Phones My review of the SGS3 and Android after 3 years with iOS

[jsbaugh]

I'm another iphone lover that made the jump to the GS3 a couple of days ago. Wow, what a phone. Android has come a long way in the past year and in my opinion has probably surpassed iOS is many areas. If you are considering the jump, now is a good time. Don't take me for an Apple hater because everything else I own is Apple and appreciate many things of ios ecosystem. That was the hardest part leaving the iphone, as it synced with all my other Apple products. Something the S3 does not do.
Probably the biggest selling point to me was the larger screen, which makes it really hard to look at the IP4s now. Even if the GS3 doesnt have the pixel density of the iP4 you don't really notice it.
Overall I'm happy with the jump.

 

[daveathall]

I'm another iphone lover that made the jump to the GS3 a couple of days ago. Wow, what a phone. Android has come a long way in the past year and in my opinion has probably surpassed iOS is many areas. If you are considering the jump, now is a good time. Don't take me for an Apple hater because everything else I own is Apple and appreciate many things of ios ecosystem. That was the hardest part leaving the iphone, as it synced with all my other Apple products. Something the S3 does not do.
Probably the biggest selling point to me was the larger screen, which makes it really hard to look at the IP4s now. Even if the GS3 doesnt have the pixel density of the iP4 you don't really notice it.
Overall I'm happy with the jump.

I agree, Ive had this SGS3 for about a week, I wouldn't go back to the iPhone 4S now. Before the flaming, look at my signature for the amount of Apple products I own, hell, I even have the Apple battery charger.

 

[kdarling]

Another thing I wanted to add, I avoided Google as it already knows WAY too much about me, and having an Android phone it'll even know my location 24x7 LOL. I switched to Bing for searches a while back. If I had a choice I'd rather pay more to not have my information sold, but I don't, and Google will get my info anyway using 99% of websites so I might as well use their services. Google Voice is a great "free" service!

Google doesn't "sell your info" to anyone, any more than Apple does. On the contrary, they jealously guard the info about each user. That's how they both make their money off ads -- by keeping your info to themselves.

What Apple and Google do is sell ad slots, and anonymously serve an ad that fits your preferences and location and background. The ad company isn't involved and has no idea who or what you are, unless you click on an ad of course. Then they'll know you're interested.

As for location, Bing will know it too if you let it. If you're really concerned and want to lose location-based info, just go to Settings - Location and turn it off, same as on iOS. Sometimes individual apps have settings as well.

You can also go to your Google Dashboard (look it up) and delete things that Google thinks it knows about you... which are often wrong, btw, at least as far as age and sex go. You can even turn off personal ads.

 

[iosuser]

Well at least with Apple, one's info is not their primary source of revenue.. What was disturbing to me was one time I Googled something, and next thing I knew I have ads within a game on my iPad with relevant ads - my iPad had not used any Google services nor had I ever signed on to Gmail with it. Somehow Google was able to track me down and served me ads within that game

Since I switched to Bing I've accumulated enough points to redeem for a whole whopping $5 Amazon gift code Before Microsoft discontinued the Bing cash back program, I earned almost $3000 from purchases I would have made any way. At least I had a nice payout for divulging my info to MS.. It was great while it lasted.

Anyway, took the GS3 for a good spin at the Costco kiosk during lunch. It was a brand new demo phone they'd just setup so it was still fresh. In fact I had to have the guy log in to their Google account before I could play with it. It was shockingly laggy even after I turned off the live wallpaper, and the thing was running hot even after a reboot. It was not running any of the AT&T demo like the phones you see at AT&T. I don't know what's up with that phone. No sale.

Google doesn't "sell your info" to anyone, any more than Apple does. On the contrary, they jealously guard the info about each user. That's how they both make their money off ads -- by keeping your info to themselves.

What Apple and Google do is sell ad slots, and anonymously serve an ad that fits your preferences and location and background. The ad company isn't involved and has no idea who or what you are, unless you click on an ad of course. Then they'll know you're interested.

As for location, Bing will know it too if you let it. If you're really concerned and want to lose location-based info, just go to Settings - Location and turn it off, same as on iOS. Sometimes individual apps have settings as well.

You can also go to your Google Dashboard (look it up) and delete things that Google thinks it knows about you... which are often wrong, btw, at least as far as age and sex go. You can even turn off personal ads.

