Samsung Galaxy S3 review
Love
Great screenDecent battery life
Chock-full of features
Hate
It’s just so bigGloss plastic looks low-end
Some extras seem gimmicky
Update: The S3's sucessor was announced at an extravagant launch event in New York City on 14 March 2013. Along with a large 5-inch screen, the new S4 packs an Exynos OCTO processor and a 13MP camera. T3 was there to take a look at the new handset - check out our Samsung Galaxy S4 hands-on review...
The Samsung Galaxy S3 was named Phone of the Year at the annual T3 Gadget Awards, beating the likes of the iPhone 4S, the HTC One X and the Nokia Lumia 900. Be sure to check out the full list of T3 Gadget Awards 2012 winners...
Full Samsung Galaxy S3 review:
The Samsung Galaxy S3 follows on from the runaway success that was the Samsung Galaxy S2, which won great praise and sold in huge numbers, helping Samsung snag the crown of the biggest mobile phone manufacturer in the world, and has since been joined by the pared down Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini.
So the new Galaxy had a lot to live up to. It had to be fast, powerful and feature-packed. Oh, and it had to look classy. So, how does it fare?
The S3 has gone big on innovation, with lots of new features the speculation hadn’t dreamed of. But the first thing you notice is the size. Samsung has shown it can make a success of big screens with the 5.3in display on the Samsung Galaxy Note.
But that’s not a phone, it’s a new breed of device somewhere between a phone and a tablet. Rivals like HTC had been stretching our mitts with 4.7in display blowers such as the HTC One X.
Can the S3 take on HTC's flagship model and is it better than than the Sony Xperia S? And will it have iPhone 4S fans defecting to Android? Here's what we thought...
Samsung Galaxy S3: Build
The S3 has a 4.8in display and it's certainly big. It’s a slim phone from front to back so it’s more manageable than you might think, but even so.
Actually, what helps more in terms of comfort is the gloss finish. It’s like a smooth, flat worry stone that you can roll seamlessly through your fingers. A matte finish wouldn’t have felt as good.
Though some will feel that the glossy coat looks a bit, well, plasticky. But it feels appealingly shiny and reassuringly solid despite a removable battery.
Where rivals like the Nokia Lumia 900 and HTC One X have maximised battery life by sealing it inside, and thus created a flex-free handset, the S3 is pleasingly non-creaky, no matter how you hold it.
Sometimes a new phone is only a gentle upgrade over the last model, but the S3 is streets ahead of the S2. It’s not quite as slim, though at 8.6mm it’s just a tenth of a millimetre fatter and it lacks the earlier phone’s bulge.
And it’s still thinner than the HTC One X, Motorola RAZR Maxx, iPhone 4S and many others. In terms of other important stats - it's 70.6mm across, 136.6mm long and weighs 133g
Samsung Galaxy S3: Screen
Back to the size. If your hands can, er, handle it, the positive consequence is a superbly viewable screen.