Samsung Galaxy S III - three on the top five
Samsung has managed to do what many have long been trying to do - to rivet the attention of consumers to a gadget that has not yet been released. Apple usually more than successfully copes with this, but Koreans raised such a hype for the first time, for which they have great editorial respect! What the techno-maniacs of the whole world drooled over for several months is called Galaxy S III - Samsung’s new flagship smartphone, which by its characteristics tears almost everything that exists on the market now.
Design
There were rumors that the SGS-III case will be ceramic and will heal any wounds with one touch, but in the end we have the usual, albeit very suitable plastic. After Galaxy Nexus, I personally get a little annoyed that the back cover is glossy, but the prints are not noticeable on a white background. I was asked on Twitter about scratch resistance, but, unfortunately, I only had a few hours to gadget, so I didn’t have a chance to swear it for a week with the keys in my pocket, sorry :) I decided to scrape the back with a coin: it seems that there were no traces ...
The silver edging, unfortunately, is not made of metal, but this does not particularly affect the strength. The smartphone is perfectly assembled: nothing hangs and creaks anywhere.
Samsung managed to make this 4.8-inch shovel really comfortable. Smart is thin (8.6 mm) and light (133 grams), i.e. It lies well in the pocket and sits well in the hand. However, this also gives a certain opposite effect: from the flagship you subconsciously wait for a sort of noble metal heaviness, but from S III the sensations are not at all the same. The fact that in the hands is a high-tech shtababaks, you understand only with your mind.
The location of the controls is classic for Samsung: at the top there is an audio jack, an additional microphone and a hook for the back cover. On the right is only the on / lock button. On the left is the volume control, combined into one small button. Bottom - micro-USB jack and main microphone. Under the screen on the front panel is another hardware Home button, and a pair of touch buttons: Menu and Back.
Display
The screen has a diagonal of 4.8 inches and a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. The matrix here is Super AMOLED, which makes the screen very bright and contrast. Some colleagues even asked: is this a sticker on the screen?
However, there are those who find flaws in this matrix. The fact is that this is a PenTile - an array that does not consist of “honest” RGB pixels (red, blue and green subpixels in one cell). Instead, the pixels are staggered and several neighboring dots use a common blue subpixel. There are people who see this unusual lattice, and it annoys them. And if you are one of them, the company has something to say about it. According to Samsung Marketing Manager Philip Burne, the blue subpixels in the AMOLED matrices “die” faster than others, and since there are fewer of them in the new matrix, it will generally last longer. Thus, the company takes care that the buyer does not have to change this miracle smart for something else too quickly.
Iron
So that nothing would slow down at this resolution, the hardware should be very cool. And then Samsung got too big! The S III is equipped with a quad-core Exynos processor with a clock frequency of up to 1400 MHz, a gigabyte of RAM and from 16 to 64 gigabytes of main memory. So far, we can only talk about deliveries of 16-gigabyte models to the Russian market. However, do not be upset, because "Treshka" is also equipped with a slot for micro-SD memory cards.
The Mali-400 chip is responsible for the graphics, which is clearly reflected in the tests. The new stone is so fast that smart makes all competitors test, but the graphics, nevertheless, remained at the level of Nexus.
Camera
Another notable component is the camera. 8 megapixels, flash, autofocus and a bunch of modes, including burst shooting and HDR. At present, it was possible to find fault: what, they say, 12 megapixels regretted? But ... Somehow I don’t feel like it at all, because the photomodule does its job for a solid five. Just look at the test shots.
The standard mode is quite suitable for sunny weather.
Full resolution photo.
Taking pictures while recording a movie is only possible in widescreen mode. However, the quality is OK.
Full resolution photo.
You can set serial shooting, then the smart will take 20 pictures in a couple of seconds and offer to choose the best or save everything.
Full resolution photo.
It’s convenient to make panoramas, but their software doesn’t masterly, frankly ...
Photos in full resolution.
There is a macro mode.
Full resolution photo.
Smile shutter is also available :)
Full resolution photo.
Here is a shot without HDR ...
Full resolution photo.
... but the frame is glued with software from several photos with different exposures.
Full resolution photo.
Video quality is also on par!
And here the same chip is implemented as in HTC One devices - you can take a photo while shooting a video.
Battery
One pulls the other, and so that this powerful filling does not drain the battery instantly, the battery capacity is increased to 2100 mAh, which allows us to hope for a more or less long battery life. For example, in an hour at maximum brightness of the screen (it mainly eats energy) with Wi-Fi turned on, constant performance tests and other entertainment, the charge was used up only by 10 percent. This, of course, is far from a reliable indicator, but it still allows to draw some conclusions.
Software
However, the company made the main emphasis all the same not on hardware, but on the software part. For example, Smart Stay is implemented here. Using a front-facing camera, the smartphone monitors the owner and keeps brightness on the same level, while the gaze is directed to the screen.
In addition, an analog of Apple Siri is interesting. Samsung implemented the voice control function of the gadget based on the Wolfram Alpha service called S Voice. He recognizes his voice quite well, and even when he “hears hard”, he interprets the general meaning of the phrase well. But here it all works extremely slowly. In this sense, Apple has given Samsung.
Samsung also entered into an agreement with Dropbox and each S III user is given 50 gigabytes for free. True, as in the case of the HTC share - only for two years.
Well, the fourth Android itself, on which the handset works, is covered on top with a Touch Wiz shell, which everyone has long known. At least for the short time that I spent with the gadget, I did not notice any special differences from the old versions.
Competitor
The first and main rival of SGS-III, which comes to mind, is the HTC One X. The flagship is also plastic, also white (although both models have more options: HTC has brown and Samsung has blue), which is also quad . Both smarts work on the fourth Android ICS with proprietary shells. In short, there are really many similarities, right down to the starting price. But at the same time, HTC can boast a more “expensive” design (both the case and the interface), and Samsung clearly wins in terms of power and the number of “chips”. Here it’s closer to anyone: just to go, or so without fail with checkers.
Summary
At the time of the official announcement, especially nervous comrades almost threw their caps over the gadget. Like, he didn’t live up to his expectations ... But the same situation was with the iPhone 4s, but in the end, see how it is being sold out. Here the same thing: you should not wait for a spaceship instead of a smartphone.
In my opinion, the device turned out to be very powerful and at the same time balanced, with a bunch of small, but nice chips. An official pre-order on Euroset has already been opened for it at a price of 29990. Knowing Samsung, I was waiting for a price tag of 35 kilo rubles, and in my opinion, a completely sane solution turned out!
Specifications
OS: Android 4.0.4
Processor: Samsung Exynos 4212 Quad, 1.4 GHz
Video: Mali-400
RAM: 1 GB
Main memory: 16-64 GB
Screen: 4.8 ", Super AMOLED, 1280 x 720
Communications: 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, USB 2.0
Connectors: USB 2.0, 3.5 mm audio jack
Cameras: 8 megapixels, flash, autofocus + 1.9 megapixels for video calls
Navigation: GPS, aGPS, GLONASS
Battery: 2100 mAh
Dimensions: 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm
Weight: 133 grams
Price: 29990 (preorder on the Euroset)