 

[Zaft]

Well at least with Apple, one's info is not their primary source of revenue.. What was disturbing to me was one time I Googled something, and next thing I knew I have ads within a game on my iPad with relevant ads - my iPad had not used any Google services nor had I ever signed on to Gmail with it. Somehow Google was able to track me down and served me ads within that game

Since I switched to Bing I've accumulated enough points to redeem for a whole whopping $5 Amazon gift code Before Microsoft discontinued the Bing cash back program, I earned almost $3000 from purchases I would have made any way. At least I had a nice payout for divulging my info to MS.. It was great while it lasted.

Anyway, took the GS3 for a good spin at the Costco kiosk during lunch. It was a brand new demo phone they'd just setup so it was still fresh. In fact I had to have the guy log in to their Google account before I could play with it. It was shockingly laggy even after I turned off the live wallpaper, and the thing was running hot even after a reboot. It was not running any of the AT&T demo like the phones you see at AT&T. I don't know what's up with that phone. No sale.

Something must of been wrong with it. Iv tried the GS3 in a couple stores and it was always smooth. The only thing I noticed is that the widgets reload sometimes when going back to the home screen.

 

[kdarling]

Well at least with Apple, one's info is not their primary source of revenue..

Heck, Apple probably knows more about us, in some ways, because of our iTunes accounts. Credit card, address, favorite songs.

What was disturbing to me was one time I Googled something, and next thing I knew I have ads within a game on my iPad with relevant ads - my iPad had not used any Google services nor had I ever signed on to Gmail with it. Somehow Google was able to track me down and served me ads within that game

Was the game serving up Apple iAds or something else? Was it a Google or a Siri search?

Anyway, took the GS3 for a good spin at the Costco kiosk during lunch. It was a brand new demo phone they'd just setup so it was still fresh. In fact I had to have the guy log in to their Google account before I could play with it. It was shockingly laggy even after I turned off the live wallpaper, and the thing was running hot even after a reboot.

If the phone was just logged into an account, then the phone could be busy downloading... or trying to, if the connection wasn't great... that account's info, mail, contacts, apps, etc. It would probably seem laggy and be very hot from the radio going overtime, until it was all done.

 

[OneMike]

Had my S3 since June 20th. No regrets switching from iOS.

It's true there are pros and cons to both. Overall the S3 and android better suit my needs.

 

[AustinIllini]

I agree, Ive had this SGS3 for about a week, I wouldn't go back to the iPhone 4S now. Before the flaming, look at my signature for the amount of Apple products I own, hell, I even have the Apple battery charger.

I just love that you can install applications directly from chrome and all the customization. I remain concerned about the battery life, but I have yet to have a real problem.

 

[iosuser]

Was the game serving up Apple iAds or something else? Was it a Google or a Siri search?

The search was performed on my MBP on Google. I don't know if it was iAds or something else, the game was Nitro Nation Drag Racing on the iPad. I still remember what I was searching for, something related to Lexus. Then soon after I saw Lexus dealership ads in that game. I doubt it was coincidence.. It was almost creepy how it was able to follow me along to a difference device. Sorry to get OT but I thought that was very interesting.

If the phone was just logged into an account, then the phone could be busy downloading... or trying to, if the connection wasn't great... that account's info, mail, contacts, apps, etc. It would probably seem laggy and be very hot from the radio going overtime, until it was all done.

That was my first thought. I know that phone was not supposed to be laggy like that, but I'll hold off for now and see if I can make do with just 16GB on the Nexus.. I do want that S3 though for the better camera, the pop out video player, microSD slot along with USB mass storage transfer.

 

[jvmxtra]

nothing but the pros? no cons?? hmmmm ? This review is biased and flawed then... Even when I reviewed mba from 2011(which was by far the best and only ultrabook out there), there were pros and cons..

Please rewrite or disregard this whole review. (I used both iphone 4s and nexus .. I definitely think nexus has good stuff that 4s don't and vice versa.

----------

Having said above, I am most likely gonna change over to droid once I confirm that iphone 5 is another boring re-iteration.

I am not 100% sure what they are thinking over at apple.. but droid has improved or surpassed enough that consumer now has better choices.

 

[AustinIllini]

nothing but the pros? no cons?? hmmmm ? This review is biased and flawed then... Even when I reviewed mba from 2011(which was by far the best and only ultrabook out there), there were pros and cons..

