Sunday 1 July 2012

Hello Galaxy.

2 years ago, in a country far far away (Qatar) I purchased my first Samsung Galaxy S.  At the time, I thought it was one of the best phones I have ever had.  I had a blackberry before and this was a world of difference.  Sleek, feature rich and fun.  Capturing some great moments, like Jack growing up, were so easy and the Android experience was pretty awesome.  Take a photo, or video, and upload it to picasa or youtube without any hassle.  Compare that with a blackberry experience -- there was no comparison.

Fast forward 23 months (last week) and I have purchased and received the new Galaxy S3.  We didn't just purchase one.  We being the family -- we purchased 2.  Lucy had a Samsung Ace.  A white one and a "pebble blue" one.

Lucy received hers near on 2 weeks ago.  Maybe more.  What a difference!  The Ace was archived immediately.  Her experience with Android went up 300% -- and she's non-tech.

I on the other hand, received my mobile some 40 days after ordering it .. near on 2 weeks once they started shipping in Europe.  Pebble Blue.  After using it for the past 4 days, my thoughts:


  • [G] Best phone I've ever owned.  The Galaxy S was super quick compared to the Ace.  The Galaxy S3 shows me how slow and HEAVY the Galaxy S is/was.  
  • [B] The power button on mine has "stuck" once -- forcing the phone into a reboot cycle.  Not sure if it's the case or something more sinister.  It's only happened once.  Could be, the Galaxy S3 is a bit more fragile compared to the Galaxy S.  A bit more finesse and loving touch, and the problem hasn't resurfaced.
  • [B] There is a slight defect on the back cover.  If you read about the pebble blue delays, you'll know that these were all redone due to quality issues.  The defect, although very slight, you can still feel it.  It is similar to a Braille character.  I'll live with it and doesn't bother me.  
  • [G] Battery life is pretty nice compared to the Galaxy S.  On a normal day, with 3G enabled, playing music and using it -- I consume about 40% of the battery.  With the Galaxy S, I consumed 100% in the same amount of time.
  • [G] Over the wire upgrading works.  This feature never worked for me on the Galaxy S.  When I started up the S3, I was notified about a software update -- and it worked!  
  • [G] I'll mention the camera.  When buying a new phone, the expectation is that it is better than the last.  The camera (video and still images) is far superior to the previous versions -- as expected.
Still getting used to it, but overall, as in my first point, it is the best phone I've ever had.  It pushes the iPhone now to grow up.  This is lighter, brighter and nicer ... 

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