Galaxies Apart: The S2 and S3 Compared

Wednesday 16th May 2012 by William Judd in Android, Mobile Accessories.

Today we’ll be having a look at the differences between two of the biggest phones of the past two years: The Samsung Galaxy S III and its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S II. Both have proved extremely popular so far, but will the Galaxy S III go on to sell as massively as the S II did last year? I think so, because these two phones really are galaxies apart. Let’s have a look!

Hardware

The most obvious difference between the Galaxy S2 and the Galaxy S3 is that of hardware.

Where the Galaxy S2 was quite big for its time at 4.3″ diagonal, the Galaxy S3 takes this even further at 4.8″ diagonal. That extra half an inch of screen real estate unlocks the door to a 720p HD display, a massive increase in screen quality from the Galaxy S2. The Galaxy S3 also brings a lot more firepower to bear, courtesy of a home-grown quad-core CPU.

 

 Display Size  4.3″  4.8″
 Resolution  800 x 480  1280 x 720
 Pixels Per Inch  217  306
 Processor  Exynos 4210  Exynos 4412
 Cores  2  4
 Clock Speed  1.2 GHz  1.4 GHz
 RAM  1 GB  1 GB
 Internal Storage  16 / 32 GB  16 / 32 / 64 GB
 Micro SD  up to 32 GB  up to 64 GB
 Battery  1650 mAh  2100 mAh
 Dimensions  125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm  136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm
 Weight  116 g  133 g

 

As you can see, there’s a fair amount of difference between the two phones – almost everything has been upgraded in the Galaxy S III to exceed the standards of the day – the Galaxy S3 compares favourably to the HTC One X, Lumia 900 and iPhone 4S too (click here for a more detailed comparison).

Another big difference between the two phones is their look – while the Galaxy S2 has a more standard design reminiscent of the iPhone, thanks to Apple’s legal teams the Galaxy SIII looks like an entirely new creation, with a much more rounded look and unique colour choices of ‘pebble blue’ and ‘marble white’. You can see this quite clearly in the image below (credit to Android Authority).

Software

Another big way the S3 offers an upgrade over the old model is in software.

Firstly, the Samsung Galaxy S3 ships with Ice Cream Sandwich, Android 4.0. The Galaxy S2 shipped with Gingerbread, Android 2.3. There’s as big a difference between those versions as the 1.7 gap suggests; Ice Cream Sandwich is worlds ahead in terms of usability, the strength of the included applications and the overall design language.

While the Galaxy S2 has since been upgraded to Gingerbread, Samsung have taken a much more additive approach to the Galaxy S3, with dozens of new features not found anywhere else.

For example, you can watch picture-in-picture videos while playing games, taking notes or surfing the web – a feature Samsung calls Pop Up Play.

Another feature called Smart Stay uses the front-facing camera to ensure that the display never dims or locks when you’re looking at it.

S Voice is a Siri-equivalent for Android that looks more polished than anything we’ve seen before.

S Beam combines NFC and WiFi to transfer files between phones at high speeds with just a touch.

For more information, check out our coverage of the Galaxy SIII announcement.

Accessories

Finally, we can’t help but mention some of the Samsung Galaxy SIII accessories that should really go beyond what was available for the Galaxy S II. As well as the normal plethora of Samsung Galaxy S3 cases, there’ll be wireless charging, a Wi-Fi display hub, an HDTV dongle and even a Galaxy S3 C-Pen stylus.

Conclusion

So as you can see, there’s a much bigger difference between the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy S2 than you might have thought. The mobile industry moves at a breakneck pace, and nowhere is this more evident than with the next Galaxy superphone.

Got any questions or comments? Please talk to us via the comments below, or say hello via Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

First images of official Galaxy S3 Flip Covers in 5 new colours

Wednesday 16th May 2012 by William Judd in Mobile Accessories.

