Samsung Galaxy S III Announced - 3G HSPA+ Version Available May 29, 4G LTE This Summer
by Brian Klug on May 3, 2012 2:26 PM ESTWe're at the Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2012 event in London, where Samsung just officially announced the Samsung Galaxy S 3. We're going to have hands on with the device soon along with some impressions of the device.
One of the major things Samsung said it wanted to address with the SGS3 launch was availability closer to announcement. It looks like they're making good on that promise, at least with the international 3G HSPA+ version, which will be available May 29th. Launch markets will start with Europe, then move on to Russia, the middle east, and Latin America. The 4G LTE version for the USA and other regions will be available later this summer - off the bat it looks like there will be likely be a region based split in what SoC makes it into what device.
We'll follow up with specs and impressions shortly.
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RussianSensation - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
Galaxy SIII vs. HTC One Xhttp://www.gsmarena.com/the_beast_released_samsung...
Thinner: 8.6 mm vs. 8.9 mm
Larger screen with deeper blacks:
Super AMOLED (1280x720) 4.8 inch vs. 4.7 inches (1280x720 LCD2)
Card slot: microSD, up to 64 GB vs. None
Secondary camera for video calling: 1.9 MP vs. 1.3 MP
Radio: Stereo FM radio with RDS vs. None
Dropbox: Comes with 50GB of online storage vs. None
http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/03/samsung-dropbox...
It's not great looking though.
tijag - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
Looks like this doesn't have the RGB subpixel configuration of the HTC screen. I'd rather have that over slightly larger and better blacks.The microSD slot is the biggest thing, as well as the larger battery.
Pretty sure the US verisons of both phones will be rocking the Qualcomm Krait SoC.
RussianSensation - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
Ya good point. HTC's earlier availability is a winning point for them. The S3 won't launch state side until the summer, so we are looking at June at best. For those ready to upgrade, HTC One X is great.Dark Legion - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
Oh please, pentile on a 720p screen is not a negative unless you're looking at it from 6" away, and if you're doing that all the time then a 720p screen on your phone is not for you. And not just better blacks, it's pure black on AMOLED. Not to mention that personally, I don't like having to look at the ugly and uneven LED backlighting, though that part looks a lot better in the one X than it did in the Rezound.steven75 - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
One X LTE available right now vs available in JuneOne X no pentile display vs pentile
One X looks/feels (from reports) much nicer vs not as nice
One X less software added to further delay future Android updates vs TONS and TONS of enhancements sure to add to Samsung's already less than stellar history of updating their Android phones.
I also wouldn't list an even larger screen as a definitely advantage.
RussianSensation - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
The availability I agree with. However, the pentile display is a personal preference. I bet most people won't notice the pixels at all. Check out Google Nexus S review on this site where the pentile was not noticeable.Performance looks good:
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_iii_flexe...
The blue version looks very cheap but the white version looks nice.
http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/1932/GALAXY%...
Looks like a large iPod Touch.
1ceTr0n - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Pentile is even less noticable on the Galaxy Note, if Anandtech would freaking review it alreadytipoo - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
I'm simultaneously bored by it even while knowing it's definitely at least top 5 in Android phones. The quad A9 isn't too exciting seeing how much faster dual core Krait is. The screen is on par with the Galaxy Nexus, nothing new. Same memory and storage as before. 65% faster GPU should put it well on top of everything else on Android though in that department, just like the 2 was.tijag - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
The better GPU is likely its best and most unique selling point. The 4 core Mali400 should be clearly faster than the Adreno225... BUT, the US version will likely be the S4 Krait SoC for the LTE compatability. Therefore the US EVO/One X will be about identical to this in performance in all metrics, with a better screen. The SGSIII will have a bigger and removeable battery. EVO has the SD slot, the One X doesnt.tipoo - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
The Mali 400 in the GSII was a big deal because it was pretty much the only thing that could run Andriod smoothly at the time. Now its pretty much a non-issue, and games still run on old phones like my Nexus S, they aim for the lowest common denominator. I would have preferred faster CPU cores to the 65% GPU improvement.