Release Date: June 20, 2012
Manufacturer: Samsung
Tech Type: Smartphone
Price: $259.99 w/contract $549.99 w/o contract
Operating System: Android 4.0
Screen Size: 4.8 in
Dimensions: 5.38 in x 2.78 in
Weight: 4.70 oz
The much sought after latest addition to the Samsung Galaxy line of plastic-y mobile products has finally come down from the heavens, divinely descending. Floating from the clouds to my waiting hands. I wept. My god did I weep. It was like nothing I have ever experienced. This is why I’m alive, to use this fucking phone.
I understand you are wondering where I am going with this. Well, I know it’s hard to read sarcasm. So sit tight while I review an ultra-hyped smartphone that is relatively hum-drum when actually put to the stringent standards that we here at Arcadversary pride ourselves on (shitting while playing Draw Something).
The Samsung Galaxy S III was built on a dream. A dream that one day an Android Smartphone would have no “buts.” Case in point: “It’s got a great processor and amazing screen but Facebook still crashes” or “The market has a ton of apps and games and I absolutely love everything about it but the realistic battery life is about 3 hours and I’m going to throw it across the room because I hate TouchWiz.”
It didn’t really work to the fullest extent. The S III isn’t a game changer by any stretch, but it is relatively nice. It’s still got a plastic-y feel, but it feels sturdier than most Samsung devices. It has classy silver accents and a hardware home button that I hate so much. The form factor is soft and curved and it feels as such in your hand. Very sleek and stream line (with the exception of that fucking button). It’s still plastic and shiny and smooth, so you’ll probably drop it (idiot).
The 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED screen is pretty sick. It’s got a wonderfully crisp display that clearly displays the worst part about this phone. Although it has the well-developed Android 4.0 and will probably be getting 4.1 Jelly Bean anytime now, TouchWiz, Samsung’s User Interface overlay, screws everything up by being ugly and glitchy. I’ll give Samsung that this version of TouchWiz is a bit more useful and less in-your-face.
There are some features that make me not hate this phone. The processor is speedy and, I’ll even say, impressive. They got that right. It’s solid and can keep up with the apps. The camera is 8 megapixel and shoots 1080p HD video. I took a picture with it and it’s pretty nice. The camera software is meh. It’s pretty much the same old deal. The front facing camera is 1.9 megapixel. That’s a little more than usual and it shows.
There are some TouchWiz apps included such as AllShare, a photo-sharing app that you probably won’t use, an Android Beam app called S Beam, and S Voice, a voice action app that wishes desperately that it was Siri.
This phone isn’t bad, I’ll give it that. The problem is that the Galaxy S III isn’t as forward-thinking as it could have been and was made out to be. It just joins the ranks of the current Android army. A lot of buyers were really looking forward to the S III as something that was going to step up the smartphone game as Samsung’s premium flagship device. It falls short.
