[thegordo]

I've had my SGS3 for almost a week now. I'm coming from an SGS2, which is now my wife's SGS2. She upgraded from her Intercept, so needless to say she's thrilled with it.

I was quite pleased with the SGS2, so I'm in heaven now. It's lighter, sleeker, and even more of a joy to use. I didn't realize how awesome the screen upgrade would be -- the SGS3 screen is just clear and wonderful. Netflix looks absolutely stunning on it. All on-screen actions are smooth and snappy -- it's really everything I would have wanted in that regard. Touchwiz is definitely improved, though I my jump to another. By default the home screens loop, so I haven't tested to see if I can set it so my wallpapers will scroll -- I hope so, it's one of those things I really like.

The hardware I don't like is the physical button at the bottom. I have no idea why they didn't keep it like all the other buttons. I hate that I have to add an entirely different level of pressure to activate that one item than I do everything else on the phone. And with a case that wraps around the edge, it's even a little hard to get to, esp. with one-handed actions. I find that button quite annoying, and wish it were like all the others.

The phone sounds great, and has great reception. I get a little bit better range with it than the SGS2. The phone graphics are updated and more pleasing, and you can have more than 9 speed-dial options, which I like (though I haven't used yet). The GPS appears stronger than my SGS2, and WiFi does just what it's supposed to without a hitch. Where I live and work doesn't have 4G, but I live near a city with 4G. I am not in the city too often, and when I am I rarely spend much time on apps that depend on heavy data use, so losing 4G wasn't a big issue for me. Naturally, I was told that LTE would be in sometime in the fall, so I figure it'll be here about the time I get the SGS4.

More built-in widgets than before, but nothing that amazes me. Others may have a better appreciation for them. Flipboard has a widget, and I kind of dig that app.

I do believe that ICS is more intuitive in handling cross-application contact information and is much closer to what I loved about webOS. This was very important to me, and the improvement is noticable.

Everything ported nicely from the SGS2 through Gmail and my Sprint account. The phone even started automatically downloading all my apps that I had loaded on the SGS2.

I haven't worked the media too much on this phone, but will soon. The external speaker on this phone is decidedly better than the SGS2, but then it's still a phone speaker.

For me, battery life is WICKEDLY BETTER than the SGS2, and immediately makes this phone a completely worthwhile upgrade for that feature alone.

In all, except for that D#%$ physical center button, this phone is an across-the-board improvement. I'm a happy customer.

[Got2buzz]

Went to a Sprint store today to check out and Evo LTE also. IN the corporate store (North side of Chicago) the data speed was horrible. Samsung rep there could hardly get the phone to do anything on the net. I was embarrased for him.

Intial impressions (by a newbie):

pros-feels well built, colors are "Samsung vibrant", nice size, seems to run as well as could be expected on Sprint network (poor), no major lags when switching between apps, light weight, very attractive phone

Cons-for a newbie the UI was a bit confusing and disconnected somehow, MANY apps would not display in landscape (that DID on Evo), when viewing mainly printed pages the "white" background was dim and blue gray colored. I know a "fix" has been released for display brightness-either the 2 display phones didn't have the "fix" or ................? Disappointing

Found the Evo LTE to have a much cleaner/crisper display and everything just seemed to be more intuitive and much more fluid. If it wasn't for non removable battery I would have bought it today over the GSIII and I'm no fanboy of ANY brand.

My thanks to all that take the time to post-I appreciate you!

[dtblair24]

I have had the phone for a week now. I came from the Epic 4G Touch, and I had the EVO 4G LTE for a little over a week, waiting for the galaxy S 3.

First, I would like to say how happy I am they did not make every version different. Before the phone dropped, I was not all that excited. I think I got a little too caught up in specs, was not sure how I felt about a physical button, and was not even sure if I liked how the phone looked (and the color options).

After seeing it in person, it was a pretty easy decision for me. I got the white because it was the only one best buy had, and I wasn't quite sure about the blue and how it looks different depending on the light. Plus, the blue's button looked a different color to me.

The Hardware is good.. It is a completely different approach when compared to the EVO, but I love it. It feels great in the hand. It is not so slick, where it feels like I am going to drop it. It is easy to perceive the EVO as having a better build quality. Because of the metal, matte finish, weight etc. But this phone is durable. The white looks fantastic. I definitely get some comments from friends and in public.
Still not sure about the button. I like how you can wake the phone from the button. But for other things, I sometimes wish I could just lightly brush my finger across a touch sensitive button. But I am used to it now. Probably good nothing major was changed because we probably would not have these in our hands if we had to wait for revisions.
The speakerphone is louder than the EVO LTE, so that is a plus.

