Samsung Galaxy S3 and HTC One X Comparison Thread

[cronos]

You know, if Samsung had just kept the design like its predecessors, alot more people would be salivating over the SG3 including myself.

...and Apple

 

[T_Yamamoto]

If I recall correctly, the LTE radios on the Motorola Droid Bionic was complete shit.
There were numerous posters complaining about it here with posts filled with them.
I believe one of the former Droid Bionic owners was Anubis, who now owns a Galaxy Nexus.
I think the RAZR and RAZR MAXX LTE radios were good because I don't see much complaints about them. Maybe the lack of complaints is because Motorola fixed the issue with their radios? Or maybe the lack of complaints are due to the scarcity of the device? Does anyone of us tech geeks/snobs(saying it in a good way) on AT even own those? I would imagine most people have the Galaxy Nexus, Rezound, Droid Bionic, Thunderbolt, Droid Charge.

To say that Motorola makes the best radios would be quite a stretch. Are you speaking based on facts or emotion? I suspect the later.
Qualcomm still makes the best LTE radios AFAIK.

How can that be?
The Samsung Stratosphere uses the Samsung CMC220 LTE baseband radio.
The Samsung Galaxy Nexus uses the Samsung CMC221 LTE baseband radio.
Both are Samsung LTE radios but yet your brother seems satisfied with the Samsung Stratosphere radio performance.

AFAIK, the leaked radios that Verizon has yet to publicly release solved the problems for most people and some have testified that it does in the 4.0.4 update thread in this subforum.
Since you're always telling others to root their phone, I'll tell you root your own phone and install the leaked radios.

I rooted it and installed the OFFICIAL 4.0.4 radios, but didn't help.
My Droid 1 never dropped bars, maybe thats why. But Motorola better make the next Nexus device.
I never said my brother was satisfied with his radio performance, its just I lose signal and he doesn't (ever).
I don't just mean the LTE radios, I mean the radios in general. I go from 4 bars to out of service in random areas.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I rooted it and installed the OFFICIAL 4.0.4 radios, but didn't help.
My Droid 1 never dropped bars, maybe thats why. But Motorola better make the next Nexus device.
I never said my brother was satisfied with his radio performance, its just I lose signal and he doesn't (ever).
I don't just mean the LTE radios, I mean the radios in general. I go from 4 bars to out of service in random areas.

I have to agree with this. My Samsung Nexus S drops reception very easily. Worse than the iPhone.

My Motorola Milestone is #1. Will hold onto reception even with terrible SNR and 0 bars. I can get 1-2 bars with the Milestone but no signal on my Nexus S. And before you start yelling at me about SNR and bars, CM7 normalizes that crap. It's only useless to compare across manufacturer OSes and skins.

Meanwhile my SGS2 is certainly better, than the Nexus S but not that much better.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I rooted it and installed the OFFICIAL 4.0.4 radios, but didn't help.
My Droid 1 never dropped bars, maybe thats why. But Motorola better make the next Nexus device.
I never said my brother was satisfied with his radio performance, its just I lose signal and he doesn't (ever).
I don't just mean the LTE radios, I mean the radios in general. I go from 4 bars to out of service in random areas.

Motorola would be a horrible choice for a Nexus device. Samsung makes SoC's cameras, flash, displays, and batteries while Moto just designs devices using those components. Since Google already dictates a lot of the design and features Motorola adds nothing of value to the product.

 

[dguy6789]

Motorola devices have the best build quality and the best reception of all phones on the market. Why would they be a horrible choice?

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Motorola devices have the best build quality and the best reception of all phones on the market. Why would they be a horrible choice?

Because nearly everyone will be using Qualcomm LTE radios and no Samsung = no latest generation AMOLED displays. Every single Nexus has had a AMOLED display and if Google wants to continue with that Samsung is the only choice.

 

[ITHURTSWHENIP]

Hopefully the multiple Nexus devices rumour will be true and we wont have to argue about this as everyone can pick the phone they want

 

[vshah]

How many reviews are there of the S3 vs the One X, most I've seen are previews. The only one I've seen was the one from GSM arena. They did say the HTC screen had a slight edge, but the S3 had better sunlight legibility.

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_iii_vs_htc_one_x-review-759.php

from the Verge review:

As keen as I am to consign the RGBG Pentile subpixel arrangement to the annals of history, the fact is that Samsung’s use of it in the Galaxy S III is not something that negatively impacts the user experience. If you try hard, you will be able to spot evidence of the Pentile matrix affecting the smoothness of fine edges, but that’s only of academic importance. This 4.8-inch display can be held up proudly alongside most other AMOLED panels. Sadly, while that may have been a great compliment a year or two ago, the quality and viewing angles of AMOLED have recently been bypassed by refinements in LCD technology. HTC’s One X is the standout demonstration of that — offering unrivalled clarity, color balance, and viewing angles. In all of those respects, the Galaxy S III is one or two tiers below the One X: its display has the usual blue tinge characteristic of AMOLED displays, which gets worse as you begin to look at it off-center.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/25/3042640/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-review

 

[Puddle Jumper]

from the Verge review:



http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/25/3042640/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-review

The Verge doesn't actually test displays using any sort of scientific or objective process, all they give are opinions which often conflict with reality. Their statement that the One X has a better display is no more valid than the opposite statement by the op.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

The Verge doesn't actually test displays using any sort of scientific or objective process, all they give are opinions which often conflict with reality. Their statement that the One X has a better display is no more valid than the opposite statement by the op.

sure, but those observations by the Verge are typically better than the stupid users here who scream something like "LCD tech is outdated"

Based on what? Seeing their SGS2 face up against an iPhone 4? Yeah. It's easy to say your SAMOLED screen is better, but at least the Verge did a heads up comparison and noted different comparisons.

