's out now. You are talking about the best of tomorrow's tech. Always will be better tech tomorrow.
At the end of the year, why not wait for next years 20 nm based Exynos?

[FlatTopFoley]

i am a heavy jailbereaker, so not that much lol.

i will miss the music player though. i haven't found one for android that is as robust as itunes.

sorry, i just don't buy google music as an equal when it comes to options, playlists, and overall media capabilities.

At the same time, I don't know of a music program that pisses me off more than iTunes. I started it up today on my desktop, BAM blue screen of dead informing me of a memory dump. fabulous.

Not bashing iTunes, cause when it works it works great, but still. I regret having to open it on my PC.

[soothslyr]

my only regret with itunes, is how resource intensive it is, but then again, i could say that of most of apple's software. safari is nearly useless on almost any non-apple computer.

[Suntan]

With the exception of Tegra optimized games, no app will be released in the next 2 years that either variant of GSIII won't be able to handle.

If your not happy with the form factor or size or something like that, it might make sense to wait. If your just holding off because you are fretting about more power, your wasting your time waiting for benchmark scores.

-Suntan

[Suntan]

my only regret with itunes, is how resource intensive it is, but then again, i could say that of most of apple's software. safari is nearly useless on almost any non-apple computer.

Are we talking about phones here or computer programs?

BTW, iTunes on the computer is junk. J. River Media Center is what iTunes could have been if apple listened to their customers instead of constantly telling them what they should want.

-Suntan

[zack7687]

This type of thinking made me not upgrade my phone until now. I'm glad I waited for the S3, but my phones screen is smashed and needed a new one 6 months ago. I preordered my S3 today and CANNOT wait until it gets here. Your only hope in a phone coming out soon that could possibly be better than the S3, is the Razr HD and who knows when that will be announced, much less released. Get the S3 now and enjoy a new phone now, not in 7 months.

Part of me is glad that verizon changed their plans so I had to order the S3, but the other part of me wants to drop kick them in the neck.

[soothslyr]

Are we talking about phones here or computer programs?

BTW, iTunes on the computer is junk. J. River Media Center is what iTunes could have been if apple listened to their customers instead of constantly telling them what they should want.

-Suntan

not quite junk, just a very walled garden. J. River Media Center seems super powerful, just not quite as polished. if it had the backing of a company as robust as apple, it might kick them in the ***.

personally, i think they need it at this point

/end rant

[soothslyr]

This type of thinking made me not upgrade my phone until now. I'm glad I waited for the S3, but my phones screen is smashed and needed a new one 6 months ago. I preordered my S3 today and CANNOT wait until it gets here. Your only hope in a phone coming out soon that could possibly be better than the S3, is the Razr HD and who knows when that will be announced, much less released. Get the S3 now and enjoy a new phone now, not in 7 months.

Part of me is glad that verizon changed their plans so I had to order the S3, but the other part of me wants to drop kick them in the neck.

i will wait patiently after to dropkick them right after you do. i am on at&t, and i see that what is happening is not consumer friendly.

i agree that wating is a double edged sword.

don't shoot me for saying this, but if android updates were handled the way that apple handled theirs (across the board, instead of incrementally), then the GSIII would be the perfect phone. i know the the providers are the bottlekneck, it just makes the experience of waiting for an *official update* a crappy one. look at the droid razr as proof. 6 months ago, it was top of the line, and is arguably STILL a flagship phone, and will see an update to ICS nearly when JB is coming. that's just sad.

perhaps i am just smitten with the promise of 2.5Ghz dual/quad core processors with 2+GB of ram being on the market in less than 6 months.

time to stop whining, and buy my GSIII though, i suppose lol.

[cjsmoove]

This type of thinking made me not upgrade my phone until now. I'm glad I waited for the S3, but my phones screen is smashed and needed a new one 6 months ago. I preordered my S3 today and CANNOT wait until it gets here. Your only hope in a phone coming out soon that could possibly be better than the S3, is the Razr HD and who knows when that will be announced, much less released. Get the S3 now and enjoy a new phone now, not in 7 months.

Part of me is glad that verizon changed their plans so I had to order the S3, but the other part of me wants to drop kick them in the neck.

AND I seriously doubt the Razr HD will be better...I fell for that Bionic hype, and given Motos track record as of late you'll get 3 varaitons OF that phone...

