Samsung Galaxy S III hands on: fast, thin, and a little bit cheap feeling | Hacker News Reader

Samsung Galaxy S III hands on: fast, thin, and a little bit cheap feeling

arstechnica.com

27 pointsCadsby47 comments

For those not in London - they really shelled out some money yesterday for the presentation (the public parts were also streamed live) - London Metropolitan Orchestra playing, big stage etc.

A few more things were mentioned there (not included in the linked article):

Eye-movement recognition: It does not lock the phone while you're still looking at it.

Besides the Siri like voice recognition also something that - by use of motion detection - e.g. you move the phone towards your ear - initiates a phone call.

A similar to the Blackberry introduced burst-shot feature that lets you select the best head shot(s) within a series of portrait pictures (recognizes multiple heads/faces in the picture)

Some more advanced uses via DLNA / AllSharePlay and a new AllShare SDK.

Bluetooth 4.0, USB supports MHL -> can be used as a HDMI port

Flipboard pre-installed, Dropbox integration (free 50GB for 2 years)

optional stylus

They claimed 0.01ms response time for the OLED display (vs 50-70ms for the avg LCDs I guess)

The S3 will become available first in Europe (UK?) as 3G end of this month then Asia, as 4G in the U.S. during summer.

0.01? Is the period in the right place?!

yes - they even had it on the screen yesterday - nevertheless very low response times are a core feature of OLED displays

It's an LED. That's how long it takes to switch it from one light level to another. (It affects things like ghosting.)

It's not the same thing as input lag which measures how long it takes to render things from a buffer (ideally that's 15ms or less, and no more than 30ms).

To be honest, specs wise, while it doesn't significantly move things forward, it is pretty much the best, in pretty much every department. It has a massive removable battery, microSD, quad core, wireless charging and a killer GPU -- all advantages over the Nexus.

BUT.. I think people were really hoping samsung were starting to 'get it'- design, desirability and UX (yes, like apple). I thought the s2 was too boxy and now they have gone too far the other way. It's meant to be a flagship phone, but just doesn't look expensive.

    To make it feel more "natural", you tap the lock-screen and little 
    ripples appear, and splish-splash noises are heard.

This is pretty indicative they don't 'get it'. It's a pointless gimmick- just because you can, doesn't mean you should. And my god, they are awful at presentations. Its not rocket science.

This is all especially disappointing considering the Galaxy Nexus coming from samsung-- a device that has plenty of desirability IMO. All they had to do was to take this, add a microSD and a slightly bumped specs, and they would have had a winner. A non-pentile screen would have been welcome, but really, it isn't a deal breaker for 99%- OLED outweighs it over RGB LCD, imo.

If there is a perverse silver-lining, this is good news for HTC, and perhaps the android ecosystem in the long-term.. it was seeming like samsung were becoming too dominant.

At some point I really began to cringe with all the "this is all modeled after nature!!!" talk. It really seems like corporate marketing got hold of the design in a very bad way.

I find this was a very interesting announcement. Almost the whole presentation was about software, services and addons.

Samsung did not talk much about the hardware, and not once used the term "Android" during the whole presentation.

This is how I want smartphone providers to make their android-based devices: Either use just AOSP and focus on supporting that well (updates), or make a very unique and improved experience for your customers.

Adding differences "just to be somehow different" will only make your phone worse. I don't care much about the gesture stuff, but what they do with the face detection API that came with Android 4 is very interesting.

The idea that the screen will not go black as long as I look at it solves one of the most annoying problems I have when using computers. E.g. you think for a few seconds about what you just read on your smartphone, and when you're back you have to turn on the screen again. So annoying.

There are also a lot of little nice touches to the ui, like this one:

"Pick up the phone when you've got a missed call or text and it will vibrate gently in your hand in combination with the notification light to let you know you're a popular bunny."

Or that you can hold the phone to your ear while you're texting someone and it will call the person you're texting.

Or that you can select a person in the camera and the focus will stay on that person.

Or that you can burst 10 photos with one shot and then have the phone automatically recommend the best picture to you. The wireless charger and the HDMI dongle are also very nice.

TouchWiz ... oh dear, an immediate turn off.

I have a Google Nexus S with stock Android 4, and that works perfectly.

I also have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 with TouchWiz which I seriously regret. The interface is terrible, and unless you reboot it every couple of hours it just grinds to a halt on its own. And there's no CM9 for the Tab yet ...

Fully agreed, I had the same setup of phones, went from a HTC Desire with SenseUI to a Nexus S with stock android, to a SGS2 with TouchWiz, the Nexus S with stock ICS was by far the best. I now use a galaxy nexus with stock ICS, imo the best phone around, the SGS2 is purely got Boot2Gecko work now

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 felt pretty terrible with Honeycomb + touchwiz, I would be interested in what a stock android tablet experience feels like, although with androind tablets the lack of apps was also a pretty big factor in why it felt terrible compared to an Ipad

It seems like we're due for a new Google Flagship Tablet device soon, though I haven't seen any news to that effect yet.

