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MacBH928

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 17, 2008
8,275
3,696
I was wondering if any one can tell me about his feelings about the screen size in real life use.

I am scared to buy a gs3 because I am stepping into unknown area. Not sure what it is and how reliable is it. Lets not forget Apple eco-system.

But yesterday a friend let me use his iphone4 to watch a youtube video and the screen looked minute . It was sooo small and cramped. I have seen many other friends use S3 and maybe this is the reason.

While iphone5 offers taller screen it does not offer a wider one. S3 screen size just seems like something you can worth with and pleasure to use it for browsing.

How do you feel about the iphone5 screen next to the S3? is it comparable? or does it seem still too small?
 

Mrg02d

macrumors 65816
Jan 27, 2012
1,102
2
I saw an ip5 the other day...Tiny screen. 0.5in more doesn't do enough. If you are basing your choice on screen/visuals alone then go GS3 as its all about visuals and eye candy. If you want simplicity and don't mind a small world, go for iPhone. If I were going back to iPhone, I'd go back to 4s since its now cheaper yet works nearly as well. Things seem to work without a hitch on iPhones...They just don't do enough for me.
 
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matttye

macrumors 601
Mar 25, 2009
4,957
32
Lincoln, England
Still have an S3 but giving it to the mrs. Got an iPhone 5 on Sat.

I love Android and you can do a lot more with it, but ultimately I got a little sick of tinkering with it all the time and wanted something that "just works" (cliché I know :rolleyes:)

With the iPhone I find that: -

1. I can leave WiFi and Bluetooth on all the time without a big hit to battery life, so I can just get in my car, leave my phone in my pocket and have it automatically connect to Bluetooth. Likewise when I get home, it just connects to WiFi automatically.

2. It syncs perfectly with my iPad so I get iMessages, shared photo streams etc on both.

3. Siri understands me really well (much better than S Voice) and responds quickly. It also enables me to do truly useful things whilst driving such as set a geolocation reminder for when I get to my destination. I tried it out today by saying "Remind me to put in my eye drops when I get home" (I have an eye infection) and, sure enough, when I pulled up outside my house it popped up the reminder.

4. Access to iTunes from the device is great.

5. I have 64GB of space so I've put my entire music collection on it, and all my photos, and still have 30+GB left.

I think that ultimately, anyone who's sick of the simplicity of the iPhone will enjoy Android, and anyone that's sick of forever customising Android will enjoy the simplicity of the iPhone.

They're both great, just... different.
 

onthecouchagain

macrumors 604
Mar 29, 2011
7,382
2
These are just my impressions.

I handled my friend's iPhone 5 today. Not very impressed. The lightweight-ness did throw me off, and the device does feel a little cheapened, but I oddly can't put my finger on exactly why. It feels as if it's been hollowed out; almost as if I pressed it, it would give in and be crushed, or at least flex. It's also lost some of its former grace, especially with the back. The back looks more utilitarian and rugged, which can be a good thing actually. It's just a stark contrast from the 4S' full glass black. I was never a big fan of it, but there was no denying the glass made the device seem more graceful and elegant.

To me, the iPh5 is just awkward as heck. It really feels significantly taller, even though I know it's not. The lack of expansion width wise feels bizarre, like it's more a chocolate bar than a smartphone. I'm sure if I ever owned it and spent days with it, I'd adjust, no doubt. I do love how thin the device has become.

I also disliked that the power/sleep button is now even further away to reach at the top. I loathe the power/sleep button on the HTC One X. It made it horribly clunky to put to sleep (and wake in the HTC's case). It's a very close clunkiness with the 5. You had to adjust your hand so that your index finger could reach it. For those who argue the importance of the ease of use with one hand, that power button sure complicates things.

There's no describing how comfortable and perfect the location of the power/sleep button is on the GN. If 'm holding it with my right hand, my thumb is always nearby. If left hand, my index is always wrapped nearby. The power button on top needs to go the way of the dinosaurs. It's making less and less sense. The front home button definitely felt helluvalot more sturdy and durable though. And the screen is pretty vibrant and gorgeous to look at. No arguing that. In my opinion though, it's still not big enough. Reading texts and websites were really no different than the 4S. Certainly better, but not enough.

