The Samsung Galaxy S3 has finally been launched. Some of the major differences between the S3 and S2 are discussed below:
The Design and Display
The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a more traditional design as compared to the S2, and has rounded edges which gives it an oval-like shape. Even though the S3 screen is larger than that on S2, one will hardly feel the difference due to the modified design which features a smaller chin and bezel. It is a little heavier than the S2 at 133g and also thicker by 0.1 mm at 8.6mm. The S2 measures 66.1 mm in width and 125.3 mm in height, whereas the S3’s height measures 136.5 mm and width measures 70.6 mm.
The Samsung Galaxy comes with a dazzlingly bright display that is 4.8 inches, Super AMOLED HD and features a resolution of 1280×720 pixels. However, unlike the S2, the S3 does not make use of the ‘Plus’ technology and instead employs PenTile arrangement for the display. This means that the sub-pixels get shared between neighboring pixels. The S2 has a smaller 4.3 inch Super AMOLED Plus display along with a screen resolution of 480×800 pixels and the use of the RGB matrix. Despite the difference in technical aspects of the screen, one will hardly find any difference between the display qualities of the S3 and the S2. The larger screen of the S3, will however give a better visual experience to the user while watching high definition videos, due to the vivid display of colors and the deep contrasts that highlight the darkest of deep blacks and the brightest of whites. Both the S3 and the S2 use Gorilla Glass from Corning, though the S3 has the latest scratch proof version.
The Software and Apps
The Samsung Galaxy S3 comes with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, while the S2 originally comes with the Android Gingerbread OS, which can be upgraded to ICS OS. The operating system on both the phones have been modified by Samsung’s own user interface, TouchWiz. The Samsung Galaxy S3, though comes with a number of new features. Some of them include S Voice, which is a Siri like app that allows a user to carry out various voice commands such as making calls, accessing music, etc. One can also use ‘voice recognition’ along with facial recognition to unlock the S3. S beam allows users to transfer large amounts of data via Wi-Fi. Pop up Play allows users to access videos while simultaneously engaging in other activities on the phone.
The Processor
The Samsung Galaxy S3 is miles ahead of the S2, when it comes to the processor capabilities. The S3 is equipped with a really powerful quad-core Exynos 4212 processor that can attain speeds of 1.4 GHz per core. This processor is manufactured by Samsung but based on the ARM Cortex A9 processor. Compared to this monster, the Samsung Galaxy S2 comes with a dual-core Exynos processor that clocks speeds of 1.2 GHz. Both the smartphones come with 1 GB of RAM.
The processor on the S3 is by far the fastest one on any smartphone. It allows user to tackle beefy games and high quality videos with such ease, that it has to be experienced to be believed. At the moment, Google Play may not have the necessary apps to test the full capability of the S3 processor, but the phone is definitely designed for the future and will reduce the redundancy of smart gadgets.
The Storage
The Samsung Galaxy S3 comes in three different variants of 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB, while the S2 comes in just 16 and 32 GB capacities. Both the smartphones have the slot for a microSD card. One may also note that every purchase of the S3 comes with a two year DropBox facility, where 50 GB of data can be stored. Thus the S3 is a giant as far as storage is concerned.
The Camera
Just like the Samsung Galaxy S2, the S3 also comes with an 8 megapixel rear camera. However, a number of new features have been added for the camera on the S3. The shutter lag on the camera is almost zero. Another feature will result in the automatic suggestion of the best photo from an array of similar photos. This is possible via the use of various factors such as smile detection, facial recognition, etc. One also has the option to capture a picture while shooting a video. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a 2 megapixel camera on the front for video calling and other uses, while the S2 has a 1.2 megapixel front facing camera.
The Battery
The Samsung Galaxy S3 comes with a 2100 mAh battery as opposed to the 1650 mAh battery of the S2. However, due to the larger screen size of the S3, one will only come to know about the life of the S3 battery on a single recharge after the administration of a few tests.
