Anyone try the Verizon samsung galaxy 3?

rcyphermd said:

Just curious, I am very happy with my Maxx, but interested if anyone tried the Verizon samsung galaxy 3? Your thoughts?

Click to expand...

Played with it in the store.
Im gonna wait til the new razr comes out, and see.
The only advantage that I see having the GS3 imo is the camera.
More features....

Camera was good, RF reception was a little worse, but not as bad as expected (based on history with previous Samsung devices). Kept accidentally pressing menu/back buttons when in landscape mode... they're invisible most of the time, not sure if that would improve with muscle memory reprogramming. Screen was very nice, but didn't blow me away. Really loathed TouchWiz, thankful that the ICS RAZR UI is close to stock. Ringtones were a bit fruity, but they're easily replaced.

It's a sammy phone. So i don't even have to hold one to know i don't want it.

rush is in love with his; so pm him. The comments I've generally heard with regards to reception is g3 is a bit weak but g4 is very good. A few folks have complaint abuot drop calls but generally the response has been positive with excellent clarity. I played with one briefly in a store i found the following:
tiny bit softer or maybe about the same for speaker phone
extremely snappy (razr is a bit laggy esp with ics)
much better video quality (youtube for example)
size is nearly the same - same width/thick slightly longer whch is fine for me
generally much faster data rartes (this is probalby due to faster bus/memory/processor)
-
only real negative is that 3g seems a bit weak if you are not in a 4g area; and verizon added a yucky hack to the wifi as well as locked the boot loader.
-
My only real absolute hate of the razr is the battery life but after having two incidents this summer where i needed the phone and the battery just wasn't up to the task - I'll probably switch to a new phone aug 11 (tax free day). So if the razr hd is out before then i'll at least take a look at it; same for the new htc phone but otherwise it'll have to the the s3.

Reception is a wash for me, since the Razr seems a little better with 3G signal than the GS3 and the GS3 is better with 4G than the Razr. Call quality and range seem the same and dead areas and fringe areas appear equal. The GS3 is not a weak device like the Gnex.

Quick points:

Razr is built better, but neither device will handle falls well, due to the big displays.

GS3 display is overall a lot better, but the Razr is a little brighter.

Touch response on both is great.

GS3 even in CPU power save mode is faster and smoother overall than the Razr.

GS3s GPS locks on a little faster, but like the Razr, gets hot using it very long. GPS works great on both.

Except for GPS, the GS3 runs cooler than the Razr. Especially 4G and games as well.

GS3 boots up from cold to operational 25% the time it takes for the Razr. 253 apps on mine.

Audio quality from speaker seems similar to me, since both distort at full volume.

Audio quality from 3.5mm is much better on the GS3. Better depth of sound, more gain, volume and no static sounds the Razr has. The GS3 is better than my iPod 4 as well.

Gaming is better on the GS3, since the navigation buttons are not easy to press by mistake like the Razr.

Camera is faster than the Razr and better options, but for some reason, my GS3 takes blurry pics. The Razr took better pics. I seem to be the minority, so must be something with my GS3... Update: The stock app appears to have issues with low light conditions. Camera FX works great, so camera is now good with the rest of the device

Battery life is a lot better than the Razr, especially since the Razr got the ICS update. Though performance was better, battery life went down and heat went up on the Razr thin for me. The GS3 lasts longer with medium use in 4G than the Razr did for me in 3G- after the update to ICS. No comparison in 4G to 4G.

Movie playback is better, but Samsung seems to always at least do that right.

The two nice tidbits for me are the GS3 has two wake options: Home and power button, and the usb port on the bottom makes the device FAR more usable in protrait mode when plugged in.

Added:

I just discovered the camera issue, so new device pixie dust wins one there. Should have noticed already. Update: Appears to be a stock app issue, since pictures look very good with Camera FX. Unlike the stock app, pictures stay in focus.

