Galaxy S3, Available on 5 US carriers

[gorcorps]

16gb is plenty for even power users, but not for people who want to store movies and stuff.

That's why there's large SD cards

 

[Headcase_Fargone]

How dare they try and make money.

It's like they're trying to run a business or something.

I guess I'm just surprised that it's still cost-effective to even produce that size memory.

 

[AstroManLuca]

multiple storage can be a hassle, there are still a lot of Android apps which won't let you install to MicroSD. And nothing that uses a Widget will probably ever work running from an SD. I would take 32 gigs internal with no SD slot over 16 internal with a 64gb sd. But that's just me.

It's extremely difficult to fill up that much internal storage just with apps. The great thing about moderate internal storage + huge external storage is you can keep all your apps on the phone's internal storage, thus freeing up extra room on your SD card for movies, music, etc.

The most I've ever used was about 1.5 GB for apps, and that was on a tablet. If I really put a lot of effort into it I could probably fill up several GB of space, but I don't see any reason to as that would involve installing way more apps than I'd ever use. Plus the nice thing about using internal storage more is you can use more apps when you take your SD card out.

SD card > no SD card every time. You of all people should know this, since you use your phone for music.

It's interesting, my first Android phone was a spectacularly shitty Samsung Moment, which only had maybe 200 MB for apps. And it shipped with Android 1.5, which didn't support moving apps to the SD card. Apps to SD was such a big deal when Froyo came out because phones with such limited internal storage really needed the breathing room an SD card could provide, even if it was only a few GB (the Moment shipped with a 2 GB card). Now, internal storage has gotten so big that it's actually better NOT to move apps to the SD card.

 

[kaerflog]

It doesn't have to be a choice though is what I'm saying. Flash memory is to the point of being so inexpensive to produce that it would be trivial to include 32GB standard. But no, they want to continue charging a $50 premium for $3 more of storage.

Actually Samsung is the first to charge only $50 extra for 16gb.
Most(i.e. Apple) charges $100 from 16gb to 32gb.
Now thats a ripoff especially consumers have no choice but to pay if they want the extra 16gb.

 

[Red Storm]

They should have followed Google and just released a 32GB option. But whatever, the more important matter is that they gave a mSD slot. I dunno how HTC thought that it was a good idea not to have one.

 

[Headcase_Fargone]

I can definitely live with the 16GB limitation if I have to, provided there's a mSD slot. It's the only thing I dislike about my GN. I've been relying on Google Music as a stopgap measure, but it still sucks for TV show episodes and the like.

 

[ilkhan]

16GB+mSD is plenty for me.
Its not so much that 16GB isn't enough, its that you have *no* option if it turns out not to be.

 

[RockinZ28]

Have no idea what all the storage is for. I'm using 1gb total including the ROM out of the 2gb internal and 4gb msd card in my Tbolt.

Put the 32gb msd it came with into my tablet. I stream movies and music tho, for now....

 

[Raduque]

Have no idea what all the storage is for. I'm using 1gb total including the ROM out of the 2gb internal and 4gb msd card in my Tbolt.

Put the 32gb msd it came with into my tablet. I stream movies and music tho, for now....

On my GS2 I had 2gb (I think) of app storage, 16gb (12gb formatted) interrnal and an 8 gb mSD card. I use about 700mb of apps, 3ish gb of app data (game files mostly), 3gb of music and 4gb of pictures. I've gotten to the point where I have the camera redirecting video to the 8gb mSD card.

My GS2 is out of comission for the rest of the week, waiting for a warranty replacement, so I can't give exact numbers.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Have no idea what all the storage is for. I'm using 1gb total including the ROM out of the 2gb internal and 4gb msd card in my Tbolt.

Put the 32gb msd it came with into my tablet. I stream movies and music tho, for now....

Well some people like to keep huge music collections on their phone. I'm not one of them but for those who do, the ability to stick a 32 GB mSD card that has all (or a large portion of) their music into their phone is very useful.

Movies eat up space as well, especially if you want to take advantage of the ever-increasing screen resolution of modern phones. A full length movie ripped in 720p uses several GB.

Some games these days require a data download of several hundred MB. A few high end games on your phone will fill your SD card quickly.

It's also nice to have a few GB free in case you want to use your phone to transfer files.

 

[RockinZ28]

On my GS2 I had 2gb (I think) of app storage, 16gb (12gb formatted) interrnal and an 8 gb mSD card. I use about 700mb of apps, 3ish gb of app data (game files mostly), 3gb of music and 4gb of pictures. I've gotten to the point where I have the camera redirecting video to the 8gb mSD card.

My GS2 is out of comission for the rest of the week, waiting for a warranty replacement, so I can't give exact numbers.

Well some people like to keep huge music collections on their phone. I'm not one of them but for those who do, the ability to stick a 32 GB mSD card that has all (or a large portion of) their music into their phone is very useful.

