Samsung Galaxy S3

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I don't. Buying a device in anticipation of updates, nexus or not, is pure stupidity. Buy for the current device/software, be pleasantly surprised if updated.

ehh updates do matter to an extent. SGS2 and Nexus are quite equals in terms of hardware. Updates separate them. The poor development on the SGS2 will always hold it back.

 

[poofyhairguy]

SGS2 and Nexus are quite equals in terms of hardware.

Um?

 

[ilkhan]

ehh updates do matter to an extent. SGS2 and Nexus are quite equals in terms of hardware. Updates separate them. The poor development on the SGS2 will always hold it back.

OMAP4430 (IIRC) + 4.65" 720p RGBWpentile screen = Snapdragon S3 + 4.5" 800x480 RGBpentile?
Sure they are similar generation phone hardware, but the actual SoC chips are different.

Id rather see 2xA15 cores and a monster GPU in the SGSIII than 4xA9 cores and a mediocre GPU. But thats just me.

 

[pm]

Um?

That almost made me snort coffee on my keyboard. Almost.

For what it's worth, though, Samsung's reuse of the name Galaxy S2 on a pretty big array of models does make the table below a little inaccurate... The Skyrocket S2 has a different display and CPU... But For the majority of S2 model's the table below is correct. Using the BB code option so that it sort of looks like a table...

Galaxy Nexus:                                  Samsung Galaxy S2
---------------------                       ------------------------
720x1280 screen                              480x800 pixel display
Super AMOLED                                 Super AMOLED Plus
4.65" screen                                    4.3" screen
TI OMAP 4460 CPU                            Exynos CPU
PowerVR SGX540 GPU                        Mali-400MP GPU
Pentaband 3G (GSM version)               Quad-band (GSM versions)
no SD card slot                                 SD card slot (all models)
5MP camera                                     8MP camera
no radio                                           FM radio (some models
NFC                                                NFC (some models)
135.5 x 67.9 x 8.9 mm                       125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm
135g                                              116g

 

[stormkroe]

Don't get a galaxy s3, the 4 will be out next year. Seriously, tech has just made a jump, you will be fine with krait or tegra 3 in april. Quad exynos will be a great refresh, but if you're solid on a sammy phone, a15 is what you want and it's a while off yet.
Also, sgx540 is a lead weighted turd compared to mali, trying to push 720p with the ol' girl was a bad idea considering a lot of people use thier phones for games.

 

[Bateluer]

Also, sgx540 is a lead weighted turd compared to mali, trying to push 720p with the ol' girl was a bad idea considering a lot of people use thier phones for games.

Odd, SGX540 plays 1080p video fine.

http://www.droid-life.com/2012/02/27/rumor-samsung-galaxy-siii-will-have-4-8-inch/

How does a 4.8″ Full HD display sound (potentially a HD Super AMOLED Plus)? When we hear “full HD” we immediately think 1080p display. Does anyone actually want a 1080p smartphone? Eh, that’s a good question that I’m not sure any of us have an answer to. We are just now settling into 720p displays, but hey, we’re willing to give 1080p a shot even if we can’t read any of the text or make out any of the icons without zooming in.

The phone will also reportedly rock a 1.5GHz Samsung Exynos quad-core processor (potentially the 4412 that was demoed last week), 2MP front camera, 8MP rear camera, Android 4.0+, LTE, and a ceramic casing. The ceramic casing is an interesting idea, and is one that we saw from HTC yesterday with the One S. This new ceramic material that is being used on smartphones is said to be 4 times harder than anodized aluminum and should hold up a lot longer over time. Sammie moving away from plastics? That would be a welcomed change.

I find the 1080p 4.8" screen a little doubtful though. Rest of the specs look more believable.

 

[Piano Man]

I don't. Buying a device in anticipation of updates, nexus or not, is pure stupidity. Buy for the current device/software, be pleasantly surprised if updated.

Updates do matter. Ask anyone on 2.3. Also, with the Google Phones, you don't have to anticipate updates, because you just get them. That's for all the other poor saps (Razr, Rezound, etc.)

 

[stormkroe]

That's awesome news, but 1080p video playback has nothing to to do with 720p gaming.

 

[Bateluer]

That's awesome news, but 1080p video playback has nothing to to do with 720p gaming.

Its not really news, its pretty well documented. See the video reviews of the XyBoard 10.1 for example, they show off the 1080p video playback on them.

The SGX540 in the Nexus handles 720p gaming just fine as well, currently. Its dated, but hardly a lead weighted turd. Whatever Mali GPU in the SGS3 will handily trounce it though, no doubt.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Um?

What I mean by that is it gets the job done from a user standpoint. Yes, certainly different SoC, but you have dual core devices.

True the GPU of the SGS2 is way better, but how much serious gaming do you all do? Who here is crying about the GPU of the Nexus being insufficient for whatever game they're playing?