And iOS is simply what it is. iOS.

For a moment, I was admittedly caught up in the hype machine. But now that I've handled the device, I feel safe to double down on my decision to wait for what's on the horizon.

Just my impressions.
 
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LIVEFRMNYC

macrumors G3
Oct 27, 2009
8,776
10,838
Still have an S3 but giving it to the mrs. Got an iPhone 5 on Sat.

I love Android and you can do a lot more with it, but ultimately I got a little sick of tinkering with it all the time and wanted something that "just works" (cliché I know :rolleyes:)

With the iPhone I find that: -

1. I can leave WiFi and Bluetooth on all the time without a big hit to battery life, so I can just get in my car, leave my phone in my pocket and have it automatically connect to Bluetooth. Likewise when I get home, it just connects to WiFi automatically.

2. It syncs perfectly with my iPad so I get iMessages, shared photo streams etc on both.

3. Siri understands me really well (much better than S Voice) and responds quickly. It also enables me to do truly useful things whilst driving such as set a geolocation reminder for when I get to my destination. I tried it out today by saying "Remind me to put in my eye drops when I get home" (I have an eye infection) and, sure enough, when I pulled up outside my house it popped up the reminder.

4. Access to iTunes from the device is great.

5. I have 64GB of space so I've put my entire music collection on it, and all my photos, and still have 30+GB left.

I think that ultimately, anyone who's sick of the simplicity of the iPhone will enjoy Android, and anyone that's sick of forever customising Android will enjoy the simplicity of the iPhone.

They're both great, just... different.

Well that's the problem with some people, they will customize and tinker non-stop just cause they can. I used to be the same back in the Windows Mobile days. You even have those who unjailbreak to go back to stock iOS. I have my GS3 setup exactly the way I like it. No reason to to keep tinkering, at least not at such a frequent basis. Everything just works for me with the GS3 too.

I think it's safe to say the iPhone just works out the box vs any android phone. This is what more of the focus of Android should be on, and Apple needs to focus on giving iOS users more freedom cause their ecosystem can only take them so far.
 

Dolorian

macrumors 65816
Apr 25, 2007
1,086
0
I am scared to buy a gs3 because I am stepping into unknown area. Not sure what it is and how reliable is it. Lets not forget Apple eco-system.

I can understand being afraid of the unknown :) My current S3 is my first Android device ever. Before it I had an iPhone 3GS and then an iPhone 4. The syncing with iTunes is definitely more straight forward than what's available in Android, but there are plenty of great alternatives, many free and some paid, for you to sync your Android device and copy stuff to and from it.

doubleTwist, for example is an excellent app that also has a Mac client. It syncs your iTunes library (videos, music) over wifi and it is quite painless to use. It is also a fantastic player for music, podcasts and videos.

Another free app I use is called Airdroid, which allows you to manage your phone via the browser, where you can do plenty of stuff with it in addition to copying and downloading files. You can use it from any computer with a browser, no need to install anything in them.

Other apps like iSyncr are popular, but I have not used them.

For stuff like Contacts, Email, Calendars and RSS feeds, I've always been using Google so the transition was totally painless, just a matter of adding my Google account in the S3 and it downloaded and synced everything.

You will find that it is really not a painful experience when it comes to syncing and getting stuff to and from your Android phone. I've found the many options available quite flexible actually.


How do you feel about the iphone5 screen next to the S3? is it comparable? or does it seem still too small?

I personally find it too small still and am disappointed that they only made it taller and not wider. As far as the S3 goes, I love it's gorgeous 4.8" screen and at this point, after almost two weeks with it, I honestly can't see myself going back to a smaller 4" screen like the iPhone 5 has.
 

MacBH928

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 17, 2008
8,275
3,696
the decision making is getting tougher and tougher..