The reviewer is concerned about the battery life. Being happy with a phone apparently isn't good enough. OP is aware of what the phone is capable of. That's fair and neither biased nor flawed.

 

[jmgregory1]

I'm always curious to hear people say the iPhone or iOS is boring. What exactly is it that you want or need iOS or the iPhone to do? I always seem to hear about being able to change this or change that. Customization seems to be the key.

Really, I'm curious to know how people are using their phones, iPhone or any Android powered phone to drive people to say that iOS is boring. I've used an Android phone and I understand the issues surrounding lagginess. That, for me, makes Android a no-go. My son had a new Windows phone that seemed smooth while navigating the tiles, but as soon as you got into an app, scrolling was choppy as heck. These things make daily use not worth it for me - and daily use means using my phone for business calls, business emails, texts, web, news apps and if I'm traveling, travel apps. Smoothness and ease of use (without lag) is what I want and need - plus a battery that can last a 12 hour day.

If I'm sitting at my desk and my phone is next to my computer, even if I'm on a call, chances are much greater that I'm looking at my computer than looking at my phone. So I couldn't care less whether there is some graphic representation of clouds floating around the screen (to show me it's cloudy outside) - while I sit next to my window on the world.

If I'm traveling and using my phone exclusively for voice, text and email, plus the usual web search and maybe a flight status check, I simply press, swipe and press to open whatever app I need. Are we really getting to the point where doing simple tasks like that are just asking too much? Are microwave ovens just too slow for you? If you were on the highway and in the express lane, do you find yourself wishing there was an express-express lane?

Or is speed not the issue, but you simply want to do things differently?

So is the "customization" that people like with Android really just putting lipstick on a pig? Not to say that in a bad way, but you just want to be able to look at a screen that is different? And if so, who are you trying to be different from? I know, for me, I could care less what someone else is using and I certainly do not look at their home or lock screens to compare to mine. That's just creepy if that's what you're doing.

I just want to get a sense - is Android vs Apple really just the same thing as Chevy vs Ford? Or Green Bay vs Chicago? Well as far as football goes we all know GB IS better than Chicago, so maybe that's not a good comparison. Maybe it's just always going to be the X brand vs Apple - because Apple seems to have always had the effect of creating an antagonistic response from whoever the competition is or wants to be. Think Apple vs Microsoft. Has Android replaced Microsoft?

To be "bored" with the iPhone - what do you want or need the phone to do? Is it the overexposed amoled screens that catch your fancy? Are you the type of person that really likes spending time in casinos at the slot machines, where they blink and flash and beep and chime?

If anyone can help enlighten me, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[mproudfoot]

I'm always curious to hear people say the iPhone or iOS is boring....

I recall the early days of smartphones and people said something similar.. "why on earth do you need all that? surely a phone is for phones calls and the odd message?"

Anyway, the point (for me at least) is that there a lot of things people cannot do in iOS due to the walled garden that Apple has put around it. Customization is something people take for granted these days (by the sounds of it, your computer desktop is unchanged from the default setup right?) and there is a lot of functionality that can be added or even improved on in every eco-system - iOS is no exception and that explains why many (including myself) JB their handsets to add this additional functionality (SBSettings, RemoveBG, improved SMS apps, bluetooth sharing apps, app to allow you to change default browser etc etc).

Going back to your original question - I'd agree to an extent that 'boring' might be the wrong word to use - I'd probably replace it with 'restricted'- a more open eco-system such as Android offers so many more possibilities to make the phone your own.

 

[Sensamic]

nothing but the pros? no cons?? hmmmm ? This review is biased and flawed then... Even when I reviewed mba from 2011(which was by far the best and only ultrabook out there), there were pros and cons..

Please rewrite or disregard this whole review. (I used both iphone 4s and nexus .. I definitely think nexus has good stuff that 4s don't and vice versa.

----------

Having said above, I am most likely gonna change over to droid once I confirm that iphone 5 is another boring re-iteration.

I am not 100% sure what they are thinking over at apple.. but droid has improved or surpassed enough that consumer now has better choices.

You didnt see my cons?