As the Samsung Galaxy S III keeps ticking along towards release, we’re starting to get more information about the official Samsung Galaxy S III accessories that we’ll soon be stocking.

These are the Genuine Samsung Flip Covers, which are now available in five new colours – Light Blue, Lemon Yellow, Orange, Pink and Mint. We’re already seen these in Chrome Blue and Ceramic White, so now there’s a great amount of colour choices available.

The small image in the upper right is the official image that we were provided with, but as it was a little small we’ve taken the liberty of mocking up what these cases should look like on a larger scale. Expect vibrant colours and high quality, as these are genuine Samsung Galaxy S III cases.

These flip covers replace the back cover of the Galaxy S3, allowing you to add significant protection and a splash of colour without significant bulk. As always, these flip covers include cutouts for all buttons and features, so you can easily take a photo, adjust the volume or charge your phone without taking the cover off.

For more information, please check out the product pages listed below or ask us a question via the form below. Thanks for reading!

More images of Official Samsung Galaxy S3 images added!

Tuesday 15th May 2012 by Laura Hogan in Android, Buyers Guides, Coming Soon, Mobile Accessories.

After our recent post showing off the first images of the Official Samsung accessories for the Galaxy S3, we’ve got a couple more to show you!

Samsung Galaxy S3 Slim Case

Samsung Galaxy S3 Slim Case Blue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This time the images are for the Official Samsung Galaxy S3 Slim Case in White and the Official Samsung Galaxy S3 Slim Case in Blue.  The Slim cases offer extremely hard wearing protection without adding any bulk to the S3.  In fact they’re possibly the lightest cases around and offer the same protection as a hard case, they even add grip to the S3 thanks to the matte finish.

As you’d expect they have  the cut-outs to all the ports and features in order to keep the handset fully functioning at all times too.  They’re sleek, stylish and highly protective – the perfect solution for those who want protection and no bulk.

If you’d prefer we have this article and other S3 ones in local versions: French, Spanish, Dutch, Italian and German.

What are your thoughts on the official products?  Let us know through the usual channels.

Otterbox Commuter for Galaxy Note ships tomorrow!

Tuesday 15th May 2012 by William Judd in Android, Mobile Accessories.

The Samsung Galaxy Note has proved surprisingly popular, and the big case manufacturers are starting to take note. We’ve just got in a shipment of Otterbox Commuter cases for the Note, and you can order one right now for immediate dispatch tomorrow.

The Otterbox Commuter series is a strong blend of rock-solid protection and beautifully slim design.

The Commuter uses an innovative three layer design, combining a rugged plastic case with a silicone inner core and a top quality screen protector. The case also includes exposed silicone corners for deadening impacts and silicone plugs to protect the USB port. You’ll be able to keep your phone completely protected from scrapes, scratches, knocks and shocks – if you’ve ever worried about damaging your Galaxy Note, this is the case for you.

We’re the only company in the UK with stock on these cases, so for more information on this massively popular case, check out the product page linked below:

As always, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to write to us via the comments form below, or talk to us on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.

Here’s another Genuine Samsung Galaxy S3 accessory video

Tuesday 15th May 2012 by Laura Hogan in Android, Buyers Guides, Coming Soon, Mobile Accessories.

After the post yesterday featuring a number of videos of Genuine (Official) Samsung Galaxy S3 accessories, today we bring you another video – this time for the Genuine Samsung Galaxy S3 Desktop Dock

Check out the video below and tell us what you think of the dock!

The sleek looking official dock  folds out to reveal the dock for the S3 and places it at the best angle for typing, swiping and streaming all whilst keeping the S3 fully juiced.  It looks nice and feels nice too; plus it has the capacity to be used with either a mains charger or USB cable and even a 3.5mm audio line, so music can be played in the way it was intended.

If you missed yesterday’s post and the other three Official Samsung accessory videos you can find it here or if you’d prefer a local version, we have the post in French, Spanish, German, Italian and Dutch.