Why on earth are reviewers saying the i5 has better build quality then the GS3?

josh995 · Sep 26, 2012

I just got a Galaxy S3 on Friday, and I am loving it. I came from iPhone 4.

The other person on my plan has an iPhone 5.

The build quality of the iPhone 4 AND iPhone 5 is way better than the GS3.

While I do love my GS3, I really wish it was made with better materials. I mean, I took the back cover off and laughed. It's like a 2 millimeter thin piece of plastic! Come on! It scratched on day 1... :-( And also, the 2 front touch buttons on the white GS3 have really bad glow around them. I don't like it, so I made the lights be permanently off. I think Samsung needs to up the material quality. Other than that, no complaints!

Although, I just ordered a replacement back cover on eBay that is white leather with a plastic rim, so we'll see if that makes it feel a little more premium, can't wait!

To be clear, I'm really enjoying my GS3 and glad I made the switch from iPhone.

Dark Guitar Lord · Sep 26, 2012

galaxyphonezz said:
Wow im impressed, where did you see a iPhone 5 with all those defects? Oh thats right no where your just making it up and you probably never even held a i5 in your hand. Im paranoid that if i drop my S3 from a small height that the screen will crack, just llike the bunch of other S3's that it has happpened to. There even has been many reports that peoples Galaxy S3's screens are cracking in their pockets evem though they never dropped the phone? Talk about the "supremacy of Samsung build quality"

Has this cracking of the S3 screen been happening a lot? I'm looking to upgrade from my iPhone 4 to the Galaxy S3 next week and that statement has me a bit concerned. I've been reading a ton of forums in my research for my next phone and that is the first I've read of the screen cracking.

sean76 · Sep 26, 2012

Dark Guitar Lord said:
Has this cracking of the S3 screen been happening a lot? I'm looking to upgrade from my iPhone 4 to the Galaxy S3 next week and that statement has me a bit concerned. I've been reading a ton of forums in my research for my next phone and that is the first I've read of the screen cracking.

I have had my Pebble S3 for a few months now and I have no scratches on the phone itself, or cracks in my screen what so ever. I house it in a thin matte Diztronic case and really have zero complaints.

ab30494 · Sep 26, 2012

tomnoir said:
THIS.

I can't remember the last time I saw someone carrying a naked iPhone. They're all in cases! I'm not pointing fingers, I've put my GS3 in a case too. I want to protect my investment. But given that people always do this, it seems silly to get all excited about whether a phone has aluminum or glass or plastic for a body. It's cool for two minutes and then you put a case on it.

Also, while I have no doubt unibody phones are tougher, I wouldn't trade easy access to my phone's battery for that. Again, my case will make up the difference.

FYI, my Droid X was one of the toughest phones I've ever seen. I never put a case on that thing. It took a 4-5 drop to the floor once and came away completely unscathed.

I had the lg optimus s before my s3. no case, I dropped that think prob about 100 times in the 2 years i had it. Still ran perfect. Sure the edges, and back had scratches, Heck even the battery was all scratched up on both sides. And it will ran perfect still today.

I have dropped my S3 3 times so far(no case, but have a screen protector). Once on carpet. The other 2 times was in the street at almost waist height. Once face down, and other hit on the edge. The edge has a small scratch(cant see very easily since color goes all the way thru). And no damage to the screen at all.

I will prob get a case just to protect the body from mor falls.

robertj298 · Sep 26, 2012

I have to laugh...Someone comes on here badmouthing the Iphone 5 then gets upset when there are those that disagree

sean76 · Sep 27, 2012

robertj298 said:
I have to laugh...Someone comes on here badmouthing the Iphone 5 then gets upset when there are those that disagree

Some of us on here have to laugh that for the most part its usually those with a very low post count in here talking about how fantastic the iPhone 5 is built.

So if I go on Mac Rumors and start a thread on how crappy the S3 is built, I bet I get alot of people who say no way, the S3 is built better then the i5? Come on man, seriously ...Nobody is mad, just speaking the truth. IMO and a good deal of others on here, its just felt that the i5 is not built as good as some are making it out to be. I find it laughable that people are saying oh the phone is awesome, its built so good, it came out of the box with a few dings and scratches, however its built superbly well? Lmaooooo, I find that hysterical!