The screen is awesome. I guess it goes without saying that the EVO has a slightly better screen, but this is still a great screen.

The camera seems top notch. I think it does better in low light situations than the EVO. Kind of sucks not having a physical camera button.

The software will hold me over until I get some custom ROMs. There is definitely a ton more to explore than with the EVO. Lots of customization. The motions are all pretty cool. I like the swipe to take a screen shot. Also like how you can raise the phone to your ear to automatically call the contact you are looking at in a text. Smart stay is even cool. It is not the most functional thing because of the angle you might be viewing the screen, or if you are in the dark. Smart Stay is still a cool feature to brag about though. I think things are snappier on this phone when compared to the EVO. Also like how it is a little closer to vanilla ice cream sandwich than the EVO. S Voice is even fun to play with for a bit. Kind of feels dated already though since Jelly Beans' Google Now' was just unveiled.

Signal Quality seems better than previous devices, but I don't thing it is as great as the EVO. Don't know why it seems like Samsung have weak radios. You would think by now they would have figured it out. But I get more roaming alerts than I did with the EVO.

The GPS works flawlessly.

Battery life is great. Not getting as much out of it as I did with the EVO LTE, but that could be because of how I have this configured. Think I am also tinkering with this one a bit more throughout the day so that could be it. It is way better than the E4GT.

Overall I am completely satisfied with this phone. I did not bother comparing it to the E4GT..but compared to the EVO LTE it suits me better. I find the multitasking on the EVO to be absolutely ridiculous. Don't understand why I experience any lag on a new high end device. Simple things like adding a wallpaper take longer on the EVO than on my GS3. But the only thing I might change would be the physical casing of the phone. I love how solid the EVO LTE feels. Don't get me wrong, this phone fits my hand well..but I think I am drawn to the design of the EVO a bit more. But this phone turns more heads if that means anything for anyone.

[Uncle Louie]

And I love my EVO LTE!!! End of story!!

Glad SOMEONE does... Cause I certainly didn't!

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Android Central Forums

[charlie hustle]

Im going to be short. Love it. Im coming from an og evo, evo3d to this. And this is a major leap. Im glad i chose this instead of the evo4g lte.

[TheMostIncredibleHulk]

After on whole day here are my impressions:

•Aesthetics - This phone looks amazing. I have to admit that after handling this, the GNex and the EVO, this just had a better in hand feel for me, totally my opinion but it just felt good. However, the phone feels so slick. I would have preferred a soft touch finish or something to make the phone feel a little grippier.

•Screen - The screen is amazing, I have been playing around with some pretty mild use (no streaming video or hardcore games) and I love it. I have pretty big hands so the size isn’t an issue at all. I can easily reach any part of it I need with my thumb when using it one handed. But again, the slipperiness of the phone kinda makes that feel dangerous at times.

•Phone – Call quality is pretty good, I haven’t used it much but I don’t really notice a difference from my OG EVO.

•Overall User Interface – Eh, I got used to Sense, and there were things I liked and hated there. Touchwiz isn’t really that great for me. There are certain things I like, but I personally feel that OEM skins should be an option and stock Android should be standard without having to root and flash ROM’s. That said, come on CM10!!!

•Signal quality (Compared to other devices) – Compared to my OG EVO I can’t complain. It’s really about the same so far, but I haven’t went to where I know there are dead zones and checked there yet.

•GPS - N/A Haven't used it yet.

• Performance /Battery Life – Performance is smooth as…well, the back of the phone. Battery life, with the phone on automatic brightness and using it fairly hard (for me), with nothing more than reading, downloading apps, and light game play is on par with my old phone, so I’m pleased there, but I haven’t went too crazy and taxed it either yet.

•Camera – Pretty solid. I took some video and stills today and it was pretty responsive and very high quality, I was quite pleased with that.

Overall, I really like this phone, I’m looking forward to playing around with it and making it “mine.”

[cornbread16]

OK gonna keep it short and sweet. I had the epic touch 4g, but the screen had cracked and i took it in to BB to get it repaired.

I have the Buyback rewards, so my epic was worth 350 toward a new phone.

(I also wanted to thank the people who posted about Radio Shack 149 price on the S3 I got BB to price match it)

I initially wanted the nexus, because i just wasnt fond of the s3 Home button.(and the nexus with no capacitive buttons looks sweet.

But because the nexus wasnt available to purchase, i decided to give the s3 a try.

I figured if i dont like it, i will bring it back and buy a nexus after the ban was lifted.

Well needless to say after 2 hours i knew i wouldnt need to trade this puppy in.

The screen is great. Its soooooo fast and feels great in the hand, albeit a bit slippery.

Its one of the few phones where a case doesnt make the phone a pain to carry, because it so thin.

