US Cellular SGSIII First Impressions/User Reviews

[Paul627g]

Hello everyone,

The purpose of this thread, is to hear members thoughts & opinions on how the Samsung Galaxy S III stacks up amongst a suggested list of attributes:

• Aesthetics
• Screen
• Hardware
• Phone - including bluetooth & speakerphone usage
• Overall User Interface (including TouchWiz)
• Widgets
• Signal quality (Compared to other devices)
• GPS
• Social Networking
• Email/Calendar
• Battery Life
• Performance
• Media (music, movies, DLNA)
• Keyboard's
• Camera (both still & video)
• How the Galaxy S III compares to your previous smartphone (if applicable)
• Disappointments (if any)

Feel free to provide as little or as much detail as possible, while trying to make it as useful as possible. Hopefully this will help others who are considering the Galaxy S III, but would like to hear some user feedback first. Also, please do not review the Galaxy S III prior to having one

And if you read a review that you found helpful, please use the Thanks button to show them your appreciation!

 

[tsims10s]

After twenty-four hours with this phone I'll say that it's the best I've ever owned. I came from a Palm Pre, then an HTC Evo, then a Nexus S 4G, then a Galaxy S II...and my new S3 has given me tremendous satisfaction so far. The 4G network on USCellular is impressive as well!

 

[klinger1]

Having an issue on transfer apps to SD card!!

 

[SiNafey]

Galaxy S3 is awesome i love the sleek look and get plenty of ooos and ahhhs as i pull it out. some people dont like how big it is but i love it. the speed is nice and its great to really be outdoing my girlfriends iphone4

 

[jdennysgirl]

I waited a long time for my S3 and couldn't be happier! I love the big screen and the speed! I have had it a few days now and I find something new about it every day. I just came of the Galaxy S and now after getting this phone, I will more than likely stick with the Samsungs. I love them both. I highly recommend this phone!

 

[jokout1]

after a more standard use day it looks as if the S3 is pretty similar to my S2 with similar usage...I am thinking this will improve some as the phone/battery get some charge cycles on them and I become a bit more knowledgable of the S3. I'm sure there are going to be tweeks I can make as I tune this device more to my liking and decide what little features I keep...they seem to be everywhere in this UI with some being very useful and some being just fluff!
At this point about 13hr into my day the S3 stands at 31% remaining with the heaviest useage hours behind me

Cheers

 

[jokout1]

side note...something a bit diferent with the S3 that I haven't seen before is the highest battery useage comes from "cell standby"!? I supposedly have 4G/LTE turned off since I'm not in a coverage area so I'm a bit puzzled by this...the screen was always the biggest power hog on my S2 and mesmerize so do I really have 4G turned off or is this something different with ICS?

Cheers

 

[mkm1126]

side note...something a bit diferent with the S3 that I haven't seen before is the highest battery useage comes from "cell standby"!? I supposedly have 4G/LTE turned off since I'm not in a coverage area so I'm a bit puzzled by this...the screen was always the biggest power hog on my S2 and mesmerize so do I really have 4G turned off or is this something different with ICS?

Cheers

+1. I've noticed the same thing.....anyone have any ideas?

 

[Kevin Harvell]

Try turning off the S-voice so that it does not keep looking for your "wake up" sentance.

I am still trying to dial my phone in to my daily habits myself.

 

[anon(181017)]

There's a thread on the "cell standby" battery usage in either the main S3 forum or the Verizon one, can't remember for sure. Basically there is just an error in the code somewhere that is off by one decimal place and causes the phone to grossly miscalculate how much power it is using. It's not ACTUALLY using that much though. I believe one of the carriers has already released an update with a fix, I would assume all carriers will include the fix in their eventual updates...

 

[anon(181017)]

Would anyone mind running a speedtest on 4G, and post your results? I'm averaging around 10 Mbps down and 7 Mbps up with Verizon, although I've hit over 40 down a couple times. I'm interested in how the networks compare on equivalent phones, I may be recommending US Cellular and the SGSIII to a couple people.

 

[mkm1126]

Would anyone mind running a speedtest on 4G, and post your results? I'm averaging around 10 Mbps down and 7 Mbps up with Verizon, although I've hit over 40 down a couple times. I'm interested in how the networks compare on equivalent phones, I may be recommending US Cellular and the SGSIII to a couple people.

My latest . . . I know many are reporting much better, but I can live with it. I am on the edge of the service area....I think it will get better as they expand coverage.