Will I be able to install jelly bean on s3? and even so, what does jelly bean really mean?

is it a jump like from iOS5 to iOS6 or is it just under the hood enhancement for better performance?

i also wonder if any one who has an iPad+S3 setup and how is it going for him?
 

Stropaganda

macrumors member
Sep 14, 2012
86
0
the decision making is getting tougher and tougher..

Will I be able to install jelly bean on s3? and even so, what does jelly bean really mean?

is it a jump like from iOS5 to iOS6 or is it just under the hood enhancement for better performance?

i also wonder if any one who has an iPad+S3 setup and how is it going for him?

ICS -> Jellybean is really great. Google Now aka Siri++, expandable notifications, and better performance. If you want to hear what jellybean is all about look up "Google I/O 2012" in YouTube and watch the conference.
 

matttye

macrumors 601
Mar 25, 2009
4,957
32
Lincoln, England
Google Now aka Siri++

Debatable. Google Now is better at searching and provides very quick responses. It's also arguable that it's more accurate at recognising what is being said. However, Siri is more intelligent in that you can ask it to do things in more ways. It also supports geolocation reminders. Finally, and perhaps the most useful of all, is that Siri is what opens when you use the command button on a bluetooth headset... on the S3 you get crappy S voice :p
 

lavrishevo

macrumors 68000
Jan 9, 2007
1,864
204
NJ
Debatable. Google Now is better at searching and provides very quick responses. It's also arguable that it's more accurate at recognising what is being said. However, Siri is more intelligent in that you can ask it to do things in more ways. It also supports geolocation reminders. Finally, and perhaps the most useful of all, is that Siri is what opens when you use the command button on a bluetooth headset... on the S3 you get crappy S voice :p

S Voice is pretty lame. I just disabled it. To be honest, I barely ever used Siri on my 4s before I gave it to my father. I am looking forward to JB. There are plenty of people running it on their rooted phones and it should be launched officially in October. Looking forward to checking it out but I really don't need an assistant to use my phone... lol

http://www.google.com/landing/now/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQt17jt9QaU
 
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matttye

macrumors 601
Mar 25, 2009
4,957
32
Lincoln, England
S Voice is pretty lame. I just disabled it. To be honest, I barely ever used Siri on my 4s before I gave it to my father. I am looking forward to JB. There are plenty of people running it on their rooted phones and it should be launched officially in October. Looking forward to checking it out but I really don't need an assistant to use my phone... lol

http://www.google.com/landing/now/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQt17jt9QaU

You dont need to be rooted to use JB, just install one of the leaks using Odin.

Unfortunately you still get S voice when using a Bluetooth headset rather than Google Now!

I need an assistant while driving :p
 

ITS ME DAVID

macrumors 6502
Jul 13, 2010
343
0
Pasadena, Ca
I used the s3 for 3 weeks before returning and getting the 5. I feel as the s3 is just to huge and the contrast and colors aren't as good as the 5 that I can tell.

Also the buggy operating system got on my nerves I got reset a few times in the first couple of days I'm not using jelly bean but I doubt it will make a big diff maybe a little faster and smoother but I doubt it will be crash free.

Also I do like the extra customization on the s3 but I can Jb the 5 when it's available and be able to do the same so that's not a big deal as also one important thing is the camera I always take piks and upload to fb it instagram and the cams on the iPhones are just top notch and the audio when shooting in video is also much better and what really got me on the 5 was how light and thin it is and the battery life way better then on the s3.

Overall for me I like the 5 but I'm not gonna lie the s3 because of the big screen looks nice but the new a6 in the 5 makes the phone fast
 

Mrg02d

macrumors 65816
Jan 27, 2012
1,102
2
I used the s3 for 3 weeks before returning and getting the 5. I feel as the s3 is just to huge and the contrast and colors aren't as good as the 5 that I can tell.

Also the buggy operating system got on my nerves I got reset a few times in the first couple of days I'm not using jelly bean but I doubt it will make a big diff maybe a little faster and smoother but I doubt it will be crash free.

