There’s a lot riding on the Samsung Galaxy S3 – it’s the successor to the 20million selling S2, it’s the Android phone best-placed to take on Apple’s iPhone, and it’s the device that Samsung hopes will cement its reputation as an innovator. 

Samsung added a new sensor that tracks your eyes – so long as you’re looking at the S3’s screen, it won’t dim or lock itself. Yes, you could just set the screen timer to longer, but “Smart Stay” means you don’t have to. In use, the feature seemed to work very well, with a little icon indicating the phone is watching your eyes. 

On a similar note, if you’re looking at a contact, or a message from a contact, the S3 automatically dials that person when you put the phone to your face. It’s one less button to press. 

An improvement to voice control, called S-Voice, that lets users control their phone using normal, natural language. So it’s like Siri, only it does more – you can say volume up, for instance, and the phone will filter out the noise of the song it’s playing so it can hear you. The S, we assume, stands for Samsung. 

Elsewhere, the phone adds useful features that, for instance, can automatically share a photograph you take with people whose faces are recognized, called ‘Buddy Photo Share, or display social media profiles directly on a photograph when those face are recognized. These are features that are useful rather than revolutionary, but they feel like they will be obvious standards in the near future. Tagging groups and offering an automatic slideshow zooming into the faces in a picture are also useful additions. Samsung, unless the patent wars cause further upset, is setting new standards. 

When it comes to features such as S-Beam, which transfers files quickly between devices by touching them together, or sharing the phone’s screen content with other devices, these are increasingly becoming more widespread industry standards, as indicated on the new Motorola Razr, which offers similar concepts. The Samsung processor is fast enough to allow crystal clear video to play in a window on your homescreens. 

Are there areas where the phone disappoints? The camera is just 8MP – good, but not market leading – although it has been upgraded to offer a 20-shot burst mode and the automatic selection of a best picture. The firm insists on pre-loading apps which I don’t see much use for – while Dropbox (including a remarkable 50GB of storage for two years) and Flipboard are useful, the Music, Game and Video Hubs will have to offer remarkable content to outplay the entirety of the app store, Google Play. 

A 2,100mAh battery is big, but this is a demanding phone that users will have on more than ever before, not only thanks to the screen that stays on because you’re looking at it. Samsung assures that the performance will be better than the SII; it needs to be much better. It’s good to see, however, that one of the range of optional accessories will be wireless charging, via a special back and charging pad ideal for the bedside table. 

Specifications: 

Screen: 

4.8” Super Amoled HD display (~306 ppi pixel density)) 

Dimensions: 

136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 (L x l x h) 

Storage: 

16/32/64GB depending on model, plus expandable MicroSD card up to 64 GB 

Cloud storage: 

50GB Dropbox for two years 

Colour: 

Pebble blue or marble white 

Battery: 

2,100mAh (wireless charging optional extra) 

Camera: 

8MP rear; 1.9 MP front 

Resolution: 

720 x 1280 px (306ppi) 

RAM: 

1GB 

Dimensions: 

136.6 x 70.6 x 8.55 mm 

Weight: 

133g 

Operating System: 

Android 4.0.4 

Processor: 

Exynos 4 Quad (1.4GHz) Type: Cortex-A9 (the same one on the new PSP) 

Details: 

Mali-400MP for graphics Chipset: Exynos 4212 Quad 

Connectivity: 

3G Network: HSDPA: 850 | 900 | 1900 | 2100 

3G Data: 

HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps 

Bluetooth: 

v4.0 with A2DP, EDR 

W lan: 

Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot 

NFC - Digital compass - MicroSIM card support only - S-Voice natural language commands and dictation - Dropbox (50 GB storage) - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - TV-out (via MHL A/V link) - SNS integration - MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player - Organizer - Image/video editor - Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF) - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration - Voice memo/dial/commands - Predictive text input (Swype) 

Samsung Galaxy S3... or as i'd like to call it the "IPhone slayer"

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Category: Samsung

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