Usability, Calling & Data, Browser

Usability

Samsung ready the bar for how an Android smartphone should perform with the Galaxy Southward 2 concluding year, and this twelvemonth's Milky way S III is no different. Though the international version of the Galaxy Southward III features Samsung's own quad-cadre Exynos iv Quad processor, the version available to U.S. consumers has a dual-cadre Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor clocked at one.5GHz.

This shouldn't be an issue for anyone, as the S4 processor performs simply as well in the Milky way South III every bit information technology does in other devices nosotros take reviewed this year. Samsung has paired the processor with 2GB of RAM, making the S III the first smartphone in the U.Southward. with more 1GB of RAM. This combination produces a speedy experience without any lag or stuttering from the phone, even when performing intensive tasks like 3D gaming.

Under benchmark tests, the Galaxy S III doesn't quite hit the same loftier numbers that other phones like the HTC EVO 4G LTE do, but in real-world usage, the phone is exceptionally quick. Apps open without filibuster, and even when repeatedly switching between open apps, the S Three doesn't skip a beat. Ane thing of note: when using the phone for long periods or during intense gaming, the bottom of the device gets noticeably warm.

The Galaxy S 3 runs Android iv.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box, though you might non realize it at get-go. Samsung has installed the latest version of its TouchWiz interface on top of Android 4.0 and it has changed the advent of the platform quite a flake. The latest version of TouchWiz is an evolution of the TouchWiz four that debuted on the Galaxy S 2, and information technology isn't terribly different from an appearance indicate of view.

If you lot didn't like TouchWiz before, y'all probably won't like it now. That said, a lot of what Samsung has done with the interface is for the meliorate. Gone is the robot-inspired Tron motif that stock Android four.0 has, replaced by bright colors and elements inspired by nature. The nature theme carries over to the phone's various water droplet sound furnishings and animations, also every bit its selection of ringtones. Fortunately, the animations in TouchWiz are more informative than obtrusive, and they don't become in the way of what y'all are trying to do.

Certain tweaks to the platform that I capeesh are the customizable app shortcuts on the lock screen, toggle switches in the notification bar, and useful app drawer that lets you uninstall apps or hide them from view with only a couple of taps. I also really like the choice to display the actual battery percent in the status bar.

Samsung has built in a number of gestures into the S Iii'due south interface, and they let you exercise certain things similar flip over the telephone to mute incoming calls, pause media playback with the palm of your manus, and capture a screenshot past swiping your mitt across the display. One particularly useful gestures is the power to launch the photographic camera from the lockscreen past rotating the phone from portrait to landscape orientation. You tin besides opt to unlock the device past tilting the telephone if you are non a fan of the traditional swipe-to-unlock method.

Other enhancements that Samsung has brought to the table include expanded sharing capabilities with the South Axle feature. S Beam builds upon Android iv.0's native NFC-based Beam function to allow users to transfer big files by simply bumping 2 phones together. Samsung says that Due south Beam can be used to pass a 1GB video from one S Iii to some other in three minutes. It can besides be used to share web pages, images, and other content.

Samsung's Smart Stay characteristic uses the front-facing camera to keep the display on if yous are viewing a spider web page or reading an article. The phone will periodically look for a face staring dorsum at it, and maintain the screen effulgence for longer than the time out setting would allow. In good lighting, Smart Stay worked every bit advertised, but when the low-cal levels fell (when you lot are reading in bed, for example) the reliability of Smart Stay fell likewise.

The other major feature that Samsung includes with the Milky way S Iii is the new S Vocalisation personal assistant. S Voice is a virtual clone of the Siri personal assistant that Apple tree introduced on the iPhone 4S, and lets users collaborate with the Galaxy South III through speech. You can launch S Vocalism from its app icon or past double pressing the home key. Similar Siri, S Vocalisation can be used to check the weather, make appointments, set reminders, and perform web searches. S Vox does accept a couple of tricks of its own, though, as it can toggle Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios, be used to snooze or dismiss alarms, and launch some select third-party apps.

