Manage updates with the Download AppSamsung Galaxy S III - 16GB - pebble blue (AT&T)
Manufacturer: Samsung Part number: 6100225
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- Pumped with high-performing hardware and creative software features, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is an excellent, top-end phone that's neck and neck with the HTC One X.
Read more
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CNET editors' review
Samsung Galaxy S III - 16GB - pebble blue (AT&T) price range: $29.99 - $499.99
- Reviewed by: Jessica Dolcourt
- Reviewed on: 06/19/2012
- Released on: 07/06/2012
The good: The Samsung Galaxy S3 comes fully loaded with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, 4G LTE capability, a zippy dual-core processor, and a strong 8-megapixel camera. S Beam is an excellent software enhancement, and the handset's price is right.
The bad: The Galaxy S3's screen is too dim, and Samsung's S Voice Siri competitor disappointed.
The bottom line: Pumped with high-performing hardware and creative software features, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is an excellent, top-end phone that's neck and neck with the HTC One X.
User reviews
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Swift & Sweet
by Pyanfar-Chanur on July 18, 2012
Pros: + Screen is bright, colorful and generous, very responsive to touch
+ OS runs smooth and fast
+ Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are very responsive
+ Multimedia playback is excellent
+ 720p resolution, 4G LTE
+ Good build quality & call qualityCons: - Touchwiz overlay
- No google wallet support (yet)
- No 4G LTE on the Sprint NetworkSummary: I loved my Galaxy S I, but it went nuts in the course of the last year--it would do the most bizarre random things, like freeze, change the ringtone or ...
Summary: I loved my Galaxy S I, but it went nuts in the course of the last year--it would do the most bizarre random things, like freeze, change the ringtone or the contact pictures for people...so needless to say I was gunshy about staying in the Samsung Galaxy. Earlier this year I slipped off to Evo-land and had a great experience with the HTC Evo One X, but at the end of the day, AT&T's version of the One X was too limited: no added storage, sealed battery, too much pre-loaded junk, too much data-gobbling. I wasn't ready to live that much in the cloud.
Thus far, the Galaxy S III has been the answer to all of my problems. It has none of the senility of my Galaxy I, it is far snappier than the Galaxy II I played with, and the Android 4.0 OS has me giddy with its response time and smooth transition from one program to another. Yes, the Galaxy S III really can multi-task, and is happy to do so. Best of all, I slipped in my 32GB SD Card and we were ready to go. The HTC One X consumed just over 6GB of its built-in 16GB; out of the box, the Galaxy S III takes up a little over 4, but will allow you to slot in an SD card of up to 64GB in size for even more room. If the battery stops holding a charge one day, I'll just open the case, pop it out, and put in a new one--how handy!
INTERFACE AND SETTINGS:
With the Galaxy S III's interface, there are a LOT of options that let you customize your phone to be just as you want it: it's as if the makers of both the Galaxy III and the Droid OS decided to bend over backwards and hand you the keys to pretty much every feature you can think of. For example, if you hate eating data when someone e-mails you an attachment, you can set the phone to only pull down attachments when on Wi-Fi, or not at all. Check for new messages anywhere from 'continuous' to 'daily' to 'never' (which means 'manually'). Hotmail works much better now that Exchange is supported--my Galaxy I would take forever, drop out, freeze, or give me nagging, 'Too many requests' messages.
Getting around is smooth swiping with the Gorilla Glass on the Galaxy S III's face, but I'm still going to grab a Steinheil screen protector. SWYPEing is easier, too: not only is the onscreen keyboard huge, with the keys generously spaced wherever possible, but the SWYPE interface draws your swipe line cleanly and it is easy to see what word you are SWYPEing. Word suggest is still annoying--tap out the word "text" and get "Texas" inserted--but once I turned this off, everything else worked well. If there's one disadvantage to the Galaxy S III, it's that both the phone and the screen are a real fingerprint magnet: the Evo X picks up stains and smudges, but was just a bit better about not getting as much smeariness on the glass. Still, with either device the problem is solved by a quick swipe across your shirt.
APPS AND WIDGETS:
Android phones now use the Google Play Store instead of the Droid Market and it works fairly well: enter your Google account info and you're ready to go. AT&T customers still get CRapplications they can't remove, but your own third-party apps can also be side-loaded after changing one setting in the options. You can't root the phone (yet, anyway), but I'm not seeing the horrible performance drag of all that AT&T stuff like I used to. I'm especially fond of the side-loaded Amazon App Store, which nimbly pushed all my apps down with no complaints, security warnings, or performance drops (take that, ol' Galaxy I!)