Movies eat up space as well, especially if you want to take advantage of the ever-increasing screen resolution of modern phones. A full length movie ripped in 720p uses several GB.

Some games these days require a data download of several hundred MB. A few high end games on your phone will fill your SD card quickly.

It's also nice to have a few GB free in case you want to use your phone to transfer files.

Well guess I use my tablet for that stuff. Gaming/watching movies on a phone is pretty worthless imo unless you're hooking it up to a hdtv. Battery also dies quickly.

If I know, or even think I'll be stuck somewhere, my tablet is coming along. 10" screen, 12+ hours on battery with the keyboard dock for my Transformer, 64gb SD, 32gb mSD and 16gb internal with bluetooth ps3 controller, USB and hdmi ports. Phone is used for wireless tether until it dies. Actually I keep forgetting. Tablet should be able to at least sustain the phones battery through the usb port, but haven't tried. Don't know how fast it would drain the tablet batteries though.

4.8" 720p display on the S3 will definitely be worlds better than my Tbolt, but I'll still switch to my tablet for movies/games.

 

[Raduque]

Well guess I use my tablet for that stuff. Gaming/watching movies on a phone is pretty worthless imo unless you're hooking it up to a hdtv. Battery also dies quickly.

If I know, or even think I'll be stuck somewhere, my tablet is coming along. 10" screen, 12+ hours on battery with the keyboard dock for my Transformer, 64gb SD, 32gb mSD and 16gb internal with bluetooth ps3 controller, USB and hdmi ports. Phone is used for wireless tether until it dies. Actually I keep forgetting. Tablet should be able to at least sustain the phones battery through the usb port, but haven't tried. Don't know how fast it would drain the tablet batteries though.

4.8" 720p display on the S3 will definitely be worlds better than my Tbolt, but I'll still switch to my tablet for movies/games.

I can't walk around work watching videos or gaming on a tablet and expect to keep my job. But my bosses are fine with me popping in headphones and going about my business.

I do use my tablet for movies, but I have to remember to transcode them (Tegra2 sucks) and transfer them. I only do it if I plan to be somewhere for a couple hours and I know I'll be unoccupied. Plus, if I'm at home, why use the tablet? If I'm somewhere else and I have an unplanned delay, the phone is way more convenient to play games on; it fits in my pocket. I don't like carrying around things that don't fit in my pockets anymore.

 

[MrChad]

Is the general consensus positive on this phone? The Engadget review said it was ok, but they hated TouchWiz and said that the HTC One X was a better choice (irrelevant for me since I'm on Verizon).

My situation: I have a Droid X that is dying and I'm eligible for an upgrade. I was debating between getting a Galaxy Nexus now or waiting for an iPhone 5, but I don't think my phone will make it to the fall and the Galaxy S3 seems like it has better specs than the Galaxy Nexus.

 

[dguy6789]

Galaxy S3 >>>>>>>>>>> HTC One X. In America they have the same processor and have 720P displays of about the same size(4.7 vs 4.8 inch in favor of the GS3) but the GS3 has a SAMOLED display while the One X has LCD, 2GB of RAM vs 1GB(in GS3's favor), larger battery and it's removable(One X is not), and a microSD slot. Subjective stuff includes Touchwiz being better than Sense and Samsung phones having better support from the ROM community.

A no brainer quite honestly.

I don't expect a single phone to eclipse the Galaxy S3 until the holiday season of this year. There's almost no chance the next iPhone will beat it any metric except the GPU.(Cortex A15 will not be ready in time for it and I seriously doubt they will use a Snapdragon so it will probably use the A5X, there's no way Apple will put in 2GB of RAM, can't see Apple increasing screen size by anywhere near enough to get close to the size of the GS3, and I can't see them adding a removable battery or microSD slot)

 

[AstroManLuca]

LCD vs. SAMOLED could be advantage One X if you want to avoid a pentile display.

More RAM, removable battery, and SD card slot are all obvious advantages to the SGS3.

Sense vs. TouchWiz is a matter of opinion. Haven't heard many people say they actually PREFER TouchWiz over Sense, but neither one is great. You can always use an alternative launcher if you want it to behave more like vanilla ICS, but custom apps like phone, messaging, contacts, etc. will still be the TW/Sense versions unless you flash a custom ROM.

I'd still probably take the SGS3 over the One X given the choice. Problem is the One X (and sister phone the Evo LTE) aren't available on the carriers I want.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Sense vs. TouchWiz is a matter of opinion. Haven't heard many people say they actually PREFER TouchWiz over Sense, but neither one is great. You can always use an alternative launcher if you want it to behave more like vanilla ICS, but custom apps like phone, messaging, contacts, etc. will still be the TW/Sense versions unless you flash a custom ROM.

I wouldn't buy a phone with Sense but like Touchwiz.

I'll probably get flamed for this but I'm running stock ICS now and I kind of liked Touchwiz better, it was certainly better than stock Gingerbread. The GS3 in particular has a ton of extra functionality you can't get from stock Android or Sense.

