Questions About This Phone

[ItnStln]

I currently have the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE, and am considering purchasing the Samsung Galaxy S3. I do have a few questions for those of you who have the phone:

1) How is the reception? I previously had a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and was barely able to make or receive calls at my house. Is the S3 better?
2) How is battery life?
3) How is TouchWiz compared to either stock Android, or HTC's Sense? Should I use a stock launcher, such as Nova Launcher?
4) Am I correct in saying that there's plenty of accessories available? It looks like the third-party accessory selection is on par with the iPhone.

If I can think of any more questions, I'll post them here. Thank you in advance!

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

I currently have the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE, and am considering purchasing the Samsung Galaxy S3. I do have a few questions for those of you who have the phone:

1) How is the reception? I previously had a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and was barely able to make or receive calls at my house. Is the S3 better?
2) How is battery life?
3) How is TouchWiz compared to either stock Android, or HTC's Sense? Should I use a stock launcher, such as Nova Launcher?
4) Am I correct in saying that there's plenty of accessories available? It looks like the third-party accessory selection is on par with the iPhone.

If I can think of any more questions, I'll post them here. Thank you in advance!

1. Reception has been fine for me. Judging by most of the posts I've read, it is considerably better than the GNex, but I've never owned a GNex to make a fair comparison...that just seems to be what folks are saying.
2. Battery life is...OK. I came from an HTC Thunderbolt before this, and the S3 is definitely better when it comes to battery. I think if you're coming from an HTC (known for not having great battery life), you won't have any problems with the S3. None the less, it's no RAZR Maxx either.
3. TW on the S3 really isn't that offensive at all. It's not quite as overwhelming as Sense, IMO -- although I never really minded Sense on HTC that much. I do use Nova Launcher on top of it, primarily to have the ability to back up and restore homescreen configs. Nova runs great on it with pretty much zero performance effects or lag that I've noticed.
4. Seems to be PLENTY of accessories. This is a very popular device on almost every US carrier and available world-wide. I don't think any android phone will have have an accessory market like the iPhone, but you should be able to find whatever you're looking for.

 

[smitty24]

Coming from a Nexus - I am very pleased with the swtich...
1. Compared to the Nexus - its leagues above (the radio). Signal is not a problem. If it has 4g, it will keep it. Not sure about the DI4G, so i cant compare them.
2. Battery is steallar. I can get 20 hours on a charge with 2-3 hrs of screen time/moderate-heavy use
3. This is probably the first phone I was pretty happy with stock - as far as launchers go. I did root mine, went to CM10, then a JB TW rom, but ended up back on stock. It seems to be the best for me (and best battery life)
4. You can typically find cases and other accessories, but like paintdrinkingpete said, its no iPhone.

 

[bigslam123]

I currently have the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE, and am considering purchasing the Samsung Galaxy S3. I do have a few questions for those of you who have the phone:

1) How is the reception? I previously had a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and was barely able to make or receive calls at my house. Is the S3 better?
2) How is battery life?
3) How is TouchWiz compared to either stock Android, or HTC's Sense? Should I use a stock launcher, such as Nova Launcher?
4) Am I correct in saying that there's plenty of accessories available? It looks like the third-party accessory selection is on par with the iPhone.

If I can think of any more questions, I'll post them here. Thank you in advance!

1- Reception is great for me. I live in MD and I have not been without 3 bars or more of 4G yet.
2- Battery life is pretty good for such a large device. I make it through the day with about 23% left at 11pm, and that is with mild to heavy use.
3- I came from Sense and I have to say that I have fallen in love with touch wiz. I was worried because all I have ever known is sense. But Touchwiz is very easy to get used to and is chocked full of useful features.
4- Accessories arent yet on par with the iphone but its close. This is thanks to Samsung releasing the same exact phone in every market.