Applications now come in two form factors: Apps and Widgets. When you tap the 'Applications' button from the home screen, the resulting screens are tabbed between a list of Applications and a list of Widgets. Think of an 'App' as meaning "An icon I tap to launch a program" and a 'Widget' as "A thing I may launch, or may just interact with at the screen and never need to open separately" (like the Weather, the media player, or the flashlight). When you swipe from one home screen to another, adding Widgets now gets a Windows Phone like twist: some widgets are double-wide like a Windows Phone 7 tile, and some (like the media player or the clock/weather on the main home screen) take up half the screen--the variety of sizes also resembles the coming Windows 8 Metro interface. Instead of feeling crowded, it reminds me of how much fun it was to play with my first desktop gadgets in Windows Vista.
NETWORKING AND DATA:
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are very responsive: connecting to various networks or pairing is quick. If you connect to the type of network that requires you to open a browser and agree to something/provide a user ID before you can connect, the Galaxy S III will prompt you accordingly and automatically open the page you need. There is also a button right on the pull-down menu to turn off packet data so you can conserve your data plan--I like that feature VERY much.
MULTIMEDIA:
Multimedia playback is excellent: while my Galaxy I would take quite a while to open and respond to me, the Media Player Widget makes my music quickly accessible. True to form, I get album art, artist/title/album searches, and a very good quality of playback over the included earbuds.
CAMERA:
The Galaxy S III has two cameras: one in the front and a much better one in the back. Both are for taking photos and shooting video. The camera on the back is for the serious picture-taking and has a very high-output flash for such a tiny LED. Picture-taking is so fast I find myself accidentally snapping multiple shots! The gallery of my Galaxy S I might take a while to show me newly-snapped photos, but with the S III they are not only instantly available, I can go straight into the Gallery from the Camera and not have to step out to the home screen. Flash can be adjusted on and off, switching cameras is as easy as tapping one icon, and there are a variety of easy-to-access options, from three focus modes (Auto, Macro, Face detection) to generic 'shooting mode' settings: Single shot, burst, HDR, "Smile Shot", Beauty, Panorama, Share Shot, and Buddy photo share. Settings includes the ability to adjust the exposure value, and what's more there are scene modes for sports, night, party/indoor, etc.
CALLS:
The feel of the Contacts and Phone Dialing interface haven't changed much, but the look certainly has: icons, contact pictures, and menus are larger on the Galaxy III's generous screen. I found myself making fewer mistakes trying to nudge and poke my way through the touchscreen when I needed to look up a contact or merge their information. Call quality is excellent, and answering the phone is easy. As with all new phones, there are many ringtones, alarms, and message sounds to choose from: I was very pleased with the variety of options this time around--the many sounds you can choose from for your calls range from soothing and tranquil to jarring and noisy.
If you're looking for a new Android Smartphone, the Galaxy S III is a fantastic choice. Its screen is bright, colorful and generous, the OS runs smooth and fast and the screen is very responsive to touch. The number of features at times seems endless, but more importantly, Samsung have executed those features well.
*Note, you can check best deal for this Samsung Galaxy S III at: Androidphones4g2012.wordpress.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii/
This is indeed a great phone.7 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Coming from an iTouch 4th gen, this phone is AMAZING!
by rahulsurti on July 24, 2012
Pros: Smooth interface
Lots of customization abilities
Battery lifeCons: TouchWiz interface has crashed only once, but after that it worked flawlessly
Summary: Besides some apps that Apple has, this phone can do everything my iTouch can do and more
After using this phone for a bit longer ...
Updated on Aug 6, 2012Summary: Besides some apps that Apple has, this phone can do everything my iTouch can do and more
After using this phone for a bit longer I have encountered 2 serious problems. One is that even though this has a 2100 mAH battery, the battery life is horrible. Its only been half a day and my phones already down to 10%. Additionally, the phone gets hot and I mean REALLY HOT. Using the Minimalistic Text app, I have found out that the GS3 gets up to 100.8 degrees F only with light use and with the multitasking empty. Other than these problems, I do love this phone and all of its features. I believe that these problems do not exist in all GS3's because there has been a lot of people that have not encountered these problems. I am going this weekend to get it replaced with another GS3, and I hope that it doesn't have these same problems.
