Samsung Galaxy S3 Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Quez]

If you are in the market for a smartphone right now I would suggest waiting to see what the quadcores are like. I think HTC is going to announce a 5in on the 19th. Do we need a quadcore device right now? Probably not, but who knows what we are going to be using our devices for in a year. I would imagine we could be plugging them into monitors much more. I would expect the quadcore might come in handy when the software developers actually start writing code that can actually utilize more cores. Right now nobody is really doing that, and current quadcore devices aren't better than the new dualcores. No doubt about it the majority of new devices will have quadcores from this point forward. I personally would rather have the hardware in place to handle the software when they catch up. With cell phone contracts you really have to be looking 2 years out

 

[No. 16]

If you are in the market for a smartphone right now I would suggest waiting to see what the quadcores are like. I think HTC is going to announce a 5in on the 19th. Do we need a quadcore device right now? Probably not, but who knows what we are going to be using our devices for in a year. I would imagine we could be plugging them into monitors much more. I would expect the quadcore might come in handy when the software developers actually start writing code that can actually utilize more cores. Right now nobody is really doing that, and current quadcore devices aren't better than the new dualcores. No doubt about it the majority of new devices will have quadcores from this point forward. I personally would rather have the hardware in place to handle the software when they catch up. With cell phone contracts you really have to be looking 2 years out

Sadly, I think this is where Apple sets the curve. Most companies won't start developing for quadcores until Apple starts putting quadcore iPhones because of their large market share. With that in mind people who buy quadcores this round will be safe.

 

[SHIZNITTTT]

Sorry didn't dive into this thread until today. I was looking at the Samsung Note. http://cdn.androidcommunity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/samsung-note-hands-on-ac-02-slashgear1-540x359.jpg we seem to go through some down time at work and this would be nice to surf the net. Anyone have one of these devices? Pros or Cons to the device. TIA

Was going to wait for the Iphone 5 but, after seeing a guy at work with one of these I thought this may be the way to go

 

[drummer]

Will the S3 get owned today?

Resolved: not even close.

True. It's a tie, but iPhone wins on software and battery life. But not by much.

Hmmm, are you sure about battery life? http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/apple-iphone-5-vs-samsung-galaxy-s3-spec-showdown/This chart is showing that on paper the S3 has a better battery life.Either way, for someone like you Otis it doesn't make a ton of sense to switch from Apple, you are (or at least seem) very integrated into their ecosystem and having an iPhone makes sense.The S3 is the better phone, really no doubt about that, but for most of the Apple crowd keeping the iPhone is logical.

What else makes it 'no doubt' better? I saw No. 16's review, but he didn't say it was hands down better. I'm genuinely curious why some of you feel this way (as an iphone4 owner looking to upgrade).

Hardware wise these latest batch of phones are so similar since no one went QuadCore. Whatever phone you get between the S3, HTC One X, and iPhone 5 will be pretty good. I think people feel who feel more passionately that the S3 is a "better" phone is mostly based on the the preference towards the Android operating system. Now that I'm on it... I LOVE IT. Again just a matter of preference: customization vs. ease of use. Part of it could also stem for the "there first" attitude that Android phones have had many of the "new" features of the iPhone 5 for sometime now. Like the previous poster mentiond, Apple used to be at the forefront of hardware/features...now they're just focused on refining the iPhone (can't really blame them as I don't see how smartphones can make major leaps from here on out).If you're not tied to the Apple ecosystem, I'd suggest you give the S3 a honest shot.

How much left does the S2 have in the cycle? That's still a great device, and is available on pre-paid now.ETA: as far as handling updates for Android.

 

[Wingnut]

Will the S3 get owned today?

Resolved: not even close.

True. It's a tie, but iPhone wins on software and battery life. But not by much.

Hmmm, are you sure about battery life? http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/apple-iphone-5-vs-samsung-galaxy-s3-spec-showdown/This chart is showing that on paper the S3 has a better battery life.Either way, for someone like you Otis it doesn't make a ton of sense to switch from Apple, you are (or at least seem) very integrated into their ecosystem and having an iPhone makes sense.The S3 is the better phone, really no doubt about that, but for most of the Apple crowd keeping the iPhone is logical.

What else makes it 'no doubt' better? I saw No. 16's review, but he didn't say it was hands down better. I'm genuinely curious why some of you feel this way (as an iphone4 owner looking to upgrade).

