Samsung Galaxy S3 or iPhone5? (no bashing please)

[tomato]

Originally Posted by DevilGirl

When I wrote it, I was still considering it. Since then, and after doing more research, I have determined that I do not want the iPhone. The main reason I was considering steering away from them, is because of the reasons listed above. And the more I have thought about it, I think I would do better with an Android. So then it becomes a questions of which device I want. I'm leaning towards the S3, but am not completely sold.
I have ruled out HTC One X, due to no expandable memory; the Galaxy Note due to size and weight; the S2 due to still running Gingerbread.

It seems like the main contender is the S3, but it always helps to have input from people other than the salesman trying to just get me to buy the most expensive phone.

go on http://www.phonedog.com/ They are pretty neutral and their site (unboxing videos, etc.) has helped me make my decision before. And then go play with it and tell the salesman your'e still under contract but wanted to look around. They'll leave you alone when they hear "still under contract" ;)

Good luck!

[eTiMaGo]

I'd vote Galaxy S3 as well, it really is a sexy beast of a phone, and does have some innovative features.

I don't know how it would work out for you carrier-wise, but the Galaxy Nexus is also a good choice, a little smaller than the S3, and without all the Samsung UI bloatware, just pure Android, and the first to get software updates...

[fnkngrv]

Since you are going the Android route on AT&T picking up the S3 even though it is bigger than what you really wanted sounds like the way to go.

[tomato]

Well, where is it?!! We want photos, the unboxing video, a couple of reviews and a book report while you're at it! j/k

So when are you going to pick it up? (I'm living my Android phone upgrades vicariously through others :P )

[DevilGirl]

Originally Posted by tomato

Well, where is it?!! We want photos, the unboxing video, a couple of reviews and a book report while you're at it! j/k

So when are you going to pick it up? (I'm living my Android phone upgrades vicariously through others :P )

I picked up the Galaxy S3 on Sunday. I was holding off on a review until I've had enough time to truely evaluate it. The first few days the battery ran down quickly, but then again, I was also setting everything up, searching for new apps, etc, during those days. Once I get everything set, I can do a better evaluation of everything as it would be under "normal" use at that point.

So far, other than me constantly using it and running the battery down, I really like it. It's similar yet different from Apple. Enough of a difference, I think, to have made it worth the switch.

I did have a few issues with the pre-installed text messenger app not responding and shutting down, but I think it might have been overloaded due to the ability of having loaded all my messages from the iPhone (over 15,000) via Samsung Kies (similar to iTunes but a bit more limited). I downloaded a different messenger app and it appears to be working fine for that aspect.

I was a little miffed at no visual voicemail in the pre-installed "phone" app. But there were apps I found that would remedy that situation. Some which converted the voicemail into text, while others that allowed for the voicemail to be delivered and reviewed similar to email, where you can pick and choose which voicemail to listen to.

I am a little disappointed that there are not as many options for settings (limited things you can change the settings on). I kept reading up on saving battery life, and all the posts I read (including ones for AT&T versions of the phone) kept stating that you can change the "screen profile" under the display settings. I have yet to find this setting anywhere on my phone.

Oh, here's a tidbit that was rather annoying. Somehow a few of my contacts were transferred onto the sim card (I havn't used a sim for contacts since I started syncing with my gmail account contacts). There was no option for choosing what location to read the contacts from (sim card, phone memory, or synced account), so I tried to deleted the ones on the sim so that I wouldn't have duplicate entries in my contacts list. It would not delete the contacts, no matter what way I tried to delete them from the phone itself. I had to use Samsung Kies and delete them, and they were finally gone.

The notifications are annoying in that even if I open the app that created the notification (primarily facebook), and view what the notification came from, it doesn't clear it from the notifications section at the top of the phone, you have to manually clear the notifications.



I know it seems like I am really nitpicking the phone, and am not satisfied with it at all. This is not the case. Those are the things I'm disappointed by, but it by no means is truely indicative of how I feel about it. I'm loving the 4G speeds. Hubby was extremely impressed by how quickly an app downloaded. And thankfully we do have 4G coverage at home, and pretty much every where I've been so far. The phone is lightweight (lighter than the iPhone4), nice size screen, and overall seems really good.

[suckerface]

You're lucky you have 4G coverage. Sprint only has about 15-20 cities with 4GLTE, and Chicago is the closest for me, which is over an hour away.

Glad you like the phone so far. You might want to consider rooting it and putting a new ROM on there. I'm sure you'll get MUCH better battery life and it'll probably solve a lot of your application/notification issues. Check out http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1563 for all of your phone needs :)

I'm really torn on upgrading to the S III. I'm up for an upgrade currently, and have until the end of December to get a $50 Best Buy gift card with my upgrade, but I feel like if I get the phone now, they'll announce a new one to be released in October (that's always my luck).

[Shroomster]

Originally Posted by suckerface

You're lucky you have 4G coverage. Sprint only has about 15-20 cities with 4GLTE, and Chicago is the closest for me, which is over an hour away.

Glad you like the phone so far. You might want to consider rooting it and putting a new ROM on there. I'm sure you'll get MUCH better battery life and it'll probably solve a lot of your application/notification issues. Check out http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1563 for all of your phone needs :)

I'm really torn on upgrading to the S III. I'm up for an upgrade currently, and have until the end of December to get a $50 Best Buy gift card with my upgrade, but I feel like if I get the phone now, they'll announce a new one to be released in October (that's always my luck).

For the T-Mobile version, last I checked, last month, there's not a 100% daily driver Rom available. When I root a phone, I want EVERYTHING working as it should. That's just me, but I'm sure there is something in the works.

@devilgirl, is there a lot of bloatware on your phone?

[DevilGirl]

Originally Posted by Shroomster

For the T-Mobile version, last I checked, last month, there's not a 100% daily driver Rom available. When I root a phone, I want EVERYTHING working as it should. That's just me, but I'm sure there is something in the works.

@devilgirl, is there a lot of bloatware on your phone?

Not that I've really noticed.I didn't see it for long while it was full factory (hubby snatched it from me and started downloading apps). What I have found is that for the majority of the preinstalled stuff I was able to either "uninstall" or "disable" it. Some of the pre-installed apps have been replaced by others that seem to fit my needs better.

As for rooting it, I probably won't. I never did jailbreak my old i.