Samsung made a nice phone

[Agent-P]

I'm really liking this phone. Samsung really surprised me considering their past history of using glossy plastic on their phones. I'm waiting to see what Nokia and HTC announce before choosing which Windows Phone 8 device I want, but honestly I would not regret buying this phone.

 

[ChazUK]

I don't it quite matches the Lumia or One X, but it's a huge leap for Samsung, and a good looking device in it's own right.

I'd prefer an LCD screen however.

Image

Huge leap? Samsung have been here before.

 

[Vegastouch]

Looks pretty good. It's a bit large though.

It's good Samsung is taking Windows 8 seriously across all product lines.

Edit: Notice the metal back + NFC, which many claimed was impossible.

I can tell you that the NFC in my GS3 doesnt work when i put a metal back on it. Also , there is no mention of NFC in that writeup.

EDIT*...i see it in the picture. That will be intereting to see how it works.

I do like the Windows phone i have but gotta say they certainly could make the icons look nicer, somehow. Pretty plain really and doesnt make the home screen look sleek.

 

[Technarchy]

Specs:


4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED display made from Gorilla Glass 2
1.5 GHz dual core processor
1GB RAM
16GB or 32GB integrated memory with a microSD card slot
8 megapixel camera
1.9 megapixel front facing camera
2300 mAh battery

Also, NFC, and HSPA+ 42, which means T-Mobile most likely, and most likely better battery life than Samsung LTE phones in the USA.

Windows Phone 8, and probably the new Lumia reveal is slated for the 5th. I'm looking forward to it.

With Samsung stepping up like this for Windows 8, that is a good sign they believe in the platform going into 2013. It's also their thinnest windows phone yet.

 

[BoxerGT2.5]

Do I have to defrag it?

 

[Ungibbed]

Are we even sure it's a pentile display, as opposed to a "normal" AMOLED display?

As of late, all AMOLED displays have had a pen tile matrix aside from the Galaxy S2 series phones which carry the "plus" moniker. On a higher DPI/PPI display of this nature, the dithering effect may be minimal. But if you have a chance to compare the two at the same resolution, the older Samsung phones that Apple wants banned from sale (they have been for a while)

The best comparison is to have the two to compare, say a Galaxy S Vibrant (old phone but was the closest resemblance to the older iPhone and a Galaxy S2 series phone. Both have the same resolution (480x800) but the difference is major.

The largest OLED device I have is my PS Vita which has a rather nice display but I never bothered getting a good macro shot to see things up close as I did with the Retina Display on my iPod Touch.

If a newer device using OLED and a 720p resolution, the pen tile matrix may be rather hard to see but the "plus" versions use a standard RGB triad and are more power efficient.

If there's enough interest, I will bust out my DSLR and shoot a few photos of the different displays. The standard pen tile arrangement can be seen on Wikipedia. A close up of the HTC Nexus One.

My early experience with the older AMOLED displays were a bit hit & miss. Tough to see in direct sunlight. Dithering and color banding were other early problems but the technology showed much promise years ago.

 

[Ungibbed]

Specs:


4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED display made from Gorilla Glass 2
1.5 GHz dual core processor
1GB RAM
16GB or 32GB integrated memory with a microSD card slot
8 megapixel camera
1.9 megapixel front facing camera
2300 mAh battery

Also, NFC, and HSPA+ 42, which means T-Mobile most likely, and most likely better battery life than Samsung LTE phones in the USA.

Windows Phone 8, and probably the new Lumia reveal is slated for the 5th. I'm looking forward to it.

With Samsung stepping up like this for Windows 8, that is a good sign they believe in the platform going into 2013. It's also their thinnest windows phone yet.

When looking at those specs, the hardware inside is a near carbon copy of the T-Mobile Galaxy S2. Both have the same speed dual core CPU among other things. I like the design but until I'm due for an upgrade I'm hoping to see a much improved Nokia Lumia phone by then.

That is of course unless RIM rises from the ashes with their new BlackBerry 10 phones. On paper they are slated to use the latest Snapdragon processor with a fast Adreno GPU in tow.

When my contract is due for an upgrade, I may jump ship on Android. I do like the Windows Phone UI, very user friendly and I'm not keeping my hopes up for the iPhone 5 to hit T-Mobile.