Also I do like the extra customization on the s3 but I can Jb the 5 when it's available and be able to do the same so that's not a big deal as also one important thing is the camera I always take piks and upload to fb it instagram and the cams on the iPhones are just top notch and the audio when shooting in video is also much better and what really got me on the 5 was how light and thin it is and the battery life way better then on the s3.

Overall for me I like the 5 but I'm not gonna lie the s3 because of the big screen looks nice but the new a6 in the 5 makes the phone fast

Do tell how Jailbreaking the IP5 will even come close to the GS3? Last I checked, JBing barely added more than changing the color of your icons.

Im sorry, but JBing is a joke. You have no idea what rooting and installing ROMs can accomplish. I do, because I have jailbroken many iDevices. I have also rooted many android phones.
 

Bogart24

macrumors member
Oct 25, 2010
47
0
The GS3's screen is large, but deeply flawed. It does not get bright enough and the colors are inaccurate . To me it looked like everything was being shown through a yellow filter though I've seen the problem described as too much green. The iPhone 5 has a beautiful, accurate image.

I was also worried about the size after watching a video on the 4, but the 5 looks much larger because the image can fill the entire screen where the 4 had to use bars on top and bottom to preserve the 16:9 ratio. The 5 is obviously not going to look as big as the GS3, but I think it is big enough and the difference in quality gives the point to Apple.
 
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MacBH928

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 17, 2008
8,275
3,696
i tried to use the s3 from a friend today.

I am not sure how people are not complaining about this but the screen completely sucks. The hue is too blue , its very pixelated, and the pixels look like they are in teiangular shape. I dont understand the colors of the screen .

some how it seems like a 3D picture with out the glasses, a mix of blue and red.
I am not sure if this is how electronics displays always have been and I am pampered by using the retina display on my ipad?

Is there another really popular and supported Android device with great screen other than the gallaxy S3? because I just dont think I can use this or even consider ir. its not the software, it is the hardware
 

THE JUICEMAN

macrumors 68020
Oct 3, 2007
2,371
1,122
i tried to use the s3 from a friend today.

I am not sure how people are not complaining about this but the screen completely sucks. The hue is too blue , its very pixelated, and the pixels look like they are in teiangular shape. I dont understand the colors of the screen .

some how it seems like a 3D picture with out the glasses, a mix of blue and red.
I am not sure if this is how electronics displays always have been and I am pampered by using the retina display on my ipad?

Is there another really popular and supported Android device with great screen other than the gallaxy S3? because I just dont think I can use this or even consider ir. its not the software, it is the hardware

HTC one x is regarded as having a screen as good as iPhone or better. Also the new Nokia is supossed to have a great screen.
 

ITS ME DAVID

macrumors 6502
Jul 13, 2010
343
0
Pasadena, Ca
Do tell how Jailbreaking the IP5 will even come close to the GS3? Last I checked, JBing barely added more than changing the color of your icons.

Im sorry, but JBing is a joke. You have no idea what rooting and installing ROMs can accomplish. I do, because I have jailbroken many iDevices. I have also rooted many android phones.

I have rooted my tablet so I know what can be done and you have no idea the extent of Jb on a idevice if you think all it can do is change a color on an icon.
 

Technarchy

macrumors 604
May 21, 2012
6,753
4,927
i tried to use the s3 from a friend today.

I am not sure how people are not complaining about this but the screen completely sucks. The hue is too blue , its very pixelated, and the pixels look like they are in teiangular shape. I dont understand the colors of the screen .

some how it seems like a 3D picture with out the glasses, a mix of blue and red.
I am not sure if this is how electronics displays always have been and I am pampered by using the retina display on my ipad?

Is there another really popular and supported Android device with great screen other than the gallaxy S3? because I just dont think I can use this or even consider ir. its not the software, it is the hardware

There is still a contingent that thinks the GS3 screen is good. It's not. It's far from good. Unless there is some massive breakthrough in AMOLED tech, it's an instant no go, which is why I am glad the HTC 8X and Nokia 920 are going with LCD panels.

The HTC One X has an amazing screen, but the software is complete dog ****, as is the software on the Atrix HD, which also has a very nice screen.
 

