Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy S3

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is ready to take the country by storm. It has all the ingredients to make it a smash hit smartphone. After playing around with the unit last night during the launch we identified four major reasons why it will be a massive success.

First, it’s priced competitively thanks to the affordable Unlimited Data Plan offerings by both Smart and Globe. Smart is offering it at no cash out with their Unlimited Data Plan 2000. Globe is offering it at no cash out with unlimited data with freebies at Plan 2500. That makes the Galaxy S3 even more affordable than the iPhone 4S and not to mention the HTC One X which currently has no strong telco support in the Philippines.

Secondly it has monstrous specifications that will make even the most hardcore techie drool. Let’s do a quick refresher on the specs:

Samsung Galaxy S3 Spec Sheet

• Quad-core 1.4GHz Samsung Exynos CPU
• 1GB RAM
• 16GB/32GB/64GB internal storage, microSD expandable
• HSPA+
• 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED Screen, 1280 x 720 (~306 ppi)
• 8-megapixel Camera, records 1080p video
• 2,100mAh removable Battery
• OS: Android 4.0 with TouchWiz
• S Voice (Simple and easy-to-use Voice Commands)
• Smart Stay
• Gesture Functions
• 50GB of Dropbox Storage
• Initial exclusive app: Flipboard

So how do these numbers translate into real life? Let’s just say that this is probably the fastest and most responsive Android smartphone we’ve ever tried. During our hands-on time we opened several applications, browsed different heavy websites, played with the camera, tested out some games, and all of them were buttery smooth. By the way the 8-megapixel camera has a burst shot mode which will let you capture all the jump shots you want (lol). That quad-core engine is definitely working as hard as it can to deliver an unrivaled Android experience!

Check out this short video we made of us playing around with the home screen:

Third reason? The design is truly amazing. Some critics are saying that the phone looks bland and boring but I personally appreciate the minimalist approach Samsung took with the S3. There are not too many frills but you don’t really need any. My only critique is that they could have used harder materials like more glass or metal but then again that would have added more weight and heft to the unit.

The final reason why we think Samsung will succeed with the S3 is that they’re going all out in trying to reach a broader market by not marketing it purely on it’s technological differentiators (the tagline is “designed for humans”). That’s definitely a gamble but if you want to reach massive success you need to put something on the line.

If we needed a fifth reason though to say why this is one of the best it’s that you can even enhance and enjoy the phone more if you decide to get the accessories that are going to be sold alongside it. Unfortunately though there’s no official release date yet for the accessories of the S3 in the Philippines.

The Galaxy S3 is truly deserving to be the “flagship” title of Samsung. In fact I’d go out on a limb and say that you can consider it the “flagship” Android phone right now. To end this short post let me  quote WWE wrestler Triple H, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is definitely “that damn good”.

*PS: My Galaxy Note is shedding tears as I type this. ;_;