 

[rich crandall]

I really don’t like my GSIII !!!!!!!!!! This is my first smart phones and I do not know how to use it after 30 hours with my Samsung. My old ( less than a year old) LG is much easier to use. I will report back after I ponder through this handy quick start manual.

 

[Invader3K]

My wife and I got a pair of Galaxy S III's on Friday. We were both Blackberry users for the past several years. She had a badly outdated Curve that was on its last legs, and it was time for her to upgrade. Actually, we found out we were both eligible to upgrade. I had been using a Torch 9850 for about a year (got it the day it came out on US Cellular). At first I really liked the Torch, but for the past few weeks it had been starting to annoy me, due to needing frequent battery pulls and being slow in general.

The Galaxy is an awesome phone. Very thin and surprisingly light, even with the Body Glove case I got for it. I've been bouncing from app to app on this thing, and it doesn't show any signs of slowing down. It's nice to have a phone with a plethora of current apps available (something the Blackberry platform is way behind on). Android used to have a reputation for not being a "business phone", but so far its been handling my emails and documents just fine.

I will say that the battery life seems a bit on the weaker side (though not horrible). I think it's just going to be one of those phones where you need to plan on doing a mid-day charge either at work or in the car. I have been using it quite a bit the past two days though, so I may be draining the battery more quickly than normal.

Overall I'm extremely happy with this purchase so far. This is my first Android phone, and so far I have no qualms about the OS at all.

 

[anon(181017)]

My latest . . . I know many are reporting much better, but I can live with it. I am on the edge of the service area....I think it will get better as they expand coverage.

Click to view quoted image

I pulled about 7.5 down and 5.5 up on the demo S3 at the USCellular store on Mills Civic near Jordan Creek, helping my sister look at phones. So, not terrible, definitely functional. Hoping it would maybe be a little faster at times, but can definitely get by with that. As a comparison I pulled 1.5 down on the S2 next to it, which I thought was pretty good for 3G.

 

[Road Rash]

I've seen 14 down and 10 up but that was with a strong signal. The 4G coverage where I live/work is spotty at best with US cellular but after 5 days with the S3 it is by far the best phone I've owned.

 

[fishoutofh2o]

Has there been a fix to the battery usage on the screen?? Mine says my screen uses about 18%......

 

[hrdnhvy]

I couldnt wait for my VZW contract to expire, so I could jump on USCC, in this area (WI) USCC cant be beat, on VZW i would have data & call drops all the time, so far on USCC not a single data or call drop, 3g speeds are a bit slow but first & foremeost I needed a stable phone signal, all the carries get in a pissing match on whos data speeds are the fastest, that does me no good if I cant even make a call & with VZW S3 I was lucky if I could even make a ph call from home, I know alot of it is to do with location, as far as my location goes, USCC S3 kills vzw.

- - - Updated - - -

I couldnt wait for my VZW contract to expire, so I could jump on USCC, in this area (WI) USCC cant be beat, on VZW i would have data & call drops all the time, so far on USCC not a single data or call drop, 3g speeds are a bit slow but first & foremeost I needed a stable phone signal, all the carries get in a pissing match on whos data speeds are the fastest, that does me no good if I cant even make a call & with VZW S3 I was lucky if I could even make a ph call from home, I know alot of it is to do with location, as far as my location goes, USCC S3 kills vzw.

 

[mitsubishiman]

Worst mistake I ever made.
Purchased the S3 on December 1, 2012, should have returned it the next day, I live in a rural area, I am dropping calls at the rate of five a day, I have zero reception in my house, I went to a larger city and in a super wal mart I have zero reception, the phone has been replaced once, I have spent over one hundred hours with the store I bought it at, Samsung and us cellular, an engineer at usc actually told me the phone I had before a galaxy S was a better reception model than the new S3, he took one look at my area and said I am surprised you get any calls at all. It is my work cell phone and I am to the point that all I use it for is to look up my contacts and call them on a land line.
I am in the process of switching to another provider and will never own another Samsung phone again.
If you live in a rural area ? do not get this phone.

 

[HipKat]

Just got mine USCC GS3 yesterday, and after 3 years on the Evo, it's an awesome phone. And I always loved how easy Samsung phonesare to root.
I'm pretty disappointed that XDA doesn't have really ANY support for the USCC S3, but I guess I can make AC my new home.