Hey guys, this is Austin and today I’m here with a review of the
Samsung Galaxy S3 for T-Mobile.
As one of the most anticipated
phone launches of the year there’s a lot riding on this but is it
any good?
Also be sure to stay tuned to the channel because I'm
going to be doing a giveaway of one of these bad boys here pretty
soon.
Thumbs up for that?
Okay let's just do the review.
To start
with lets go over hardware.
The Galaxy S3 is rocking a 4.8”
Super AMOLED HD screen with a resolution of 1280x720.
Technical
jargon aside it can be summed up pretty easily: the display is
huge and excellent looking.
Text is very clear and colors really
pop thanks to the 306 pixel per inch screen.
The size also gives
you tons of room for content which is a huge plus if you’re coming
from something smaller such as the iPhone.
I still like the screen
on the HTC One X more but at this point I’m basically splitting
hairs, both phones have phenomenal displays.
The Galaxy S3 comes in two
colors, blue and white.
I have the Pebble Blue variant and there are
some differences including a metal-like textured finish.
Up top is the
speaker grille, notification LED, proximity and light sensors along
with the 1.9 megapixel front facing camera.
Below you’ll find the
physical home button along with capacitive back and menu keys.
For some reason Samsung likes to put the sleep/wake button on the right
edge of the phone instead of up top like most other manufacturers.
It’s
certainly not a big deal but it is something to get used to.
On the left
side is the volume rocker and you can also see they’ve made it look like
it has a taper with the accent.
The bottom contains your MicroUSB port as
well as microphone.
Flip it around back and you’ll see the 8 megapixel
camera along with LED flash and a speaker.
One nice thing about
the Galaxy is that you can still remove the rear cover which is a feature
more phones *cough* iPhone could include.
Here you can also easily get
at the battery, MicroSIM card as well as add a MicroSD card of up to 64GB
to add more storage to the phone.
Overall I like the design.
There are a
few odd things such as the physical home button combined with two capacitive
ones and the all plastic build.
That said, being able to replace the battery
and having a MicroSIM helps a lot, it all reminds me a bit of the first
Galaxy S. It’s nothing spectacular but you won’t hear any complaints out
of me.
As far as software goes there’s a ton to cover so let’s jump right
on in.
The Galaxy S3 currently runs Android 4.0.4, AKA Ice Cream Sandwich
with the TouchWiz skin.
Generally I’m not a fan of skins for Android but I’ve
got to say TouchWiz makes a pretty good case for itself with a ton of unique
features, some a bit silly but some are generally great.
One thing Samsung
really is pushing are their new Motion features.
These allow you to do things
like call a contact by bringing the phone up to your ear.
You can also mute
the phone by flipping it over.
The calling a contact is pretty useful but
most of the others aren’t as much as they only work in specific apps instead
of system wide.
There are also other interesting features.
Smart Stay uses
the front facing camera to monitor your face to see if you’re still using
the phone and will shut off the display if you aren’t.
I expected this to
be a gimmick but honestly it works quite well for the most part and didn’t
cause any noticeable battery drain.
Pop up player is also really cool.
If
you’re watching a video in the default video player you can press a button
and the video will overlay on top of the screen and allow you to do anything
you want.
Impressively this only slows the phone down very slightly and can
be moved around anywhere on screen you want.
Probably the biggest downside
is that this doesn’t work with any other video playing apps but it’s still a
nice feature.
You’ll also find Samsung’s answer to Siri, S Voice.
What's the weather going to be like in Los Angeles tomorrow?
The forecast
for tomorrow is mostly sunny.
In general it works but the voice is pretty
grating and there’s no doubt that it just isn’t up to the accuracy or level
of functionality that Apple has gotten.
Jokes, on the other hand, it can
definitely handle.
Tell me a joke.
Okay, why did the chicken commit suicide?
To get to the other side.
The Galaxy S3 also has built-in NFC.
You can use
this to beam files from Android devices or pay for things with Google Wallet
but something pretty cool are TecTiles.
These are little NFC enabled stickers
that when you tap your phone against them they can launch an app, make a call
or change a setting.
It will cost you $15 for a pack of five but as you can
reprogram them they’re pretty neat.
There are many more additions but overall
TouchWiz does a good job of adding functionality to Android without being
bloatware.
As you can see the phone is still very responsive, right up there
among the best I’ve ever tested.
It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 System
on a Chip with a dual core 1.5GHz processor and Adreno 225 graphics just like in
the US version of the HTC One X.
Where it differentiates itself is with a whopping
2GB of RAM.
Apps tend to stay open forever and everything runs butter smooth.
The camera is pretty familiar, it’s got the same sensor from the iPhone 4S.
Needless to say it’s excellent as far as smartphone cameras go and it’s also
backed up by solid software.
The camera app is quick and has some cool features
including Burst Shot to take up to 20 pictures in just a couple seconds as well
as being able to snap 6 megapixel stills while recording 1080p video.
[video demo]
All right so I am now recording using the front facing camera on the Galaxy S3.
So as you guys can see here the quality is not half bad, unlike my hair.
Anyway
it is a 1.9 megapixel shooter so of course you can take stills as well as this
720p video.
Now while it's definitely nothing amazing for a front facing camera
it is not half bad at all.
It's going to be more than enough for Skype, for
Google+ chats and you know, checking your hair out in the mirror?
The Galaxy S3 is available on all of the major US carriers including AT&T,
T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon and US Cellular.
I’m taking a look at the T-Mobile
version however they are all identical beyond a few preloaded apps and the
respective networks that they support.
T-Mobile relies on HSPA+ whereas the rest
come with LTE.
I’ll be taking a look at a Verizon model soon to see how LTE impacts
battery life but with this I was about to get through a day of usage without any
issue whatsoever.
Speaking of cellular the Galaxy S3 does a perfectly respectable
job.
I have poor T-Mobile service in my area but the S3 was able to hold on to a
signal very well and call quality was really quite good.
There’s a lot to be said about the Samsung Galaxy S3.
Let’s start with what I don’t
like, which is a pretty small list.
S Voice is underwhelming, the build quality is
good but nothing spectacular and I still find Android lacking in a few minor areas
compared to iOS.
On the other hand the screen is great, the speed is top notch,
the battery is good enough and I found that the camera was absolutely excellent.
It may not be perfect but I can honestly say that the Galaxy S3 has now surpassed
the HTC One X as my favorite phone out there: it really is that good.
If you guys enjoyed this video definitely be sure to leave it a thumbs up and if
you’re interested in more videos like this, including
a giveaway, definitely be sure to subscribe!