Ballymoss · Sep 27, 2012

I used to own a Nokia N8 and the damned thing was built like a tank - I am sure if you ran a car over it, it wouldn't be marked. However , because it had Symbian OS it wasn't much good as an internet browser I got rid of it in favour of a Galaxy S2.
Drop tests have some validity but as other people have commented the Iphone is bound to be more durable because you cannot remove the back. I treat my GS3 like a baby - always in a case, with a screen protector and I never leave it standing on a concrete surface or take it in the bathroom, so "durability" means zilch to me.

KeithSr · Sep 27, 2012

"or take it in the bathroom"

How do you do your morning reading then? LOL

Ballymoss · Sep 27, 2012

Sitting in a chair at the breakfast table. I'm English you see, and we are civilised folk

dmaxfan · Sep 27, 2012

sean76 said:
I'd agree on the 4 and 4S being well built, I owned them and they were built super solid. But the 5 is the first iPhone without Steve Jobs steering the ship, and I have to say its built like crap. Nowhere near the perfection of the 1st model and 4 and 4S. IMO my GS3 blows the 5 away with how its built. No scratches, no light leaking, no moving parts rattling, and no pain peeling off.

I'd have to disagree. The glass on the back of the 4 and 4s is ridiculous. The 3 and 3s build was better.

The people reviewing these have rose colored glasses for the iphone. Its metal so it must be better is their thinking. well that, and its an iphone

sean76 · Sep 27, 2012

KeithSr said:
"or take it in the bathroom"

How do you do your morning reading then? LOL

Yea seriously...My phone goes everywhere! Lmaooo

sean76 · Sep 27, 2012

Ballymoss said:
Sitting in a chair at the breakfast table. I'm English you see, and we are civilised folk

hahahaha...Classic

hbryder · Sep 27, 2012

galaxyphonezz said:
You cant compare a few bad batches of iPhones that made it out against consumers hands, alot of people I know and alot of things i read on the internet say that there iPhone is flawless and that the anodized metal is actually harder to scratch then you think. Theres always going to be bad batches of phones coming out at launch, its inevitable, within a few weeks the phones start to come out much better and at a less chance of failure/prone to defects etc. Theres no question the i5 build quality is much better as all the previous iphones have been, if the GS3 had a solid unibody structure it would make this great phone that much better. Oh well maybe the S4 wont be polycarbonate who knows

This is just a thought, so I'm just gonna throw this out there...some people that don't buy apple, don't buy it because it's unibody, can't get to the battery...no extra storage...give me a removable back any frick'n day over a tiny piece of metal or a glass back like on the previous! That reason alone is why I didn't even consider the HTC One x, and I loved my last HTC. Just like I've heard said a million times, hard plastics are extremely strong,this is not opinion I work with hard plastics and aluminum, we have more complaints regarding scratches and breaking on our aluminum than we have ever had on our hard plastic. ( I make personalized dogcollars and we use both materials)

sean76 · Sep 27, 2012

dmaxfan said:
I'd have to disagree. The glass on the back of the 4 and 4s is ridiculous. The 3 and 3s build was better.

The people reviewing these have rose colored glasses for the iphone. Its metal so it must be better is their thinking. well that, and its an iphone

I'be owned all of them 1-4S.
And all in all the 1st iPhone was built fantastic, yes it was pretty heavy, but well built.

The 3G, and 3Gs were OK, those piano plastic backs were fairly easy to scratch also, but the phone itself felt very sturdy and never gave me any issues. However out of the box beautiful.

The 4 and 4S IMO were made very well, I don't go by drop tests, there's a good chance that any phone dropped on the floor is going to shatter, so to me that's a non event test. When bought each of them they were perfect out of the box, not a single blemish. And after some heavy use my 4 and 4S looked absolutely perfect like they just came out of the box when I sold each of them. And that's after about 6 months of use with each and no real special protection, just a simple TPU case and no screen protector.

Now if I got the 5, and I opened up the box and say there were scratches on the sides, on then back, or a ding here and there...I'd flip out and have to deem it the worst out of the bunch. And that goes back to Foxcom, and how the 5 is being built, or was being built with little attention towards quality control, which in the past was pretty much top notch.

Project2501 · Sep 27, 2012

I smell Apple fanbois/gyrlls on this thread disguised as Phandroids just to troll

Project2501 · Sep 27, 2012

I owned a Iphone 3gs which was about two weeks old my friends brother in law bought a galaxy s. So a few weeks later we were all sat in the living room and discussing phones when he decided to take a look at my iphone, he said the blue-tooth wouldn't work on his galaxy S and asked me if he'd swap.

I was reluctant as I was always an apple fan-girl and I looked at the Galaxy and thought what the hell is this piece of crap, but my iPhone was always lagging, always hanging and I was fed up with it. So I decided to swap and I've never looked back.

