Any Samsung Galaxy III Owners out there?

[beemerman2k]

I love the screen on this phone. It's so big I can use it without readers on. I am also looking at the Samsung Note. Anyone care to give me a review?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Ken H.]

Yeah I’ve got one for a work phone. And a different Android personal phone too. Three things I don’t partially care for about it –

 

As a phone it’s too big. Hard to actually hold in your hand up and talk on for any length of time.

 

Unlike my LG Android phone, I can’t turn off a lot of stuff on it. For example data access, email updates, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a weather feed, a news feed. The data access in particular which just runs up the usage time with all the background updates stuff going on. Now I don’t personally pay the bill on that phone, but it aggravates me never-the-less that they force you to leave all that stuff running. (Yes I know I could root it and make changes, but technically it’s not my phone.) And some of that might just be the particular carrier's (Telus) OEM loaded up apps package.

 

The battery life sucks. Partially because of the above I suspect, but also that big nice high pixel count bright in daylight display goes through battery charge like there’s no tomorrow. Literally sometimes, as I have more than a few times gotten up in the morning to find it dead after only a day of use since the last charge.

 

OTOH the display IS really pretty!

[brennaman]

\Unlike my LG Android phone, I can’t turn off a lot of stuff on it. For example data access, email updates, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a weather feed, a news feed. The data access in particular which just runs up the usage time with all the background updates stuff going on. Now I don’t personally pay the bill on that phone, but it aggravates me never-the-less that they force you to leave all that stuff running. (Yes I know I could root it and make changes, but technically it’s not my phone.) And some of that might just be the particular carrier's (Telus) OEM loaded up apps package.

 

 

You can turn those all off, or individually. On the "home page" go to the top and drag it down. You will see Wi-Fi, Blue tooth, GPS, Sound, Screen rotation, Mobile data, Power saving, Airplane mode and Sync. Tap the one you want off, it will grey out, when it is on it is green.

[brennaman]

I guess I could give a review on mine. Now this is my first "smart phone", I came from a flip phone. I have nothing to compare it to, but I do like it. As far as battery life, I probably use mine less than most, so my battery is usually about 50% at the end of the day. I did download Juicedefender to manage my battery use. It takes some tweaking depending on how you use your phone. One thing I wish was a little better, is outside in direct sunlight, it is hard to read. Not sure if this is better or worse that others, but hard to read non the less. I have had mine about 5 weeks, and so far I am pleased.

[Ken H.]

You can turn those all off, or individually. On the "home page" go to the top and drag it down. You will see Wi-Fi, Blue tooth, GPS, Sound, Screen rotation, Mobile data, Power saving, Airplane mode and Sync. Tap the one you want off, it will grey out, when it is on it is green.

One would have thought. That's exactly the way my other Android phone works. But on this Telus OEM load turning stuff off on the top bar is disabled. Even GPS is always on and Google Maps always running and updating. Facebook too. I think it's their way of running up data usage charges.

[brennaman]

That is a bummer. I leave most of mine off all the time. I have it set for the blue tooth to come on when I am on the bike, that is about it. Also the wi-fi is on while at home. Other than that, it is just a regular phone, and I turn on what I need when I need it.

[beemerman2k]

Thank you for the feedback.

 

My interest in this phone exists specifically because it's so large! I like the thought of being able to read the display without my readers. Also, my iPhone goes through a lot of battery power, so much so that there's no way I'd make it through one day on a single charge. I have a car charger, a charger at my desk at work, and yet another at home.

 

Currently, I enjoy AT&T unlimited data plan, and they confirmed that I could upgrade to this Samsung and still keep my current unlimited voice, text, and data (I pay about $130/month).

 

I am going to try and see what the new Samsung Note will have. That an even larger phone than the Galaxy! And I'll try to see what the iPhone 5 has. Right now, though, the Galaxy 3 is my top pick.

 

Thank you!

[Boffin]

I have the equally huge HTC One X, which replaced my previous Blackberry. I do not often use it as a phone - mainly for data and texts. I have also used the wi-fi hotspot facility when out with some friends on a weekend trip.

The screen is big enough for me to use it as an e-reader, which is great on a road-trip - or on my deck.

Battery life is about 1-day, so I often top-up during the day - it is connected to my work laptop as I type - and pumping out some Queen tracks into my headset. The 8mp F2 camera is top-notch.

 

All-in-all, one heck of a mini-tablet, camera and music-player - Oh, and it makes phone-calls too!

 

 

Andy

[OoPEZoO]

And I'll try to see what the iPhone 5 has.

