Sprint S3 info (from insidesprintnow)

[seanpellis]

Yes, it acts like the iphone home button, and it launches a few other features of the phone. If you do not like a phone a with a physical home button then you should not get this phone.

It's not a deal breaker.. it's just weird and out of norm for all the other phones out there.

 

[PJnc284]

It's not a deal breaker.. it's just weird and out of norm for all the other phones out there.

The international version of the Galaxy S has always had the physical home button where the US variants previously had the 4 soft touch buttons instead. Looks like Samsung is keeping carrier hardware modifications to a minimum (besides the internal cpu/ram) this year and releasing one uniform design worldwide.

 

[seanpellis]

So is Sprint getting the quad core version? I know the canadian ones are dual core..

 

[PJnc284]

So is Sprint getting the quad core version? I know the canadian ones are dual core..

all north america versions are the S4 dual core with 2GB ram.

 

[jessesmith8888]

THE NAME IS OFFICIAL: samsung galaxy s3 epic 4g LTE battleship touch LTE 4g touch3 by samsung

 

[EVO28312]

Based on the bands the FCC reported for the Sprint version, no. The Verizon version has some GSM friendly bands so it might be somewhat of a world phone.

This blows!! I don't get it why carriers don't make big title phones sim card ready!! Seriously how hard is it keep the sim card slot intact. I really hope there is one and its just not listed.

 

[wphend00]

This blows!! I don't get it why carriers don't make big title phones sim card ready!! Seriously how hard is it keep the sim card slot intact. I really hope there is one and its just not listed.

Me thinks, that if it is LTE, it will have a sim card...
I believe Sprints' HTC ONE-X has an unremovable sim-card...
Might be the same for the S3....

Any-who, in order to be International, will need to have additional GSM\GPRS radio on board... That will be interesting, in itself...how Verizon does it... chances are, the Verizon device will either have a smaller battery, or slightly thicker case...

 

[EVO28312]

I hope your right about having a sim card. Im constantly traveling and want my gf to upgrade to the s3 as I have an EVO.

 

[Devtodi]

all north america versions are the S4 dual core with 2GB ram.

Are you sure about 2gb of ram?

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Android Central Forums

 

[Skunkape60]

Are you sure about 2gb of ram?

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Android Central Forums

Yes....

_______________
Just Flash It !!!

 

[Jmorej?n]

How much do you think the US galaxy s3 will cost? In Canada its $160 for 16gb, and India is 38,900 Rupees, which is $700 US dollars.

PRICE: Went to a Sprint store yesterday to ask what the price is. It's 200$, and will probably be that on all the major US carriers as long as you sign a two year contract. Exact price on Amazon.es is 637? plus 50? for shipping to the Americas ( Samsung Galaxy S3 Smartphone (Pantalla t?ctil Super-AMOLED de 4,8 pulgadas (12,2 cm), c?mara de 8 Megapixeles, Sistema Operativo Android) color blanco [versi?n en espa?ol]: Amazon.es: Amazon.es ). That comes out to about 840$ including shipping. It's more expensive than the ebay price of ~800$, but I don't like buying expensive tech off ebay, so this is a nice source.

THE SPRINT GALAXY S III: It's a CDMA orientated phone according to the people I asked, so you can only use it on Sprint and cannot get it to work on other carriers. They told me there is no sim card slot. After that I really stopped caring, so I didn't bother asking which bands it had to see if it could at least roam internationally (even if it is ridiculously expensive).

SPRINT CONTRACT: An unlimited plan is 110$ (for unlimited minutes, unlimited SMS and unlimited data) a month for two years, so that totals to 2840$. The early termination fee on the contract is 350$, hard. It will not go be reduced (as in, you have to complain and threaten to switch carriers) even if your contract is a month away from expiring.
^^^^^
EXPENSIVE PLAN WITH LOCKED, NON GSM PHONE

INTERNATIONAL GALAXY S III: If you order an international phone (which are all unlocked) and use it on T-mobile, it costs 630? (~800$) for the phone. I've been doing research on this the last three days, including asking multiple T-mobile sales associates. They have said that the european version will work will work on T-mobile and that they have seen a few people successfully do this and have 3G speeds (T-mobile does not have a LTE network). The corean version of the phone will probably not work, as Corea and Japan use a completely different kind of phone technology that only works in their countries.

