Saturday, May 5, 2012

Is the Samsung Galaxy S III's design underwhelming?

After the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S III I visited the local mobile phone forums to see what the reaction on the release of the new phone. Samsung had launched a solid update of last years Galaxy S II with a larger display, higher resolution, faster processor and, most likely, longer battery endurance. The phone also features a fair number of interesting software features. Some things which were rumored did not materialize, namely: a Super AMOLED Plus display and a 12 MP camera. 

The tone in the local forum by several members was that they were a bit underwhelmed by the launch. But instead of complaints about the PenTile martix Super AMOLED display or the 8 MP camera, many were underwhelmed by the appearance.

One source of disappointment was the plastic or polycarbonate material use in making a case. A fair number of people do not realize the polycarbonate is just a type of plastic, and when they see the matter polycarbonate cases on the Nokia N9, Nokia Lumia 800 or HTC One X, they do not realize it is plastic. But the polycarbonate case of the Galaxy S III comes with a glossy "Hyperglaze" finish, which to many screams plastic. Many were hoping for a ceramic or aluminum case.

Another source of complaints was the the chrome ring around the case which some said reminded them of the old Nokia C7, and in general the consensus was that this made the phone look old.

Personally, the physical button disappoints me most. I do not understand Samsung's love for the physical button. HTC and the Google Nexus S moved to all capacitative buttons in late 2010. In 2011 Google's Galaxy Nexus migrated to on screen soft keys. Samsung insists on maintaining the physical button, which mainly is seen on budget Androids today as a cost cutting feature.

Are we being to harsh on the Galaxy S III? 3D-desk has created a rotating 3D view of the new Galaxy S III which you can see at this link. This gives us a better perspective of the appearance of the Galaxy S III.


Samsung did get plenty of things right with the new Galaxy S III...


The camera sits flush in the case...

  

The slim case houses  2100 mAh battery which is user replaceable. In many designs a user replaceable battery is sacrificed to keep the case thin.


What is you opinion on the design of Samsung's new device.

2 comments:

  1. i think that the removable battery and micro SD expansion capability easily compensates for the fiddly design..

    well, for me (as a SGS3 user) im very satisfied with it

    for the design, i like it. some will hate it..

    but hey, most (if not all of us) uses protective cases for our gadgets..thus covering the majority of the smartphone's body..

    ReplyDelete

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