5mp vs 8mp is certainly interesting although a lot of reviews say the 5mp Nexus does quite well. But its like Canon vs Nikon. For example take the Nikon D5100 vs Canon T3i. The MP count isn't really a factor. No one's gonna be crying over the MP difference. Sure Nikon's caught up in the "MP wars," but back in the day when the D300s went against the 7D that was 12MP vs 18MP. Anyway, what I'm saying is you have two top quality shooters that do HD video also.

Both phones are marketed as flagship phones. Screen sizes are different, but all in all, it's a "large phone," because most other flagships like the Sensation are 4.3" also. You could argue the newer phones are getting even bigger (G Note, HTC One).

Screen may be the biggest difference in terms of resolution, but 720p pentile, is a little discouraging. Yes I've seen it, and while it's sharp, so is the SGS2's screen. Plus the SAMOLED Plus makes it very high quality. I am quite interested in what makes the HTC One's screen way better than the GNex (according to Paul O'Brien).

But bottom line, what I'm saying is if both phones ran Gingerbread (for the sake of playing at a level field of the SGS2) or ICS (leveling with the GNex), both would so a superb job. They would barely lag, and run all apps and programs very speedily. You could get high quality pictures and video conference no problem.

Ok, I was just basically lumping the two phones together as "similar phones," but the point I was making was that the biggest separating factor for the 2 phones at the moment is the operating system to me. Sure the SGS2 will get ICS someday, and maybe then it will be a lot better, but the GNex will always be ahead in development even if the SGS2 has a larger fanbase and has pushed 20 million units and it's been already 9 months since development's started. Furthermore if people don't care about custom ROMs and want fully working stuff, the GNex will always get updates first.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Ok, I mostly agree with your point. They are both high-end phones on different carriers in America.

With that said, I disagree with this:

True the GPU of the SGS2 is way better, but how much serious gaming do you all do?

I have seen you before post about game smoothness, and honestly now that I am accustomed to my SGS2 framerates it would be hard to go back. My phone and tablet are my primary gaming machines, with new high end games coming out all the time.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I don't know why so many people have issue with wimax. I love it. I wish the area for it was bigger as I sometimes slip out of it, but the speeds are sensational for me. It feels like being on wifi. I am about 30 miles out of the city and I have 4.5 down, 1.5 up. When I am in the city at home, I get around 10-15 down, 5-7 up during dinner hours.

What's your latency? When I was on Sprint the worst part was the ping times, they can't compare to LTE.

 

[dagamer34]

Um?

I really think he meant the Galaxy S and Nexus S.

 

[ITHURTSWHENIP]

Having a good GPU is not just important for gaming but also UI smoothness. Dianne Hackborn basically hinted at that in one of her google+ post and Anand also said the reason the Nexus is not perfectly smooth is because of the SGX540 in combination with a 720 resolution in his review. Now why Google would make such a poor choice in the first place is a riddle

ICS on Exynos version of S2 will set the bar

 

[dagamer34]

Having a good GPU is not just important for gaming but also UI smoothness. Dianne Hackborn basically hinted at that in one of her google+ post and Anand also said the reason the Nexus is not perfectly smooth is because of the SGX540 in combination with a 720 resolution in his review. Now why Google would make such a poor choice in the first place is a riddle

ICS on Exynos version of S2 will set the bar

It's not that much of a riddle, originally the Galaxy Nexus was going to have its OMAP4460 clocked at 1.5Ghz CPU/384Mhz GPU, but for some reason, whether it be yields or battery life, it's now 1.2Ghz/304Mhz, the same as the OMAP4430 in the Droid RAZR. Anand has already stated that the Qualcomm Krait MDP with a higher performing GPU makes ICS run extremely well, so I suspect pushing that framerate suffers when pushing that many pixels on the SGX 540.

 

[Bateluer]

Having a good GPU is not just important for gaming but also UI smoothness. Dianne Hackborn basically hinted at that in one of her google+ post and Anand also said the reason the Nexus is not perfectly smooth is because of the SGX540 in combination with a 720 resolution in his review. Now why Google would make such a poor choice in the first place is a riddle

Her G+ post on GPU rendering came before the GNex and its 720p screen were released. Plus, what you said is also completely false. The SGX540 is more than powerful enough to drive a 720p display perfectly smoothly, which it does 99% of the time on the Gnex. The Adreno 200, anemically weak and useless for HD video, gaming, and pretty much everything, still renders the UI on WP7 perfectly.

Lastly, her G+ post was responding to the allegations that Android needed a GPU accelerated UI to compete, and she pointed out that Android has actually had GPU rendering in various stages since before 1.0.

 

[ITHURTSWHENIP]

Her G+ post on GPU rendering came before the GNex and its 720p screen were released. Plus, what you said is also completely false. The SGX540 is more than powerful enough to drive a 720p display perfectly smoothly, which it does 99% of the time on the Gnex. The Adreno 200, anemically weak and useless for HD video, gaming, and pretty much everything, still renders the UI on WP7 perfectly.