Hardware wise these latest batch of phones are so similar since no one went QuadCore. Whatever phone you get between the S3, HTC One X, and iPhone 5 will be pretty good. I think people feel who feel more passionately that the S3 is a "better" phone is mostly based on the the preference towards the Android operating system. Now that I'm on it... I LOVE IT. Again just a matter of preference: customization vs. ease of use. Part of it could also stem for the "there first" attitude that Android phones have had many of the "new" features of the iPhone 5 for sometime now. Like the previous poster mentiond, Apple used to be at the forefront of hardware/features...now they're just focused on refining the iPhone (can't really blame them as I don't see how smartphones can make major leaps from here on out).If you're not tied to the Apple ecosystem, I'd suggest you give the S3 a honest shot.

How much left does the S2 have in the cycle? That's still a great device, and is available on pre-paid now.ETA: as far as handling updates for Android.

I don't know, but I'm riding my S2 as far as it will take me. Its as close to a perfect phone that I've seen as far as size and performance, and I even prefer it over the S3.

 

[Maelstrom]

Sorry didn't dive into this thread until today. I was looking at the Samsung Note. http://cdn.androidco...ar1-540x359.jpg we seem to go through some down time at work and this would be nice to surf the net. Anyone have one of these devices? Pros or Cons to the device. TIA

Was going to wait for the Iphone 5 but, after seeing a guy at work with one of these I thought this may be the way to go

The Note 2 is launching soon, you may want to wait, even if you decide to get the Note 1, it'll likely fall in price when the Note 2 is launched. I almost went with one, but for almost $150 cheaper I got the HTC One X, which has been good to me so far.

 

[rascal]

Got any recommendations for an unlocked phone for under $250 or am I dreaming?

I need a WIFI capable phone as I won't be using a data plan.

 

[hxperson]

Sorry didn't dive into this thread until today. I was looking at the Samsung Note. http://cdn.androidcommunity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/samsung-note-hands-on-ac-02-slashgear1-540x359.jpg we seem to go through some down time at work and this would be nice to surf the net. Anyone have one of these devices? Pros or Cons to the device. TIA

Was going to wait for the Iphone 5 but, after seeing a guy at work with one of these I thought this may be the way to go

I have the Galaxy Note and I love it. A lot of people hate on the large size of the phone, but I find it great and the screen is fantastic (1280x800 I believe). I used to carry around an iPad and/or a Kindle with my phone and I now have no use for either of those devices. It's especially great on vacations as the screen size works for e-books (I always buy guide books on kindle), and I can move movies and tv shows from my laptop to my SD card on the fly (have a 32 gig'r) and watch everything very comfortably with something that slips easily into my pocket. The size of the Note is also close to the size of a game console controller, so playing games like Fifa and Shadowgun feel very natural on it. The S-pen isn't all that useful for me, but nice for taking quick notes or doing math calculations on the fly. LTE flies - I get 16 up/26 down on the device.

There are a couple of drawbacks to the phone, though, that may or may not be a dealbreaker for you.

Firstly, it only has 1 MB of RAM and an inferior processing chip, so it doesn't run as smoothly as the S3. There is noticable lag on the device (especially if running android 2.x) that I don't mind but others might. If you do get it, I'd advice upgrading to ICS as soon as possible.

The size of the phone of course can be very tiring if you make phone calls with the handset to your head. I generally carry around a workbag or a messenger back and have several mic-equipped headsphones so I can avoid holding it to my head as much as possible. My phone came with mic-equipped headphones.

Battery life can also be an issue, mostly because the screen is so large and bright and the phone is running LTE. I have to run juice defender or it dies pretty fast, and I make it a habit to turn of my screen as soon as possible. With active management, my batteries will last me around 13-15 hours on around 3-4 hrs of heavy use (video/LTE websurfing) and maybe 6-7 hrs of standby. If I'm mostly doing standby and just talking/texting, it can last me close to 20 hours. An extra battery is highly recommended.

The battery is where the Note 2 really dominates over the Note 1, at 3100 mwh vs 2400 mwh. It also has major horsepower and jelly bean out of the gate, and thus will be a lot smoother, and far better S-pen functionality. Hope this helps.