[soothslyr]

unless motorola has an overhaul of their productline ala HTC, i can't see them keeping a dog in this fight.

the only device(s) in the near-ish future that can compete, is the iphone5 (maybe they surprise everyone, and actually innovate with it), or the next line of nexus devices

[Crispy]

Surprised no one has mentioned it yet, there are rumors that Google will release (or announce) multiple Nexus devices (3 phones, 2 tablets) on Nov 5. One of them is sur eto be Samsung, and is also pretty much sure to inlcude an HD AMOLED+ display as well as the Exynos 5520.

Anyway, the S4 in the current GS3 uses the A15 instruction set even though it can't be said to be a full A15 part. So its better than any other cpu today.

I doubt the new phones will be out till the holidays anyway.

[firetruck41]

IIRC, the Galaxy S3 (and HTC one x) uses A15 architecture, which is what reportedly makes it superior to all other dual core, and some quad core devices.

Sent from my A500 using Android Central Forums

I should amend my post to say, I was speaking of the US version of the aforementioned phones...

Sent from my A500 using Android Central Forums

[soothslyr]

i agree that the S4 chip is more efficient than most out there today. the point of the original post was to get some opinions if there's a point to getting a phone now, or just waiting 4 months, and getting one that blows the current ones out of the water.

we all know that in the android community, after 6 months, if a phone isn't superb quality, and super high tech, it gets left in the dust. don't believe me, look at the Razr, Rezound, Droid Charge, Atrix, Evo 3D... I can go on. Some of those aren't even a year old, and they're already left in the dust.

just trying to stave that off, like the SII has.

[zack7687]

i will wait patiently after to dropkick them right after you do. i am on at&t, and i see that what is happening is not consumer friendly.

i agree that wating is a double edged sword.

don't shoot me for saying this, but if android updates were handled the way that apple handled theirs (across the board, instead of incrementally), then the GSIII would be the perfect phone. i know the the providers are the bottlekneck, it just makes the experience of waiting for an *official update* a crappy one. look at the droid razr as proof. 6 months ago, it was top of the line, and is arguably STILL a flagship phone, and will see an update to ICS nearly when JB is coming. that's just sad.

perhaps i am just smitten with the promise of 2.5Ghz dual/quad core processors with 2+GB of ram being on the market in less than 6 months.

time to stop whining, and buy my GSIII though, i suppose lol.

Those specs might be avaialable for phones in 6 months, but how long until the manufacturers design phones for that hardware? HTC and Samsung have put their flagship devices out for the year (lets hope so....cough motorola cough), moto supposedly has the Razr HD up their sleeves, so who does that leave?

I think once you get the S3 you will be so happy you did and didn't wait any longer.

AND I seriously doubt the Razr HD will be better...I fell for that Bionic hype, and given Motos track record as of late you'll get 3 varaitons OF that phone...

The bionic was the phone I was waiting for, but motorola effed up that wet dream. I was so excited to order the phone and them delay after delay. It's going to take a heck of a phone from them to get me to buy one of their phones. I can see it now Razr HD, Razr HDH, Razr HDHD, Razr HDHDHDDDDDDD.

[UCLA 15]

The whole "there will always be something newer coming soon" argument is valid, but there are cases when I say it holds to less of a degree. An example of when it does not apply is when a phone is coming out with a cortex A9 processor more than a year after A9s were introduced on phones. Yes, clock speeds have been steadily rising that whole time, and benchmarks and performance has been improving, but these have been essentially modifications to the same base. A15 will be a new base and be a leap forward vs. little steps forward. That's why it makes sense when a A9 phone comes out (way after A9s were first released) to want to wait until the A15s hit, so that you can upgrade at a time when a great leap is made vs. upgrading at a time when only little steps are being made.

Now the GS3 with the S4 is kind of close to a leap, since the S4 is more advanced than cortex A9, but the thing that keeps it still just a little step is the GPU. Adreno 225 (and even the international's Mali) are both undeniably little steps forward vs. leaps. They are effectively mild improvements over 2011 GPUs, vs. Adreno 320 and the upcoming Mali which will be a new gen. The way I see it, I would MUCH rather make the decision to upgrade when a whole new generation of specs comes out than make the decision to upgrade at the end of a specs cycle. For those into cars, here's my analogy: the GS3 (and One X) are kind of like the last model year of a midcycle facelift. Compared to the initial release of the generation, the styling has been mildly updated, the HP and torque have been bumped (but they're still using the same fundamental engine, just tweaked for a bit more performance), some nice new features have been added to the interior, and things like the suspension and brakes have also been tweaked for performance. Still, it would be a bummer to get the last model year just before the next generation comes out, which is more than just an update.