Updated on Aug 6, 20122 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Fantastic Upgrade from the S II
by intoexploring on July 11, 2012
Pros: LED, Battery Life, Display, Speed, Customization Options
Cons: S Voice needs work, and this phone is missing the genuine Swype keyboard; the Samsung replica is inferior and infuriating.
Summary: I upgraded to this phone from the original Samsung Galaxy S II HSPA+ model (not the Skyrocket). Almost everything about this phone is an improvement...battery life has been unexpectedly ...
Summary: I upgraded to this phone from the original Samsung Galaxy S II HSPA+ model (not the Skyrocket). Almost everything about this phone is an improvement...battery life has been unexpectedly good, and it sure seems to me that it charges faster than its predecessor which I like. CNET didn't appear to like the display on this phone, but again it's a step up from its predecessor and I think it's awesome. With the advances in display technology, I think any display differences among the top phones are hair-splitting, and not anything anyone would notice but a CNET nerd. As such, when deciding among phones these days, the screen really shouldn't be a factor. Moving on, this phone has nearly infinite customization options. I've had my phone for almost a week and I just now learned about 3 or 4 more things I can do with it while reading the CNET review. Being a phoneophile, it's not often that I don't find everything myself within a day or two. I really like being able to customize the lock screen apps and the ability to add a news ticker to it. The only real complaint I have about this phone is that the genuine Swype keyboard is missing and the Samsung iteration is not nearly as user friendly or accurate...but apparently you can download the real thing which I am going to try after I'm finished with this review. I messed around with S Voice just to try it and it was mediocre in its accuracy, but I know I won't use this feature much if at all. In summary, this is a fantastic phone at a great price. Now, I would recommend the Seidio Active case for this phone, it will protect the phone from drops without adding as much bulk as the Otterboxes do. In addition, the ZAGG InvisibleShield HD screen protectors are expensive, but very high quality and worth the money. While it's true that this phone has the scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass 2, I found with my last phone that the anti-fingerprint coating on Gorilla Glass will rub off with even moderate Swype texting, making the screen look like it's got a hole in it. I would highly recommend the ZAGG protectors.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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i went from the galaxy note to the the samsung galaxy3
by vanbrown90 on November 10, 2012
Pros: this phone is very good and everything just like the galaxy note i love this phone much than cricket mercury and sprint's family phone virgin mobile & boostmobile
Cons: none at all
Summary: please get your hands on the samsung galaxy3 from at&t at&t services are much better than sprint t-mobile metropcs cricket get the galaxy3 today
Summary: please get your hands on the samsung galaxy3 from at&t at&t services are much better than sprint t-mobile metropcs cricket get the galaxy3 today
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Best Android Out There
by frankel1205 on July 24, 2012
Pros: ICS OS - Very nice upgrade from Gingerbread
Perfect size super amoled screen
Physical home button
Fast as lightening
Volume rocker is better positioned than Galaxy S2Cons: None - so far
Would like more home screensSummary: I owned the Samsung Galaxy S2 & liked it. Upgraded in February to the Galaxy Note. While I like it as a tablet, it is absolutely too big to use ...
Summary: I owned the Samsung Galaxy S2 & liked it. Upgraded in February to the Galaxy Note. While I like it as a tablet, it is absolutely too big to use as a phone. The Galaxy S3 is the best of all worlds. Love Ice Cream Sandwich. And I enjoy being able to operate my smartphone again w/one hand.
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Superior future-proof phone, with Outlook sync handicap
by laurno on July 10, 2012
Pros: 1. The screen. It's so sharp, I need my laptop less and less.
2. LTE! When it works, it's so fast, like drinking from a fire hose. I've had more than 15Mbps.
3. Access to the battery and microSDHC card. You'll need it sooner or later.Cons: 1. If you're an Outlook user, the "Kies Software cannot sync calendar events from Outlook." (Samsung Support)
2. Hungry for power, need to observe the battery.
3. Google Wallet is installed, but can't be enabled.Summary: Since today's smartphone are not standalone devices, they are only as good as the software that connects it to the rest of my world. Unfortunately, Kies is the Galaxy ...
Summary: Since today's smartphone are not standalone devices, they are only as good as the software that connects it to the rest of my world. Unfortunately, Kies is the Galaxy S3's Achilles heel. It is not what iTunes if to the iPhone, when it comes to syncing music or Outlook calendars.