 

[SHIZNITTTT]

Sorry didn't dive into this thread until today. I was looking at the Samsung Note. http://cdn.androidcommunity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/samsung-note-hands-on-ac-02-slashgear1-540x359.jpg we seem to go through some down time at work and this would be nice to surf the net. Anyone have one of these devices? Pros or Cons to the device. TIA

Was going to wait for the Iphone 5 but, after seeing a guy at work with one of these I thought this may be the way to go

I have the Galaxy Note and I love it. A lot of people hate on the large size of the phone, but I find it great and the screen is fantastic (1280x800 I believe). I used to carry around an iPad and/or a Kindle with my phone and I now have no use for either of those devices. It's especially great on vacations as the screen size works for e-books (I always buy guide books on kindle), and I can move movies and tv shows from my laptop to my SD card on the fly (have a 32 gig'r) and watch everything very comfortably with something that slips easily into my pocket. The size of the Note is also close to the size of a game console controller, so playing games like Fifa and Shadowgun feel very natural on it. The S-pen isn't all that useful for me, but nice for taking quick notes or doing math calculations on the fly. LTE flies - I get 16 up/26 down on the device.

There are a couple of drawbacks to the phone, though, that may or may not be a dealbreaker for you.

Firstly, it only has 1 MB of RAM and an inferior processing chip, so it doesn't run as smoothly as the S3. There is noticable lag on the device (especially if running android 2.x) that I don't mind but others might. If you do get it, I'd advice upgrading to ICS as soon as possible.

The size of the phone of course can be very tiring if you make phone calls with the handset to your head. I generally carry around a workbag or a messenger back and have several mic-equipped headsphones so I can avoid holding it to my head as much as possible. My phone came with mic-equipped headphones.

Battery life can also be an issue, mostly because the screen is so large and bright and the phone is running LTE. I have to run juice defender or it dies pretty fast, and I make it a habit to turn of my screen as soon as possible. With active management, my batteries will last me around 13-15 hours on around 3-4 hrs of heavy use (video/LTE websurfing) and maybe 6-7 hrs of standby. If I'm mostly doing standby and just talking/texting, it can last me close to 20 hours. An extra battery is highly recommended.

The battery is where the Note 2 really dominates over the Note 1, at 3100 mwh vs 2400 mwh. It also has major horsepower and jelly bean out of the gate, and thus will be a lot smoother, and far better S-pen functionality. Hope this helps.

thanks! Maybe I need to wait a little longer on the new Note version.

 

[[icon]]

Got any recommendations for an unlocked phone for under $250 or am I dreaming?I need a WIFI capable phone as I won't be using a data plan.

Ebay has merchants that will unlock any iphone for $20-30.

 

[No. 16]

I almost have my S3 setup perfectly for my use and switch from the iPhone. The Dolphin browser is amazing and the scroll to top feature and gesture integration is exactly what I was looking for.

The only thing I'm missing is something similar to "Last App" that was available on Cydia. What it did was with a simple swipe of the notification bar it would switch to the last app used. I've searched the play store and the only two apps came but they were both flawed.

TASKIE does this and more but it has an ugly red bar at the bottom that stays there forever (even on top of the keyboard) where you would swipe. Also it gets killed from the task manager.

PreviousApp is another one I found that supposedly works like Last App on the iPhone but it only uses the camera button and the S3 doesn't have one.

Hoping one of you guys out there has a recommendation. How this simple gesture is not a feature on smart phones is ridiculous.

 

[Samuel L Bronkowitz]

I almost have my S3 setup perfectly for my use and switch from the iPhone. The Dolphin browser is amazing and the scroll to top feature and gesture integration is exactly what I was looking for.The only thing I'm missing is something similar to "Last App" that was available on Cydia. What it did was with a simple swipe of the notification bar it would switch to the last app used. I've searched the play store and the only two apps came but they were both flawed.TASKIE does this and more but it has an ugly red bar at the bottom that stays there forever (even on top of the keyboard) where you would swipe. Also it gets killed from the task manager. PreviousApp is another one I found that supposedly works like Last App on the iPhone but it only uses the camera button and the S3 doesn't have one. Hoping one of you guys out there has a recommendation. How this simple gesture is not a feature on smart phones is ridiculous.

