Samsung Galaxy S III

                      

MRP: 42500

PROS

• Most powerful Android smartphone in the market
• Brilliant display
• Good battery life, considering the power available
• We feel it is built well
• Excellent camera
• TouchWiz has evolved into the slickest UI around

CONS

·           S-Voice does not have any sense of humour

·           May be too big for some users

·           Does clearly heat up under most usage scenarios

 HTC One X’s reign as the best Android smartphone in the world was quite short-lived. The Samsung Galaxy S III has come, seen and conquered all. Well, at least our benchmark comparison sheet and our hearts!

Design & Build
People have criticized Samsung quite a bit and called the Galaxy S III plasticky. We don’t think so! The build quality has a classy feel to it. Allow us to explain. The 4.8-inch display is flanked by a very thin bezel, which inevitably helps keep the form factor within control, and that is critical considering this genre borders on the very thin line separating usable and ungainly.

There are two touch sensitive keys below the display – options and return, with the Home key being the hardware one. This one doubles up as the S-Voice and the ICS task manager key. The minimalistic design speaks loudly, so much so that when not backlit, the touch sensitive keys do not give you any indication of their presence. Above the display are what essentially looks like three tiny circles – LED notification, proximity sensor and the front facing camera. The earpiece has a silver finish to it, and a very thin border treatment to the home key as well.

This is a big screen phone, and doesn't want to hide the fact

The three circles on the front - notification LED,  proximity sensor and front camera

The 3.5mm jack on the  top panel

On the right spine is the power key, which has become a Samsung trademark! No hardware camera key, and that is sorely missed – we will get on to that a bit later. On the left spine is the volume rocker. On the top is the 3.5mm jack and on the bottom is the micro USB port. The fake aluminum frame around the phone isn’t appreciated though. That just shows disrespect to the buyer, by faking stuff. Anyone buying this phone already has made his / her peace with the plastic build, and this isn’t going to be fun to discuss at the next drinks party with friends! 

The volume rocker on the other side. No hardware camera key though

It is a Samsung trademark - power key on the side. Don't like the fake metal frame around the phone

Flip the phone over, and the enamel white finish immediately makes us compare it to the looks of the HTC One X (read our review). The Galaxy S III and the One X both have the polycarbonate finish, but the S III’s enamel finish has a bit more shine to it. In turn, that makes fingerprints quite visible, and will be prone to scratches from car keys, for example, when in the same pocket. The One X has a matte finish, and for anyone who isn’t using a protective cover or skin on the device, the One X will probably remain happier, and unblemished longer!

The Galaxy S III has more understated looks, while the One X has a slightly more aggressive tone. In both cases, the build quality is very good, with the polycarbonate present in both phones. Critical to mention that we do not agree with the so-called plasticky build quality criticisms the S III has faced all along. We had read all those criticisms, but didn’t let that have a bearing on our judgment when we first saw the Galaxy S III.

Even in the first impression story after the launch event, we had praised the build quality of the S III. Now that the review unit is here, all those who doubted my initial opinion are now becoming fans as well, having experienced the phone! The simple fact remains, just because the iPhone is aluminum doesn’t mean everyone will go the same way. If that were to be true, maybe the HTC One X should have received the same amount of criticism.