Ultimately, it depends on where you are coming from, since if you're coming from a really old phone then the GS3 or One X may be a completely new gen to you. But if you're coming from a 2011 phone, you're essentially looking at the last evolution of your generation, which is why some people might want to wait until this fall/winter to see specs that so eclipse their phone as to warrant their designation as a completely new gen. That's where I'm at. Yes, the One X and GS3 are both better than my Sensation, but not "enough" for me. That's of course subjective, and I know the upgrade addicts probably don't agree, but there are also a lot of people like me out there.

[firetruck41]

We'll know in about six months...

Sent from my A500 using Android Central Forums

[soothslyr]

The whole "there will always be something newer coming soon" argument is valid, but there are cases when I say it holds to less of a degree. An example of when it does not apply is when a phone is coming out with a cortex A9 processor more than a year after A9s were introduced on phones. Yes, clock speeds have been steadily rising that whole time, and benchmarks and performance has been improving, but these have been essentially modifications to the same base. A15 will be a new base and be a leap forward vs. little steps forward. That's why it makes sense when a A9 phone comes out (way after A9s were first released) to want to wait until the A15s hit, so that you can upgrade at a time when a great leap is made vs. upgrading at a time when only little steps are being made.

Now the GS3 with the S4 is kind of close to a leap, since the S4 is more advanced than cortex A9, but the thing that keeps it still just a little step is the GPU. Adreno 225 (and even the international's Mali) are both undeniably little steps forward vs. leaps. They are effectively mild improvements over 2011 GPUs, vs. Adreno 320 and the upcoming Mali which will be a new gen. The way I see it, I would MUCH rather make the decision to upgrade when a whole new generation of specs comes out than make the decision to upgrade at the end of a specs cycle. For those into cars, here's my analogy: the GS3 (and One X) are kind of like the last model year of a midcycle facelift. Compared to the initial release of the generation, the styling has been mildly updated, the HP and torque have been bumped (but they're still using the same fundamental engine, just tweaked for a bit more performance), some nice new features have been added to the interior, and things like the suspension and brakes have also been tweaked for performance. Still, it would be a bummer to get the last model year just before the next generation comes out, which is more than just an update.

Ultimately, it depends on where you are coming from, since if you're coming from a really old phone then the GS3 or One X may be a completely new gen to you. But if you're coming from a 2011 phone, you're essentially looking at the last evolution of your generation, which is why some people might want to wait until this fall/winter to see specs that so eclipse their phone as to warrant their designation as a completely new gen. That's where I'm at. Yes, the One X and GS3 are both better than my Sensation, but not "enough" for me. That's of course subjective, and I know the upgrade addicts probably don't agree, but there are also a lot of people like me out there.

i could not agree more. the A9 has lived it's lifecycle, and we're on the doorstep of the A15 which will be the dominant chipset for the next 2 years (A8's are not going to be ready until at least 2014). Why get the last gasp of yesterday's chipset. the phone is new, the specs, are not. it's not the first 720p phone, dual/quad core phone, or phone with LTE. the only real thing that the GSIII has going for it, is the 2GB of ram. all of those specs will be the bare minimum in 4 months. I'd much rather get a phone that is using the chipset of today, instead of the last of yesterday's.

as for what i have decided to do, i have just resigned myself to getting the GSIII. here's the logic that i used:

even when the A15's come out, no phone will use it to it's full potential, they will just have it for stat freaks. it will be at least until next spring/summer, until developers catch up with the capabilities of the A15, and start to optimize their software, and processing cycles to take advantage of it's power. By then, I will be fully ready to make that leap.

to compare the leap, think of it like the end/beginning of 2010/2011. when the atrix came out, it was touted as a huge leap. it had a strong dual core processor, AND 4G LTE, as well as a good screen. less than 6 months later, it was brought down to earth, as the market caught up, and started to match the specs with better optomized software, and more inspired designs. what we will see by the end of this year, will be that type of device that has potential, but is not quite as strong as can be.

.. at least that's what i keep telling myself lol

[Nashstruck]

i was all psyched to get a Galaxy S3 in 2 weeks when it launches in the US, but then I stumbled upon this article:



and it got me to thinking. we're all drooling over the HOX and the SIII, but Cortex A15 chips are said to be released "this fall", and "near the end of the year", so this brings me to the question...

is it really worth going gaga over a phone that is essentially using the best of yesterday's technology?


P.S. - i am basing this on the universally agreed view that Cortex A15 and Exynos 5250 chips will blow the current ones out of the water, both graphically, and capility-wise.

I think what you're comparing is today's technology and potential future technology, not yesterday's technology and today's technology. If it's out in the fall, it isn't out yet! You'd never win the battle of being ahead of the market. Any tech can be made obsolete in a single second.