Hold the home button for a second (until you get the haptic vibration) and a list of all of your previously used apps will come up. You can swipe them away to kill them or hit them to open up. I believe they are in order of last used so the bottom one should be your "last app"

 

[No. 16]

I almost have my S3 setup perfectly for my use and switch from the iPhone. The Dolphin browser is amazing and the scroll to top feature and gesture integration is exactly what I was looking for.The only thing I'm missing is something similar to "Last App" that was available on Cydia. What it did was with a simple swipe of the notification bar it would switch to the last app used. I've searched the play store and the only two apps came but they were both flawed.TASKIE does this and more but it has an ugly red bar at the bottom that stays there forever (even on top of the keyboard) where you would swipe. Also it gets killed from the task manager. PreviousApp is another one I found that supposedly works like Last App on the iPhone but it only uses the camera button and the S3 doesn't have one. Hoping one of you guys out there has a recommendation. How this simple gesture is not a feature on smart phones is ridiculous.

Hold the home button for a second (until you get the haptic vibration) and a list of all of your previously used apps will come up. You can swipe them away to kill them or hit them to open up. I believe they are in order of last used so the bottom one should be your "last app"

Thanks. That's what I've been doing for now but it adds an extra step over just a simple swipe. It's one of those things that to just get use to after awhile.

 

[Wrigley]

Went into Verizon on Saturday to finally upgrade to the GS3.

Paperwork was all done, when my salesperson disappeared to come back and tell me they are all out of the 16GB model. We've got the 32GB model though..........Sure, I"ll take it...AT THE SAME PRICE!!!! Her .....we can ship it to you. Well, last time they did that, they shipped it to the wrong home, phone never made it to us. Wasted close to an hour and a half to walk away with out a new phone.

I left a little more than pissed off. 2nd time I've been to this location, and both times left disappointed in their sales staff.......I mean, how hard is it to sell me a phone I already want?

I may just wait for the Lumina 920 to come out.

 

[comfortably numb]

Went into Verizon on Saturday to finally upgrade to the GS3.

Paperwork was all done, when my salesperson disappeared to come back and tell me they are all out of the 16GB model. We've got the 32GB model though..........Sure, I"ll take it...AT THE SAME PRICE!!!! Her .....we can ship it to you. Well, last time they did that, they shipped it to the wrong home, phone never made it to us. Wasted close to an hour and a half to walk away with out a new phone.

I left a little more than pissed off. 2nd time I've been to this location, and both times left disappointed in their sales staff.......I mean, how hard is it to sell me a phone I already want?

I may just wait for the Lumina 920 to come out.

Next time have them go get the phone before you begin the process

 

[No. 16]

Went into Verizon on Saturday to finally upgrade to the GS3.

Paperwork was all done, when my salesperson disappeared to come back and tell me they are all out of the 16GB model. We've got the 32GB model though..........Sure, I"ll take it...AT THE SAME PRICE!!!! Her .....we can ship it to you. Well, last time they did that, they shipped it to the wrong home, phone never made it to us. Wasted close to an hour and a half to walk away with out a new phone.

I left a little more than pissed off. 2nd time I've been to this location, and both times left disappointed in their sales staff.......I mean, how hard is it to sell me a phone I already want?

I may just wait for the Lumina 920 to come out.

Go to Wal*Mart. It will actually be cheaper since they tax the contract price of the phone and not the unsubsidized price.

 

[The Gator]

Trying oot the dolphin browser since it seems to be getting good reviews here. How do I import bookmarks from other devices? Thought i did and signed into my google account but still nothing

 

[QuizGuy66]

So the S3 will already be obsolete in a few months. Great.

Here comes the S IV

-QG

 

[toshiba]

So the S3 will already be obsolete in a few months. Great.

Here comes the S IV

-QG

And that one will be 9 months after that. It is the name of the game!

 

[SacramentoBob]

So the S3 will already be obsolete in a few months. Great.

Here comes the S IV

-QG

There's always going to be a next big thing. If we always waited we'd have nothing.

 

[comfortably numb]

So the S3 will already be obsolete in a few months. Great.

Here comes the S IV

-QG

There's always going to be a next big thing. If we always waited we'd have nothing.

Disagree. I am still waiting to upgrade my phone and have saved probably thousands of dollars in doing so...I may drop a few call here and there, but well worth it.

 

[Wrigley]

Went into Verizon on Saturday to finally upgrade to the GS3.

Paperwork was all done, when my salesperson disappeared to come back and tell me they are all out of the 16GB model. We've got the 32GB model though..........Sure, I"ll take it...AT THE SAME PRICE!!!! Her .....we can ship it to you. Well, last time they did that, they shipped it to the wrong home, phone never made it to us. Wasted close to an hour and a half to walk away with out a new phone.

