Can someone tell me why?

[ChappersUK]

Can someone tell me why I should buy an S3?

I'm stuck between the Nexus 4 and the S3 as the two choices for my next handset. It will be a (UK) SIM free purchase and the price of the S3 has come down to only

 

[john_g]

I don't want to persuade you one way or the other - that's a decision for you to make as we all have different needs and views. With regard to the build quality, however, I'd ask whether you would use a case for your new phone? If so, then with something like the Otterbox Commuter case that I use, the only bit of the phone that stays visible is the screen, so the issue of how the phone looks becomes very secondary. Having said that, I've no grumbles over the build quality of the S3 - reviewers often talk about the 'flimsy' rear cover whereas to me, as a design engineer, it's simply an intelligent use of modern materials.

 

[ChappersUK]

Sorry, I've probably not made myself too clear - I'm after real life experiences of the S3 and what made you chose it in preference to another device -and why would you chose it over the Nexus 4 (or would you based on experience).

All of my phones spend their lives inside a case -usually the silicon type as they have been the saviour of numerous handsets countless times when they've been accidentally dropped in a car-park etc.

I know that the final choice of which handset I chose will be mine - is the perceived flimsiness of the S3 construction noticeable day to day and how is the UI yo use? My HTC Sensation is built like a tank and although laggy, the Sense UI is pleasant to use which is why I chose that over the S2 18 months or so ago.

 

[davoid]

You obviously understand and personally appreciate the advantage of expandable memory. For me this is also a crucial factor. Otherwise, I like what I've heard about the N4 - It's fast!

However, the S3's camera is very good whereas the N4 has received poor reviews in this area. Seriously, the camera on the S3 is great. I'm talking about the actual lens and sensor, not the software. The samsung camera software is very good, but doesn't have the N4's photosphere. However if you root your phone you can install the N4 camera on your samsung and have two camera apps as I myself have done.

The Samsung has more software features if you like that sort of thing. I really like Smart Stay which checks to see if I'm looking at the screen to see whether to time out the screen and save power. This works very well - I hardly ever have the screen going off when I am looking at it.

There's also multi-window view, but I don't use it to be honest.

One thing the S3 does out of the box - USB OTG. Purchase a cheap USB OTG cable and you can use your S3 as a USB Host i.e. you can plug in a usb thumb drive, or a usb keyboard or mouse, etc. just like you can on a computer. It makes your phone like a computer!

The N4 should have the USB OTG capability, but it doesn't out of the box. You would have to root, and flash a modified kernel to obtain this functionality.

Another thing. The S3 has standardized USB Audio Out, which Samsung added to the inadequate Jelly Bean implementation. If you're a HiFi buff you can buy an external DAC/Amp that will plug into your USB OTG cable and you have awesome quality sound for your audiophile headphones or even full size hifi audio system.

As you mention the prospect of carrying a lot of media/audio around, this is a direction you could possibly expand in.

People forget how awesome the S3 really is.

EDIT: as to the 'flimsiness' I never notice anything of the sort in my Incipio Silicrylic case. But I quite liked it 'naked' anyway. I wouldn't let general comments about 'flimsiness' put you off. As john_g said, 'it's simply an intelligent use of modern materials.'

 

[davoid]

I know that the final choice of which handset I chose will be mine - is the perceived flimsiness of the S3 construction noticeable day to day and how is the UI yo use? My HTC Sensation is built like a tank and although laggy, the Sense UI is pleasant to use which is why I chose that over the S2 18 months or so ago.

I don't use the default launcher, but Nova Launcher, which makes it look like stock Jelly Bean.

 

[s3user]

I have used the nexus4 camera... IT SUCKS.

I've compared the build and the S3 feels more solid when holding it. It actually feels more "expensive" while comparing the two.

My sister bought the N4 to replace her broken S2. She still likes her S2 more compared to the N4.

 

[funkylogik]

Im trying to think of a way to persuade you lol but the truth is, id be really tempted to swap mine for an N4.
Main things are, as people have said, camera and storage.
you dont seem like the kinda guy to go for the touchwiz software gimmicks but theres a lot of good roms for the s3 if youre the rooting type and an overclocked s3 matches the N4 in benchmarks.
Im not a big picture taker so for me, the storage would be the big decision. If you use your phone as a media player, its quite a big thing.
Looks and build quality, its no contest for me. N4 every time :thumbup:

 

[GTWalling]

As mentioned above the ability to add an External SD card, the ability to change or increase the battery. Also unless LG has stepped up their game from the G2x days I will never own another phone made by LG (yes personal here).

 

[Stuntman]

What are people's honest experiences of the S3 (I've never really been a fan of Samsung after being stuck with a Jet a few years ago), but many people seem to like them so I'm open to being persuaded to change my mind.

I used to have an HTC Desire Z. Last year, I got an SGS3 due to the fact that the One S did not have enough storage for my liking and was not expandable.

One of my main concerns about the N4 is the limited storage and lack of ability to expand this - obviously this is one of the area that the S3 wins, however I am not keen on the UI compared to what I am using at the moment (currently got an HTC Sensation and the Nexus 7 tablet).

The SGS3 is available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models. The 32GB models are more limited in the choice of colours. The 64GB model is rather uncommon. On top of that, there is an SD card slot for more storage. I store all of my music on the SGS3 and play it in my car whenever I drive.

The drawback to my mind with the S3 is the plasticky construction and it looks cheap(er) - is this really the case or are they well built and sturdy machines? It's obviously only got half the RAM of the N4.

I have had my SGS3 for 9 months now. I do not keep it in a case. I do have a holster that I put it in. When I use it, I pull it out of the holster and use it naked (the phone that is). When at home, I leave it on a table near me. When I go to bed, I use it as alarm and place it face down as the notification light bothers my wife. After this time, the outer casing of the SGS3, both glass front and back held up very well. It looks almost new. You have to look carefully before you see some scuff marks on the bottom corner. I did drop it a few times from a height of a few feet. I see one pin prick sized nick, probably due to one of my drops.

When using the phone, I usually look at the screen and not the outer casing of the phone. You'll have to be the judge of how much the outer looks matter in your purchasing decision. It matters little to me except the first impression when you pick it up. That first impression whether good or bad usually wears off once you use it everyday. I don't look at the outer casing and admire that aspect of my phone every day.

My HTC is currently running with a 16GB SD card with 3GB spare - this may change, it may not. I'm not a great fan of cloud storage as I like my music etc on the device if possible.

I'm not a fan of cloud storage either. I keep all of my music on my phone. There are enough times where I have no access to the internet that is annoying enough for me. For instance, if I want to listen to music while travelling, I cannot access the cloud in a plane or even at some air ports. In one hotel I was in, there was no WiFi access except in the lobby. That less than 1% of the time I have no access to the cloud is annoying enough to want onboard storage.

The UI is going to be a bit different than Sense. You will get used to it. I really did like Sense on my Desire Z. There were a few things about Sense I missed, but I made do without it. TouchWiz has its own nice features that is not available on Sense. I like the power controls in the drop down notification bar. I generally use it to toggle auto-rotate without having to exit the app. On Sense, I had to use a widget on my home screen, although I believe there may be some apps that offer this feature.

I ended up getting the Nova Prime launcher. It is much more flexible than TW and allows me to make better use of the screen space on my home screens. Even with this launcher, there are some TW features that still show through like the power controls in the notification bar.