Samsung’s Galaxy S III has finally hit Indian shores and loyal Sammy fans can’t wait to get their grubby mitts on one. Should you ditch your S II to buy the new phone? Well here’s the verdict on the phone’s design and interface.
Design and Build quality
This is a very touchy subject with many tech enthusiasts, as the initial impressions of the S III left a rather bad taste in everyone’s mouth. The S III isn’t much of a looker and when you compare it to its predecessor, it pales in comparison, or does it? Honestly we didn’t know what to expect, but after actually holding it in our hands, it did’nt seem so bad, at least from up-front. The HyperGlaze coating on the body gives it a nice finish that does prevent light scratches and fingerprints. Of course the white model could also cover that up to quite an extent. The blue version of the phone will be launching later in the month. Samsung has stated time and again that the phone was heavily inspired by nature and yes, the S III does looks like an oversized pebble. We bet if you threw it just right, it would make three nice little bounces on the water (don’t do that though!).
iFixit reports that the Corning Gorilla Glass is actually fused to the display and while this does a good job in shrinking the width of the S III, cracking the glass of the phone could also mean cracking the display, itself so replacing it would be an expensive affair.
The one thing that you definitely can’t get away from is the plastic feel of the phone. Reuters
The one thing that you definitely can’t get away from is the plastic feel of the phone. At 8.6mm in depth and a weight of 133 grams, it’s incredibly slim and light. Samsung has managed to shave off as much of bezel as possible, so all you’re really left with is this gigantic screen, and we love it! The battery is removable, unlike the HTC One X, but the rear cover itself is dangerously flimsy. Apparently, the rear cover is made from polycarbonate and not plastic, so it should be more durable than it appears to be.The phone accepts a microSIM only, so make sure you have one before buying it.
The S III clearly pales in comparison to the design and aesthetics of the One X, which has a much more premium finish to it. Being a flagship device, we did expect a lot more from Samsung in this department. It looks good from the front, but we really wished they would have done a better job with the back panel and the overalls. We’re not saying go overboard, but give us something that looks like it’s going to last. If it’s a flagship, doesn’t it need to feel like one as well, Samsung?
Interface
The Samsung Galaxy S III comes with Android 4.0.4 (or Ice-Cream Sandwich) out of the box, however, we have to deal with TouchWiz again, this time inspired by nature! They call it — TouchWiz Nature UX, but we failed to see any connection with the skin and nature excpet for the water disturbed screen effects that are also available in any other Android device with Live wallpapers. Moving on, Samsung has tweaked and changed a few things to give it a fresh look. The lock screen is no longer a glass, but has water effects instead. Touching it creates ripples on the screen and you simply swipe anywhere in order to unlock it. You can also add and slide over shortcut icons to open that app directly. They’ve also added a slide up notification bar from the bottom that updates you on missed calls, unread messages, etc. Upto 7 home screens are allowed. The notification bar plays host to plenty of toggle switches and this time, Samsung has made it scrollable to accommodate more of them.