I left a little more than pissed off. 2nd time I've been to this location, and both times left disappointed in their sales staff.......I mean, how hard is it to sell me a phone I already want?

I may just wait for the Lumina 920 to come out.

Go to Wal*Mart. It will actually be cheaper since they tax the contract price of the phone and not the unsubsidized price.

Saw the phone at WM for $148

 

[Slapdash]

So the S3 will already be obsolete in a few months. Great.

Here comes the S IV

-QG

This is what innovative companies do.

 

[QuizGuy66]

So the S3 will already be obsolete in a few months. Great.

Here comes the S IV

-QG

This is what innovative companies do.

Seemed even quicker than usual though

-QG

 

[No. 16]

Went into Verizon on Saturday to finally upgrade to the GS3.

Paperwork was all done, when my salesperson disappeared to come back and tell me they are all out of the 16GB model. We've got the 32GB model though..........Sure, I"ll take it...AT THE SAME PRICE!!!! Her .....we can ship it to you. Well, last time they did that, they shipped it to the wrong home, phone never made it to us. Wasted close to an hour and a half to walk away with out a new phone.

I left a little more than pissed off. 2nd time I've been to this location, and both times left disappointed in their sales staff.......I mean, how hard is it to sell me a phone I already want?

I may just wait for the Lumina 920 to come out.

Go to Wal*Mart. It will actually be cheaper since they tax the contract price of the phone and not the unsubsidized price.

Saw the phone at WM for $148

Is that cheaper or more expensive compared to the Verizon Store?Wal*Mart will tax 148, Verizon and other retailers will tax the $600 unsubsidized price (instead of $199).

 

[Wrigley]

Went into Verizon on Saturday to finally upgrade to the GS3.

Paperwork was all done, when my salesperson disappeared to come back and tell me they are all out of the 16GB model. We've got the 32GB model though..........Sure, I"ll take it...AT THE SAME PRICE!!!! Her .....we can ship it to you. Well, last time they did that, they shipped it to the wrong home, phone never made it to us. Wasted close to an hour and a half to walk away with out a new phone.

I left a little more than pissed off. 2nd time I've been to this location, and both times left disappointed in their sales staff.......I mean, how hard is it to sell me a phone I already want?

I may just wait for the Lumina 920 to come out.

Go to Wal*Mart. It will actually be cheaper since they tax the contract price of the phone and not the unsubsidized price.

Saw the phone at WM for $148

Is that cheaper or more expensive compared to the Verizon Store?Wal*Mart will tax 148, Verizon and other retailers will tax the $600 unsubsidized price (instead of $199).

it's still $200 in V store.

 

[Drifter]

Anybody have a non fanboy opinion of the S3 vs the EVO LTE?

I have an original Evo so I'm already familiar with the HTC Sense UI if I need a tie breaker.

 

[Wingnut]

So the S3 will already be obsolete in a few months. Great.

Here comes the S IV

-QG

Lol @ 'obsolete'.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

Trying oot the dolphin browser since it seems to be getting good reviews here. How do I import bookmarks from other devices? Thought i did and signed into my google account but still nothing

I couldn't get them to sync by signing in through my Google account either, but I finally signed in through Facebook instead (kind of by accident) and the syncing actually worked. (I had to sign in on each device through Facebook, of course.) I still can't get gestures to sync, but bookmarks worked, so that's something.

 

[QuizGuy66]

So the S3 will already be obsolete in a few months. Great.

Here comes the S IV

-QG

Lol @ 'obsolete'.

Heh, had to be overdramatic there -QG

 

[SacramentoBob]

Went into Verizon on Saturday to finally upgrade to the GS3.

Paperwork was all done, when my salesperson disappeared to come back and tell me they are all out of the 16GB model. We've got the 32GB model though..........Sure, I"ll take it...AT THE SAME PRICE!!!! Her .....we can ship it to you. Well, last time they did that, they shipped it to the wrong home, phone never made it to us. Wasted close to an hour and a half to walk away with out a new phone.

I left a little more than pissed off. 2nd time I've been to this location, and both times left disappointed in their sales staff.......I mean, how hard is it to sell me a phone I already want?

I may just wait for the Lumina 920 to come out.

Go to Wal*Mart. It will actually be cheaper since they tax the contract price of the phone and not the unsubsidized price.