 

[Bateluer]

It's extremely difficult to fill up that much internal storage just with apps. The great thing about moderate internal storage + huge external storage is you can keep all your apps on the phone's internal storage, thus freeing up extra room on your SD card for movies, music, etc.

I dunno, it was pretty easy to fill up my Tab 8.9 16GB with just apps, no music and no videos. :/

An SD card slow should be an essential feature for any modern, high end smartphone. And 100% essential for a tablet.

 

[ilkhan]

Sense vs. TouchWiz is a matter of opinion. Haven't heard many people say they actually PREFER TouchWiz over Sense, but neither one is great. You can always use an alternative launcher if you want it to behave more like vanilla ICS, but custom apps like phone, messaging, contacts, etc. will still be the TW/Sense versions unless you flash a custom ROM.

I'm ambivalent towards sense/touchwiz with the sole exception of loving the touchwiz clock app, which includes clock/alarm/stopwatch/timer functions in a good looking way. When I tried the .apk in a AOSP based rom it fc'd.

 

[MrChad]

Samsung had a pretty bad rep at one point for their GPS (and other?) radios. Have they gotten better in that regard?

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Samsung had a pretty bad rep at one point for their GPS (and other?) radios. Have they gotten better in that regard?

Yes, GPS was perfectly fine on the S2 and the radios in the U.S. S3 are Qualcomm.

 

[Dari]

Galaxy S3 >>>>>>>>>>> HTC One X. In America they have the same processor and have 720P displays of about the same size(4.7 vs 4.8 inch in favor of the GS3) but the GS3 has a SAMOLED display while the One X has LCD, 2GB of RAM vs 1GB(in GS3's favor), larger battery and it's removable(One X is not), and a microSD slot. Subjective stuff includes Touchwiz being better than Sense and Samsung phones having better support from the ROM community.

A no brainer quite honestly.

I don't expect a single phone to eclipse the Galaxy S3 until the holiday season of this year. There's almost no chance the next iPhone will beat it any metric except the GPU.(Cortex A15 will not be ready in time for it and I seriously doubt they will use a Snapdragon so it will probably use the A5X, there's no way Apple will put in 2GB of RAM, can't see Apple increasing screen size by anywhere near enough to get close to the size of the GS3, and I can't see them adding a removable battery or microSD slot)

The One X has a better screen. The OLED screen on the GS3 is a major deal breaker.
The GS3 has more ram but saying that's an advantage compared to an iPhone is laughable. iPhone is been buttery smooth since the beginning and I doubt the memory on the GS3 would help much.
The GS3 has a MicroSD slot, which is great but so does the One X on Sprint.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

The One X has a better screen. The OLED screen on the GS3 is a major deal breaker.
The GS3 has more ram but saying that's an advantage compared to an iPhone is laughable. iPhone is been buttery smooth since the beginning and I doubt the memory on the GS3 would help much.
The GS3 has a MicroSD slot, which is great but so does the One X on Sprint.

The Galaxy S3 has a better screen, LCD is a flawed technology and a deal breaker.

The GS3 was buttery smooth in all of the reviews so far and having more ram will clearly help multitasking.

I had a chance to pick up a One X for $100 but passed it up since I felt like it wouldn't be a worthwhile upgrade over my Galaxy S2 due to the broken multitasking, the S3 is on an entirely different level IMO.

 

[Dari]

The Galaxy S3 has a better screen, LCD is a flawed technology and a deal breaker.

The GS3 was buttery smooth in all of the reviews so far and having more ram will clearly help multitasking.

I had a chance to pick up a One X for $100 but passed it up since I felt like it wouldn't be a worthwhile upgrade over my Galaxy S2 due to the broken multitasking, the S3 is on an entirely different level IMO.

Buttery smooth on Android is one thing. Comparing it to an iPhone is completely different. As for the screen, seeing that your buddy EliteIntel has now been banned, you are the only diehard OLED fan here. But that changes nothing. Enjoy inferior technology if you like but saying LCD is "flawed" makes you look foolish.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Buttery smooth on Android is one thing. Comparing it to an iPhone is completely different. As for the screen, seeing that your buddy EliteIntel has now been banned, you are the only diehard OLED fan here. But that changes nothing. Enjoy inferior technology if you like but saying LCD is "flawed" makes you look foolish.

It can't display back, that's a pretty massive flaw. Then there is the poor response times as well.

And before you make some comeback about whites my calibrated Galaxy S2 has no problem with them.

Don't worry though I will enjoy OLED since I actually put my money where my mouth is, I've owned a Galaxy S and S2 and will likely get an S3 in the very near future. How many Xperia models have you owned again?

 

[AstroManLuca]

The GS2 has a non-pentile AMOLED screen. I have no problem with AMOLED, but the pentile matrix makes it look less sharp and more pixelated. Of course, higher resolutions somewhat mitigate that, but I would rather have an RGB matrix than a pentile one.