There are nightlies, which are pretty solid and usable. http://get.cm/?device=p4wifi

Thanks for the tip. I have now rooted and installed CM9 p4wifi on my Tab. It's like having new hardware, it's that much better.

The size of these things is getting pretty ridiculous. Has every new version to be bigger than the previous one ? Where will that end ?

Not interested at all. Unless it's a Nexus - reflashed to get updates from Google - I'm not playing the "waiting for updates" game any more.

Why do you have to reflash it to get updates from Google?

Because Google only provides updates for certain builds (jakju), other builds (jakjuxw for example) needs to be tested by carriers in other countries (or some such) and the last stamp of approval comes from Samsung IIRC. If you flash the phone with factory build jakju you get updates from google when they're released otherwise there is 1-1.5 months wait for updates

I really like my SII but the toy feeling is obvious next to my Lumia and iPhone. It's a great phone and of my phones, outside app testing, I use it the most. However for the cheap plastic feeling the intuition says it should be at least $300 cheaper. Seems SIII is the same that way, so i'm wondering if only techies notice this as the SII did so well everywhere.

I'm a techy, on a bill plan (Ireland) and have moved from the SI to the SII not so long ago. I don't get the 'cheap' feel from the SII at all. It's considerably better than the SI from a look/feel point of view, and genuinely feels good to me.

I've never really understood the fascination with build materials though. If it feels good in my hand, I'm happy. If it doesn't, I'm not.

And the SII is definitely a winner in my book. Also, I am looking forward to seeing what the SIII is like in person - I'll upgrade to that if I have the option.

(note: I haven't paid outright for a device in a few years. Not a single one of them represents good value to me, when paid for in a lump sum)

How does upgrading work in Ireland? You probably pay for it even if you upgrade, right?

As an example, I am currently shopping around for a new operator in Germany, and one I looked at offered the Galaxy Nexus. However, summing the base fee over 24 months it would cost >540€, whereas the Galaxy Nexus is already available for 360€ on Amazon. So the operators might not always offer the best deal. (In Germany you can actually find operators with a monthly fee of zero, obviously no phone included).

Upgrading usually means you pay some fee (around the 100e mark, maybe 150e if the device is highly desirable), and then you renew your contract with your carrier for another 12/18/24 months (again, depending on your own situation)

Adding up the total cost of the bill is, in my eyes, the wrong calculation to make. A phone (particularly a smartphone), by itself, really isn't worth all that much. You need a data plan, and to a lesser extent, a call/text(sms) plan too.

If you pay the (say) 360e for the Nexus on Amazon, how will you use it to receive calls while walking through Dublin city centre? How will you check your emails on it while on the bus?

You'll need to take that 360e, and add the cost of a plan that will suit your needs. Lets say it's 20e per month (a common pre-pay plan in Ireland). That's 20 * 12 (yes, I know, no obligation to stay for 12 months), which is 240e.

Added to the 360e, you're looking at 600e for 12 months usage.

Please, don't use the bill amount as the main part of an argument here - it really shouldn't be. There's a massive draw to specifically not spending 5-600e up front on a device.

I don't know what it's like in Ireland, but in Sweden you generally pay a lot less pr month for the same plan if you bring your own phone, compared to if you accept their 'free' phone. So a 30 euro plan with a free phone, might only cost 8-10 euros if you bring your own phone.

Ah, I see what you mean now. In Ireland, it's only 5e less. So a 30e plan becomes 25e

The way I do it is to compare the costs of the no phone plan to the phone plan. The difference times 24 is the cost of the phone.

I've heard that in other countries (like the US) there is not much difference between phone and no-phone plans, which I find rather puzzling.

It's important to remember the difference between an upfront cost/purchase, and an ongoing (considerably cheaper) cost/subscription.

edit not an argument, just a statement!

Ok, I did not usually include that calculation, as inflation/interest is usually around 2% - probably wouldn't amount to much? Personally I tend to avoid subscriptions because they make my finances less tractable, and all the little costs add up.

Good idea to do that calculation for "actual worth of the money" (don't know what to call it in English). Goes to my TODO list :-)

It is a winner and I will get the SIII, but as app builder (and, consequently, tester) I DO pay for them and it simply does not feel $300-500 'better' than some of the lightinthebox or aliexpress Androids I have. Better, but not that much.

I think this "cheap plastic" meme is completely fabricated by competitors with heavier and less durable products.

Plastic is more elastic than metal, so if your phone falls on the floor, it takes some of the shock and significantly reduces the chance that the screen breaks.

