Test - Samsung Galaxy S3

The Galaxy S3 has already been much written, that's actually been talking about for months and you may be wondering what he has in the stomach and, especially, if it deserves its reputation. A perfectly legitimate question, especially when you see the success of the two previous models, and we will try to answer in this article. Yes, because Samsung had the great kindness to lend me a Galaxy S3 for a little over a week and as many say I took the opportunity to have fun with. In short, some of you were waiting, here comes the test of Galaxy S3.

The technical

As always, we will obviously start by recalling the technical characteristics of the Galaxy S3. From that side, we can say that the South Korean manufacturer has made very strong, as always elsewhere, and we thus find:

• A touch screen AMOLED Super HD 4.8 inch (1280 by 720).
• Exynos a quad core processor running at 1.4Ghz.
• 1 GB of RAM. (*)
• 16 GB or 32 GB of storage + microSD slot.
• Sensor, backlit 8-megapixel camera with mechanical image stabilizer.
• Front sensor of 1.9 megapixels
• No WiFi, DLNA, Bluetooth 4.0, 3G.
• Port MHL, GPS, NFC, accelerometer, gyroscope, compass.
• 2100 mAh battery.
• 133 grams.
• Google Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" + TouchWiz.

(*): 512 MB available for applications of the model that was entrusted to me.

To quote another, there is not much to discard. However, technical specifications, it is not always enough to make a good product and should therefore dig a little deeper and see the question that is worth the Galaxy S3 field. We will now get down to business ...

Design & Ergonomics

The first thing to know about the Galaxy S3 is that Samsung has once again opted for plastic. Sure, it has undergone a specific treatment to be more zoli, brighter, more sensual, but it's still plastic. Necessarily at the beginning, it's a bit disappointing but it should nonetheless be remembered that this material has at least two major advantages: it is lightweight, two, it is also very shock resistant. And casually, a smartphone that can resist shocks, it's still not bad, eh ... Because you have beautiful to be very careful, there always comes a moment when you loose your mobile and where he burst onto the sidewalk.

Finally, let's look and rather to the overall look of the latest Samsung mobile. Both say clearly, it is very enjoyable to watch. Its curves are reminiscent of the Galaxy Nexus, we thus find a mobile with very rounded corners and a slightly curved back shell. The most interesting part of the story is that it does not look like an iPhone. We often fee Samsung copier but we feel that the manufacturer's mobile division has found his calling. It is a fact, the Galaxy S3 differs from the iPhone, of course, but also all other mobile offered by the competition. After, we like it or not but the roller side of the mobile me tremendously caught the eye.

Front, we get a beautiful HD Super AMOLED 4.8 inch with a resolution of type 720p. Above, we have the logo of the manufacturer topped by the first speaker. To the right of the latter, we will find the various sensors (presence, brightness) and the front camera. On the other side, on the left, the mobile includes a notification LED similar to what can be found on the BlackBerry. At the bottom, below the screen, outside the home button, we'll also be able to get hold of two sensitive buttons: one to access the options menu, the second to return to the previous screen.

Then I enter the slices. On the right, we'll find the power button. Frankly, its location is not ideal. While it is very accessible when we take the Galaxy S3 with one hand, but we often tend to rely on accidentally. In contrast, and therefore on the right spine, we will have two dedicated buttons to control volume. The jack, meanwhile, will be on the top and the micro USB port on the bottom

The back cover, she incorporates a lot of things starting with the excellent sensor terminal (we will have the opportunity to speak later, with a small comparison video between iPhone 4S and  Galaxy S3) with its LED flash. Besides, we have the second speaker. It's good but I think Samsung could take the opportunity to integrate a micro second story to improve the capture sound when turning a video. Obviously I spend on the company logo, to go directly to what lies beneath the hull. Apart from the battery, you will find the port and micro SIM and micro SD port. Personally I'd rather be able to access it without removing the shell, but it is a totally subjective opinion.

So much for the overview of Galaxy S3. History you can almost see the "real", I've prepared a video first.

Asset (s): general design of the phone, the presence of a micro SD port, general ergonomics of the product.

Weakness (s): positioning the power button, access to micro SD port.

The display and performance

The screen, for starters, is simply magnificent. I know some prefer rendering than LCD screens, LED type, but I am not one of them. It should be noted, moreover, that we find in the phone settings option to change the screen mode. There is a choice between the dynamic mode (brighter colors), standard mode, the natural mode and video mode. I find it interesting to leave the choice to the user. On the definition, nothing to say. There is much talk of the Retina (especially now) but I find the display of the Galaxy S3 as thin as the iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S. Again, this is a subjective opinion but the effect "whaou" is alive and well.

Turning now to the performance of mobile. The latter is very reactive, and both with the usual applications with games or even video. After, as is my habit, I obviously turns the usual benchmarks but BenchmarkPi Quadrant me miserably and planted in the legs so I did not have results to show you that side. Linpack and remains An3DBench.

Linpack: 114,195.

An3DBench: 6940.

Of all mobile terminals recently tested by me, the Galaxy S3 is the one who gets the best scores but we must still say that I have not had the opportunity to put your hands on the Tegra 3 so I can not tell you how does the Samsung Exynos compared to the latter, or even from last SnapDragon.