T-MOBILE VALUE PLAN: It comes with unlimited minutes, unlimited SMS and 2gB of high speed data (the monthly4G plan with all this is 70$ per month). It costs 75$ a month with a two year contract. That totals to 2600$, which is cheaper than Sprint and AT&T. The early termination fee is AT MOST 200$ and (I think) reduces every month.
^^^^^
IF YOU WANT TO BE LOCKED TO A CARRIER AND PAY MORE, BUT WANT T-MOBILE TO HAVE ALL YOUR MONEY.

T-MOBILE MONTHLY4G (100 MINUTES, 5GB HIGH SPEED DATA): It's the best T-mobile plan valuewise (if you don't use minutes really at all). You buy it through Walmart. It's so cheap because it's a partnership between T-mobile and Walmart. The associate I spoke with said to just walk in Walmart to get this plan, as it's easier than online. In the plan you get 100 minutes, unlimited SMS and 5gB of high speed data for 30$ a month. It's a per month plan, so you can cancel at any time with no extra fees (Like in the rest of the world since phone contracts are largely illegal in Europe, the Middle East and Hispanoamerica). For the sake of comparison, let's say you use this plan for two years. That comes to a total of 1520$.
^^^^^
BEST VALUE

T-MOBILE MONTHLY 4G (UNLIMITED MINUTES, 2GB HIGH SPEED DATA): If minutes are really important to you, there is a per month plan that's a good deal, but not as good as the previous one. It has unlimited minutes, unlimited SMS and 2gB of high speed data for 60$ a month. It's a per month plan, so you can cancel at any time with no extra fees. If you are on this for two years, that comes to a total of 2240$.
^^^^^
BEST PLAN IF YOU ACTUALLY MAKE PHONE CALLS.

AT&T NATIONS UNLIMITED: I don't know what the price of the phone yet (it's not on their site), but let's say it's 200$ with a two year contract. The phone they sell has the bands to work on their LTE network, the international version and the T-mobile version don't have those bands (I point this out because this might be a make or break for some people). For unlimited minutes, unlimited messaging and 3gB of data (their next lowest data is 300mB, which is too low for a lot of people that frequent here I'd think), it costs 120$ per month for two years. That comes to a total of 3080$, more than Sprint. Early termination fee starts at 325$ and is reduced by 10$ for every month of service you complete.
^^^^^
MOST EXPENSIVE PLAN

tl;dr
Sprint Galaxy S III (unlimited everything): 2840$ over two years. Locked phone with no sim card slot. Hard 350$ early termination fee.

T-mobile sim value plan: 2600$ over two years. Unlocked phone with sim card slot. Early termination fee reduces from 200$ depending on how long you have had your phone.

T-mobile monthly4G plans (100 minutes, 5gB of high speed data): 1520$ over two years. Unlocked phone with sim card slot. No early termination fee, no contract.

T-mobile monthly4G plans (Unlimited minutes, 2gB of high speed data): 2240$ over two years. Unlocked phone with sim card slot. No early termination fee, no contract.

AT&T Galaxy S III (Unlimited nations with datapro 3gB and messaging unlimited): 3080$ over two years. Unlockable phone with sim card slot. 325$ early termination fee that falls 10$ every month.

 

[Skunkape60]

THE NAME IS OFFICIAL: samsung galaxy s3 epic 4g LTE battleship touch LTE 4g touch3 by samsung

Really??? Where did you see this. I was just on the sprint website and not a single place was the epic ever mentioned. Everywhere it was called galaxy s3.

_______________
Just Flash It !!!

 

[Sapient]

Really??? Where did you see this. I was just on the sprint website and not a single place was the epic ever mentioned. Everywhere it was called galaxy s3.

_______________
Just Flash It !!!

I'm sure that was a joke.

 

[EndlessDissent]

PRICE: Went to a Sprint store yesterday to ask what the price is. It's 200$, and will probably be that on all the major US carriers as long as you sign a two year contract. Exact price on Amazon.es is 637? plus 50? for shipping to the Americas ( Samsung Galaxy S3 Smartphone (Pantalla t?ctil Super-AMOLED de 4,8 pulgadas (12,2 cm), c?mara de 8 Megapixeles, Sistema Operativo Android) color blanco [versi?n en espa?ol]: Amazon.es: Amazon.es ). That comes out to about 840$ including shipping. It's more expensive than the ebay price of ~800$, but I don't like buying expensive tech off ebay, so this is a nice source.

THE SPRINT GALAXY S III: It's a CDMA orientated phone according to the people I asked, so you can only use it on Sprint and cannot get it to work on other carriers. They told me there is no sim card slot. After that I really stopped caring, so I didn't bother asking which bands it had to see if it could at least roam internationally (even if it is ridiculously expensive).