Those who claim SAMOLED+ is great are basing it purely off the GNex, and they've compared it against older phones. Very few people here have actually compared it heads up against an HTC One X and said the One X completely flat out sucks. No one's said that yet.

 

[Red Storm]

I'd take the S3 over the One X. Based on looks, performance, and features.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

You're out of your mind if you think the sgs3 build quality is better than HTC's unibody OneX.

Lol this is also what made me think he's a Samsung fan boy, possibly employee.

 

[fstime]

Samsungs have always been the cheapest feeling phones in the android market.

 

[Dari]

The Verge doesn't actually test displays using any sort of scientific or objective process, all they give are opinions which often conflict with reality. Their statement that the One X has a better display is no more valid than the opposite statement by the op.

Scientific? lol. Is that bluish/greenish/purplish "white" on OLED screens scientific to you?

Because nearly everyone will be using Qualcomm LTE radios and no Samsung = no latest generation AMOLED displays. Every single Nexus has had a AMOLED display and if Google wants to continue with that Samsung is the only choice.

latest AMOLED, lolololol. They suck donkey balls. The whites are awful. I hope someone else takes OLED to another level because the whites from Samsung are shitty.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Scientific? lol. Is that bluish/greenish/purplish "white" on OLED screens scientific to you?



latest AMOLED, lolololol. They suck donkey balls. The whites are awful. I hope someone else takes OLED to another level because the whites from Samsung are shitty.

But the thing is with some calibration you should be fine. I said this when I saw my friend's Nexus S and mine. I had a calibrated one with Voodoo color and I'd say images looked gorgeous. Looking at him when he read his gmail, I could see the awful blue tint.

I could say the same about the GNex. My SGS2 looked beautiful against his but his GNex looked fugly. But given how my Nexus S calibrated decently, I'm sure you could achieve the same.

But who really cares at the end of the day? People think their GNexes rock, but everytime I see them open their email it just looks HORRIBLE.

 

[Dari]

But the thing is with some calibration you should be fine. I said this when I saw my friend's Nexus S and mine. I had a calibrated one with Voodoo color and I'd say images looked gorgeous. Looking at him when he read his gmail, I could see the awful blue tint.

I could say the same about the GNex. My SGS2 looked beautiful against his but his GNex looked fugly. But given how my Nexus S calibrated decently, I'm sure you could achieve the same.

But who really cares at the end of the day? People think their GNexes rock, but everytime I see them open their email it just looks HORRIBLE.

I'm sure you're right. But I'm just tired of hearinb about how OLED is superior to LCD. My eyes disagree. It's like they substituted a great black for a shitty white. I hope OLED eventually overcomes this limitation but it really irks me. Also, I keep my phone for years so dying pixels would be a huge concern for me. I guess it does not matter to those who sell their phones to others since it's not their problem anymore but it sucks to know that the pixels WILL die leaving you with just 2 primary colors.

 

[dguy6789]

It's not just blacks. Reds, greens, and blues(every single color except white actually) all look better on AMOLED than they do on LCD. Don't forget superior viewing angles and superior response times. LCD apologists remind me of way back when CRT fans said LCD would never catch on and how terrible LCD was.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

It's not just blacks. Reds, greens, and blues(every single color except white actually) all look better on AMOLED than they do on LCD. Don't forget superior viewing angles and superior response times. LCD apologists remind me of way back when CRT fans said LCD would never catch on and how terrible LCD was.

They look better because your eyes like exaggerated colors. That's great and all but if you give mainstream consumers exaggerated colors of course they love it. Look at glossy screens vs matte screens. It's a consumer thing. Beats audio? Exaggerated bass?

I mean come on. CRTs held on for a LONG time because of response time issues and color calibration. Thankfully today we have something for everyone:

- TN panels: people who just care about fast response times but enjoy shitty colors and ugly screens.
- PVA panels: people who want a balance
- S-IPS: people who want good colors
- H-IPS: people who want even better colors and good viewing angles
- P-IPS: people who want fucking good colors with good viewing angles and have $$$$ to throw

We're not LCD apologists. You're just eager to embrace SAMOLED, which is cool and all, but it doesn't mean LCD technology is bad. I have an SAMOLED+ screen and I love it, but I wouldn't dismiss SLCD technology.

I hear viewing angle as an argument all the time, and honestly not many screens today forbid you to look at an angle. As long as I can look at a 45 degree angle that's great, but touting 178 degree viewing angle is ridiculous. Who really uses their phone like that?