Saw the phone at WM for $148

Is that cheaper or more expensive compared to the Verizon Store?Wal*Mart will tax 148, Verizon and other retailers will tax the $600 unsubsidized price (instead of $199).

How do they (either Walmart or Verizon) get away with that?

 

[The Gator]

Trying oot the dolphin browser since it seems to be getting good reviews here. How do I import bookmarks from other devices? Thought i did and signed into my google account but still nothing

I couldn't get them to sync by signing in through my Google account either, but I finally signed in through Facebook instead (kind of by accident) and the syncing actually worked. (I had to sign in on each device through Facebook, of course.) I still can't get gestures to sync, but bookmarks worked, so that's something.

So I need to register for Facebook to get my bookmarks? OOOOF

 

[No. 16]

Went into Verizon on Saturday to finally upgrade to the GS3.

Paperwork was all done, when my salesperson disappeared to come back and tell me they are all out of the 16GB model. We've got the 32GB model though..........Sure, I"ll take it...AT THE SAME PRICE!!!! Her .....we can ship it to you. Well, last time they did that, they shipped it to the wrong home, phone never made it to us. Wasted close to an hour and a half to walk away with out a new phone.

I left a little more than pissed off. 2nd time I've been to this location, and both times left disappointed in their sales staff.......I mean, how hard is it to sell me a phone I already want?

I may just wait for the Lumina 920 to come out.

Go to Wal*Mart. It will actually be cheaper since they tax the contract price of the phone and not the unsubsidized price.

Saw the phone at WM for $148

Is that cheaper or more expensive compared to the Verizon Store?Wal*Mart will tax 148, Verizon and other retailers will tax the $600 unsubsidized price (instead of $199).

How do they (either Walmart or Verizon) get away with that?

No idea. Bulk sales I guess? Paid 167 out the door for my S3.

 

[El Floppo]

Went into Verizon on Saturday to finally upgrade to the GS3.

Paperwork was all done, when my salesperson disappeared to come back and tell me they are all out of the 16GB model. We've got the 32GB model though..........Sure, I"ll take it...AT THE SAME PRICE!!!! Her .....we can ship it to you. Well, last time they did that, they shipped it to the wrong home, phone never made it to us. Wasted close to an hour and a half to walk away with out a new phone.

I left a little more than pissed off. 2nd time I've been to this location, and both times left disappointed in their sales staff.......I mean, how hard is it to sell me a phone I already want?

I may just wait for the Lumina 920 to come out.

Go to Wal*Mart. It will actually be cheaper since they tax the contract price of the phone and not the unsubsidized price.

Saw the phone at WM for $148

Is that cheaper or more expensive compared to the Verizon Store?Wal*Mart will tax 148, Verizon and other retailers will tax the $600 unsubsidized price (instead of $199).

How do they (either Walmart or Verizon) get away with that?

No idea. Bulk sales I guess? Paid 167 out the door for my S3.

Volume.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

Picked up my Galaxy S3 yesterday. I previously had a 3gs but am done with Apple. I LOVE the phone from a usage standpoint. It feels so much slicker zipping around and there's so much more that can be done. The user experience is just awesome.

That said, I have several huge issues with it.

The screen is very dim. I used to keep my 3gs at about 40% brightness and it was significantly brighter than the S3 screen at 100%. I've only tried to use it outdoors once but even on a cloudy day it was really difficult to see the screen. I'm not sure why people rave about the screen on this phone. It's a big screen, but as long as it's as bright as a normal phone set to 10%, it's a ####ty screen.

The phone gets hot. Even with moderate use it heats up like a laptop from 1995 running its CPU at 100%. It gets uncomfortable to hold.

The battery is atrocious. Clearly I have some kind of issue here as my phone has been on for 1 hour and 49 minutes with 11 minutes of actual use and I'm down to 65%. Even just sitting in standby I lose about 1% every 5 minutes. GPS is off. Sync is off. Bluetooth is off. Power saving is on. This is ridiculous. Googling shows about a million people having the same issue with this phone, with 100 different "fixes" out there, none of which have made a dent in the drain. I can't believe this is such a widespread problem. A phone is useless to me if I can't expect it to last more than a couple of hours off the charger.

 

[No. 16]

Picked up my Galaxy S3 yesterday. I previously had a 3gs but am done with Apple. I LOVE the phone from a usage standpoint. It feels so much slicker zipping around and there's so much more that can be done. The user experience is just awesome.

