Thursday, January 31, 2013

How do you overcome a Samsung Galaxy S III obsession?

I've done it: I'm over the S3. This gem has been the standard to which I hold all other phones since spring of 2012; but now, close to a year later, I have a new standard... and I've arrived at a place where I can acknowledge the features of the S3 that I'm not that excited about. (There aren't many.)

Flaw #1:
The Samsung Galaxy S III receives upgrades to Android too slowly. This is the most-purchased phone out there (Apple doesn't release too many numbers, but near as I can figure the 2nd place phone (the iPhone 5) sold 5,000,000 units its first week, while the S3 sold 9,000,000 that first week. And don't forget Android sales are divided up among many phone choices, while Apple fans have only one current option.), so you would think getting the second phase of Jelly Bean, version 4.2, wouldn't be taking this long. I'm bored with old Jelly Bean -- it's so three weeks ago.

Flaw #2:
It is irritating that the Samsung Galaxy S III takes a Micro SIM. This, however, is a very minor fault. First, because it would seem devices are heading in the direction of Micro SIMs, based on the fact that my new favorite (to be revealed below, after a bit more nail-biting suspense) also takes a Micro SIM; second, because it is easy to convert a Standard SIM to a Micro SIM, as well as to use an adapter to switch it back.

Flaw #3:
This is my most serious complaint with the Samsung Galaxy S III: the physical home button. I dislike this immensely. We switched to touch for a reason. It seems minor, and until I had actually used an S3 I just though Huh... interesting (though even at that early hour I was harassed by my second reason to dislike the physical home button). After using it, I realized it really makes a difference -- you have to hold a phone differently, brace it differently, if pressure (not just touch) is required to get a response. My second complaint with the physical home button is that it is a feature of iPhones -- Android doesn't need it; Android doesn't want it. Android has given Apple incentive to point and laugh: Ha! They're trying to make their phones just like ours! Not good.


I still think fondly of the S3 (it is a gorgeous phone: sharp and slim), but it is no longer my favorite. The Google Nexus 4 now holds that position. The specs are top of the line; the design is sleek; as Google's phone it receives updates lightning-fast; and (my favorite feature of all) the Android operating system is not seen through the film of Samsung, HTC, or Motorola -- it's pure Android.

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