Why samsung galaxy s3

The phone sold some 70 million units by and recorded record profits for Samsung. It offered a 4. The Galaxy S20 Ultra , for example, boasts a colossal 6. It was a fraction of the price, too. Here and now: The best Samsung Galaxy deals. As funny as it sounds, the Galaxy was a top performer back in its day.

The Galaxy S3 specs included a 1. This was blazingly fast for its time. Eight years has been a long time in mobile processing technology. Samsung's not ditched its button layout either -- there's a smallish physical home button underneath the screen, with touch-sensitive menu and back keys on either side.

The placement of those touch-sensitive keys is slightly inconvenient. They're close to the edge of the phone, so you might find yourself accidentally triggering them with your hand. The power key -- sited on the curved right-hand edge of the phone -- is also a bit troublesome as it's small, slippery and doesn't stick out much.

While the volume rocker on the left edge is also shiny, it's big enough to lock onto easily. The back of the S3 has a high-gloss sheen -- so butterfingered types may find it hard to hang on to.

The chrome trim also has a super-shiny coating so the sides are slippery. These high-shine surfaces are compounded by all the slopes and gentle curves of the phone -- and after a few weeks with the S3 I found myself hankering for a solid, flat-edged slab that could be easily anchored in the hand. The soft curves of the S3 haven't pleased a lot of Android fans either -- judging by some of the user reviews. The rounded corners on the back do look dated, reminiscent of smart phones from several years ago.

On the other hand, the 'pebble' styling feels more comfortable when held over long periods than a sharp-edged slab. Currently, the S3 comes in either blue or white -- but a red version is due to land in the US soon so additional colours should arrive here too.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a pink version surfacing later this year. The white version is very glossy, while the blue option sports a brushed-metal effect. Don't despair if you're a fan of sultry black mobiles as the blue S3 is fairly dark.

It could at least pass for a muted shade of grey. The Galaxy S3 is 8. That makes it ever so slightly thicker than the S2, which is 8. By comparison, the much smaller iPhone 4S is 9. Millimetre one-upmanship aside, the bottom line is that the S3 is very thin and light considering its large size.

The reason it's able to be so light is that -- like the S2 -- the Galaxy S3 is constructed from a significant amount of plastic.

If you're averse to plasticky mobiles, the more substantial One X or metal-and-glass iPhone 4S might be more to your liking. Even though it's decked in all this plastic, the S3 has a very tactile and luxurious feel. And, despite my hankering for some flat surfaces to grab onto, for the most part, the pebble design is a real pleasure to hold, while the slender and light frame of the S3 caresses the palm without weighing you down. It's worth stressing that this phone is a whopper, with a screen that trounces the 4.

It is outsized only by the ludicrous 5. Even with this massive screen, the S3 feels relatively manageable -- thanks to its slender body. However, if you're someone who likes to get to all your mobile stuff with one hand, you will find yourself having to stretch to reach everything -- and may even find the phone clattering onto the floor if you're not careful. But of course, the advantage of having so much screen real estate is that photos, videos and apps really do look gorgeous.

Build quality has typically been a strong point for Samsung phones and the S3 is no exception. Despite being predominantly plastic, it feels impressively stuck together.

The screen is solid as a rock and ample amounts of chrome trim keep everything in order. Do be careful not to drop the phone though -- I've seen one S3 sporting a cracked screen after taking a tumble.

I was able to make the phone faintly creak by squeezing it from the sides. But considering the S3 has a removable backplate so you can get to the battery, micro-SIM and SD card slots, that's to be expected.

Overall, build quality has a premium feel. The S3 has an 8-megapixel camera, which is the same resolution as last year's Galaxy S2. It might not have bumped up the pixel count, but this blower does have a few new tricks up its sleeve, including the zero-shutter-lag trait seen in the Galaxy Nexus, and a clever feature that automatically suggests your best shot after you've fired off a few similar snaps, basing its decision on factors like smile detection and face recognition.

A new feature, also present on the HTC One X, is the ability to take still images while you're recording video -- perfect for when your pet is doing something adorable. The S3's camera can be very good indeed -- producing excellent close-up shots, both indoors and out, and having an impressively shallow depth of field. The lens can be a touch fickle when dealing with variable light conditions across one scene.

I found it has a tendency to wash out parts of the scene, and it can also suffer from lens flare. On the plus side, it's good at dealing with the lower light of an indoor environment.