That said, I have several huge issues with it.

The screen is very dim. I used to keep my 3gs at about 40% brightness and it was significantly brighter than the S3 screen at 100%. I've only tried to use it outdoors once but even on a cloudy day it was really difficult to see the screen. I'm not sure why people rave about the screen on this phone. It's a big screen, but as long as it's as bright as a normal phone set to 10%, it's a ####ty screen.

The phone gets hot. Even with moderate use it heats up like a laptop from 1995 running its CPU at 100%. It gets uncomfortable to hold.

The battery is atrocious. Clearly I have some kind of issue here as my phone has been on for 1 hour and 49 minutes with 11 minutes of actual use and I'm down to 65%. Even just sitting in standby I lose about 1% every 5 minutes. GPS is off. Sync is off. Bluetooth is off. Power saving is on. This is ridiculous. Googling shows about a million people having the same issue with this phone, with 100 different "fixes" out there, none of which have made a dent in the drain. I can't believe this is such a widespread problem. A phone is useless to me if I can't expect it to last more than a couple of hours off the charger.

Turn your brightness down. I make do with whatever the auto select does. Works for me. Not sure how bright to need the screen to be unless you're outdoors all the time.Also have no way of backing it up but it seemed to me power saving mode drains battery faster.

Do 2 or 3 full battery drains and charges to help hold the charge longer.

Not sure if the iPhone will have the heating issue but all, LTE phones run hot.

 

[El Floppo]

Picked up my Galaxy S3 yesterday. I previously had a 3gs but am done with Apple. I LOVE the phone from a usage standpoint. It feels so much slicker zipping around and there's so much more that can be done. The user experience is just awesome.

That said, I have several huge issues with it.

The screen is very dim. I used to keep my 3gs at about 40% brightness and it was significantly brighter than the S3 screen at 100%. I've only tried to use it outdoors once but even on a cloudy day it was really difficult to see the screen. I'm not sure why people rave about the screen on this phone. It's a big screen, but as long as it's as bright as a normal phone set to 10%, it's a ####ty screen.

The phone gets hot. Even with moderate use it heats up like a laptop from 1995 running its CPU at 100%. It gets uncomfortable to hold.

The battery is atrocious. Clearly I have some kind of issue here as my phone has been on for 1 hour and 49 minutes with 11 minutes of actual use and I'm down to 65%. Even just sitting in standby I lose about 1% every 5 minutes. GPS is off. Sync is off. Bluetooth is off. Power saving is on. This is ridiculous. Googling shows about a million people having the same issue with this phone, with 100 different "fixes" out there, none of which have made a dent in the drain. I can't believe this is such a widespread problem. A phone is useless to me if I can't expect it to last more than a couple of hours off the charger.

I've had the same issues- can't see it outside, if I'm using it it gets hot, and the battery usually doesn't last me the day. The battery thing is more of a problem when my kid borrows it to play angry birds- that ####### game sucks the life out of the phone like a smack-fiend hooker.

 

[Wingnut]

I'm surprised about the dim screen issue. On my S2 at full brightness I can see it fine in direct sunlight.

 

[ragincajun]

Dilemma,

I can get a 5 or Galaxy 3. I currently have a 4s and love it except for the small screen. The S3 is down right sessy. The cons I have heard in the S3 are the screen seems dim and reception issues. Can anyone here speak to those?

 

[ragincajun]

I see the screen issue above. Ho hum.

 

[Slapdash]

I don't have a problem with the brightness but that is because I like to keep it every low.

 

[El Floppo]

Dilemma,I can get a 5 or Galaxy 3. I currently have a 4s and love it except for the small screen. The S3 is down right sessy. The cons I have heard in the S3 are the screen seems dim and reception issues. Can anyone here speak to those?

Haven't had any reception issues at all. Much better than my BB.

 

[Polish Hammer]

For those with battery drain concerns, I put JuiceDefender on my wife's S3 and it seems to have worked well for her.

 

[ragincajun]

Dilemma,I can get a 5 or Galaxy 3. I currently have a 4s and love it except for the small screen. The S3 is down right sessy. The cons I have heard in the S3 are the screen seems dim and reception issues. Can anyone here speak to those?

Haven't had any reception issues at all. Much better than my BB.

Wow my current Bold work phone is a reception Hoss! That's saying something.

