iPhone 4s VS Samsung SIII - Hands on.

[ChazUK]

My wife got one a few days ago and after giving hers a try I had to get one.

IMO the white plastic one does feel really cheap in the hand but the speed and capabilities of the hardware makes up for it.

It easily outperforms my Galaxy Nexus but the only downer is the Samsung stuff installed (which some can be disabled).

Once there are some stable custom ROMs (CM9!), I doubt the Samsung firmware will be on mine for long but the wife does like the new TouchWiz. For now, a different launcher, different theme (ICS) and some replacement apps will do for me (see bleow).

 

[Sincci]

Friend tonight told me that when he added his music from iTunes into DoubleTwist and then his SII, the album art was lost on most of his music when he played it on the DoubleTwist music player. That sucks.

Also, just out of curiosity, if I were not to use DoubleTwist and simply added my music files directly onto the SIII (via the SD card slot), would my music be neatly organized if I try out a series of Android music apps?

Well, if you let iTunes organize your music library, all the songs should already be sorted by artists and albums folders in your computer's music folder. You can then just drag&drop those into whatever folder you want in the phones internal memory or an SD card (like for example into /sdcard/external_sd/Music folder). When you disconnect your usb cable and open any music app, those songs should be correctly sorted as long as the id3 tags are ok. It might however take a few minutes before your phone sees all the new songs since it needs to scan every id3 tag and add it's information into android's own database. Pretty much every android music player uses that database (I think the only one that doesn't is Poweramp, but it can also scan your files and add them into it's own database), so it really doesn't matter which one you are using.

Regarding the album art, usually the files that are from iTunes Music Store don't show any album art when you copy them into an android phone since iTunes doesn't store that information in the files itself. However, like Vegastouch already said, you can download an free app from the Play Store to detect and download correct album art for your songs. However, if your mp3's are from some other source and they show the album art correctly in the iTunes, they usually show it correctlly in the android too.

 

[Shockwave78]

My wife got one a few days ago and after giving hers a try I had to get one.

IMO the white plastic one does feel really cheap in the hand but the speed and capabilities of the hardware makes up for it.

It easily outperforms my Galaxy Nexus but the only downer is the Samsung stuff installed (which some can be disabled).

Once there are some stable custom ROMs (CM9!), I doubt the Samsung firmware will be on mine for long but the wife does like the new TouchWiz. For now, a different launcher, different theme (ICS) and some replacement apps will do for me (see bleow).

how did you get the Gnex ICS look onto the S3? That is the first thing i want to do after getting. I sold the Gnex after a few months and went back to the 4s. The S3 seems to fix everything i did not like about the Gnex so i getting it

 

[matttye]

how did you get the Gnex ICS look onto the S3? That is the first thing i want to do after getting. I sold the Gnex after a few months and went back to the 4s. The S3 seems to fix everything i did not like about the Gnex so i getting it

Nova Launcher and Apex Launcher mimic the Ice Cream Sandwich launcher, but have more features.

 

[blairh]

Well, if you let iTunes organize your music library, all the songs should already be sorted by artists and albums folders in your computer's music folder. You can then just drag&drop those into whatever folder you want in the phones internal memory or an SD card (like for example into /sdcard/external_sd/Music folder). When you disconnect your usb cable and open any music app, those songs should be correctly sorted as long as the id3 tags are ok. It might however take a few minutes before your phone sees all the new songs since it needs to scan every id3 tag and add it's information into android's own database. Pretty much every android music player uses that database (I think the only one that doesn't is Poweramp, but it can also scan your files and add them into it's own database), so it really doesn't matter which one you are using.

Regarding the album art, usually the files that are from iTunes Music Store don't show any album art when you copy them into an android phone since iTunes doesn't store that information in the files itself. However, like Vegastouch already said, you can download an free app from the Play Store to detect and download correct album art for your songs. However, if your mp3's are from some other source and they show the album art correctly in the iTunes, they usually show it correctlly in the android too.

Cool. Thanks. I actually don't believe I let iTunes organize my music library. I think I remember deselecting this option in the past. I'm very anal about having my music organized and do it all myself.

It shouldn't be a problem it appears with Android. Again, I'm jumping the gun a bit. I need to handle an SIII first before worrying about album cover art. I'm pretty sure DoubleTwist would work just fine for my needs. (Both as a sync tool and music player.)