Ill tell them to you again:

- Home screen redraw (a stupid bug from samsung that can be fixed with software updates and/or hacks)
- Bad screen on direct sunlight (really bad)
- Low brightness compared to IPS or LCD displays
- Hate home button (but also did on the iphone 4)
- S voice is awful
- Optimization could be better (this is one of the benefits of apple and its hardware, but we all know samsung is just trying to sell thousands of phones without optimizing their software. This is something we must accept considering apple only releases one phone)

Thats most of it. My phone does not lag (I have the quad core version) and it does not get too hot (and I have done heavy stuff on it).

Overall I say there are fewer cons than on ios, software speaking. iphone 4 had brighter screen and same battery life.

My two new favourite things to do on android:

- Downloading torrents (with ttorrent app).
- Playing my old games from when I was a kid with emulators such as Game Boy, Game Gear, Nintendo 64 and Playstation. They work tremendously well. Its way more awesome than the mobile games, although android has lots of the sames as iOS: super monkey ball, metal slug 3 (released today), nova, asphault, sonic, etc.

 

[THE JUICEMAN]

Would the best of both worlds be a jailbroken iPhone 5?

I switched to the Galaxy Nexus and it was nice. I would have considered keeping it if the battery life and screen were not so subpar.(put it next to an iPhone and you will see).

I am going to wait on iPhone 5 and see if apple surprises us. Then I will make a decision to get it and jailbreak to avoid the boredom or get a new nexus device.

 

[lordofthereef]

The search was performed on my MBP on Google. I don't know if it was iAds or something else, the game was Nitro Nation Drag Racing on the iPad. I still remember what I was searching for, something related to Lexus. Then soon after I saw Lexus dealership ads in that game. I doubt it was coincidence.. It was almost creepy how it was able to follow me along to a difference device. Sorry to get OT but I thought that was very interesting.

If you maintain that you did not log into any google account on your phone, then it was undoubtedly coincidence, no matter how much it feels like it wasn't. Without logging in, in any way, there is no way they can associate that you are the user of both devices.

 

[Sensamic]

Would the best of both worlds be a jailbroken iPhone 5?

I switched to the Galaxy Nexus and it was nice. I would have considered keeping it if the battery life and screen were not so subpar.(put it next to an iPhone and you will see).

I am going to wait on iPhone 5 and see if apple surprises us. Then I will make a decision to get it and jailbreak to avoid the boredom or get a new nexus device.

I believe that to have a similar battery life than iphone every android should have a battery of at least 2000mah, just like the SGS3 or so. Below that you will have a short battery life. That is another reason I went with the SGS3 instead of the nexus.

There are two clear choices:

- On iOS you get every update on time, which is great, but you wont get the kind of functionality you want (in my case: widgets, true multitasking, emulators, customization without needing to jailbreak or root, downloading torrents and a whole other bunch of stuff).

- On Android you wont get as many updates but you will get all the functionality you want.


I think it all comes down to those two choices.

 

[cynics]

nothing but the pros? no cons?? hmmmm ? This review is biased and flawed then... Even when I reviewed mba from 2011(which was by far the best and only ultrabook out there), there were pros and cons..

Please rewrite or disregard this whole review. (I used both iphone 4s and nexus .. I definitely think nexus has good stuff that 4s don't and vice versa.

----------

Having said above, I am most likely gonna change over to droid once I confirm that iphone 5 is another boring re-iteration.

I am not 100% sure what they are thinking over at apple.. but droid has improved or surpassed enough that consumer now has better choices.

You're only seeing what you want too see. Reread it.

EDIT: nvm I see the op already commented back.

 

[THE JUICEMAN]

I believe that to have a similar battery life than iphone every android should have a battery of at least 2000mah, just like the SGS3 or so. Below that you will have a short battery life. That is another reason I went with the SGS3 instead of the nexus.

There are two clear choices:

- On iOS you get every update on time, which is great, but you wont get the kind of functionality you want (in my case: widgets, true multitasking, emulators, customization without needing to jailbreak or root, downloading torrents and a whole other bunch of stuff).

- On Android you wont get as many updates but you will get all the functionality you want.


I think it all comes down to those two choices.

Agreed.

For me it's either iPhone 5 hacked or one of the next Nexus devices (the one with the best battery life).

I would just like to also mention that I share your strong dislike for the home buttons on both the iPhone and the SG3. Should be capacitive no question about it.