In practice, Due south Phonation works about as well as Siri, but it doesn't accept the same personality touches and nuances as Apple's product. Its features aren't equally fleshed out as Siri's are, either, which isn't proverb much. Both services have some functionality, but I don't think either one is where it needs to be to become an integral function of everyday use (that may change with the new features coming to Siri in iOS vi, but I digress).

Calling / Data

The Milky way South III supports the fastest data services bachelor to each carrier that it is being offered with. That means that the T-Mobile version has support for the carrier'due south 42Mbps HSPA+ network, while the AT&T, Dart, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon Wireless versions all feature 4G ~LTE data capabilities.

Of form if you buy the Sprint model, you lot won't be able to use the phone's LTE features until Sprint actually launches its LTE network, which is due to happen sometime this summer.

As far as telephone call quality is concerned, the Galaxy S III performs well, with loud, articulate audio from both the earpiece and the speaker phone. The call settings app offers a volume boost and customizable EQ settings, and then yous can really tweak the sound for your preference. I tested the AT&T and T-Mobile models during my review, and I plant phone call quality to be comparable between both of them. The merely complaint I tin levy against the Galaxy Due south III is that the sound tin can be a bit sparse and is not every bit full equally the audio produced by other smartphones.

Messaging

Samsung has included a threaded messaging app with the Galaxy S Iii that supports standard SMS and MMS messages. The phone also comes with the standard Google Talk for Android, which offers both video and text chatting, and Samsung's own ChatON messaging service. Fans of other conversation services will have to head to the Google Play Shop to download the app, as the Due south III doesn't ship with whatsoever other IM systems pre-loaded.

Samsung's electronic mail app has been updated for Android iv.0, and I must say I like information technology a lot. The app is fast and responsive, and information technology offers features similar threaded letters, multiple message direction, HTML email back up, and pinch zooming. The Galaxy South 3 also includes Google'south first-class Gmail app for Android 4.0.

Apps / App Shop

The Galaxy S Iii has full admission to the Google Play Store and its hundreds of thousands of apps, every bit well as books, music, and movies. Chances are, if there is an app you are looking for, it can be constitute there.

Fortunately, Samsung did not brunt the Milky way S 3 with a plethora of pre-installed apps, merely it did include the Flipboard app for Android. The Galaxy S III is the first Android device to send with the long-awaited app, which originally debuted on the Apple iPad. Flipboard for Android on the Galaxy S III works but equally smoothly every bit the iOS version, and lets users browse their social network feeds in a mag-style layout.

Each carrier version of the Milky way Southward III includes some carrier pre-installed apps, simply they are kept to a minimum (in the case of our AT&T and T-Mobile review units, at to the lowest degree). The Galaxy S III does let you lot disable pre-installed apps that are not wanted, or alternatively, y'all can hide them from view in the app drawer.

The Sprint, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular versions of the Milky way South III characteristic Dropbox installed out of the box, and offering customers 50GB of costless Dropbox cloud storage for ii years. During the phone's initial gear up, users are prompted to sign in to or create a Dropbox account. Once signed in, the complimentary storage is automatically added to the business relationship. Unfortunately, this perk isn't available on the AT&T or Verizon Wireless models.

Browser

The Milky way Southward III comes with an exceptionally fast and capable web browser. The browser loads pages in what feels like an instant, and it features effortless panning and zooming. The browser scores very well on the SunSpider benchmark, and that translates into a snappy day-to-twenty-four hour period experience.

It also includes back up for Adobe Flash Player (though the Adobe Flash Histrion is not pre-loaded, you take to go it from the Google Play Store if you lot want information technology), RSS feeds, and a reader mode that strips out images and ads from websites to brand web content easier to consume. Since the Milky way S III runs Android 4.0, yous can as well opt to use the excellent Google Chrome Beta browser for Android.