Official Reviews, Previews and Comparisons as they come thread.

I wanted to make a thread that will collect all the reviews, previews and comparison articles and videos out there. I also want to do a good job at keeping the OP up to date as other OPs usually abandon their post. I will need everyone's help at making this thread work. Please follow my format and I will share your post in the OP. Also, tell me which section it belongs in.


1. PREVIEWS

A. GSM Arena's first preview: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_unpacked_2012-review-756.php

Summary: GSM Arena gave a good first look at the phone. What is notable here is their benchmarks and how they compare to other smartphones.

B. GSM Arena's second preview:
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_iii-review-757.php

Summary: Their second preview is much more in depth with lots of previews on how the camera and video recording work. They also share benchmarks and gestures + features that other phones do not currently have or use.

C. Mobile-Reviews Preview:
http://mobile-review.com/review/samsung-galaxy-s3-fl-en.shtml
Summary: Personally, the best preview in terms of images I have seen. They have a very good screen comparison between the SGS2, Note, SGS3 and HOX here. I highly recommend these preview shots. They also have an excellent comparison between the cameras of the SGS2 and SGS3.

D. AndroidNZ Preview:
http://www.androidnz.net/2012/05/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-androidnz-goes.html
http://www.androidnz.net/2011/09/sandisk-64gb-micro-sdxc-cards-confirmed.html
http://www.androidnz.net/2012/05/samsung-galaxy-s3-secrets-revealed.html
http://www.androidnz.net/2012/05/samsung-galaxy-s3-more-secrets-revealed.html
http://www.androidnz.net/2012/05/samsung-galaxy-s3-more-secrets-revealed.html

Summary: They show GPS lock on testing capabilities and confirm that exFAT works fine with the phone.
Thanks: NZtechfreak

E. Android Central complete warp up preview:
http://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-wrap

Summary: This links to multiple articles written about the Samsung Galaxy S III.


2. COMPARISONS

A. Samsung Galaxy S 3 and HTC One X from GSM Arena:
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_iii_vs_htc_one_x-review-759.php

Summary: They cover every part of the phone here. Introduction, Hardware, Software, Camera, Video, Benchmark. You name it.

B. Samsung Galaxy S 3 and HTC One X from PhoneArena:
http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/Samsung-Galaxy-S-III-vs-HTC-One-X_id3034

Summary: They pretty much cover the same topics as GSM Arena did. They take different photographs. Feel free to take a look.

C. Samsung Galaxy S 3 and Samsung Galaxy S 2 from PhoneArena:
http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/Samsung-Galaxy-S-III-vs-Samsung-Galaxy-S-II_id3037

Summary: Similar to above but with the SGS2.

D. Samsung Galaxy S 3 and iPhone 4S from PhoneArena:
http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/Samsung-Galaxy-S-III-vs-Apple-iPhone-4S_id3038

Summary: Similar to above but with the iPhone4S.


3. REVIEWS

A. PhoneArena review:
http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/Samsung-Galaxy-S-III-Review_id3031

Summary: Not much more than all the previews they have done. Here they just give their strong and concrete opinions on the phone and their final verdict.

B. DroidSans review:

Summary: He pretty much gives a open box review and summarizes the phone. near the end he shows off the phone playing games and playing movies at the same time. He also goes over the voice unlock commands which can be customized for an app, Very awesome. Recommended.

C. Review from Android Suomi translated from Finland to English.
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1662884

D. GSMArena Full Review:
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9300_galaxy_s_iii-review-761.php

Summary: Not too different from their previews but still very detailed. They have even more from their preview like audio test, and much more in depth with the features.
Thanks: Rocketpaul

E. CNET UK Review
http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-s3-review-50006020/?tag=mncol;txt

Summary: Not much more than what we have seen in other reviews above. Notable is that the phone gets a Editor's choice award and a 4.5/5 stars.

Thanks: rapaholic999

F. Stuff Full Review:
http://www.stuff.tv/review/samsung-galaxy-s3

Summary: Stuff.tv full review of the Galaxy S3. Battery life test shows it as double that of the HTC One X.

Thanks: MaskedMagi

G. Tech Radar Review:
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-s3-1078667/review

Summary: A review with more than 17 pages of content!

Thanks: jaju123

H. The Verge Review:
http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/25/3042640/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-review

Summary: They do their own camera test and nice screen shots of software but their performance benchmarks don't really match up with other ones I have seen. I think they got the Antutu numbers mixed up for the SGS3 and Tegra 3. This is a real shame on the reviewer.

Thanks: VJKotts

I. Engadget Review:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/25/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-review/

Summary: Just a more detailed review than their preview. More opinions and concrete detail. One thing Engadget fails to bring up is that the VYSNC for the SGS3 doesn't allow it to go past 60 FPS in some benchmarks. Therefore Nenmark is useless for comparison.

