iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S3 Display

KAB2010 · Oct 25, 2012

I've been contemplating which device I will choose for my upgrade that's coming soon. I went into AT&T today to compare the two, and the biggest standout part of the phones were the displays. I've researched both extensively as well, and after looking at them in person, there's no comparison. The S3's brightness is ridiculously low, it makes everything appear dark, while the iPhone 5 is at least twice as bright in comparison. I can already tell the S3 would be nearly unusable outside. Also, taking battery life into account, full brightness would kill the S3's battery, which is the setting I'd need to really enjoy the viewing experience. I only need the iPhone brightness at about 60% to enjoy it, which wouldn't severely tax battery life. The positives are of course the large screen and pretty colors of the S3, but saturation on the iPhone seems up to par now as well.

On the AT&T S3, I couldn't find any setting to change the color tone or the browser brightness like found on other S3 models. Maybe it's there somewhere, but I tried my best to find it.

Just offering my perspective to those who may have the same concerns. Please no rude remarks or annoying sarcasm.

blackhand1001 · Oct 25, 2012

KAB2010 said:
I've bein contemplating which device I will choose for my upgrade that's coming soon. I went into AT&T today to compare the two, and the biggest standout part of the phones were the displays. I've researched both extensively as well, and after looking at them in person, there's no comparison. The S3's brightness is ridiculously low, it makes everything appear dark, while the iPhone 5 is at least twice as bright in comparison. I can already tell the S3 would be nearly unusable outside. Also, taking battery life into account, full brightness would kill the S3's battery, which is the setting I'd need to really enjoy the viewing experience. I only need the iPhone brightness at about 60% to enjoy it, which wouldn't severely tax battery life. The positives are of course the large screen and pretty colors of the S3, but saturation on the iPhone seems up to par now as well.

On the AT&T S3, I couldn't find any setting to change the color tone or the browser brightness like found on other S3 models. Maybe it's there somewhere, but I tried my best to find it.

Just offering my perspective to those who may have the same concerns. Please no rude remarks or annoying sarcasm.

Wait until the end of the week when Google announces the new nexus phone(s).

KAB2010 · Oct 25, 2012

blackhand1001 said:
Wait until the end of the week when Google announces the new nexus phone(s).

Since it's most likely going to be the LG Optimus G, just stock android instead, I'll probably pass. The camera will likely be inferior to both phones I spoke about and I question LG's ability to make an all around great smartphone that can survive 2 years. However, I will be paying attention to the announcement and learning as much as possible about it and am open to changing my mind.

LIVEFRMNYC · Oct 25, 2012

I get pretty good battery life on my GS3 with brightness on max at all times. This is how I set all my phones out of habit. I have no problems using the GS3 outside in normal sunny weather. Of course any device would suffer visibility if the sun is beaming right on it.

KAB2010 · Oct 25, 2012

LIVEFRMNYC said:
I get pretty good battery life on my GS3 with brightness on max at all times. This is how I set all my phones out of habit. I have no problems using the GS3 outside in normal sunny weather. Of course any device would suffer visibility if the sun is beaming right on it.

I think I'm just spoiled by my iPhone 4 high brightness, great outdoor visibility, and amazing battery life (at least before iOS 6 cut that in half).

LIVEFRMNYC · Oct 25, 2012

KAB2010 said:
I think I'm just spoiled by my iPhone 4 high brightness, great outdoor visibility, and amazing battery life (at least before iOS 6 cut that in half).

Well I think the GS3 battery life is equal to the iPhone 4. I never had the 4S or the 5. I have heard the 4S battery life is worst than the 4. I don't even use the power saving features on the GS3.

The auto brightness on the stock GS3 rom sucks. Also the default browser and video player automatically reduces the brightness near 50 percent even if you turn auto brightness off. I have no clue why Samsung implemented this. I never looked into fixing this cause I don't use the default browser or video player. Other than that the screen is bright enough for use outside in sunny weather.

Being that said, it's easy to understand why some people would give the GS3 screen a bad review based on first impressions.

iosuser · Oct 25, 2012

LIVEFRMNYC said:
Well I think the GS3 battery life is equal to the iPhone 4. I never had the 4S or the 5. I have heard the 4S battery life is worst than the 4. I don't even use the power saving features on the GS3.

The auto brightness on the stock GS3 rom sucks. Also the default browser and video player automatically reduces the brightness near 50 percent even if you turn auto brightness off. I have no clue why Samsung implemented this. I never looked into fixing this cause I don't use the default browser or video player. Other than that the screen is bright enough for use outside in sunny weather.

Being that said, it's easy to understand why some people would give the GS3 screen a bad review based on first impressions.

The S3 had an independent brightness setting in the browser before. There was a recent OTA update that got rid of it, and added brightness control right on the notification bar. I much prefer it this way.

My S3's battery life is terrible. My phone is all stock, even with all widgets removed it would drain 20% overnight just sitting there. I haven't been using it in two weeks and I still have to charge it every two days, just with it sitting there.

LIVEFRMNYC · Oct 25, 2012

iosuser said:
The S3 had an independent brightness setting in the browser before. There was a recent OTA update that got rid of it, and added brightness control right on the notification bar. I much prefer it this way.

I heard some in the states got that update. I've never gotten that update yet. Maybe I'll try to see if there is one via kies but I see nothing on OTA yet with AT&T.

iosuser said:
My S3's battery life is terrible. My phone is all stock, even with all widgets removed it would drain 20% overnight just sitting there. I haven't been using it in two weeks and I still have to charge it every two days, just with it sitting there.

I went 4 days on standby and it was at 13%. I basically forgot my phone at home when I went on a trip. Maybe your not in a great service area making the battery drain faster.