Unless it's really dingy, clarity is good and photos don't speckle with noise. If you're wondering how the S3's lens squares up to other high-end smart phones, rest assured you won't be embarrassed by the quality of the snaps it takes. However, it's not the best smart phone camera money can buy right now. That's the Nokia PureView -- a fantastic camera phone that is nonetheless a poor smart phone. The S3 shoots Full HD video at p resolution. Video results during testing were less impressive than the still shots, with a tendency to look hazy.

Levels of detail also drop off with even relatively slow of movement in the frame, such as when walking. There's a 2-megapixel camera on the front for video calling, Face Unlock and Samsung's face detection feature -- which stops the phone's screen from dimming as long as you're looking at it. Contactless sharing technology, or near field communication NFC , is also on board the S3.

That's good news if you're a fan of NFC tags. And, in the not too distant future, having NFC on board should mean you can use the phone to pay for stuff in shops. This is the device Samsung and Visa are giving to athletes competing in the London Olympics. The phone is fully charged with an NFC SIM so it can be used to swipe over contactless payment terminals as an alternative to paying with cash or a card. So in theory it should be quicker. In practice, relatively few shops and retailers will let you pay with a swipe as they don't yet have contactless terminals installed so your choice of lunch shop is pretty limited.

Even in those outlets that do accept NFC, because it's still a less usual way to pay, you have to spend some extra time asking to pay with your phone, rather than just handing over cash, so it's not always quicker. Add to that, the NFC terminals in my local Pret A Manger sandwich shop seemed to be offline an awful lot -- meaning that if I'd turned up with just the phone and no cash expecting to pay, I'd have left without any lunch.

These sort of teething issues mean NFC mobile payments are still a way off being as easy as fishing a fiver out of your pocket. NFC on the S3 is still a 'nice to have' -- and hopefully it will become increasing useful in the coming years. Like the S2, the S3 has a rear speaker.

But instead of being sited down low, it's positioned right up towards the top of the phone, next to the camera. Sound quality is good but the audio doesn't go especially loud. At the top of its range, songs can have a slight crackle. The position of the speaker can affect the quality of the sound. If you're looking at the face of the phone, the rear-sited speaker is blasting away from your ears. An arguably better position for a second speaker would be on one of the phone's edges.

However, the S3's pebble design means there's precious little room there. Call quality is excellent and I had no trouble hearing or being heard. I also didn't experience any dropped calls. One important thing to note is there's no support for the fastest current 3G technology, DC-HSPA -- in either its 21Mbps or 42Mbps variant -- so be aware that this phone is very much a 3G-only blower, despite previous reports to the contrary.

With the Galaxy S3, Samsung hasn't messed with its formula much, recognising slick design and a gorgeous screen were the secret to the Galaxy S2's success. The S3's oval shape may not be an instant eyeball grabber but those pebble-like curves are enticing to the touch -- unless you're trying to frame and snap a photo one-handed, in which case they become a slippery nightmare.

To this curvaceous design, Samsung has added an upgraded engine -- making a phone that's unrivalled in the speed and power stakes right now. On the down side, the TouchWiz interface is occasionally frustrating, and Samsung's app offerings aren't always as intuitive as they could be.

These minor software concerns aside, the S3 is already one of the year's most important gadgets. There are very few phones that come close to matching Apple's premium, luxurious feel, but with the S3, Samsung has got closer than anyone. To get all the latest phone reviews, news and features beamed straight to your Android device of choice, head to the Google Play store and download the free CNET Android app today. Update 24 May : Republished as a review by Natasha Lomas.

Additional testing by Luke Westaway. Natasha Lomas. Jul Pricing Not Available. TouchWiz interface can be confusing; Premium price. The Samsung Galaxy S3 remains one of the biggest Android smartphones ever launched in terms of sales.

Indeed, the only other Android smartphone to beat the S3 in sales would be its immediate successor the S4, which topped out at 80 million sales units. Did you own a Samsung Galaxy S3 when it was first released? What is your opinion on the S3 as it reaches its seventh birthday?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Let's take a look back! By John Callaham Senior Writer. He has been writing at AA for over four years. He handles updates to evergreen articles and writes new features and news stores, primarily concentrating on streaming services. He lives in Greer, SC with his wife and five cats. While the ads for the Galaxy S3 were certainly effective, the phone itself was also an excellent Android handset even without the iPhone attack commercials.

In an age where many smartphones have almost no front bezels, the Galaxy S3 was highly recommended because, for its time, its bezels were considered to be smaller than what was found on other phones. The Galaxy S3 and President Trump. Features Samsung, Samsung Galaxy S.