Lastly, her G+ post was responding to the allegations that Android needed a GPU accelerated UI to compete, and she pointed out that Android has actually had GPU rendering in various stages since before 1.0.

She mentioned Tegra 2 on a 1200 x 800 resolution wich is comparable to SGX 540 on a 720 screen.

"As device screen resolution goes up, achieving a 60fps UI is closely related to GPU speed and especially the GPU’s memory bus bandwidth. In fact, if you want to get an idea of the performance of a piece of hardware, always pay close attention to the memory bus bandwidth. There are plenty of times where the CPU (especially with those wonderful NEON instructions) can go a lot faster than the memory bus."

Its irrelevant how the Adreno 200 performs on a WP7 device as its a completely different OS running at a lower resolution.


"I get the feeling that Google wasn't very pleased with NVIDIA after Honeycomb and chose to work with TI this time around for reasons other than absolute performance. If it weren't for the fact that Tegra 3 and other SoCs appear to be getting ICS in fairly short form I'd be more upset over this decision. To be honest, the choice of SoC simply hurts the Galaxy Nexus as a phone. If I were you, I'd wait for a Krait based device." - Anands review of Nexus

 

[poofyhairguy]

Her G+ post on GPU rendering came before the GNex and its 720p screen were released. Plus, what you said is also completely false. The SGX540 is more than powerful enough to drive a 720p display perfectly smoothly, which it does 99% of the time on the Gnex. The Adreno 200, anemically weak and useless for HD video, gaming, and pretty much everything, still renders the UI on WP7 perfectly.

Lastly, her G+ post was responding to the allegations that Android needed a GPU accelerated UI to compete, and she pointed out that Android has actually had GPU rendering in various stages since before 1.0.

WP7 is irrelevant to the discussion. She was talking about needing real hardware.

I can tell a big difference between a GNex and my SGS2 on ICS, just like I can tell a big difference between a Xoom and my Prime.

 

[MrX8503]

Her G+ post on GPU rendering came before the GNex and its 720p screen were released. Plus, what you said is also completely false. The SGX540 is more than powerful enough to drive a 720p display perfectly smoothly, which it does 99% of the time on the Gnex. The Adreno 200, anemically weak and useless for HD video, gaming, and pretty much everything, still renders the UI on WP7 perfectly.

Lastly, her G+ post was responding to the allegations that Android needed a GPU accelerated UI to compete, and she pointed out that Android has actually had GPU rendering in various stages since before 1.0.

WP7 is smooth because of the software not the hardware. The same goes for the Gnex. The G+ Blog post did state that Android has had GPU acceleration, but it was half baked GPU acceleration. The only smooth Android device is the Gnex and that's due to ICS, every Android device before it is a lagfest.

There's no sugar coating it, Android has been stuttery from the start, its only recently that Android has gotten rid of that stutter with ICS. The blogpost, although very informative, was a lot of beating around the bush. Its clear that full GPU acceleration wasn't going to help Android because however Google was implementing it, it was more efficient to use the CPU.

After watching the review of the Gnex by Anand, I would say that ICS is a necessity for an Android device. The performance is like night and day.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

WP7 is smooth because of the software not the hardware.

More specifically WP7 is smooth because the UI is so incredibly simple that even a crappy Adreno 200 is capable of rendering it smoothly.

 

[MrX8503]

More specifically WP7 is smooth because the UI is so incredibly simple that even a crappy Adreno 200 is capable of rendering it smoothly.

Probably. But web browsing is smoother on WP7. It should be an even match unless Android is still running widgets and livewallpaper while you're browsing or something.

 

[YoungGun21]

This thread is about the S3 not WP7.

I'm guessing this would launch in US in August at best, VZW probably more like anywhere in the range [November, +infinity)

 

[Medu]

Now why Google would make such a poor choice in the first place is a riddle

Google didn't have much choice. If they went with a Exynos SoC then everyone that isn't Samsung would be a 'little' annoyed as the lead platform for ICS would be a SoC that only Samsung seem(can?) to use. Tegra 3/S4 weren't ready so OMAP4 was the next best thing.

 

[MorningDay]

Samsung Galaxy S3 will be loaded with Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. This has to be a highlight feature and I believe it will be far more better than Samsung Galaxy s2

 

[dagamer34]

Google didn't have much choice. If they went with a Exynos SoC then everyone that isn't Samsung would be a 'little' annoyed as the lead platform for ICS would be a SoC that only Samsung seem(can?) to use. Tegra 3/S4 weren't ready so OMAP4 was the next best thing.

They did the exact same thing with Gingerbread back when the Nexus S came out. It's just a Galaxy S with NFC.

I think TI just gave them cheaper prices in order to be the lead platform for ICS.