On the plus side, most writers just publish what I call "day 1 reviews". As someone who will be tied to a contract, I need to consider how the phone works on day 500! By then, my app and storage habits will have surpassed the internal storage capacity. I will have frequently run out of battery power. Luckily, the Galaxy S3 gives me access to do a swap. -
iPhone killer
by bkowalski3000 on June 27, 2012
Pros: -Bright, vivid display
-S voice
-Pop-up play
-Tectiles
-MULTITUDES of gestures
-Amazing 8MP camera with a huge aperture (f2.8 I think)
-Lightweight, feels good in your hand
-high PPI
-FAST shutter speed
-Long battery life
-Fast CPU and GPUCons: -Needs more physical colors other than white and blue
-Needs some tweaking done to S-VoiceSummary: Overall an amazing phone, arguably the best on the market so far. Definitely will be able to compete with the iPhone 5.
Summary: Overall an amazing phone, arguably the best on the market so far. Definitely will be able to compete with the iPhone 5.
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Best damn phone I have ever owned!
by Spies11 on June 26, 2012
Pros: - Pop-up play
- screen resolution of 306ppi on a 4.8" screen is amazing.
- 2GB of RAM and an extremely fast S2 Krait CPU
- SD card slot allowing an additional 64GB of storage
- Removable battery
- NFC chip
- LTE
- HML/HDMI capabilitiesCons: You have to nitpick to find negatives.
- screen could be better in sunlight
- Samsung could have gone with other colors
- should have put in a 12 megapixel cameraSummary: This is the best phone on the market today and will be for some time. The sheer amount of capabilities this phone has is unrivaled. I simply can't praise ...
Summary: This is the best phone on the market today and will be for some time. The sheer amount of capabilities this phone has is unrivaled. I simply can't praise Samsung enough for the S3. A def improvement over the S2, which I upgraded from. I also owned the iPhone 4 and the S3 is a generation or two ahead in every facit. Highly recommend this phone. A 5 star if ever there was one.
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Not a SmartPhone........
by metalmustaine on July 22, 2012
Pros: Can cope up as a mini quad core PC
Cons: It's not a smartphone
Summary: I gave it a 1 since it's not really a SmartPhone... It's more like a mini PC or a Palm PC with Phone and messaging capability. It's ...
Summary: I gave it a 1 since it's not really a SmartPhone... It's more like a mini PC or a Palm PC with Phone and messaging capability. It's way out of it's league. should be on another category....
Waaaaaay above it's contemporaries. should have a separate category as Palm PC. They suck, I don't.....
Updated on Jul 22, 20120 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Samsung
- Part number: 6100225
- Bottom Line: Pumped with high-performing hardware and creative software features, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is an excellent, top-end phone that's neck and neck with the HTC One X.
General
- Product Type Smartphone
- Phone Design PDA
- Width 2.78 in
- Depth 0.34 in
- Height 5.38 in
- Weight 4.7 oz
- Body Color Pebble blue
Cellular
- Technology LTE / HSPA
- Band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) / UMTS 850/1900/2100 (Tri-band)
- Service Provider AT&T
- Operating System Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Messaging & Internet
- Messaging & Data Features Multimedia messages (MMS),
Picture messages,
Instant messages,
Voice mail Communications
- Wireless Interface Bluetooth 4.0
Phone Features
- Additional Features Intelligent typing (T9),
TTY/TTD Compatible,
speakerphone,
Touchscreen,
USB,
GPRS/EDGE,
microSD card slot,
Voice dialing,
Voice commands,
Conference calling,
Call forwarding Processor
- Type QUALCOMM Snapdragon S4
- Clock Speed 1.5 GHz
- Processor Core Qty Dual Core
Display
- Diagonal Size 4.8 in
Miscellaneous
- Included Accessories Battery,
USB data cable,
Wired stereo headset,
desktop charger
Product series
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Samsung Galaxy S III - 16GB - pebble blue (AT&T)
Manufacturer: Samsung
Specs: AT&T,
LTE / HSPA,
With digital camera / digital player,
4.7 oz,
4.8 in -
Samsung Galaxy S III - 16GB - marble white (AT&T)
Manufacturer: Samsung
Specs: AT&T,
GSM / UMTS,
With digital camera / digital player,
4.7 mg,
4.8 nm -
Samsung Galaxy S III - 16GB - garnet red (AT&T)
Manufacturer: Samsung
Specs: AT&T,
LTE / HSPA,
Up to 480 min,
With digital camera / digital player,
4.7 oz,
4.8 in
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Samsung products on Shopper.com
-
- Manufacturer:Samsung
- Address:
105 Challenger Road, Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660 - Phone: 1-800-726-7864
- Fax: 1-973-601-6001
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