And autonomy in all this?

Both say clearly, despite a 2100 mAh battery, the Samsung Galaxy S3 offers the same range as most smartphones on the market, so do not expect to exceed the day without recharging. And yet, to take so long, it'll prove efficient. By pumping on the drums like a dog, you will seldom more than six hours (attention, with video, games galore, 3G, WiFi and a ton of applications open at once). By being frugal, you can expect to live 13 or 14 hours. Everything obviously depends on your usage, but I have distinguished no noticeable difference with my iPhone 4S anyway.

Asset (s): beautiful screen, pixel density, general responsiveness.

Weakness (s): N / A.

Photos & Videos

The application dedicated to capturing photos and recording videos is pretty well designed. Within seconds, it will allow switching between the two sensors, change the recording mode, enable or disable the flash, access to all parameters of the tool (self-portrait, exposure, self timer, effects) or switch between the mode photo and video mode. For the rest, there is an ergonomics close to what IOS offers. You hit the screen area of our choice to change the autofocus, you hit the sticker at the bottom of the screen to go directly to the photo gallery.

Okay, and the recording quality in all this?

Since the beginning, we know that the sensor S3 and the Galaxy the same as the iPhone 4S. And that is still very promising. However, it should not be mistaken, pictures and videos taken with these two phones are not identical. Experience the difference between these two terminals, it is obviously the signal processing. Here is the platform that comes into play and, ultimately, we get very different results with advantages and shortcomings for both.

A video worth more than a thousand speeches (it's less tiring for the fingers), so I made ​​a small comparison between the Galaxy and S3 iPhone 4S. All in different atmospheres, of course. This is obviously not the only kind of video then feel free to browse YouTube to get a better idea of ​​the differences between the two sensors and their rendering.

Asset (s): very good color rendering, applying well thought out ergonomics, accessibility.

Weakness (s): N / A

Interface, TouchWiz & S Suite

The interface of the Galaxy S3 is frankly very pleasant to take control. Behind, there is obviously the Ice Cream Sandwich but Samsung has also graced with the latest version of its home overlay, TouchWiz. An overlay that blends completely into the background and therefore complies broadly visual identity and feel of the latest version of Google Android. All with a lot of very nice details like the widget dedicated to display the time and weather, or the ability to change the display order of applications, not to mention the support of DLNA, the day before smart and intelligent all the gestures that will allow you to interact more easily with your mobile.

And then there's the S Suite or suite of applications proposed house by Samsung:

• Schedule S: A very nice calendar that allows you to easily explore all the appointments of the day, week, month, year. It should be noted further that the tool also includes a system management tasks.
• Memo S: The Killer App Suite S in my opinion. With this tool, you can take notes, make small sketches, insert images and many other things very friendly. Of course, with a stylus, it would be better, but this application is still much nicer to use than Notes IOS.
• Suggest S: I had already spoken during my test of the Galaxy Tab 2, but I'll still take the time to explain the principle of this application. Basically, it aims to present you a selection of applications available on the market. For old bearded, it is not necessarily very interesting but novices will appreciate still being entitled to some advice from the manufacturer.
• S Voice: This is obviously the most important change introduced by the Galaxy S3. Basically, S Voice, the Siri Samsung. It is therefore possible to use it to send SMS, access information and lots of other things. Interestingly, S to start Voice, just use a few keywords. A function that can also be found on Siri, but through a tweak Cydia (Hands Free Control). After, by cons, for the very functioning of S Voice, you still have to know that the tool is much less flexible than Siri. Hope that the manufacturer makes the change quickly and it is not just a marketing ploy.
• After, there are obviously other tools, like the "new" Music Hub presented by the manufacturer earlier this month. Broadly, therefore, we can say that the offer from Samsung is quite complete and you will be able to discover a little more detail in the following video.

Asset (s): general ergonomics of TouchWiz, S Suite.

Weakness (s): lack of flexibility of S Voice.

In conclusion

Well, I think I have forgotten nothing. Finally though, it's likely that this is the case but I really tried to be as comprehensive as possible. What I can tell you, anyway, about this week's test is that the Galaxy S3 made me a very strong impression. This is a beautiful object, its screen is simply gorgeous and there is a copy reactivity. I loved the Galaxy S2 in his time but the new smartphone from Samsung me even caught the eye.

But does it make me abandon my iPhone 4S so far?

The answer is not simple, but I think not. Warning, this is not a design problem or hardware. From that side, the Galaxy S3 is stronger than the iPhone 4S. Same thing for the platform and thus the torque Ice Cream Sandwich / TouchWiz. If I were to rely solely on these factors, I think I would let me gladly try.

But then, behind, there are the applications. Applications often be improved ergonomics and unfortunately not that violate all the visual identity of the latest version of Android. It may have come from me but I sometimes feel, by running several different applications, to have a patchwork of colors and interfaces under the eyes. A bit like the fragmentation of Android terminals rubbed off on the application services platform.

However, I also think is that this will not last. In recent years, Android has grown enormously, much more than iOS over the same period. It suffices to compare changes between Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich to changes between IOS and IOS 5 6 to realize that Google's mobile platform is literally exploding. And IMHO, it's not ready to settle down.

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