 

[ChazUK]

how did you get the Gnex ICS look onto the S3? That is the first thing i want to do after getting. I sold the Gnex after a few months and went back to the 4s. The S3 seems to fix everything i did not like about the Gnex so i getting it

I'm using:
Nova Launcher: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.launcher
ADW ICS theme (for the icons which can be edited in Nova): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kov.theme.ics

The Phase Beam live wallpaper is pre installed on the SGSIII.

Hope that gets you started.

 

[raptorstv]

I totally agree with the OP. Without doubt I also believe that iPhone 4S's functionality is nowhere close to the more advanced S3's, but S3's build quality turn me off. SGS3 costs about the same as iPhone 4S, but it doesn't have the PREMIUM feel built-quality. If only SGS3's built-quality material is much better than it is, I wouldn't lie, I would be tempted to purchase one. However, with its actual build quality, I will never buy SGS3!

 

[Dmunjal]

Is it the build quality or the materials? I think it will be a solidly constructed phone. But I don't like the slick plastic back either. There are already tons of replacement back covers on Ebay including some that are metal. It's worth trying for $10. Hope it doesn't interfere with the reception.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Metal-b...ng-Galaxy-S3-S-III-I9300-Silver-/180899032715

 

[Shockwave78]

I totally agree with the OP. Without doubt I also believe that iPhone 4S's functionality is nowhere close to the more advanced S3's, but S3's build quality turn me off. SGS3 costs about the same as iPhone 4S, but it doesn't have the PREMIUM feel built-quality. If only SGS3's built-quality material is much better than it is, I wouldn't lie, I would be tempted to purchase one. However, with its actual build quality, I will never buy SGS3!

The simple solution to that is to buy one of the many aluminum cases out there that will be available for it, or any other cheap feeling samsung phone. I agree 100% they do feel cheap. But lets not forget it was only 2yrs ago that apples was the same exact thing.

Any of the aluminum/metal cases out there will make the phone feel extremely durable. I have had a e13ctron s4 on my iphone 4 and iphone 4s and without the case now the 4s feels cheap. A metal case will do wonders basically..And no my signal was not affected either.

 

[sleek881]

No matter what phone you have, if it doesn't have power it's worthless. My iPhone battery lasts for days. Beat that Samsung and I'll take a serious look at your phone. Otherwise, you're just pretending to be a good phone.

If your iPhone lasts for days it obviously nor being used much, and the 2100mh Samsung battery lasts longer than the 1450mh iPhone battery even though the Samsung is quad core.

 

[b24pgg]

S3's build quality turn me off. SGS3 costs about the same as iPhone 4S, but it doesn't have the PREMIUM feel built-quality. If only SGS3's built-quality material is much better than it is, I wouldn't lie, I would be tempted to purchase one. However, with its actual build quality, I will never buy SGS3!

You're confusing build quality and build materials. The SGS3 build quality is fine. You appear to just wish that it had a metal shell instead of plastic.

 

[matttye]

I totally agree with the OP. Without doubt I also believe that iPhone 4S's functionality is nowhere close to the more advanced S3's, but S3's build quality turn me off. SGS3 costs about the same as iPhone 4S, but it doesn't have the PREMIUM feel built-quality. If only SGS3's built-quality material is much better than it is, I wouldn't lie, I would be tempted to purchase one. However, with its actual build quality, I will never buy SGS3!

Build quality is great. As for build materials, it's polycarbonate (hardened plastic) which means it should fare well with drops. It looks premium to me but I'd be lying if I said it *felt* premium, but that doesn't bother me. I like the look of it and I like how light and thin it is.

My main problem with the design is that the case is very slippery to hold. If you had wet hands it could just slip out of them. I've ordered a case which should improve the grip

 

[absynth]

I totally agree with the OP. Without doubt I also believe that iPhone 4S's functionality is nowhere close to the more advanced S3's, but S3's build quality turn me off. SGS3 costs about the same as iPhone 4S, but it doesn't have the PREMIUM feel built-quality. If only SGS3's built-quality material is much better than it is, I wouldn't lie, I would be tempted to purchase one. However, with its actual build quality, I will never buy SGS3!

You know there are other phones besides the iphone 4s and galaxy s3?

For starters the One X has superb built quality, on par with the iPhone, and the Sony Xperia S & P (aluminium unibody) are fantastic as well. They all run ICS or will be running it soon.

 

[Internaut]

Well, I'm typing this on TapaTalk for Android on an S3. Points to note:

- I greatly prefer the Apple soft keyboard
- Front and sides feel good (metallic and glass with plastic buttons)
- Back feels cheap and nasty though it's removable and gives the benefits of a replacable battery battery and micro SD memory expansion
- The phone feels easier for butter fingers to drop
- And the UI is not really suitable for one handed use on this size of phone
- But the display is stunning and great for reading books and news content
- And the Gorilla Glass feels awesome.