I got the GS3 on 7/6 because I pre-ordered and had it until I exchanged it on 7/14 for the MAXX. I did extensive reception & download speed testing between the SG3, a Droid 4, my old Inc2, and the MAXX. I would also like to preface this by saying that I have never been a fan of Motorola phones and have always been a die-hard HTC fan, but decided to try out the SG3 because it was the latest & greatest. Also, I did not update the phone to ICS since I'd been reading about all the issues here. Here are my thoughts:

I expected to *love* the phone (SG3) and I didn't. It felt too big to me and weirdly, too light. I just never had that "OMG I *love* this phone" feeling.

Reception in fringe areas on 3G was horrendous. Worse than my Inc2, much worse than my husband's Droid 4 and much worse than the MAXX. Inc2 would always be at about -95 to -98 in our house, Droid4 would be at about -89 to -95, MAXX sits at about -93 to -99, and GS3 was aways around -99 to -110. It would drop down to 1x or lose the data connection all the time.

Data speeds on the GS3 were not good. On my Inc2 I'd usually get around .6 to 1.2 Mbps download speeds (using speedtest.net app), Droid4 would get 1.0 to 2.0 Mbps download speeds, and the GS3 would get 0.2 to 0.6 Mbps. MAXX is getting 1.0 to 2.0 Mbps. Now, this is again on 3G only and in a fringe area. In town, where there is an excellent 3G signal the SG3 would be just as fast as the Droid 4 and MAXX.

WiFi connection would fluctuate constantly. I work in a hospital where there is excellent WiFi coverage everywhere. I could have the SG3 sitting on my desk and watch the phone lose WiFi and pick it back up again.

The screen on the SG3 was beautiful! Crisp, clear, wonderful to look at and a great size for watching videos, reading, and playing games. MAXX seems to have a bit of a darker tone to the screen than SG3. Nothing that ruins the experience and still very nice, just not quite as nice as SG3.

Camera on the SG3 was fast, however, I too kind of thought the pictures weren't as clear as I expected. I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the pictures came out on the MAXX and that the MAXX took pictures quicker than I expected.

I also did not like how the gallery was set up on the SG3 and how it was side scrolling and there was no scroll bar to drag to get to the older pictures quicker. I do like how the MAXX takes you directly to the newest pictures first (something my HTC phones didn't do), so you don't have to scroll to get to them every time.

I hated TouchWiz and put Go Launcher on the SG3 immediately. I did the same with the MAXX. I did not like how the Settings menu was set up on the SG3. It just seems like things were hard to find.

I loved how the lock screen looked with the water effect. It was just very slick.

The SG3 was quick! Holy cow, was it fast and lag free. MAXX is not quite so fast, but still decent and faster than the Inc2.

Even though they are basically the same size, the MAXX seems smaller in the hand to me. It's also easier for me to hold. Now, I do have really small hands, but the difference between the two phones was very noticeable to me.

I have to say, I am really impressed with the MAXX. While I'm not quite to the *love* stage with this phone, I can say that I really, really like it a lot and it is far and away a much better phone for me than the SG3 was. I may have had a lemon though for the SG3 or it might just be that it doesn't perform well in fringe 3G areas, but the MAXX has been working out great for me.

I live in the topography challenged state of Kentucky and find the GS3 overall as good as the Razr and Droid 3 for reception. My one day with the Gnex fits your experience.

The two worse devices I have ever used for reception are the Gnex and N900. The N900 made the Gnex seem amazing for reception. Yes, the N900 was with Tmo, but it was horrible even for call coverage. I went quickly back to my G1 back then.

rcyphermd said:

Just curious, I am very happy with my Maxx, but interested if anyone tried the Verizon samsung galaxy 3? Your thoughts?

Click to expand...

Ever since I bought the Galaxy Nexus and had to return it 2 days later because the radio was so poor.. I have stayed away from Samsung phones.
It seems that if you live with good signals Samsung is OK. Poor signal areas, not so much.
The only way I would try Samsung again is if Verizon gets the new NOTE.

One big problem with Samsung is no SD card slot.. A very big problem for me. Switchable battery missing on Razr Hasn't been a problem for me.

Razr is a very good device, but the Maxx is a great device. Battery life rules.

rushmore said:

Razr is a very good device, but the Maxx is a great device. Battery life rules.

Click to expand...

Exactly, I was all set to get the GS3, But after some research I think Battery life and signal strength trumps all and I went with the RAZR Maxx.