SPRINT CONTRACT: An unlimited plan is 110$ (for unlimited minutes, unlimited SMS and unlimited data) a month for two years, so that totals to 2840$. The early termination fee on the contract is 350$, hard. It will not go be reduced (as in, you have to complain and threaten to switch carriers) even if your contract is a month away from expiring.
^^^^^
EXPENSIVE PLAN WITH LOCKED, NON GSM PHONE

INTERNATIONAL GALAXY S III: If you order an international phone (which are all unlocked) and use it on T-mobile, it costs 630? (~800$) for the phone. I've been doing research on this the last three days, including asking multiple T-mobile sales associates. They have said that the european version will work will work on T-mobile and that they have seen a few people successfully do this and have 3G speeds (T-mobile does not have a LTE network). The corean version of the phone will probably not work, as Corea and Japan use a completely different kind of phone technology that only works in their countries.

T-MOBILE VALUE PLAN: It comes with unlimited minutes, unlimited SMS and 2gB of high speed data (the monthly4G plan with all this is 70$ per month). It costs 75$ a month with a two year contract. That totals to 2600$, which is cheaper than Sprint and AT&T. The early termination fee is AT MOST 200$ and (I think) reduces every month.
^^^^^
IF YOU WANT TO BE LOCKED TO A CARRIER AND PAY MORE, BUT WANT T-MOBILE TO HAVE ALL YOUR MONEY.

T-MOBILE MONTHLY4G (100 MINUTES, 5GB HIGH SPEED DATA): It's the best T-mobile plan valuewise (if you don't use minutes really at all). You buy it through Walmart. It's so cheap because it's a partnership between T-mobile and Walmart. The associate I spoke with said to just walk in Walmart to get this plan, as it's easier than online. In the plan you get 100 minutes, unlimited SMS and 5gB of high speed data for 30$ a month. It's a per month plan, so you can cancel at any time with no extra fees (Like in the rest of the world since phone contracts are largely illegal in Europe, the Middle East and Hispanoamerica). For the sake of comparison, let's say you use this plan for two years. That comes to a total of 1520$.
^^^^^
BEST VALUE

T-MOBILE MONTHLY 4G (UNLIMITED MINUTES, 2GB HIGH SPEED DATA): If minutes are really important to you, there is a per month plan that's a good deal, but not as good as the previous one. It has unlimited minutes, unlimited SMS and 2gB of high speed data for 60$ a month. It's a per month plan, so you can cancel at any time with no extra fees. If you are on this for two years, that comes to a total of 2240$.
^^^^^
BEST PLAN IF YOU ACTUALLY MAKE PHONE CALLS.

AT&T NATIONS UNLIMITED: I don't know what the price of the phone yet (it's not on their site), but let's say it's 200$ with a two year contract. The phone they sell has the bands to work on their LTE network, the international version and the T-mobile version don't have those bands (I point this out because this might be a make or break for some people). For unlimited minutes, unlimited messaging and 3gB of data (their next lowest data is 300mB, which is too low for a lot of people that frequent here I'd think), it costs 120$ per month for two years. That comes to a total of 3080$, more than Sprint. Early termination fee starts at 325$ and is reduced by 10$ for every month of service you complete.
^^^^^
MOST EXPENSIVE PLAN

tl;dr
Sprint Galaxy S III (unlimited everything): 2840$ over two years. Locked phone with no sim card slot. Hard 350$ early termination fee.

T-mobile sim value plan: 2600$ over two years. Unlocked phone with sim card slot. Early termination fee reduces from 200$ depending on how long you have had your phone.

T-mobile monthly4G plans (100 minutes, 5gB of high speed data): 1520$ over two years. Unlocked phone with sim card slot. No early termination fee, no contract.

T-mobile monthly4G plans (Unlimited minutes, 2gB of high speed data): 2240$ over two years. Unlocked phone with sim card slot. No early termination fee, no contract.

AT&T Galaxy S III (Unlimited nations with datapro 3gB and messaging unlimited): 3080$ over two years. Unlockable phone with sim card slot. 325$ early termination fee that falls 10$ every month.

Seems like you put a lot of work into this, but you missed a bunch of price points and details. For instance, if you get a no-contract plan from T-Mobile, you have to buy the phone at full price, which is $600. If you were using the subsidized $200 price in your calculations, the actual no-contract prices from T-Mobile will be ~$400 more, which makes them $1920 and $2640 respectively.

