Discussion on:

10 things you should know before buying a Galaxy S III smartphone

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Really well written, well-informed piece!
I see so many reviews on phones that are obviously from Fanboy Country, or are from people who are clearly not as educated and even lacking phone-knowledge in some cases.
Thank you for knowing your "stuff" and putting information out into the world that will actually help someone make a decision. Well done.

I'm not sure that "7: No USB mass storage mode" is correct - It works fine for me on Windows 7 Home Premium (32-Bit). It comes up with a choice of Phone or Card showing the disc space remaining on each.

It appears to be valid information that somewhat corrects/somewhat clarifies what the author stated about her phone. I would think that finding out there is an easier way to at least access the memory--even if it is separated to card/phone--would be a plus to most people.

DWFields - I went to click + but clicked - instead. NO undo? Sorry!

I drive my IT guys nuts when they forget to differentiate between 32 bit and 64 bit systems . But thats another discussion!

I have no problem using my US Cellular SIII this way. It does not show up as a "Lettered" drive but as a connected phone (SCH-R530U)? I can read and write to both the SD and internal memory by cut paste, click and drag, etc. to copy a file or folder to the phone, but I cannot use something like MS Word to save a document directly. Must save it first to computer then copy to phone. Windows 7 Pro and XP Pro

@markbeckstrom I agree with this assessment, the device is more capable than suggested in the review. You can't map the drives or save/open files with an application from the MS Office suite, but the huge upside of this change, which isn't mentioned, is that using a micro USB to Type A dongle (I got one from Hong Kong for less than a buck, including shipping) you can plug and play a multitude of USB input and storage devices with the phone. If you use a hub, you can automatically access up to six external USB drives.

On my SG III when connection it to a Win XP box, Win Vista 32bit box, Win7 64bit box and OSX 10.6 & 10.7. Maybe the one the writer tested was a demo release or didn't know that you have to set SG III to USB storage before connecting cable. Also I have noticed some difference between carriers preloaded versions (att and tmobile)

It works sometimes on my Windows 7 Ultimate machine and sometimes it doesn't. Kies isn't too bad as long as you have nothing else really running like an internet browser. Also those USB OTG cables and an app will let you connect a controller for gaming (PS3/360), although on some versions the app isn't needed for connectivity. AT&T axed it in the I747 version of the phone but I believe Sprint left it in. Point is it was a native function.

He is right about storage mode. Without rooting UMS isn't available. Only MTP or PSM. For me under Linux this is a disadvantage, because current MTP support in Linux is not so good. But at least PMS is available out of box.

UPDATE: Linux users can try jmtpfs - http://research.jacquette.com/jmtpfs-exchanging-files-between-android-devices-and-linux/ In combination with minor udev tweaking file exchange via MTP (obviously, with S3 too) now work like charm (and fast) on my and colleagues Linux machines at work and home. Only troubling part was compiling, because jmtpfs DEB packages for Ubuntu and Mint are not ready yet. PM me, if you want details.

Hey ... we're talking about REAL smartphones here ... Stop trolling the thread with old and useless phones

I think that is going to be a common thread on all phones as we get more and more powerful smart phones. I have the same issue on my Nexus, even with the extended life battery. The phones are naturally going to be using more power and until we improve our battery technology, I don't see that improving...only getting worse.

I bought an extended battery for the SIII (Onite 3800 mAh). When I had that in on the first phone (that I returned), I had far fewer Wi-Fi dropouts than with the battery that came with the phone. It's a beast, although it doesn't really feel much bigger in the hand than an old iPhone, but the big battery lasts like an energizer bunny.

It depends on how much you use it. If it just sits in your pocket, it will last for a few days. If you use it a lot, you may have to recharge it more than once during the day. I keep GPS and data downloads turned off most of the time to conserve power, And I use a GO power saving app which may also help by keeping unused stuff turned off.

Juice Defender and several other apps can extend the life quite a bit. Also turning a few functions of when not needed help (like account syncing, screen brightness).

Most of the 'bad' stuff I figured them out after a month of usage also, still doesn't bother me.

For the Wifi my phone has no problem connecting it at all.