 

[Since9600]

I use Nova Launcher because it adds great features on top of the great Touchwiz ones that I like so it's like icecream on top of cake

 

[ItnStln]

1. Reception has been fine for me. Judging by most of the posts I've read, it is considerably better than the GNex, but I've never owned a GNex to make a fair comparison...that just seems to be what folks are saying.
2. Battery life is...OK. I came from an HTC Thunderbolt before this, and the S3 is definitely better when it comes to battery. I think if you're coming from an HTC (known for not having great battery life), you won't have any problems with the S3. None the less, it's no RAZR Maxx either.
3. TW on the S3 really isn't that offensive at all. It's not quite as overwhelming as Sense, IMO -- although I never really minded Sense on HTC that much. I do use Nova Launcher on top of it, primarily to have the ability to back up and restore homescreen configs. Nova runs great on it with pretty much zero performance effects or lag that I've noticed.
4. Seems to be PLENTY of accessories. This is a very popular device on almost every US carrier and available world-wide. I don't think any android phone will have have an accessory market like the iPhone, but you should be able to find whatever you're looking for.

1) Awesome! I am glad that the reception is good. The Galaxy Nexus was barely usable where I live.
2) With the 4.8" screen, that's rather surprising about the battery life. I expected it to be less than satisfactory.
3) I like Sense, but it's good to hear that TW isn't offensive...I've been told that it is what stock Android should be. And Nova is great to back up the configurations. Does that work going from device to device?
4) I've been looking at accessories off and on for the S3, and so far have found everything that I need and would want, which is a huge plus!

Thank you very much for your reply!

 

[ItnStln]

Coming from a Nexus - I am very pleased with the swtich...
1. Compared to the Nexus - its leagues above (the radio). Signal is not a problem. If it has 4g, it will keep it. Not sure about the DI4G, so i cant compare them.
2. Battery is steallar. I can get 20 hours on a charge with 2-3 hrs of screen time/moderate-heavy use
3. This is probably the first phone I was pretty happy with stock - as far as launchers go. I did root mine, went to CM10, then a JB TW rom, but ended up back on stock. It seems to be the best for me (and best battery life)
4. You can typically find cases and other accessories, but like paintdrinkingpete said, its no iPhone.

1) GREAT! I was thinking that it was just Samsung's radios in general which were the problem...I am glad that I was wrong, and that it was just the Nexus.
2) Twenty hours isn't bad at all! How is the signal where you're at? I'm guessing that it's rather good judging by the battery life.
3) How was CM10? Was the S3 hard to root? I doubt that I will be rooting mine (if I get it), but was just curious what kind of benefits you get by rooting?
4) The only thing I really haven't seen was an armband for running, but I guess a larger-sized universal will work...and be less expensive!

Thank you for sharing your views between the Nexus and S2.

 

[ItnStln]

1- Reception is great for me. I live in MD and I have not been without 3 bars or more of 4G yet.
2- Battery life is pretty good for such a large device. I make it through the day with about 23% left at 11pm, and that is with mild to heavy use.
3- I came from Sense and I have to say that I have fallen in love with touch wiz. I was worried because all I have ever known is sense. But Touchwiz is very easy to get used to and is chocked full of useful features.
4- Accessories arent yet on par with the iphone but its close. This is thanks to Samsung releasing the same exact phone in every market.

1) Like I said before, I was thinking that all Samsung phones got poor reception because of my Nexus. I am glad that I was incorrect.
2) That is awesome battery life! Did you change any settings or use an app to enhance the battery life?
3) I will be honest, I rather like Sense. But the interface will not keep me from making the switch to this phone. TouchWiz looks rather easy to use, and I don't think I'd be disappointed with it.
4) I am glad that Samsung kept the phone the same world wide...I remember having a friend with the T-Mobile Galaxy S2, and the accessory selection was pretty limited. So I am glad that I can just find Galaxy S3 accessories, and not have to worry about it being only for the AT&T version, or the Verizon version.

Thanks for your comments!

 

[ItnStln]

Okay, so I made the jump and purchased a Samsung Galaxy S III. So far, I love it. I have two questions though:

1) Can anyone recommend a good case with a holster? I ordered the "Samsung Galaxy S III Ballistic SG MAXX" case by Ballistic. Has anyone used this case? How's it hold up? I am especially interested in the quality of the holster. I've used Otterboxes in the past, and have had no issues except for the holster.
2) Am I able to sync my contacts and calendar entries in Outlook using Samsung Kies?