MacBH928

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 17, 2008
8,275
3,696
There is still a contingent that thinks the GS3 screen is good. It's not. It's far from good. Unless there is some massive breakthrough in AMOLED tech, it's an instant no go, which is why I am glad the HTC 8X and Nokia 920 are going with LCD panels.

The HTC One X has an amazing screen, but the software is complete dog ****, as is the software on the Atrix HD, which also has a very nice screen.

The S3 screen is horrible...I am really amazed people are ok with it.

I dont understand how it the software horrible on HTC but is ok on S3?

to me , its like telling me that Windows 7 is horrible on Dell but very good on HP.

I thought they all run Android?
 

daveathall

macrumors 68020
Aug 6, 2010
2,379
1,410
North Yorkshire
The S3 screen is horrible...I am really amazed people are ok with it.

I dont understand how it the software horrible on HTC but is ok on S3?

to me , its like telling me that Windows 7 is horrible on Dell but very good on HP.

I thought they all run Android?


I have both phones and your experience with the S3 does not echo mine. If those are your impressions I would stay with the iPhone.
 

617aircav

Suspended
Jul 2, 2012
3,975
818
There is still a contingent that thinks the GS3 screen is good. It's not. It's far from good. Unless there is some massive breakthrough in AMOLED tech, it's an instant no go, which is why I am glad the HTC 8X and Nokia 920 are going with LCD panels.

The HTC One X has an amazing screen, but the software is complete dog ****, as is the software on the Atrix HD, which also has a very nice screen.

Bill ****. I have yo One x and the software os just Fine. Its Android with.htc sense. T
 

Dunbar

macrumors 6502a
Jun 25, 2010
557
114
Los Angeles, CA
The S3 screen is horrible...I am really amazed people are ok with it.

The S3 screen is far from horrible. If saturated colors are so bad than why did Apple make the screen colors 44% more saturated on the iPhone 5? Blacks are stunning on OLED displays. At my normal 18" viewing distance I cannot see any pixelation or graininess on the pentile display @ 720p resolution (the same thing pretty much every review of the phone says.) The blue screen tint is only noticeable when you hold it up next to a phone with an LCD, not in normal use. My iPhone 4 display looks washed out and boring in comparison to my S3 but I wouldn't call either one "horrible."
 

Tones2

macrumors 65816
Jan 8, 2009
1,471
0
The S3 screen is far from horrible. If saturated colors are so bad than why did Apple make the screen colors 44% more saturated on the iPhone 5? Blacks are stunning on OLED displays. At my normal 18" viewing distance I cannot see any pixelation or graininess on the pentile display @ 720p resolution (the same thing pretty much every review of the phone says.) The blue screen tint is only noticeable when you hold it up next to a phone with an LCD, not in normal use. My iPhone 4 display looks washed out and boring in comparison to my S3 but I wouldn't call either one "horrible."

I feel this EXACT same way. :)
 

MacBH928

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 17, 2008
8,275
3,696
I am sorry for calling S3 screen horrible.

I called it so because I used to see the phone from an angle along with friends when they show me something. I had a closer look recently and it appears that the screens has beautiful colors looking directly at it.

Yet this does not mean its "correct" There is definitely yellow/blue shift with whites. Yes yellow/blue. I am not sure how this happens, but I used a friends phone to test it out and the screen for odd reason if an app crashes or switching from apps would have a slight blue-ish screen then returns yellowish.

I am not sure if you can calibrate this or not.

None the less, the iphone 4 screen still looks SUPERB next to it. Whites and Pixels wise. Not sure about color "vibrance" . iPhone/ipad screens always look beautiful in colors to me.

by the way, this AMOLED screen is it the OLED screen they have been talking about, perfect colors , very small energy use, longest life ever lights??
 

BoxerGT2.5

macrumors 68020
Jun 4, 2008
2,104
14,136
The same people who claim they can see the difference between 326 and 306ppi are the same type who swear they can feel the 7hp claimed increase from an intake on their car.
 
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