Questions from a new GS3 owner

[Crispy]

My 32GB blue phone arrived today! Unfortunately I didn't have very good luck. After setting up the phone, I noticed that rotation wasn't working. I searched for this problem and tried out a bunch of solutions posted - and wasted a lot of time trying repeated reboots, pulling the battery, doing factory resets. Then I did what I should have done first, try the 'sensor test' app, which showed all the sensors were dead!

I went to the verizon store and showed them, but the nearest store with a 32GB was a long drive away. Anyway, I got my replacement, and I have some questions -

- it seems to get very hot. battery temp is 42-45C right now (using app Elixir 2), all I've done is some browsing and updating apps

- signal keeps dropping to 1x from 4G. A reboot gets it back to 4G. I'm getting speeds of 2-4.5Mbps down which are a lot lower then what I had at work.

- call volume and speaker volume are both lower than my Evo 4G

I'm most concerned about the signal drops since VZW's coverage map shows a solid 4G where I live. I expected 4-5 bars but only show 2.

I'm not trying to focus on the bad things, just trying to se if I have a bad unit again. Everything else about the phone is great so no point repeating the obvious.

 

[eric3316]

My 32GB blue phone arrived today! Unfortunately I didn't have very good luck. After setting up the phone, I noticed that rotation wasn't working. I searched for this problem and tried out a bunch of solutions posted - and wasted a lot of time trying repeated reboots, pulling the battery, doing factory resets. Then I did what I should have done first, try the 'sensor test' app, which showed all the sensors were dead!

I went to the verizon store and showed them, but the nearest store with a 32GB was a long drive away. Anyway, I got my replacement, and I have some questions -

- it seems to get very hot. battery temp is 42-45C right now (using app Elixir 2), all I've done is some browsing and updating apps

- signal keeps dropping to 1x from 4G. A reboot gets it back to 4G. I'm getting speeds of 2-4.5Mbps down which are a lot lower then what I had at work.

- call volume and speaker volume are both lower than my Evo 4G

I'm most concerned about the signal drops since VZW's coverage map shows a solid 4G where I live. I expected 4-5 bars but only show 2.

I'm not trying to focus on the bad things, just trying to se if I have a bad unit again. Everything else about the phone is great so no point repeating the obvious.

If I recall the EVO 4G speaker was extremely loud. The S3 has a pretty decent speaker though. How low is low. What are you playing? You can also try Volume + to raise the sound.

I would give it a few days to see if the device still gets hot after casual use. My phone got hot at first, especially when I was first charging it and using it. Now it runs fine. Of course of you use it a lot it will get up there.

I would not worry about how many signal bars you have. What I would worry about it connectivity issues. Also, the only way to really tell is to see how other Verizon phones are in the area. If it is a strong 4G area it should not be bouncing to 1X but it sounds like where you are might be fringy.......

If I were you I would go to the Verizon store to compare to the floor model for signal and volume. That would be my recommendation.

 

[s14tat]

If I recall the EVO 4G speaker was extremely loud. The S3 has a pretty decent speaker though. How low is low. What are you playing? You can also try Volume + to raise the sound.

I would give it a few days to see if the device still gets hot after casual use. My phone got hot at first, especially when I was first charging it and using it. Now it runs fine. Of course of you use it a lot it will get up there.

I would not worry about how many signal bars you have. What I would worry about it connectivity issues. Also, the only way to really tell is to see how other Verizon phones are in the area. If it is a strong 4G area it should not be bouncing to 1X but it sounds like where you are might be fringy.......

If I were you I would go to the Verizon store to compare to the floor model for signal and volume. That would be my recommendation.

Don't worry about the phone running hot. That is the price we pay to have such a thin phone. Putting a case on it will make not feel the heat anymore.

Now regarding the issue with reception I would compair it side by side with someone else with Verizon 4g or better yet another Verizon gs3 at work to see its your phone or the area. My work in my office I get 1x and I would get dial up speeds. I step outside which is only 15 feet away I get 2 megs down at best. I drive 2 blocks away I get 15 megs down. Everyone in my office gets horrible data speeds except for t mobile for some reason

 

[rockhopperGS3]

I would give it a few days to see if the device still gets hot after casual use. My phone got hot at first, especially when I was first charging it and using it. Now it runs fine. Of course of you use it a lot it will get up there.

I would not worry about how many signal bars you have. What I would worry about it connectivity issues. Also, the only way to really tell is to see how other Verizon phones are in the area. If it is a strong 4G area it should not be bouncing to 1X but it sounds like where you are might be fringy.......

My phone also got very hot at times for the first couple weeks and now its not as bad, and I still use it just as much. Also verizon 4g signals suck because in most areas they only have a few towers with it so you have to be close to one to get good signal and bandwith. Make sure to call verizon and let them know ur 4g sucks hopefully they would rather add more towers then field complaints about there 4g network sucking all day and night. Also theres like 4 different volume adjustsments try turning them all the way up and see if that makes a difference.