Questions before getting an S3!!

[gregrose]

First, I will be coming from an iPhone 4 (jailbroken), a few questions I have before switching, I am familiar with android I have a Nexus 7.

1. I have read there are a ton of issues with 4.1.1, is that true? I am not the one to deal with bugs, so is it just overblown, or are there a lot of issues?

2. Is text messaging maxed at 160 word limit? With iphone you can type as much as you want, what happens on android s3 after you go over the 160 limit?

3. Is there still an issue receiving picture messages as a short video, and the picture showing up tiny small? And is it true you cant really send videos in MMS like on iphones it automatically compresses the video to send.

4. Is it easy to Group text (like on iphone) with GO SMS Pro? Or are there issues not able to group text?

5. Is the battery life better than the iphone 4?

6. Should I wait a few extra months for the Galaxy S4? I dont mind waiting if its rumored to be coming out.

thank you all very much! happy new year

 

[davidmanvell]

Hope this helps.

1. I have read there are a ton of issues with 4.1.1, is that true? I am not the one to deal with bugs, so is it just overblown, or are there a lot of issues?

- I am not aware of any issues. What specifically are you referring to? I am sure there are bugs in the software somewhere as no software is perfect. I have not encountered any but I may not be using those parts of the phone that have bugs. Bugs also creep up in apps. use another app if you encounter any.

2. Is text messaging maxed at 160 word limit? With iphone you can type as much as you want, what happens on android s3 after you go over the 160 limit?

- I just copied a Wikipaedia article into a text message and sent it to myself. It came back and said maximum message size exceeded and cut it off. It says message size is 3k.

3. Is there still an issue receiving picture messages as a short video, and the picture showing up tiny small? And is it true you cant really send videos in MMS like on iphones it automatically compresses the video to send.

- Pictures are sent as pictures and video as video. It's possible to also send a picture as a video (Slideshow). The S3 will display whatever it is sent as the form it was sent in. Most people do not send videos in text messages as texting is very limited in speed. Most people email videos, upload them to a cloud service or a social network.

4. Is it easy to Group text (like on iphone) with GO SMS Pro? Or are there issues not able to group text?

- Imessage is a instant messaging service like yahoo, icq, etc., it is not text messaging. If you want to use Imessage service then you need to install that type of client. Regular group text messaging is built into all Android phones. Some of the other non stock text message apps like go sms pro have IMessage ability built into them. Make sure you tun on group messages though in that app or it will not work.

5. Is the battery life better than the iphone 4?

- About the same. The screen size is much larger and therefore uses more juice but the battery is larger to compensate. You do have the option to pick up a second battery or an oversized battery however and swap them out. You can also get the wireless charging option. The S3 is a much more powerful phone and it you turn on and use every ability of the phone it will drain your battery fast. Like every phone you have to manage your battery time or get extra batteries for it if you don't want to. If battery time is a real issue then buy the droid razor max hd. it's the king of battery life of all cell phones.

6. Should I wait a few extra months for the Galaxy S4? I dont mind waiting if its rumored to be coming out.

- If it goes like last year it will be announced in May and released in the middle of the year. Never know though. To wait or not to wait is the question. You can also get one now and upgrade if it turns out it's not meeting your needs. Have unlimted money?

 

[Fuzzy13]

First, I will be coming from an iPhone 4 (jailbroken), a few questions I have before switching, I am familiar with android I have a Nexus 7.

1. I have read there are a ton of issues with 4.1.1, is that true? I am not the one to deal with bugs, so is it just overblown, or are there a lot of issues?

2. Is text messaging maxed at 160 word limit? With iphone you can type as much as you want, what happens on android s3 after you go over the 160 limit?

3. Is there still an issue receiving picture messages as a short video, and the picture showing up tiny small? And is it true you cant really send videos in MMS like on iphones it automatically compresses the video to send.

4. Is it easy to Group text (like on iphone) with GO SMS Pro? Or are there issues not able to group text?

5. Is the battery life better than the iphone 4?

6. Should I wait a few extra months for the Galaxy S4? I dont mind waiting if its rumored to be coming out.

thank you all very much! happy new year

If there is 4.1 bugs, I haven't personally seen them. Not saying they aren't there. Jelly bean is by far the best OS made to date, hands down. Project butter put it over the top from ICS. When people say there isn't a big difference between ICS and JB, they are high. Project butter is the MAIN improvement and is very noticeable.

Texts can be sent as a whole, split up or sent as SMS.

I can't answer the other questions.