What do I miss from my 3GS? The soft keyboard and the built in iPod and the little things that Apple gets right.

 

[cynics]

Well, I'm typing this on TapaTalk for Android on an S3. Points to note:

- I greatly prefer the Apple soft keyboard
- Front and sides feel good (metallic and glass with plastic buttons)
- Back feels cheap and nasty though it's removable and gives the benefits of a replacable battery battery and micro SD memory expansion
- The phone feels easier for butter fingers to drop
- And the UI is not really suitable for one handed use on this size of phone
- But the display is stunning and great for reading books and news content
- And the Gorilla Glass feels awesome.

What do I miss from my 3GS? The soft keyboard and the built in iPod and the little things that Apple gets right.

Have you tried any other keyboards? There are plenty to choose from, I prefer vanilla ICS keyboard I never tried the touchwiz keyboard. Swift keys is pretty nice, its almost like a mind reader sometimes.

 

[gadget123]

I wouldn't go near a Samsung phone very cheap and rubbish OS.

I like Samsung Blu Ray players and TV's though.

They can make there phones 4", 5", 6" or whatever but atleast with Apple it's a quality product. I'd rather have a smaller Iphone than buy a Galaxy phone.

Tried the first model and it was terrible, slow, poor quality and cheap.

Nothing on the market rivals Iphone right now. There's no stand out mobile phone it's all OS focused on Android but the camera, design all lack. Sony Ericsson use to be good but not anymore.

 

[Vegastouch]

Well, I'm typing this on TapaTalk for Android on an S3. Points to note:

- I greatly prefer the Apple soft keyboard
- Front and sides feel good (metallic and glass with plastic buttons)
- Back feels cheap and nasty though it's removable and gives the benefits of a replacable battery battery and micro SD memory expansion
- The phone feels easier for butter fingers to drop
- And the UI is not really suitable for one handed use on this size of phone
- But the display is stunning and great for reading books and news content
- And the Gorilla Glass feels awesome.

What do I miss from my 3GS? The soft keyboard and the built in iPod and the little things that Apple gets right.

I dont get what you mean when you say "soft keyboard".

I hated iPhones small keyboard. Disliked texting on it as it was frustrating because it was so small and there are many other keyboards you can use on Android that work different from Swype, Slideit which is a swype type as well, and Swiftkey which is great, and Better Keyboard which also is good. Try some different ones.

 

[Internaut]

Have you tried any other keyboards? There are plenty to choose from, I prefer vanilla ICS keyboard I never tried the touchwiz keyboard. Swift keys is pretty nice, its almost like a mind reader sometimes.

Thanks for the tips from an Android noob.

 

[Timzer]

Have you tried any other keyboards? There are plenty to choose from, I prefer vanilla ICS keyboard I never tried the touchwiz keyboard. Swift keys is pretty nice, its almost like a mind reader sometimes.

OK, if you want the best keyboard by far, it's Swiftkey X. I've tried all keyboards (Android, iOS, Windows Phone), and Swiftkey X is by far the best. It also won most innovative mobile app for 2012 at the GMA 2012. The Oscars of the mobile tech world.
You can use it just like any other keyboard and it will be amazing. But if you learn all the tricks and tips this keyboard offers it will be beyond amazing. Currently Swiftkey 3 beta is available for download. Give that one a try as it's free and very stable even in beta. May as well get used to this one in case you like it and stick with it. Currently I think all stock keyboards on Android, iOS, and Windows Phone are great. But being able to grab a third party keyboard like Swiftkey from the market is a huge plus for Android.

 

[Vegastouch]

OK, if you want the best keyboard by far, it's Swiftkey X. I've tried all keyboards (Android, iOS, Windows Phone), and Swiftkey X is by far the best. It also won most innovative mobile app for 2012 at the GMA 2012. The Oscars of the mobile tech world.
You can use it just like any other keyboard and it will be amazing. But if you learn all the tricks and tips this keyboard offers it will be beyond amazing. Currently Swiftkey 3 beta is available for download. Give that one a try as it's free and very stable even in beta. May as well get used to this one in case you like it and stick with it. Currently I think all stock keyboards on Android, iOS, and Windows Phone are great. But being able to grab a third party keyboard like Swiftkey from the market is a huge plus for Android.