 

[chokem]

Nicely done honest review. Both platforms have their strong points and weaknesses. The s3 looks tempting, and I may even give it a shot if the i5 seems mediocre to me. That being said, I did have an HTC Inspire, which I realize was not a flagship Android, and didn't care for it. I'm hearing good things about the s3 and also the HTC OneX.

 

[Ugg]

If you want a true powerful os android is the way to go. If you want a nice and simple os then ios is the better choice. Android is just growing at a much much faster pace than ios in hardware and software. The best choice in android is to go with the new nexus.

You don't having a problem with Google having access to all your data and monetizing it? That's my biggest issue with Android, Google has ceased following its "Do no evil." guidelines.

 

[Dunbar]

I recall the early days of smartphones and people said something similar.. "why on earth do you need all that? surely a phone is for phones calls and the odd message?"

I agree, I think it's because iOS simply omits a lot of features Android has. It's kind of hard for iPhone users to miss a feature they've never used. Android tends to release features that may not work perfectly out of the gate like iOS. Anyways, after using my S3 for 2 days just the lock screen functionality on stock Touchwiz is a big improvement from iOS:

-Don't need to unlock the phone to see the outside temperature or stock prices (or news feed if you choose.)
-Ability to jump to four (custom set) apps directly from the lock screen.
-Full access to the notification bar from the lock screen. So in addition to toggling stuff without unlocking the phone you can jump directly into an unread e-mail, SMS, tweet etc. With Jelly Bean you'll be able to read the messages in the notification bar itself.

I can almost hear iPhone users saying "is it that hard to unlock the phone?" No, but it wastes time performing some very basic tasks which adds up over the course of the day.

 

[lordofthereef]

You don't having a problem with Google having access to all your data and monetizing it? That's my biggest issue with Android, Google has ceased following its "Do no evil." guidelines.

I don't necessarily feel that my anonymous (as in not linked to my name in any way) web history and such really is accessing my data and that is all that google is doing. FWIW it happens on your desktop browser too, as well as in iAds, albeit to a lesser extent.

 

[jvmxtra]

You didnt see my cons?

Ill tell them to you again:

- Home screen redraw (a stupid bug from samsung that can be fixed with software updates and/or hacks)
- Bad screen on direct sunlight (really bad)
- Low brightness compared to IPS or LCD displays
- Hate home button (but also did on the iphone 4)
- S voice is awful
- Optimization could be better (this is one of the benefits of apple and its hardware, but we all know samsung is just trying to sell thousands of phones without optimizing their software. This is something we must accept considering apple only releases one phone)

Thats most of it. My phone does not lag (I have the quad core version) and it does not get too hot (and I have done heavy stuff on it).

Overall I say there are fewer cons than on ios, software speaking. iphone 4 had brighter screen and same battery life.

My two new favourite things to do on android:

- Downloading torrents (with ttorrent app).
- Playing my old games from when I was a kid with emulators such as Game Boy, Game Gear, Nintendo 64 and Playstation. They work tremendously well. Its way more awesome than the mobile games, although android has lots of the sames as iOS: super monkey ball, metal slug 3 (released today), nova, asphault, sonic, etc.

Got you. I was looking for cons section since you labeled pros section so clearly. I overlooked it.

 

[jkim3691]

I believe that to have a similar battery life than iphone every android should have a battery of at least 2000mah, just like the SGS3 or so. Below that you will have a short battery life. That is another reason I went with the SGS3 instead of the nexus.

There are two clear choices:

- On iOS you get every update on time, which is great, but you wont get the kind of functionality you want (in my case: widgets, true multitasking, emulators, customization without needing to jailbreak or root, downloading torrents and a whole other bunch of stuff).

- On Android you wont get as many updates but you will get all the functionality you want.


I think it all comes down to those two choices.

Have either of you tried buying the extended battery in addition to underclocking the phone? I have friends who have underclocked with extended batteries and they get well beyond better battery life than my 4s.

If you think that's a hassle I don't fault you for wanting to stick with the iPhone, but that kind of stuff I don't mind doing. Ordered a Nexus earlier today. Have used the iPhone since the original came out. Bought a 3GS and am using a 4s now. I needed a change and I really like the way the Nexus is set up. I thought I needed a change from iOS when I had the 3GS too, but Android OS' weren't all that great back then so I stuck with iOS.