Iphone's are known for their battery life and very few Android phones can touch that. But it's becoming more and more evident that the features of the phone outweigh the fact that you might have to have a charger at work or in your car. I mean it's not that hard to keep a charger in other places other than your home. My battery never goes below 50% mainly because it sits on a charger while I'm at work. So battery life really doesn't matter to me.

If you are the patient type, I would wait and see what comes out in Q1 of next year. There is already several phones out now that are more advanced than the S3 so I'm sure there will be several more to come out soon that will be the SAME price. So you can get more for your money. But also your carrier comes into play with this as well as they may or may not carrier which ever phone you are interested in.

Take your time. Do your research and buy a phone that works for YOU. Too many opinions come into play and what works for 1 person DOES NOT work for another. Everyone uses their phone for something different, other than the normal phone capabilities of course. haha. Seriously though, take your time and make a choice based on what YOU need.

Hope some of this nonsense helps.

 

[Stuntman]

1. I have read there are a ton of issues with 4.1.1, is that true? I am not the one to deal with bugs, so is it just overblown, or are there a lot of issues?

4.1.1 is very stable for me. Are there any specific ones you are referring to? Every phone and every software release will have bugs. For the most part those bugs are likely going to affect very few people.

2. Is text messaging maxed at 160 word limit? With iphone you can type as much as you want, what happens on android s3 after you go over the 160 limit?

I think it will send it as multiple messages and most phones and messaging apps will be able to figure out that these multiple messages are one long message and will piece them together.

5. Is the battery life better than the iphone 4?

I haven't used an iPhone 4 often enough to get a feel for its batter life. On the SGS3, if I constantly surf the internet, I estimate I can get about 5 hours out of a full charge. Using Google Maps Navigation, I estimate I can get about 2.5 hours on a full charge. Mapping apps always seem to drain the battery quite quickly on every phone I have ever used.

6. Should I wait a few extra months for the Galaxy S4? I dont mind waiting if its rumored to be coming out.

Do you want to get a very good phone that is half a year old now, or do you want to wait for what is pretty much vapourware?

 

[funkylogik]

A lot of people new to android thought pic msgs were videos but they were slideshows, just save the pic. 4.1.1 is great, 4.1.2 is fantastic

 

[TheMuddyPaws]

Slideshow thing sucks ass. I just want to get a picture and be able to view it in the MMS window, full screen, with the ability to zoom and all that.

I don't want to save it just to view it.

I heard jellybean was changing that but it didn't.

 

[dan330]

First, I will be coming from an iPhone 4 (jailbroken), a few questions I have before switching, I am familiar with android I have a Nexus 7.

1. I have read there are a ton of issues with 4.1.1, is that true? I am not the one to deal with bugs, so is it just overblown, or are there a lot of issues?

2. Is text messaging maxed at 160 word limit? With iphone you can type as much as you want, what happens on android s3 after you go over the 160 limit?

3. Is there still an issue receiving picture messages as a short video, and the picture showing up tiny small? And is it true you cant really send videos in MMS like on iphones it automatically compresses the video to send.

4. Is it easy to Group text (like on iphone) with GO SMS Pro? Or are there issues not able to group text?

5. Is the battery life better than the iphone 4?

6. Should I wait a few extra months for the Galaxy S4? I dont mind waiting if its rumored to be coming out.

thank you all very much! happy new year

1. bugs are part of life.. in software and real world. and yes even apple devices. many millions of people are using it just fine.. i guess it aint that bad.

2. yes, 160 char limit.. most times texts are shorter than that. I personally hate to see and essay sent to me via text. if you do send a long essay text... it will split the message into multi-text.

3. i dont seem to notice it..
a notification is shown in the notification bar with a preview of the media file.
in the text app, you see a tumbnail of the file.
and if you touch it will show it to you in full screen.

4. NO, android OS does not do group conversation texting.. you can send it to multi-contacts, but the conversation continues in separate threads. I have heard that there are sms apps that give you this feature.

5. some say it is better, some say it is worse.. depending on carrier and location... and user.. and apps.. and settings.
good news is:
you can keep extra batteries..and the bootup time is super fast.
and it uses standard micro usb.. you can find them almost any place.

6. the waiting game... can you wait? once you get there, will there be more to wait for? GS4 around the corner.. then GN3 is right after that.. then blah blah blah.. it is a very long and un-rewarding game. i know.. we all been there. only YOU can make the game stop.

try to keep and open mind... leave your brain washed ideals at the door.
it will make it a lot easier on you and the phone.