Tuesday 11 September 2012

24 Hours with a Samsung Galaxy S3

What’s wrong with all you people? Why do you keep buying this phone? What’s so amazing about it?
I suppose I should start with my phone requirements. Perhaps I’m special, or perhaps I’m just not afraid to say what I think about this craze for big screens on phones.
So here are my requirements:
1. My phone should be a smart phone. This means it should have a decent data connection and access to apps that I find useful.
2. I should be able to use my phone with one hand. This is very important. If I have to use my phone with 2 hands, I can’t even walk down the street while using it. That's not because I walk on my hands, but because a 2-handed phone naturally requires more concentration.
3. It should fit in my pocket comfortably.
4. It should have a decent battery life.
5. It should have a good screen resolution.
6. Using it should be more pleasurable than painful.
How does the Samsung fare?
1. It’s smart, but perhaps too smart. The data connection is fast, but it struggles to switch between wifi and data, and the result is that no matter how many cores the processor has, the phone has to keep up with me as I walk through the city, rather than being fast enough for what I want to do.
2. The screen is way too big. I can only imagine that Koreans all have huge hands, or the phone has been designed for gorillas. If I try to type with one hand, my thumb can’t reach across the screen and if I try, the inside of my hand touches the screen and messes up what I’m trying to type. I ranted about this on facebook and the response was that there are increasing media requirements from most people that need bigger screens. Seriously? Guys, if you want to watch movies on your phone, perhaps you should consider investing in a television. Or a tablet.
3. It doesn’t fit comfortably in my pocket. It’s too big, and sticks out of the top of my jeans. I couldn’t ride a bicycle with this phone in my pocket, so whilst I appreciate how thin and light it is, unless it folds like a piece of paper it’s no good for my pocket.
4. It passed this test. Battery life seemed good. Certainly better than my iPhone.
5. The screen resolution is good, and the colours are vibrant. But you can’t see it in direct sunlight. What’s the story with that?
5. Using it was more painful than pleasurable. The reason for this is that I would have had to spend a long time setting up the way I wanted it to be. I would have been fine doing that if I’d bought one, but it seemed like a lot of hassle for a phone that was already troubling me due to its physical size.
In case you’re wondering, no I would definitely not buy one. And now I’m worried that the iPhone 5 is going to be too big for my thumb as well Sad smile

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