I have to admit I'm a Galaxy girl through and through and to be honest, I just got sick of the lack of customisation and the constant lagging and hanging. I wanted my phone to be my phone, put my own stamp on it, it's an extension of myself.

Now when I compare the Galaxy S3 to iPhone 5, there is no competition in my personal and humble opinion, I lost faith in Apple a long time ago and the Galaxy just blows my mind every time I use it =)

With an iphone, you can't do that, also the phrase " once bitten,twicw shy " comes to mind when I see iPhones, I don't want tog o back to that place and become another apple drone, hoping for customisation which will never come.

dmaxfan · Sep 27, 2012

Project2501 said:
I smell Apple fanbois/gyrlls on this thread disguised as Phandroids just to troll

I hope you aren't accusing me.

sean76 · Sep 27, 2012

dmaxfan said:
I hope you aren't accusing me.

That would suck, I kinda like your profile pic....lmaooo

dtblair24 · Sep 29, 2012

I hate when people automatically say the iPhone has a better build quality. Some people are just talking about how it looks and others literally believe it is very durable. People act like the galaxy s3 would shatter if it was dropped (like the glass iphones). The GS3 is very durable. My GS2 was as well. But I would prefer a unibody design in the future because it does feel better in the hand and looks better. My GS3 has minor creaks, which is no different than any other plastic phone I have had, or phones with a back cover.

davoid · Sep 29, 2012

dtblair24 said:
But I would prefer a unibody design in the future because it does feel better in the hand and looks better. My GS3 has minor creaks, which is no different than any other plastic phone I have had, or phones with a back cover.

I think many people would consider a unibody a big fail. Kudos to Samsung for giving us a removable battery and expandable memory. That is the reason I didn't go for the One X. And if Samsung had released the S3 as a unibody, I would now still be waiting for the release of the Huawei Ascend D Quad. As it is, I ordered my S3 on the first day it was available.

Ballymoss · Sep 29, 2012

My Nokia N8 had a unibody but removable sd card so theres no logical reason why Apple couldn't do that.

scooter1942 · Sep 29, 2012

davoid said:
Iremovable battery and expandable memory

ive never owned a smartphone without these features. i cant imagine not having them

davoid · Sep 29, 2012

Ballymoss said:
My Nokia N8 had a unibody but removable sd card so theres no logical reason why Apple couldn't do that.

Except for being able to charge a premium for models with larger capacity internal storage. I believe that is Apple's logic. But you're right, there's no technological reason for not doing that.

Ballymoss · Sep 29, 2012

I guess that is their logic plus there may be a small advantage in not having a "loose" connection between the sd card/mobo. Its amazing how they get away with it.

newtoandroid99 · Sep 29, 2012

I owned the iphone 3gs, 4, and 4s. They all felt very sturdy and heavy. While they felt solid they hit the ground HARD if dropped and there was always damage after falling. Mainly because the edges were not rounded and had sharp edges, it was a very incomfortable phone to hold with no case. The edges dinged easy if you did not have a case and the screen scratched easily. To me the SG3 just feels a heck of a lot better, slick, smooth and rounded corners that are easy to hold and it's lite weight. I have never seen the I5 up close, but i'm guessing it has the same sharp edges and those edges ding, scratch and scuff very easily. I'm also willing to bet that just like any phone the I5 screen will crack when dropped face down on the screen, especially when it's dropped while moving as most phones are. Screens also crack in pockets when you bump into something hard, that's just common sense. In the end though, this all becomes moot as most normal people who just paid $$$ for a phone use a case

Why on earth are reviewers saying the i5 has better build quality then the GS3?

Lurker

Member

Android Expert

Well-Known Member

Member

Android Expert

Android Expert

Well-Known Member

Android Expert

Well-Known Member

Android Expert

Android Expert

Android Enthusiast

Android Expert

Newbie

Newbie

Well-Known Member

Android Expert

Lurker

Android Expert

Android Expert

Android Enthusiast

Android Expert

Android Expert

Well-Known Member

BEST TECH IN 2023

Smartphones

Best Android Phones

Upcoming

Best iPhones

Upcoming

Tablets

Best Tablets

Upcoming

Laptops

Best Laptops

Upcoming

Televisions

Best TVs

Upcoming

Game Consoles

Best Game Consoles

Upcoming

Wearables

Best Wearables

Upcoming

Smart Home

Smart Home Tech

Upcoming

Similar threads