....And while the G3 is a very pretty piece of technology -- far prettier than the S5 without a case -- the real downfall of the G3 is the screen.
I know, many of you are probably saing "WHAT??? - the screen is supposed to be it's best feature." Well I compared the S5 screen to the G3 with both at full brightness and on auto brightness. The G3 does not get anywhere near as bright as the S5 but, far more importantly, it looks washed out and dull. It also exhibits severe off-axis dimming so to even get acceptable results you have to look at it straight on. If you tilt it even 20 degrees off-axis it's like someone flipped a light switch off. Reminded me of those horrid first generation LCD TV's that were utterly unwatchable from anywhere other than directly in front to the set.
On a positive note, the browser seemed very snappy and web pages loaded in no time at all. And it was clearly more "snappy" than the S5 transitioning from screen to screen and between apps with tremendous fluidity. It was far better than the S5 in this regard. The speaker is rear mounted so I wouldn't expect too much from it but it did play significantly louder than the S5's rear speaker with less distortion. Neither one is any match for the M8 but I guess that's no shock to anyone. The camera opened considerably more quickly that the S5's and seemed to have no problem focusing even on subjects that had little contrast. I couldn't directly compare the quality of camera shots taken with each but I'd be shocked if it produced results as good as those of the S5. The S5 camera (at least in adequate light) is simply superb.
The phone is a marvel of space utilization and the screen is ginormous in a body that's only a bit wider than the S5. I continue to hate the on-screen buttons as they take up screen real estate and disappear in "immersive mode" (when you might want to access a few of those controls directly). At least in immersive mode you get your whole screen back...the problem is it's still a crap shoot when you get immersive mode or you're stuck with the on-screen buttons.
So all-in-all a bit of a mixed bag but, for me, the complete and utter deal breaker would be the washed out, lifeless screen with severe off-axis degredation. Viewed side by side with the display of the S5 it's almost embarassing. I suppose others may disagree but I could never live with this phone.
I know, many of you are probably saing "WHAT??? - the screen is supposed to be it's best feature." Well I compared the S5 screen to the G3 with both at full brightness and on auto brightness. The G3 does not get anywhere near as bright as the S5 but, far more importantly, it looks washed out and dull. It also exhibits severe off-axis dimming so to even get acceptable results you have to look at it straight on. If you tilt it even 20 degrees off-axis it's like someone flipped a light switch off. Reminded me of those horrid first generation LCD TV's that were utterly unwatchable from anywhere other than directly in front to the set.
On a positive note, the browser seemed very snappy and web pages loaded in no time at all. And it was clearly more "snappy" than the S5 transitioning from screen to screen and between apps with tremendous fluidity. It was far better than the S5 in this regard. The speaker is rear mounted so I wouldn't expect too much from it but it did play significantly louder than the S5's rear speaker with less distortion. Neither one is any match for the M8 but I guess that's no shock to anyone. The camera opened considerably more quickly that the S5's and seemed to have no problem focusing even on subjects that had little contrast. I couldn't directly compare the quality of camera shots taken with each but I'd be shocked if it produced results as good as those of the S5. The S5 camera (at least in adequate light) is simply superb.
The phone is a marvel of space utilization and the screen is ginormous in a body that's only a bit wider than the S5. I continue to hate the on-screen buttons as they take up screen real estate and disappear in "immersive mode" (when you might want to access a few of those controls directly). At least in immersive mode you get your whole screen back...the problem is it's still a crap shoot when you get immersive mode or you're stuck with the on-screen buttons.
So all-in-all a bit of a mixed bag but, for me, the complete and utter deal breaker would be the washed out, lifeless screen with severe off-axis degredation. Viewed side by side with the display of the S5 it's almost embarassing. I suppose others may disagree but I could never live with this phone.