The Samsung photo and video editors are available through the "More Services" app / shortcut. (It looks like an orange price tag with a circle of white dots on it.) They both seem to be pretty full-featured and are either identical or very similar to those provided on my Galaxy Tab 10.1

I've had an Siii for a few months and the biggest negative, for me, is that it's pretty quiet. Turn the volume up to max and no-one is going to complain too much - which is a pity if you're using it to listen to music. This applies to both the external speaker and when wearing headphones. However, me being in the UK could mean that this is due to a European ruling on headphone volume rather than the device itself and non-Euro countries may not suffer with this issue.
The lack of running apps from the external card is mildly disappointing but hasn't been a particular problem yet.
Overall, pretty slick and a easy to use.

Try an app called Volume+. My S III is plenty loud for me but the Nexus was whisper soft until I installed V+. It was a must to be able to hear things like turn-by-turn nav.

Thanks for the V+ suggestion. One of my biggest issues with my VZW GNex is the lack of volume even at full volume. That and the terrible wifi reception.

I really liked the detail in your review, but was perplexed on the "wireless access trouble." The SIII has been the most reliable phone I've had - ever, specially when it comes to accessing wireless networks. Mine automatically detects when I'm "in range" of a network, and if I've provided credentials and enabled it to connect automatically, it does. My home experience in particular is a DREAM with the SIII. I also have no problem connecting with Windows 7 64-bit, just like a large flash drive, which allows me to off-load my photos en masse, so they can be Carbonite'd, etc. The camera modes deserve some attention too: The burst photo mode and "panormic" settings really do provide something special that I'm not sure all users and potential users are aware of. Cityscapes with the panoramic mode are something an entire blog website could be the feature of, and burst mode, particularly in great light, is just AMAZING to be witness to. We've got a full PERSPECTIVE REVIEW of the SIII coming up after a move to a new studio and I'll be sure to touch base with you. A great review that digs where most don't for sure! Many thanks!

As I noted, the Wi-Fi problem only happens with a small percentage of phones. If you do a search on "Galaxy S III Wi-Fi problem," you'll find it in the discussion boards. I ended up taking the first phone back and getting a replacement. The second one connects to the wireless network flawlessly and Wi-Fi is fast and reliable. I don't know whether this has anything to do with it, but there was a sticker on my second phone that said "Updated" and there was no such sticker on the first one.

Me and my coleague S3's has WiFi connection problems on WPA/WPA2 connections (mentioned above). Fixed by official OTA at 2012 december, which updated S3 OS version to 4.1.2. So far WiFi work without any problems.

... have problems out of the box. All it takes is for even one tiny component to be out of spec to throw the radio out of whack. The author did note that the problem is a common one, though not universal. It could be as much a hardware issue for her specific unit as a software issue for the whole line.

I have a pretty fast connection and maybe that's why I haven't had all the same problems with wi-fi, but I have seen the S voice connection error a lot. I chalked it up to server problems, I could be wrong.

Our home networking setup is FiOS Internet at 30 Mbps up/down and an 802.11n wireless access point. The replacement phone racks up 20+ Mbps on SpeedTest. The first one was crawling at less than 1 Mbps. Nothing changed about the network and the phone's configurations are the same. I believe the problem is caused by a defective radio.

My SIII has a few problems:
1)it does not access the web with 3G; probably timeout.
2)it does not accept downloads of apps included in the More Services button. This is most irritating, since it says its protected from downloading apps that do not come from the Android Store. I tried to download an App Monitor and it did not accept. And there is no provision to liberate the download in the security controls.

Hi Deb, I've had my Unlocked S3 for about a month now, and think it is extremely good. When you plug the USB into a windows PC it appears in the device list as a portable media player, but when you double click the icon, you are presented with 'card' and 'phone' storage drives (just like a USB device), so I'm not sure what you did, but this is as easy as it gets.
The WiFi works perfectly well on all networks I've tried connecting to, with no drop-outs. It even gives preferential connection to WiFi rather than 3G when it finds a network it recognises, and that saves me 3G quota.

I've been using this phone for a couple of months now. It works just fine when I plug it into my laptop or tower. It shows up as a hard drive just like my old windows phone. I also have no problems with wi-fi connections. I love this phone!

Does the warranty for this phone state that? That's enough for me not to buy, I think, despite some of the cool features. I really like the sound of the phone reject list (can it be set to globally reject non-disclosed numbers?) and the custom equalisation. I'd pay for a phone app that could do that.