Thanks: mrvirginia

J. Slashgear Review:
http://www.slashgear.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-review-27230300/

Thanks: rapaholic999

K. Android Authority Review:
http://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-galaxy-s3-review-video-89883/

Thanks: DocRambone

L. HDBlog Review (Italian, use google translate):
http://samsung.hdblog.it/2012/05/29/samsung-galaxy-s3-recensione-completa-by-hdblog/

Thanks: hot_spare

M. Theinquirer.net Review:
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/review/2181733/samsung-galaxy-s3-review

Thanks: omersak

N. AndroidNZ review:
http://www.androidnz.net/2012/06/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-real-user-review.html

Thanks: NZtechfreak

O. Android Central Review:
http://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-review

Thanks: rapaholic999

P. Geektech Review
http://geektech.ie/index.php/review-samsung-galaxy-siii/

Thanks: Thor

4. MISC

A. Battery test by GSMArena:
http://blog.gsmarena.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-battery-test-is-ready-does-very-well/

Summary: GSM Arena performs their own battery test and compares them to other phones of the SGS3.

B. Swedroid abusing the SGS3 to test fluidness and response times.

Summary: The SGS3's response time is test by fast usage.
Thanks: zyryn

C. Mobile-Review Battery test
http://www.mobile-review.com/review/samsung-galaxy-s3-battery-en.shtml

Summary: Mobile-Review goes through their own battery test of the SGS3. Results are close to similar of GSM Arena was almost 10 hours max of video playback in airplane mode. Show off power savor mode difference.

POWER SAVOR


WITHOUT POWER SAVOR


Thanks: ale0crysis

D. Unboxing and previews


Thanks: istoica

E. More battery test by Android HD Blog (Italian):
http://android.hdblog.it/2012/05/25/galaxy-s3-test-live-durata-batteria-by-hdblog-inizio-ore-10/

Thanks: TMaLuST

NZtechfreak said:

Don't forget AndroidNZ

Hands-on write up: http://www.androidnz.net/2012/05/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-androidnz-goes.html

exFAT confirmation: http://www.androidnz.net/2011/09/sandisk-64gb-micro-sdxc-cards-confirmed.html

First information on a few features no one else has really publicised:
http://www.androidnz.net/2012/05/samsung-galaxy-s3-secrets-revealed.html
http://www.androidnz.net/2012/05/samsung-galaxy-s3-more-secrets-revealed.html

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Added.

Review from Finland added as well.

Added Android Central's warp up preview.

Man, this is awesome!

"FM Radio
The Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III is equipped with an FM radio with RDS too. The interface is simple - there's a tuning dial and you can save as many as 8 stations as favorites. You can also listen on the loudspeaker, but the headset is still needed as it acts as the antenna. You can record radio broadcasts as well."

bala_gamer said:

all galaxy s series had this feature

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I didn't know you could record though. Sadly my captivate doesn't... for some reason US variants got gimped when it came to the FM radio.

pizz0wn3d said:

Not true. My Cappy doesn't have the hardware for it, so no go. Not that I'd ever use the feature.

Herp derp Captivate XDA Premium App.

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Really? You never thought about recording a song you like?

Sent from my HTC One X using XDA

ECrispy said:

Jut finished reading the gsmarena review. I hope -

1. S4 version is still as fast (which I think it will be based on benchmarks)
2. US carriers don't remove the awesome features - this one I'm worried about.

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Knowing the US carriers, specially ATT, they will probably remove something. Like the FM Radio will be disabled. They have to do something to make the phone stay around the same price range with the LTE radio in there. Or maybe I'm wrong, maybe the Exynos cost just as much as an S4 with LTE but probably not since Samsung manufactures their own SoC.

I only had a SGS2 Skyrocket for a few days. Anyone know if that was gimped in anyway?

ECrispy said:

Disabling features costs more than leaving them enabled. Most of the time they disable it so they can push their own bloatware instead.

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Depends how the feature is disabled. Like taking out a fm radio all together to cut cost etc.

Sent from my HTC One X using XDA

ECrispy said:

Usually its all disabled in software. There are probably only 2 reference designs for the GS3 - S4 for LTE markets and Exonys for everyone else.

The chipsets used in these are fixed, and any changes are done at the firmware level. e.g. to disable FM/NFC etc, they don't modify the circuit design as that would cost a lot more and require separate assembly/QA.

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I don't believe so, it's not that difficult. Over here when we design circuit cards etc, they are designed to leave certain features out for the military displays, etc. It's as simple as just excluding things in the BOM and making variant drawing. Doesn't cost us anymore then it does save the customer money.

I don't know exactly how Samsung is, I just know how the places I have worked at are. So I'm not going to say for certain how Qualcom and Samsung documented and prepared their SoCs.

zyryn said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbfmkATGyrQ

please add this , swedroid vid showing ui fluidity

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Added, thank you.