Samsung Galaxy S III i9300 Full Review

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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Following our live review at the Samsung Galaxy S III launch, we were given the device once again for a deeper test for the enthusiastic reader.

The Samsung Galaxy brand is now commonly known as the Android line-up from the South Korean manufacturer, with the Galaxy S series representing the very top of the range. Smartphones owners always expect it to bring the very latest in the market, and Apple itself plans the iPhone around what Samsung could possibly bring.

The Galaxy S III, also known as the model i9300, is no exception. It builds on what the Galaxy S II i9100 brought, with a larger 4.8″ touchscreen display versus the 4.3″ on the older model, an improved resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels (HD) instead of 480 x 800 pixels, Bluetooth 4.0 over 3.0, NFC, HD video recording via the front camera, added GLONASS support instead of just GPS, a barometer, S Voice competing against Siri, a larger battery with 2100mAh in capacity versus 1900mAh, and of course, the quad-core processor with 1.4GHz in clockspeed against the dual-core 1.2GHz model. Unfortunately the RAM remains the same with just 1GB.

Samsung didn’t limit itself to simple hardware tweaks, S Voice, as described above, is a competitor to Siri, just in case customers felt double-minded about a possible purchase. There’s also a free 50GB account being offered for Dropbox usage, with Samsung choosing this popular service instead of a potential cloud storage solution of its own.

The competitors to these devices are the iPhone 4S, the HTC One X, LG Optimus 4X HD, the Nokia Lumia 900 and the Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX. In a very short comparison, we can determine that the iPhone is known for its reliability, but it lacks the quad-core processor that comes on the Galaxy S III. The HTC One X’s processor is slightly faster than that of the Samsung model, but given that Samsung has boosted the software with its eye-tracking and S Voice, the difference in features becomes almost negligible. The Windows Phone-powered Lumia 900 has a single -core processor, way slower than the Galaxy S III, but given the lack of faster devices powered by Microsoft’s operating system, it is one of the few alternatives for users who wish to own a Windows Phone rather than Android or other operating systems. Lastly, the DROID RAZR MAXX has a dual-core processor only, but tests have confirmed that it is one of longest-lasting smartphones in the market, so if uptime is an important factor, this is a device to look at.

Please follow our hardware, software, and camera sections to learn more about phone, or skip to the conclusion to note the Samsung Galaxy S III rating given by us, including the advantages and disadvantages we’ve encountered.

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