 

The new iPhone is keeping the current screen width, but is stretching the diagonal screen length to 4" so it should have a true 16x9 aspect ratio. The headphone jack is being moved from the top of the phone to the bottom, and they are indroducing a new (smaller) docking connector that supposedly will be the new Apple standard. It will also have iOS6, but the only people who have had their hands on that are developers. Its supposed to be announced September 12th, with the actual release rumored to be September 21st.

 

Not that I'm counting the days or anything

[RichEdwards]

Love my iPhone and I'm ready for the next version. Me and about 50 million others.

[jbr7t]

If you are having battery life issues with an iphone you may want to "avoid the droid." My Samsung Galaxy S (yes the first one) is usually on the charger before lunchtime. And multiple times throughout the day. Granted it is the older model so I'm sure the S3 has a better battery. Several people I work with have the iphone and use it way more than I use my galaxy and they can go without charging. Unless you are using your iphone A LOT it sounds like you may have a dud battery. Typically speaking the iphone has phenomenal battery life.

 

 

Currently the S3 is on top of my list. But I am trying to hold off for the iphone5 to see how they compare before I make a change. Although I'm afraid if I throw my galaxy across the room one more time because its locked up AGAIN I may be forced to make a change before the iphone5 makes it.

[beemerman2k]

My iPhone battery issues stem from my reliance on the unlimited 3G data plan. While working, I listen to Internet radio via the 3G network all day, and that sucks up power like there's no tomorrow. Then I surf the net, and monitor this website as well. All that 3G activity takes a major toll on battery power.

 

If I didn't rely on 3G so heavily, my battery would be much happier.

[OoPEZoO]

My iPhone battery issues stem from my reliance on the unlimited 3G data plan. While working, I listen to Internet radio via the 3G network all day, and that sucks up power like there's no tomorrow. Then I surf the net, and monitor this website as well. All that 3G activity takes a major toll on battery power.

 

If I didn't rely on 3G so heavily, my battery would be much happier.

 

I'm in the same boat with mine. I stream music or talk radio to and from work (an hour each way). Usually stream a baseball game in the evening. Not to mention I'm always fiddling around with a game or the internet. When I'm at home I'm on WiFi, but it still chews it up.

 

I think my biggest issue is that my iPhone 3Gs is now 3+ years old and its finally starting to show its age. The last few iOS upgrades has slowed things down for me, and my battery just isn't what it used to be. Hense, my impatient waiting for the new one to come out next month.

[basilr]

I just got my S3 and am still getting used to it. Is there an app that anyone is using to view this forum?

[cali_beemer]

I have the Samsung Note...I came from an iphone 3GS and I have alot of time playing with the 4, 4S and some time with the 5. I have only played around with the Galaxy 3. Overall I like the Note. Its a big phone, the size is great to me and the main reason I bought it. The draw back is one handed usage can be cumbersome and same with one handed text. Althought they now have a new feature in the latest update that shifts the keys to one side for easier reach, very cool. I think the iphone operating system was easier to use but in the end, the droid has by far more capabily and customization operations. I am not very impressed with the phone part of the note, or the voicemail. After the iphone, the droid sustems seems like a dumbed down kids toy. I am also not impressed with the email. There is no instant push on the email so the note and other samsung phones have more delay in retrieving messages. Its also slow for deleting messages. I often have to delete the same email two to three times before it goes away. However, its not all bad. The phone is very fast. The 4GLTE in sacramento is lightning fast. I have seen download speeds of over 50 Mb/s. The file storage system is very nice and easy to use. The interface is much easier to me since you dotn have to deal with the itunes crap. The music player is okay, fairly on par with the iphone. As for the apps, I have found some are better with droid and some are better on apple so its a wash. The maps and navigation integration are excellent, way better than the apple IMO. The key feature for me is the screen. I watch alot of you tube videos and I am on my facebook app all the time....I love the screen. I wish for a better phone, voicemail and email system but I have managed to adapt. Its not perfect but I cant see myself buying another iphone until they get their heads out of their @$$ and offer a bigger screen. Looking at the iphone makes my eyes squint. I got tired of the limitations apple puts in place like no flash player, or file formats....I enjoy the capability of the note. I just added 32GB of storage space on top of the built in 16GB...not bad for paying 30 bucks...From everything I have seen teh S3 is just a smaller version of the note with a few useless features...and a tiny difference in proscesor. If you have any specific questions about the Note, let me know. Also, they are replacing the Note very soon. The screen got bigger than the 5.3" to a 5.5" but the added size is in length. If I were buying a Note, I would hold out for the new one. Samsung has also announced that the S3 will be short lived with a newer phone around the corner.