So i personally want to thank apple for getting the nexus banned, because if it didnt i would've never purchased this phone

I opted for the blue S3 and i absolutely love the home button

I no longer have to reach on the RH side of the phone to wake the screen

[shahid99]

Got mine for 400 pebble blue is it a good deal?? Love the phone amazing .

Im also reciving evo 4g lte so ganna check hows that one and than sell one

Which1 should i keep .

Htc i dont like charging side ways . N reaching top for power botton n awaking phone

Samsung its eaiser hmmmmmm lets see

[jonathanm1978]

•Phone – So far, the phone works great, on both ends the clarity and sound quality is good. The speakerphone is nice and loud. I haven’t used Bluetooth yet but I have hooked the phone up to the cassette jack in my car and the sound comes out great when listening to music or placing a call. [HL] What I don’t like about the phone is the actual phone screen. I don’t like how when you view the call log and click a name it doesn’t automatically call the person. You have to go to another screen and hit the call button…which I also don’t like where the icon is placed. Even from keypad, if you are typing the number and it begins to give you options to who the numbers are matched too, you have to hit the call button rather than just click on the number when you recognize it to place your call. [/HL]

hey, here's a tip:
While in the call log, swipe from left to right on a name to call that contact. Swipe from right to left on a contact to send/compose a text to that contact. I found this yesterday, thought I would share, it saves that extra step of having to view the contact to make a call/send them a text.

I had to come to the computer to edit this post, I hope this tip helps a lot of people, maybe it should be in the tips & tricks thread about this phone too...I just happened to find this, and never had another android device with this "swipe contact to text/call" option. I was noticing too that it was taking an extra step to make a call from the call log..I was like, sheesh..that's going backward, not forward. I used to 'long-press' on a contact, then click on Call *NAME* to make a call..then I got this phone, and I had to click on the contact, click on call...etc.
I accidentally swiped across the call log yesterday and it started calling my wife without warning...I was like, "NO NO NO, WE ARE IN CHURCH!!"

Another tip:
Don't play with your phone in church and find new, interesting things that it does..like making calls with swiping a contact. Makes for embarrassing moments sometimes, especially when you snap a photo while someone is praying because you're holding the phone up for your infant daughter to stare at the screen so she will be quiet....
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Android Central Forums


(Also, when you swipe from left-to-right, the contact you swiped will turn green and the word "CALL" will show up in the middle of the screen, then the screen changes to the active-call screen..
When you swipe from right-to-left, the contact you swiped turns orange, and the texting screen comes up with the keyboard already active and ready for you to type a message.)
******* also when viewing a contact in the contact list, swipe from left to right to call, right to left to text. ******

[NateBoii]

just happy to see all the happy gs3 owners,
cnt wait for my upgrade later this yr. gs3 should
be on jb stock. if nothing better is out by then, I'm
all over it. im still on my og galaxy epic 4G. and a
newer galaxy seems to be the only phone that
makes me drool right now. just love what sammy
does with these beautiful android flagship phones,
galaxy S that is.

[jonathanm1978]

The last Samsung branded phone I had was the Samsung instinct HD. I'm sure for anyone who got stuck stuck with that piece of junk can see why I was hesitant about buying a Samsung phone again. That piece of crap gave me fits and I signed up for a new line with that phone as my choice. But now that I took the dive and see that Samsung just wanted to work on the true smartphones instead of making sure they kept their dumb phone working well. I actually said that after getting stuck with that junk phone that I would never buy another Samsung phone again. I'm glad I finally gave them a chance, but it took me 3 years later to come back to them.

Swype'd with my Sammy Galaxy S3

[mobdad]

Upgraded from the SGS2 over the weekend and love it. There is an issue with the display with a couple of apps (my 2 poker apps, PokerKing and Card Ace) but I would hope that the apps will have upgrades to accommodate the GS3 soon. Best news is that Radio Shack has the upgrade for $149 and is doing the buy-back on the GS2 for $132 ! Yes, I paid under $25 with tax for the upgrade to the SG3

[ivtec21]

love reading these reviews, can't wait 'till my upgrade on Aug 1, getting my S3 then...currently rocking the E4GT

[lafountain]

Just upgraded from my Epic 4G to the GS3, so far have had no issues and all of my apps look better and run smoother. That is pretty much the 5 hour review, may have more info later.

[bobwonderful]

Can someone from the Washington DC area comment on signal strength? Especially if you had a Epic4GTouch. I'm coming from a Palm Pre then went to an GS2 Epic 4G Touch and the signal quality was half as good. Many times where I got 2 bars on the Palm Pre, the GS2 didn't get any reception. 4G is spotty in the DC area so, most of the time I only really cared about 3G which was okay. Several of my work colleagues have the S3 but on Verizon or ATT.