Vegastouch · Oct 25, 2012

iosuser said:
The S3 had an independent brightness setting in the browser before. There was a recent OTA update that got rid of it, and added brightness control right on the notification bar. I much prefer it this way.

My S3's battery life is terrible. My phone is all stock, even with all widgets removed it would drain 20% overnight just sitting there. I haven't been using it in two weeks and I still have to charge it every two days, just with it sitting there.

Try disabling some bloatware that you dont use. That should help a lot. Go to setting>app management> apps such as Chat On, S Suggest, etc and disable them.

zbarvian · Oct 25, 2012

LIVEFRMNYC said:
I heard some in the states got that update. I've never gotten that update yet. Maybe I'll try to see if there is one via kies but I see nothing on OTA yet with AT&T.

I went 4 days on standby and it was at 13%. I basically forgot my phone at home when I went on a trip. Maybe your not in a great service area making the battery drain faster.

Is the standby time really that bad?

iosuser · Oct 26, 2012

Vegastouch said:
Try disabling some bloatware that you dont use. That should help a lot. Go to setting>app management> apps such as Chat On, S Suggest, etc and disable them.

zbarvian said:
Is the standby time really that bad?

I did, first thing I did when I got the phone. My phone is as plain as can be, I resisted fiddling (root or modding or any kind) with it. It seems S3's battery life varies wildly.

Last night it drained >30% with just 30 minutes of screen time with me just checking all the settings on the phone.

For comparison I attached the iphone stats, this was after browsing forums with Tapatalk and uploaded photos with it.

Sorry this got OT now.

zbarvian · Oct 26, 2012

iosuser said:
I did, first thing I did when I got the phone. My phone is as plain as can be, I resisted fiddling (root or modding or any kind) with it. It seems S3's battery life varies wildly.

Last night it drained >30% with just 30 minutes of screen time with me just checking all the settings on the phone.

For comparison I attached the iphone stats, this was after browsing forums with Tapatalk and uploaded photos with it.

Sorry this got OT now.

The iPhone battery is a godsend compared to that GS3

propalitet · Oct 26, 2012

zbarvian said:
The iPhone battery is a godsend compared to that GS3

There are two things I would never complain about S3, screen and battery. I still went with iphone 5 but for totally different reasons.

The battery on my s3 was phenomenal, definitely better than on iphone 4. Not sure what you guys are doing, but I was really surprised, it was much better than galaxy nexus as well. Standby time was awesome, and screen time I would never get under 4 hours, usually around 5. This is with at least 50 installed apps. I will compare it to iphone 5 once I get it.

Screen is great, with stock settings oversaturated which you can notice if you watch some nature clips on youtube. I always set it to natural mode which makes the way it should be. If you look very closely you will notice pixels, but in normal using distance not, which is what matters. In sun, as other smartphones, it is not bad, but not great either. But better than iphone 4 and galaxy nexus.
If it comes down to screen, I'd go with S3 because of the size. Watching movies, clips, browsing, is just a pleasure.

KAB2010 · Oct 26, 2012

Wirelessly posted

There's no way it's outdoor visibility is better than the iPhone 4 which I own. The S3 brightness is so low compared to an iPhone, and it has trouble displaying white correctly and brightly. Even from YouTube videos, it's outdoor visibility is almost not existent. I've had this trouble before with an HTC Inspire 4G. Most frustrating phone ever lol.

Also, AT&T GS3 doesn't seem to have the different scene modes unfortunately.

cynics · Oct 26, 2012

Seems like people are such screen snobs anymore. People don't know they have a problem until they are told they have a problem.

I notice with my 4S if I'm in the sun I'll naturally angle myself and phone so the sun isn't shining on the screen. I think I'd do this with any device be it S3, iPad etc etc.

KAB2010 · Oct 26, 2012

Wirelessly posted

cynics said:
Seems like people are such screen snobs anymore. People don't know they have a problem until they are told they have a problem.

I notice with my 4S if I'm in the sun I'll naturally angle myself and phone so the sun isn't shining on the screen. I think I'd do this with any device be it S3, iPad etc etc.

I don't have to angle myself whatsoever with the iPhone. I can see it just fine. You must've never used a phone that was downright terrible in the sunlight, heck even in the shade. I have and it was unnacceptable. Literally had to strain my eyes just to make a phone call.

Stuntman06 · Oct 26, 2012

KAB2010 said:
I think I'm just spoiled by my iPhone 4 high brightness, great outdoor visibility, and amazing battery life (at least before iOS 6 cut that in half).

If you are used to the brightness of the iPhone 4 and constantly use it at higher that 50% brightness on the iPhone, then you will not like the SGS3. I compared my SGS3 to the iP5 at a store. I found that the SGS3 at 100% brightness is about as bright as the iP5 at 50%. If you feel that the iP4 at 50% brightness is not bright enough outside, you will not like the SGS3.

LIVEFRMNYC said:
The auto brightness on the stock GS3 rom sucks. Also the default browser and video player automatically reduces the brightness near 50 percent even if you turn auto brightness off. I have no clue why Samsung implemented this. I never looked into fixing this cause I don't use the default browser or video player. Other than that the screen is bright enough for use outside in sunny weather.

I actually really like the auto-brightness feature of the SGS3. I initially turned it off and manually set the brightness myself. After a while, I tried the auto-brightness and found I really like it. I use it all the time now as I feel it is calibrated to my liking.

It may be just me and my personal preference. I tend to like having the brightness down a bit. My old HTC phone's auto-brightness is calibrated to be too bright for my liking.

LIVEFRMNYC · Oct 26, 2012

I compared the brightness to someone's IP5 at max level. I say the GS3 is 25% dimmer than the IP5. 50% is over exaggerating. The GS3 does have more of a glossy view to it.

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