Samsung Galaxy SIII… I got one, took it out of the box and took pictures of it.

So, boys and girls. I’M BACK! I have logged back in to find a couple of ancient drafted posts too. Might publish them at some point. In the meantime there is the pressing issue of my new phone.

I have been using my HTC Desire HD for the best part of 2 years and it’s been a trusty companion. But… times have changed, phones have gotten bigger, better, prettier, faster and altogether much more better than they were back in the olden days. I needed to update and now I need to update you! Buckle in for the thrill ride that is looking at the pictures of someone who isn’t you opening up their new phone. If your contract is up any time soon perhaps you might find this useful…

Key Facts about your next mobile phone: –

• The Galaxy S3 has outsold the iPhone since it was released.
• It is available in blue and white, a black version will be released later this year.
• On a scale from one to pretty it looks gorgeous.
• It’s quite big, but that’s ok.
• It doesn’t infringe any Apple patents.

Unboxing

The phone comes in a tidy little box and obviously I wanted to open it as soon as I got it; I couldn’t because I was at work, so I had to open it at the pub. It looked like this…

Still in the box.

Then it looked like this…

Not in the box any more.

Then I found this…

Some stuff in the box.

In case you can’t tell, that’s a charger, earphones, and an instruction manual, which you can’t see.

Then I made the phone be in more than one piece…

The guts.

And discovered it takes a micro-sim. DAMN!

Since I haven’t changed phone in ages, I have a normal mini-sim, like most of you lot. If you speak to your phone provider they’ll probably send you a micro-sim, some will charge you for the privilege. If you’re very careful, you can cut your sim-card down to the correct size. You can also buy a punch on Amazon for about £3. Obviously I wouldn’t do something like that, because it might be very naughty. (I’ve not checked my contract). I really couldn’t wait, but this definitely isn’t a picture of me ‘adjusting’ my sim…

You probably shouldn’t try this at home.

So then, as if by magic, my phone was working!

Using the SIII

I’ll do a proper review in the next few days, but if you’ve got this far, you probably want to know a few things about it?!

The Galaxy SII was the biggest selling phone of 2011, outstripping the iPhone and all of its Android competitors. I have to admit, I didn’t love it. My Desire HD was made of solid aluminium (something I was thankful for, having dropped it a fair few times). The SII is primarily made of plastic and while the screen was large and bright ( the super modern AMOLED), I didn’t really love the styling either of the phone or the interface.

The SIII completely changes the game. The phone is obviously gorgeous and although it still has a plastic back, it feels like a proper premium phone, with it’s beautiful glass front and brushed back. One of the other plus points is, if you do scratch or crack the back, it is easily replaced, unlike models with a uni-body construction.

The interface is also slick and easy to use, with some great features. You may already have read that there are some great touches; for example, when you’re looking at it, the phone can sense that you are and will keep the screen lit up, which is ideal when you’re reading a long text or a web page. Got a text and need to call someone back? Just lift the phone up to your face and you’ll hear the phone ringing after a couple of seconds.

Features like this always make me a bit dubious as to whether they will really work, but although there have been one or two occasions where the liting has been poor and the phone can’t see that I’m still looking they have worked great. It does take a second to get used to the change in how you interact with your phone, but it’s all pretty intuitive, but it doesn’t take long.

Everything else you expect is in there too, from a variety of widgets to Near Field Communication. I remember when I got a Nokia N95 years ago and I thought for the first time I had a phone which did everything I asked of it, but this phone has an uncanny knack of knowing what you’re going to want before you do and making you wonder how you lived without it.

I appreciate that many of you Apple aficionados will scoff at the suggestion that an Android phone is a step up from what you have in your pocket, but trust me, this is and if you have even the vaguest inclination to switch, this is the phone to try. If you are already an Android user then, believe me, this phone is at the top of the pile.

In terms of what did surprise me, given that I was moving from one Android device to another, I thought that the differences would be tiny. But between the move from HTC and their Sense UI to Samsung’s Touchwiz and the step up from Android 2.3 to 4.1, the changes are quite significant. It’s definitely a change for the better, although the one area I think HTC do trump Samsung is their widgets and the social integration offered by Sense, although  the SIII is certainly no slouch in this area.

First Impression Rating

5/5

 

I am a Samsung Mob!ler. Details of what this means can be found on the ‘Mob!ler’ website.