Samsung's "cheap" plastic is also lighter than metal. The Galaxy S2 for example is much, much larger than the iphone 4s, yet the iphone feels like a brick in your pocket compared to the Galaxy.

Why do we associate "heavy" with "valuable" all of a sudden? Shouldn't it be the other way around? After all, a coin is not more valuable than a bank note, and a heavy bike is not better than a light one, right?

"Cheap plastic" is not a meme. People have compared build quality as long as manufactured goods have existed. Many people associate heavy with valuable because traditionally, making things out of metal cost more and increases durability. Maybe the use of composites will change this perception.

Does using a glass display instead of a plastic display increase the chance that the display breaks? Yes. Does it increase weight? Yes. But glass is more scratch resistant and has a better feel to it, so most people think it's a worthwhile tradeoff (Samsung seems to agree).

People have been connecting heavy with expensive/valuable for a long time for some goods; watches for instance; a heavy Rolex. Cars; if you drive a light car you are one of those environmental turds. I overheard a group of guys in an expensive restaurant saying things like; 'yeah of course, but then my car weighs 2500 kilos hahahaahaha'; a lot of senseless weight-dropping to show value and wealth.

I do agree with you on some levels, but PERSONALLY I find the SII feeling like something cheap compared to the iPhone 4. Like a lot of people thought the 3g felt cheap compared to the 4 as well because of the plastic. I guess Apple thought that as well? I like my 3g more in a lot of ways; I dropped it on concrete a lot of times and it has a few cracks in the plastic; I dropped the 4 once and the screen is gone (might be bad luck, but this is the perception I have now).

My Lumia, which feels actually better in many ways than the 4 or SII, but it scratches really easy and has a lot of other bad things I talked about before.

The feeling of flimsiness has nothing to do with my usage; as I said above; I use my SII far more than my other phones. I build apps/games for a living so I need A LOT of phones (especially Android testing is hell; you'll get negative reviews for all the phones you skip buying/testing on often; it's like going back 10 years for mobile dev :) and I currently do like the SII best esp with ICS. For pads the iPad still wins though, although the Prime is a close 2nd. Both feel rock-solid to me.

11 different fonts/sizes on the home screen - oh Android, why?

Edit: 12 if you count the Samsung logo on the phone.

If you're counting the Samsung, Google, AccuWeather, and ChatOn logo's, sure. Without those we're left with a still diverse set, but I think reasonably varied. If I could make one change it would be to make the clock font match (style-wise) the rest of the non-logo fonts, probably at a much lighter weight (ultralight serif).

For me the biggest turn-off is the pentile display. I think for now I'll just keep the HTC One X.

Are you actually happy with the HTC One X?

I'm happy with it. Coming from a SE Xperia X10, I was worried I made the wrong choice simply because of the One X's size. But the display is, to my aging eyes, fantastic. The camera is very quick to launch and the photos just fine for me.

Edit: "X10's size" --> "One X's size"

isnt that thing like 3 weeks old and has basically the same specs as the S3 !? Why should you switch anyway ?

Have you seen it in the flesh? Surely at this ppi, it takes a magnifying glass to see any pentile related deficiencies?

Samsung finally stopped copying the iPhone following a new design language: http://versusio.com/en/samsung-galaxy-s3-64gb-vs-the-body-sh...

I would literally rather have an Android G1 than this phone. It baffles me that more people don't demand phones with full qwerty keyboards. They're so much easier and faster and more pleasant to type on than a touch screen. I've got an HTC Desire Z at the moment. I'll stick with that until a better Android phone with a qwerty keyboard comes along.

Disappointed by the plastic finish. I did not buy the sgs 2 because it felt cheap and flimsy and this looks to be the same.

The S II does not look cheap to me. The plastic backside prevents the phone from being slippery, which is a big problem with the iPhone. Dropping it on the ground is also no problem, the plastic is perfect in absorbing that. After a couple of falls there is still no damage to be seen on my model (it even fell _into_ water once - it is still working flawlessly)

My SonyEricsson phone is also plastic, but feels much more well built.

The cheap feel of the plastic was what made me not buy the SGS2.

Slipping the word "cheap" to the title? Careful that author is known for his strong MS bias

He doesn't appear to back it well in the article other than as a quality of the plastic. Reviews are subjective, and as the next Google Flagship device, the S3 will be getting lots more reviews soon enough. Personally I like the Verge's Android phone reviews.

Is this Engadget? Why is this here? Are there no things to read which are more interesting than the launch of yet another 10% more efficient iteration on a five-year-old phone design?

there were a couple of rather interesting features introduces - so if you're doing mobile development it certainly is interesting to know what the Android leader of the pack is doing or planning to provide for your next development platform.

They forgot to mention that it's a little bit too big to feel alright, even as a smartphone.

Smartphone screens seem to be like cars, each new model has larger than the previous one.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com