Only the software warranty gets voided not warranty for the physical phone. The whole root voided warranty is greatly misunderstood. Again thats only the software warranty that gets voided. If your phone set itself spontaeneously combusts after rooty they still have to replace the phone.

When I plug in my iphone via USB, it shows up in Windows Explorer as a hard drive. ITunes isn't needed for this.

For #9, I downloaded an app called Picture Editor that ties in with the menu in the Gallery. When you take a picture, you can tap it at the bottom corner of the screen, go into the menu and select Edit. The editor takes the place of the default stock editor included by Samsung.

For #10, I have noticed the opposite on my phone. It does depend on where I am, but my WiFi connections work great. I don't use the stock browser, but I get disconnects and page cannot be displayed more often on 4G than I do on WiFi. I like the xScope Pro browser (there is also a free version) for browsing. You get tabs, can have it "request the desktop site" version and a number of other nice features.

Just my 2 cents worth.

I've owned three android phones and have yet experienced anything less than occasionally frustrating. My current Samsung is by far the best yet. No matter how good the hardware, the OS will always keep it from being stellar.

They don't call these things Smartphone for nothing. You have to be pretty smart to use them.

Smart indeed. Makes me thing of the smart car... well as I call it, the not so smart car.

Googles lack of consistancy to Android is keeping it for being stellar. But the real issue is the carriers blocking Google from doing that. "The carriers like to test the new updates/versions before roll out" is what several reps have told me. I chuckle and say "Are you sure that's it or is it because the devs need to figure out how to embed their monitoring programs to stop users from getting whats intended to be free. ie. tethering" They laugh and respond in a joking tone "yeah, that's it... Can i help you with anything else sir?"

I say if you want easy, go IOS. If u want potential, go Microsoft or Android. If you want control, power & functionality, go rooted custom Android.

4 and 9: I'm surprised you thought the camera took good pictures, this was the first thing that shocked me that it didn't do well since my S2 was clear was and a great camera even in low light. I found external apps Such as Instagram and Camera Zoom fx do a MUCH better job of taking photos. The issue are shots where flash is needed, the default camera and the flash don't seem to work very well together, the pictures seem like they are off, but it all works fine in other apps. And Camera Zoom FX has the editing tools.

6. You might mention that Android really wasn't designed to handle external SD cards well, it was an afterthought, so apps installed on that storage did run slower and you had no access to them when you plugged your phone into your computer and mounted the USB storage. With 32G or 64G available on the phone - not being able to install apps to the SD card are really a non-issue.

7. Yeah - that is a pain and you have to use the Kies app for any firmware updates (on T-Mobile at least) - I miss the OTA updates, BUT this app can back everything up on the phone AND thanks to Kies software I was able to get everything (photos, etc) off my S2 with the broken screen. I never could have mounted my USB storage on my S2 using the on-screen options because of the broken screen, so it does have a big advantage.

My experience with Samsung phones is dismal. First bought 2 Galaxy Nexus, trouble with both, had one replaced by Telstra. Replacement was Galaxy S3. At times audio sounds like the speaker is broken, sometimes I can wait up to 45 secs for it to finally dial selected number, disconnects my calls at random times so I have to call the person back. I will send it in to be repaired, but the mandatory 4 week turn around sucks. My joy at owning a Samsung phone is totally depleted.

Sorry guys my Galactic experience was not so wonderful. I bought a Gs3 and found it to be almost unusable. Returned it for a replacement and got the same disappointing performance and design flaws.
First and foremost, my reception and call quality was always poor. Side by side with my cheap old HTC MyTouch4G reception on the Gs3 was never as good, not even close. When reception edged into the fair range sound quality was so bad as to illicit regular complaints from whomever I called. I wanted to like this phone.
As for WiFi I would get excellent coverage on my ThinkPad or HTC and nearly no reception whatsoever on the Gs3. I wanted to like this phone, it was pretty, it was cool, I could actually see the web pages!
Speaking of design flaws, the on/off button on the upper right hand edge fell exactly where my index finger fell whenever I held the phone to talk. Switch hands, ok, oops ...now my thumb. Two times on the button and the phones shuts down in mid call. Bad JuJu in a business setting!
I wont go into the entire cheek dialing phenomenon. Has Samsung never heard of ergonomics?
Ok I replaced the phone and all of these problems persisted on the second handset. 2 unusable phones in a row. What a disappointment, I wanted to like this phone but back went the second phone and cancel the sale please.