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5779/htc-one-x-for-att-review/6

The HTC One X does just fine in viewing angle. Maybe it's not 178 degree for your taste, but does it honestly matter?

Furthermore the point of SLCD technology is to have a balanced approach:
- Improved blacks compared to previous generations. SLCD2 continues to improve over SLCD1 which is huge over regular LCD.
- Viewing angles are improved. Better than regular IPS panels like the iPhone
- Much better outdoor visibility than any SAMOLED screen.

You point out SAMOLED winning simply because of colors. There's advantages and disadvantages of both. SLCD2 isn't going to be your winner in everything. Heck it isn't except maybe outdoor reading.

Just like some people want a car they can take 0-60 in sub 4 seconds. But for others they can live with one that does it in 6 seconds and can be a daily driver. Don't bash SLCD for that though.

 

[QueBert]

It's not just blacks. Reds, greens, and blues(every single color except white actually) all look better on AMOLED than they do on LCD. Don't forget superior viewing angles and superior response times. LCD apologists remind me of way back when CRT fans said LCD would never catch on and how terrible LCD was.

LCD caught on because of it's size and lower power consumption, if IQ had been the main factor CRT would still be around. My 22" Trintron CRT still looks better than any LCD out there. I'm about to take it to an old school TV repair shop in LA and have the tube brought back to as close to 100% as it can be. Space is a non factor for me, all I care about is IQ, so I'll have my CRT until something besides LCD comes along.

AMOLED doesn't look better than the screen on the One X, I owned a One X and currently own an AMOLED phone. AMOLED looks bright and has better blacks, that's about it. The whites never look white to me, and the good black thing is overrated imho because 99% of what I'm doing on my phone I never see black outside of text. And while the blacks are better on AMOLED, they're better on SLCD than whites are on a AMOLED. As for viewing angles on a cell phone? I don't see how this is even a point to make for them. I always view my phone from the same angle, this should be a non factor to everyone. I've never seen a person trying to view a cell phone from some weird directly from the side angle *shrug*

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Scientific? lol. Is that bluish/greenish/purplish "white" on OLED screens scientific to you?



latest AMOLED, lolololol. They suck donkey balls. The whites are awful. I hope someone else takes OLED to another level because the whites from Samsung are shitty.

We get it already, you hate Samsung and will say whatever it takes to support that point.

I don't care what anyone says about a screen unless they can provide evidence to back it up, based on past threads it's clear some people don't see things remotely like the rest of us.

 

[lothar]

I rooted it and installed the OFFICIAL 4.0.4 radios, but didn't help.
My Droid 1 never dropped bars, maybe thats why. But Motorola better make the next Nexus device.
I never said my brother was satisfied with his radio performance, its just I lose signal and he doesn't (ever).
I don't just mean the LTE radios, I mean the radios in general. I go from 4 bars to out of service in random areas.

So your brother never ever loses signal, but his Samsung Stratosphere uses the Samsung CMC220 LTE baseband radio.
So much for Samsung's crappy radios I guess?

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Lol this is also what made me think he's a Samsung fan boy, possibly employee.

To be honest unibody or not the One X just felt like a plastic phone to me. I haven't held a GS3 yet obviously but it's not inconceivable that it would be nicer than the One X.

 

[EliteIntel]

The HTC One X does just fine in viewing angle. Maybe it's not 178 degree for your taste, but does it honestly matter?

Furthermore the point of SLCD technology is to have a balanced approach:
- Improved blacks compared to previous generations. SLCD2 continues to improve over SLCD1 which is huge over regular LCD.
- Viewing angles are improved. Better than regular IPS panels like the iPhone
- Much better outdoor visibility than any SAMOLED screen.

You point out SAMOLED winning simply because of colors. There's advantages and disadvantages of both. SLCD2 isn't going to be your winner in everything. Heck it isn't except maybe outdoor reading.

Just like some people want a car they can take 0-60 in sub 4 seconds. But for others they can live with one that does it in 6 seconds and can be a daily driver. Don't bash SLCD for that though.

You're wrong with the outdoor visibility. The Super AMOLED screen of the Samsung Galaxy S3 has better outdoor visibility than the HTC One X according to GSM.

Super AMOLED screens have brighter colors which are more vibrant. That's the main advantage of Super AMOLED screens.

Yes, Super AMOLED does have a very slight blue tinge in the whites, but it also has superior blacks compared to LCD. It's a fair trade, IMO. I'd rather have better blacks because text appears crisper and is easier to read.

 

[Dari]

You're wrong with the outdoor visibility. The Super AMOLED screen of the Samsung Galaxy S3 has better outdoor visibility than the HTC One X according to GSM.

Super AMOLED screens have brighter colors which are more vibrant. That's the main advantage of Super AMOLED screens.

Yes, Super AMOLED does have a very slight blue tinge in the whites, but it also has superior blacks compared to LCD. It's a fair trade, IMO. I'd rather have better blacks because text appears crisper and is easier to read.

Why do you keep mentioning GSMarena? Also, who wants bluish/purplish/orange skies?

 

[WelshBloke]

Why do you keep mentioning GSMarena?...

What's wrong with GSMarena?