True, true but i also really like Slideit. I use both about the same. Variety is good. Dont have that with iPhone

 

[nickchallis92]

Have you tried any other keyboards? There are plenty to choose from, I prefer vanilla ICS keyboard I never tried the touchwiz keyboard. Swift keys is pretty nice, its almost like a mind reader sometimes.

+1. the ICS keyboard is a fantastic keyboard and is infinite times better than the iphone's

 

[NathP]

I'm a iPhone 4S user and have had every iPhone since the 3GS but since the iPhone felt more and more boring to me I wanted to try something different, I shouldn't of have

I brought a Samsung Galaxy S3 the other day but I found email to be almost unusable as it doesn't resize HTML emails to fit the screen like the iPhone does, I returned the S3 today because to me this is a serious problem of a core service that should just work, there's no excuse, you would've thought with HTML emails being the norm these days that they would get this right but they haven't!

On Gmail and K9 it wouldn't even let me zoom in and out of emails. I found Gmail to be the worst app of all because if you try and scroll left or right to read a HTML email it goes off to the next or previous email too easily by mistake. The stock email app wouldn't let me zoom out enough to display most emails to fit to the screen and I just found it buggy, for example if I received a new email notification it would just send you to the last viewed page and not the new email, very annoying. Enhanced Email was the best app I found but it would not let you zoom out only zoom in.

A great phone ruined by its software, a real shame but if they sort this out then I may consider the S3 again but I do find that some of the Android apps just look odd, like the text or pictures aren't aligned properly and they don't make good use of the screen space. Some apps are fine but some aren't as good as their iOS counterparts.

 

[cynics]

I'm a iPhone 4S user and have had every iPhone since the 3GS but since the iPhone felt more and more boring to me I wanted to try something different, I shouldn't of have

I brought a Samsung Galaxy S3 the other day but I found email to be almost unusable as it doesn't resize HTML emails to fit the screen like the iPhone does, I returned the S3 today because to me this is a serious problem of a core service that should just work, there's no excuse, you would've thought with HTML emails being the norm these days that they would get this right but they haven't!

On Gmail and K9 it wouldn't even let me zoom in and out of emails. I found Gmail to be the worst app of all because if you try and scroll left or right to read a HTML email it goes off to the next or previous email too easily by mistake. The stock email app wouldn't let me zoom out enough to display most emails to fit to the screen and I just found it buggy, for example if I received a new email notification it would just send you to the last viewed page and not the new email, very annoying. Enhanced Email was the best app I found but it would not let you zoom out only zoom in.

A great phone ruined by its software, a real shame but if they sort this out then I may consider the S3 again but I do find that some of the Android apps just look odd, like the text or pictures aren't aligned properly and they don't make good use of the screen space. Some apps are fine but some aren't as good as their iOS counterparts.

This is one of my few gripes with Android. I only really use it on a tablet so its not that much of an issue. I just don't see how this was overlooked. Lucky all the HTML email I get is spam from best buy, game stop, discover card, etc etc...

 

[onthecouchagain]

Well, I'm typing this on TapaTalk for Android on an S3. Points to note:

- I greatly prefer the Apple soft keyboard
- Front and sides feel good (metallic and glass with plastic buttons)
- Back feels cheap and nasty though it's removable and gives the benefits of a replacable battery battery and micro SD memory expansion
- The phone feels easier for butter fingers to drop
- And the UI is not really suitable for one handed use on this size of phone
- But the display is stunning and great for reading books and news content
- And the Gorilla Glass feels awesome.

What do I miss from my 3GS? The soft keyboard and the built in iPod and the little things that Apple gets right.

If there's one thing that the IPhone doesn't get right, it's the keyboard. It constantly misses keys and letters which then lead to typos which lead to ridiculous autocorrections. Need examples? Just search the plethora of "damn you iPhone autocorrection" sites that are out there. Plus the lack of a suggestion bar and the inability to choose which words the dictionary remembers also hurts the typing experience on iOS.

Like others mentioned, if you don't like the stock keyboard just try many of the other amazing keyboard alternatives out there. Some of them are brilliantly intuitive. Swype comes to mind.

----------

+1. the ICS keyboard is a fantastic keyboard and is infinite times better than the iphone's

Quoted for the truth. It is so much more responsive and reliable. Even editing is easier with stock ics' edit system. The autocorrection is also smarter and more in tune. If it was even just a year ago this would go to the iPhone but ics' keyboard is truly leaps and bounds ahead of iOS'.

 

[roxxette]

Deleted because the s3 is THAT awesome !