[duddy23b]

I work in Washington DC, I travel through all 4 quadrants NE, NW, SE, SW and no matter where I get pretty good reception no 4G though it's only in Public spaces like Smithsonian, The Capitol there is interference which is to be expected but overall extremely good. Just waiting on 4G or LTE.

[GoldenEagle06]

Well yesterday I ordered a GS3 for Sprint. I'm going to have a 1 on 1 phone battle with my 4s. I'm pretty excited and can't wait for it to arrive!

[cbass6411]

Well yesterday I ordered a GS3 for Sprint. I'm going to have a 1 on 1 phone battle with my 4s. I'm pretty excited and can't wait for it to arrive!

I traded my 4S for the GS3 and I'm more then happy I did. I love the GS3. The way I looked at it, the guy who got the iPhone got ripped off. But overall this phone does everything I want and more

[GoldenEagle06]

Just got the phone yesterday. The screen is super impressive. Still trying to get it set up how i want. The battery life doesn't impress me much, I'm already at 85 percent and it hasn't been used much today. Will have to figure that out. I'm open to any opinions and assistance that is out there

[Ytsejamer1]

I'm going to jump in a bit late, but nonetheless here goes. I like the phone...it's everything us hardware geeks are looking for and more. The mobile phone has become the computer of the mid to late 90s (ie..when something faster or bigger comes out, we have to have it regardless of how well our old one works).

The only thing that irked me is that in my car, I lay my phone down sideways. In my center dash, I have a little storage box door that flips down and it's perfect for keeping the phone in a horizontal position. I can better use maps, play, etc. Having the phone vertical is just kind of stupid...especially with charger on bottom and jack on top. There's no good way to keep it in that vertical profile position. Moving on...The aux jack wire comes in at the left (top) and the charger comes in on the right (bottom) of the phone. Unfortunately, the weight of the unit causes the volume to increase/decrease...or shut the phone off, depending on which way I'm laying it horizontal. Why on this earth, would Samsung not put the power button on top of the phone where it's not in the way of ANYTHING?

I have an otterbox commuter case coming from Amazon...so hopefully that will allow me to keep laying the phone on its side when its in the car. My EVO OG was perfect in that sense.

[ladyc0524]

I also took advantage of the Black Friday deal, only I got mine at Radio Shack, which also included a $50 Google Play credit! I'm loving the phone so far, just have to tweak the settings for a better battery life. All I'm waiting on now is my Otterbox Commuter from Amazon.

[j_grouchy]

Why on this earth, would Samsung not put the power button on top of the phone where it's not in the way of ANYTHING?

Personally I prefer it on the side and never understood why people like it on top. It's harder to reach on top when using the phone with one hand. I don't feel like it's "in the way". In fact, it makes it easy to use the phone one-handed using either the right or left hand - the former using my thumb and the latter using my index finger.

All about personal preference and what you are used to, I suppose. I got used to the side power button on my NS4G so now I prefer it that way.

[j_grouchy]

I also took advantage of the Black Friday deal, only I got mine at Radio Shack, which also included a $50 Google Play credit! I'm loving the phone so far, just have to tweak the settings for a better battery life. All I'm waiting on now is my Otterbox Commuter from Amazon.

I got mine at RS with the phone so that I could get an additional $10 coupon. I have that and I also have the Rearth Ringke SLIM Lite case. I prefer the slim case just for usability and love how thin the phone feels with it. I have the Otterbox for trips and such. The Otterbox is a major PITA to take off, and the surface is fairly smooth, meaning I'm more likely to drop the thing. The Rearth case has a grippiness to it that I like, it's a lot like the Incipio Feather case I had on my Nexus.

[jrsoit]

I have had my SGS3 since September when I upgraded from my rooted and romed LG Optimus S. Everything about this phone hardware wise is awesome. People have gone over the hardware pretty well here.

My only complaint so far is three fold. I am in the Phoenix area and I dont know but the signal strength is worse then my LG. I have rooted but stayed stock to get updates however nothing seems to strengthen the signal. I am now roaming in my place of work where my LG would get signal.
The build is way to slick. I will be installing an invisishield on it and I have bought an official samsung flip case to protect the screen but keep the phone slim.
Also the bottom of the phone gets way to hot while in use.

I would love to know if anyone else experienced signal probs in AZ.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2

[G3TCASHM0N3Y]

My signal sucks in phoenix too. I am just waiting for sprint to notice us in one of the 8 largest cities in the country. A small city of <50000 I lived in in OK, Stillwater, got lte before us.

Sent from my GT-N8010 using Tapatalk HD