 

[thekev]

Do I have to defrag it?

When was the last time you had to defrag a Windows box? Much like with Apple it hasn't been worth it in a very long time, although in OSX it's a bad idea in general.

 

[easycomeeasygo]

I like cheaper ones

HTC is a good choice for me/

 

[Vegastouch]

When looking at those specs, the hardware inside is a near carbon copy of the T-Mobile Galaxy S2. Both have the same speed dual core CPU among other things. I like the design but until I'm due for an upgrade I'm hoping to see a much improved Nokia Lumia phone by then.

That is of course unless RIM rises from the ashes with their new BlackBerry 10 phones. On paper they are slated to use the latest Snapdragon processor with a fast Adreno GPU in tow.

When my contract is due for an upgrade, I may jump ship on Android. I do like the Windows Phone UI, very user friendly and I'm not keeping my hopes up for the iPhone 5 to hit T-Mobile.

You mean the GS3 has the same specs.

 

[Ungibbed]

You mean the GS3 has the same specs.

No, I mean the T-Mobile S2. It was very different than the many Galaxy S2 models.

http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=3373

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_ii_t989-4129.php

 

[aneftp]

No, I mean the T-Mobile S2. It was very different than the many Galaxy S2 models.

http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=3373

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_ii_t989-4129.php

S3 has 28nm Qualcomm S4 chip. T-Mobile S2 has older Qualcomm S3 chip (forgot nm size) and worst graphics chip.

So not sure what chip is actually in the windows 8 phone. But we do know its a Qualcomm duo Core.

 

[Mac.World]

Does anyone know the answer to this: can you root a windows phone to get rid of that home screen? I could not get any windows phone, unl ss I could completely change those blocks for something else. If I could, I could make windows phone a viable option.

 

[zbarvian]

Does anyone know the answer to this: can you root a windows phone to get rid of that home screen? I could not get any windows phone, unl ss I could completely change those blocks for something else. If I could, I could make windows phone a viable option.

I believe they do have some jailbreak-esque procedure for modding the device and installing homebrew programs. To what extent I'm not sure, but I do know it allows you to customize the homescreen much more.

 

[Ungibbed]

S3 has 28nm Qualcomm S4 chip. T-Mobile S2 has older Qualcomm S3 chip (forgot nm size) and worst graphics chip.

So not sure what chip is actually in the windows 8 phone. But we do know its a Qualcomm duo Core.

For not knowing much you certainly spout off more than you can comprehend. The analogy I gave at least had sources. In addition, current WP7.x devices have been using the Adreno 205. A far sight older than the Adreno 220.

Do you argue just for the sake of getting in the last word about a product you know little about? What makes the Adreno 220 "the worst graphics chip"? Care to elaborate with your extensive knowledge of Qualcom SOC's?

 

[Mac.World]

Looks pretty good. It's a bit large though.

It's good Samsung is taking Windows 8 seriously across all product lines.

Edit: Notice the metal back + NFC, which many claimed was impossible.

It's not a metal back plate OR the chip is installed in the base. NFC can not transmit more than about an inch and it can not go through carbon fiber or metal mediums. It isn't physically possible.

 

[aneftp]

For not knowing much you certainly spout off more than you can comprehend. The analogy I gave at least had sources. In addition, current WP7.x devices have been using the Adreno 205. A far sight older than the Adreno 220.

Do you argue just for the sake of getting in the last word about a product you know little about? What makes the Adreno 220 "the worst graphics chip"? Care to elaborate with your extensive knowledge of Qualcom SOC's?

Well you weren't very clear on your post. You simply stated the Tmobile S2 was different than the other S2's. I am very well aware of the T-mobile version of the S2 and the graphics chip they used.

The real selling point of Tmobile's USA's version isn't due to the graphics or etc.

It's really due to it also supporting ATT's 3G bands and many ATT people wanted that phone due to the fact they can use it on their $10 family unlimited data plan.

As for my "worse graphics" comment, I should have been clearer myself when comparing the USA (all of them) to the international S2's graphics chips.

But we all digress. I've done a little research and it appears all Windows 8 phones will run the same (or similar S4 chip found in the current USA version of the Atrix HD, S3 and One X).
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2581...ones_to_run_qualcomms_snapdragon_s4_chip.html