Although it’s a three-year-old smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S3 can still hold its own against some of today’s current generation of smartphones.
It may no longer be as powerful since the processors of today’s mobile devices have significantly improved a great deal, the Samsung Galaxy S3 banks on its excellent and superb performance to keep its loyal and sentimental users quite satisfied with it.
When it was reviewed by NDTV Gadgets, the Samsung Galaxy S3 scored 10 points in terms of performance and 9 points in terms of camera and software.
When it was launched in 2012 as Samsung’s flagship smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S3 was then the fastest phone in the world because of its processor and software that runs it. It also features the most excellent smartphone camera at that time, which was the best in its class back in 2012.
It fared good enough in the aspects of design, display and battery life with 8 points. The least point it got was 7 for its value for money. When it came out back in 2012, the Samsung Galaxy S3 was one of the most expensive handsets back then. And it’s redeeming factors were the fact that its features and performance were really superb.
The Galaxy S3 featured a groundbreaking concept when it was launched back in 2012. It also carried with it a stunning 4.8-inch HD screen, a good quality eight-megapixel camera, which was quite superior at that time, and a microSD slot for expanding its external storage capacity.
Most of all, it was actually regarded then as the fastest phone in the world when it was launched. Of course, things have changed now after three years but the Samsung Galaxy S3 can certainly still hold its own against some of the latest flagship smartphones of some handset makers.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 was among the first, if not the first smartphone to have used a quad-core 1.4GHz processor back in 2012. Its screen has a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels and its camera is capable of capturing a 1080-pixel video resolution. It ran on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich back then with TouchWiz feature too.
Share of downsides
Despite its superb features, the Samsung Galaxy S3 has had its fair share of downsides since everyone knows that you can’t please everybody.
There have been reports in the past that the Samsung Galaxy S3 did not do well in the drop tests and that its quality was suspect, especially when it was compared to the Apple iPhone 5 back then.
As a result, the comparison only fuelled the divide and debate between Android and iOS mobile device users, which they have carried on to this day, but not as pronounced as it was back in 2012.
Some critics also questioned the battery life of Samsung Galaxy S3 even though it is still one of the better performing smartphones when it comes to battery life even when compared to the latest handsets in the market today.
I have owned a refurbished S3 for over 6 months and it is as powerful as my HP computer which has Win 7 and 8gb memory.
The S3 now has Android 4.4.2 and is as fast as most cell phones my friends have.
I purchased a 4800mAh thin battery [same size as the original 2100mAh] and it lasts about 20 hours [I am not a heavy user].
I have dropped it a few times, but not on concrete, so it is still looking great. I do use a screen protector even though the glass is tough.
I won’t be getting a new phone for a long time.
I just upgraded from a used Sprint Galaxy 2 on FreedomPop Wireless to a Galaxy 3 on StraightTalk using Verizon 4G LTE. The Galaxy 2 was fast enough ( in 2015), but FreedomPop’s free VOIP service wasn’t quite good enough to use the phone professionally.
I upgraded to 4G and the galaxy S3 for $120, got a 7200mAH (Zerolemon battery), which makes the phone about 0.65″ thick. This thickness is substantial and makes the phone easier to hold.
This phone does everything, is impressively fast, and now lasts 4-6 days per charge. The one downside is my refurbished phone came boot locked to 4.4.2, which means (at this time) there are only 2 de-bloated 4.4.2 roms available and its unlikely I can upgrade to a newer Android due to VZW’s lock down.
Everyone should roll their own phone and use an MVNO on ATT or VZW at half the price. GS3 is a perfect device to do this.
This phone has a good look, that’s the main attraction, and 4.7 lcd is enough, big screen is not that good while using with single hand.
I miss my s3.
My s3 is at least 2 1/2 years old (typing this post on it in fact.) I am loathe to “upgrade” as I Qi charge, have microSD and my s3 still takes nice landscape photos and is still functioning pretty well! If it locks up, I pop the battery out and then it’s fine.
I am not convinced I need a new phone!