 

[Otis]

Lol at the 5" screen on the S4. At what point do you need to carry this thing in a backpack?

 

[flapgreen]

Picked up my Galaxy S3 yesterday. I previously had a 3gs but am done with Apple. I LOVE the phone from a usage standpoint. It feels so much slicker zipping around and there's so much more that can be done. The user experience is just awesome.

That said, I have several huge issues with it.

The screen is very dim. I used to keep my 3gs at about 40% brightness and it was significantly brighter than the S3 screen at 100%. I've only tried to use it outdoors once but even on a cloudy day it was really difficult to see the screen. I'm not sure why people rave about the screen on this phone. It's a big screen, but as long as it's as bright as a normal phone set to 10%, it's a ####ty screen.

The phone gets hot. Even with moderate use it heats up like a laptop from 1995 running its CPU at 100%. It gets uncomfortable to hold.

The battery is atrocious. Clearly I have some kind of issue here as my phone has been on for 1 hour and 49 minutes with 11 minutes of actual use and I'm down to 65%. Even just sitting in standby I lose about 1% every 5 minutes. GPS is off. Sync is off. Bluetooth is off. Power saving is on. This is ridiculous. Googling shows about a million people having the same issue with this phone, with 100 different "fixes" out there, none of which have made a dent in the drain. I can't believe this is such a widespread problem. A phone is useless to me if I can't expect it to last more than a couple of hours off the charger.

I haven't had any of those issues, but have had a few of my own. 1) The "no sim card found" crap at times. Doesn't happen often but pisses me off when it does. 2) When using Google Maps, it says it can't find my current location. Really pisses me off too when I'm somewhere and need it quickly.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

Turn your brightness down. I make do with whatever the auto select does. Works for me. Not sure how bright to need the screen to be unless you're outdoors all the time.

Cranking down the brightness was one of the first things I did. It's dim at full brightness anyway so may as well just suffer and save some battery.

Not sure if the iPhone will have the heating issue but all, LTE phones run hot.

I'm not in an LTE area.At this point I've got so much stuff disabled (GPS, wi-fi, sync, etc) that it barely even qualifies as a smartphone anymore. I think it's definitely an issue outside of normal battery usage, as when I downloaded betterbatterystats I get a ton of time used with "bam_dmux_wakelock", which apparently is a known issue that no one has been able to solve.

 

[Slapdash]

Lol at the 5" screen on the S4. At what point do you need to carry this thing in a backpack?

It isn't nearly big enough that it won't fit in the pocket.

 

[Samuel L Bronkowitz]

Turn your brightness down. I make do with whatever the auto select does. Works for me. Not sure how bright to need the screen to be unless you're outdoors all the time.

Cranking down the brightness was one of the first things I did. It's dim at full brightness anyway so may as well just suffer and save some battery.

Not sure if the iPhone will have the heating issue but all, LTE phones run hot.

I'm not in an LTE area.At this point I've got so much stuff disabled (GPS, wi-fi, sync, etc) that it barely even qualifies as a smartphone anymore. I think it's definitely an issue outside of normal battery usage, as when I downloaded betterbatterystats I get a ton of time used with "bam_dmux_wakelock", which apparently is a known issue that no one has been able to solve.

Found on XDA Forums:

BAM dmux is for mobile data so anything that keeps mobile data connection open it will show up. Stands for broadband access multiplier demultiplier. It's normal.

Just means something is keeping data connection alive. I did more research.

Do you have any app that could possibly be trying to sync/connect (Sports scores, email, etc)?

 

[No. 16]

Turn your brightness down. I make do with whatever the auto select does. Works for me. Not sure how bright to need the screen to be unless you're outdoors all the time.

Cranking down the brightness was one of the first things I did. It's dim at full brightness anyway so may as well just suffer and save some battery.

Not sure if the iPhone will have the heating issue but all, LTE phones run hot.

I'm not in an LTE area.At this point I've got so much stuff disabled (GPS, wi-fi, sync, etc) that it barely even qualifies as a smartphone anymore. I think it's definitely an issue outside of normal battery usage, as when I downloaded betterbatterystats I get a ton of time used with "bam_dmux_wakelock", which apparently is a known issue that no one has been able to solve.

Might be the battery itself. Give at&t a call to complain and request a new battery. They will usually send you one for free. Just tell them you tested it out on another phone and the battery life still sucked.