Re: Verizon Galaxy S III First Impressions/Reviews
Before I dive into the my review based on the provided criteria, let me just say that I have not had good luck with Samsung handsets (barring my most recent GNex...which is my second one).
Aesthetics
I was pleasantly surprised by the overall build-quality. All of the reviews I've read spoke of the "plasticky feel" of the phone, but after having it for a few days, I'm happy to report that it feels great. Compared to my older Droid Charge it feels much more solid, an impression that is no doubt enhanced by the slim metal band that surrounds the body of the phone. My most recent phone was the GNex, and while that had a more substantive "feel" to it, the GS3 (though thinner and lighter) compares quite well with it.
Screen
In a word: gorgeous. Sure, it's a little garish in its color-scheme (thanks to TouchWiz) but watching videos on it is a dream, icons and text are both crisp, and the daylight performance has been...acceptable. Overall I'm very pleased with the display.
Hardware
This is a a hard one to elaborate on after the first two questions. Suffice it to say that, yes, the back is made of a very thin plastic, but the overall finish of the phone sets, in my opinion at least, a new standard for Samsung.
Phone - including bluetooth & speakerphone usage
I have not paired the phone with my Jeep's bluetooth system, so I can't speak to its performance in that space, however call quality has been great. I had a Rezound for 5 months (a phone with a generally well-regarded radio) and, so far, I have absolutely no complaints. The call-quality has been excellent, voices on my end have sounded very clear and I greatly appreciate that I can't hear myself in the earpiece. In summation: I'm very pleasantly surprised.
Overall User Interface
I was totally prepared to load either Apex or Nova on this phone but, I have to say, that this is the best implementation of TouchWiz I've ever used. So much so, in fact, that I have yet to load a new launcher on the phone. Also, kudos to Samsung on what, in my opinion at least, is the best calendar ever on a mobile device (I'm looking at you when I say this iOS).
Widgets
Meh...a widget is a widget. The calendar widget is nice, as for the other, supplied widgets, they're pretty standard fare. One thing that did catch my eye, conspicuous by its absence perhaps, was the lack of a good contacts widget. That did disappoint me, however, not enough to
not recommend this phone to somebody.
Signal quality (Compared to other devices)
Compared to either my Rezound or my Droid Razr the signal has been simply: good. My test for that is: do I get at least 3G in my garage (a notorious dead-spot). Droid Razr: 4 bars. HTC Rezound 3 bars. Galaxy Nexus: no bars. Galaxy S3? 1 bar...sometimes. However, it's far surpassed my previous Samsung device, the Droid Charge, in its performance in all situations. And for 4G it's been quite dependable in all areas that I frequent (excepting, of course, my garage). And yes, I know the GNex is a Samsung device, but for some reason I judge it on a different scale that I do my old Charge.
GPS
No issues so far.
Social Networking
I'm off the grid as far as social networking goes, so no comment here.
Email/Calendar
The email app is, by today's new standards, par for the course for ICS. The calendar however, and as mentioned above, is exceptional. It is truly both useful and highly enjoyable to use.
.
Battery Life
This is sure to be a hot-button topic as everyone uses their phones differently, however, I'm happy to report that I'm thrilled by/with the battery life I've seen so far. New phone, screwing around constantly, 4 texts, 10 emails, 6 phone calls and 3 hours of listening to an Audible book resulted in 65% battery life 13 hours after taking it out of its charger. That, in my humble opinion, f-ing rocks, especially when compared to my (2nd) GNex, even with its extended battery.
Performance
As noted by other people: this thing is fast. Really fast. I have absolutely no complaints regarding the overall performance of the phone, quite the opposite really. I've owned most every phone (of note) released on Verizon in the past three years and this thing blows them all away. Hands down.
Media (music, movies, DLNA)
Not sure how to answer this one, other than as it relates to the playback of media. Videos look gorgeous. Just last night I watched the first two episodes of Grimm, streamed from the Play store, and they looked, and sounded, amazing. For audio, both Audible and podcasts sound fantastic on this device. The headphone-out is very good and the speaker, even without tweaking, sounds great (and loud-ish).
Keyboard
And here we come to my first complaint: The keyboard is, for me at least, harder to type on accurately than my GNex. Also, the predictive text feature is absolutely draconian in its aggressiveness. I've tried to remedy this by loading an alternate keyboard, but the phone will not disengage it's "Samsung" keyboard. Clearly more testing is needed (by me) but so far: I'm not loving the keyboard as much as I'm loving almost every other aspect of this phone.
Camera (both still & video)
I haven't had the time to judge the quality of the pictures I've taken with the phone on any reference-caliber computer monitor, so I can't speak to the quality of the pictures, but I can add to what others have said: the camera itself is fast, really fast, and accurate. Also, the modes and features offered by the app itself are both great advancements over previous Samsung offerings and are welcome refinements/developments.
How the Galaxy S III compares to your previous smartphone
This is a very difficult question for me. I change phones every three, maybe four, months. My last phone was my second Galaxy Nexus and, in the short time that I spent with it, I really grew to love that phone (not so much my first GNex, which was a nightmare) so when the FedEx guy showed up it was a surprisingly bittersweet moment for me. Having said that however, I'm absolutely loving the SGS3. So much so that I'm trying (daily) to talk to my wife into my GNex
Battery, UI speed, usability, god, just everything, is great. Despite having a very low expectation for all things Samsung, I'm really, really pleased.
Disappointments (if any)
Really the only disappoint I have is the keyboard and I realize that that is a very personal thing. I have big thumbs, and a strong will, so I'm not loving the key-spacing and overly aggressive auto-correct. Other than that, I love this phone.
In Conclusion
I miss my second GNex, I surely do, but I don't see myself going back: Battery life, signal strength, task manager, UI speed, camera, etc... have all won me over.
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