Also, using the Unlimited Everything plan for the Sprint price makes it seem more expensive. Very few people should get the Unlimited Everything plan, especially if most of your phone calls are to mobile phones and/or after 9 pm (or is it 7 pm on Sprint?), since every plan includes unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes and unlimited nighttime minutes. Unless you actually use your phone a lot, Sprint customers should probably go with the cheapest 450 minute plan, which brings you down to $80 per month (including the $10 smartphone fee) and a total of $2120 over 2 years. Plus, a lot of Sprint customers (like me) get discounts. My bill is around $70 per month, so I end up paying $1880 over 2 years. Judging by your comparison here, I think I'm getting a great deal with Sprint.

As for the early termination fee, unless something has changed since I got my Evo 4G (I wouldn't be surprised), the ETF does decrease each month. I specifically remember that part of the contract detailing the rate of decrease for the ETF. I don't remember the details, like the actual rate of decrease, but the ETF definitely decreases.

 

[jacker]

Really??? Where did you see this. I was just on the sprint website and not a single place was the epic ever mentioned. Everywhere it was called galaxy s3.

_______________
Just Flash It !!!

lol , people are cute when they are clueless.....

 

[aristarchus]

You migh want to check your source on early termination for sprint, it goes down $20 a month.

Learn about Early Termination Fee

 

[hoovhartid]

So if my math is correct....You can get the phone with sprint for $200 then terminate for $350 totaling $550

Why would anyone pay $800+?

Unless I could get the phone for under $500...its pointless to avoid a contract that can be broken.

and even then it just seems like less hassle to just get the phone at the carrier

 

[Skunkape60]

So if my math is correct....You can get the phone with sprint for $200 then terminate for $350 totaling $550

Why would anyone pay $800+?

Unless I could get the phone for under $500...its pointless to avoid a contract that can be broken.

and even then it just seems like less hassle to just get the phone at the carrier

The sprint version only works on sprint (from what I understand). If this is true, it would be pointless to buy the phone and terminate your contract. Unless you are using it as a wifi only device.

_______________
Just Flash It !!!

 

[sly]

Seems like you put a lot of work into this, but you missed a bunch of price points and details. For instance, if you get a no-contract plan from T-Mobile, you have to buy the phone at full price, which is $600. If you were using the subsidized $200 price in your calculations, the actual no-contract prices from T-Mobile will be ~$400 more, which makes them $1920 and $2640 respectively.

Also, using the Unlimited Everything plan for the Sprint price makes it seem more expensive. Very few people should get the Unlimited Everything plan, especially if most of your phone calls are to mobile phones and/or after 9 pm (or is it 7 pm on Sprint?), since every plan includes unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes and unlimited nighttime minutes. Unless you actually use your phone a lot, Sprint customers should probably go with the cheapest 450 minute plan, which brings you down to $80 per month (including the $10 smartphone fee) and a total of $2120 over 2 years. Plus, a lot of Sprint customers (like me) get discounts. My bill is around $70 per month, so I end up paying $1880 over 2 years. Judging by your comparison here, I think I'm getting a great deal with Sprint.

As for the early termination fee, unless something has changed since I got my Evo 4G (I wouldn't be surprised), the ETF does decrease each month. I specifically remember that part of the contract detailing the rate of decrease for the ETF. I don't remember the details, like the actual rate of decrease, but the ETF definitely decreases.

Good rundown on the numbers. But what should also be noted is that, with a prepaid plan, taxes and other fees are included. My Sprint $79.99 plan has $6.45 in additional monthly fees for a total of $154.80 over the life of the two year contract. (The amount varies depending on what state you live in)

I'm off-contract with Sprint now so I've been analyzing (read: agonizing) about what to do next. The easy answer is to stick with Sprint. The problem is Sprint's 3G speed is awful. It's like crawling through molasses. Since they seem focused on LTE, it's not likely their 3G network will see any improvement. And who knows when LTE will arrive. I'd be happy to stay with Sprint if I could get 1Mbps/500kbps. But even on a good day, I'm lucky to see 400kbps/300kbps.

Plan A: Ask a friend who's on TMO to buy a GS3 and turn around and sell it to me. My friend can stick his SIM back into his old phone. Then I sign up for a Monthly4G plan.

Plan B: Wait until the fall and see what pops up on eBay

Plan C: Buy an unlocked international GS3

Decisions, decisions.

 

[qhinton]

I was going to going to switch to T-Mobile and by the phone straight out and go prepaid. The rep at tmobile said prepaid customers can't roam and they have limited access to the 4g network. I would have to agree to 2 years to have full access which is around the same price as sprint but with less data. I'm sticking with sprint 3 phones 1200 mintiest and unlimited data for $180 to $190 is pretty good. And the ETF does go down every month.

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