Plenty of people are getting pretty excited about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S3 (or S III) although a release date has not yet been confirmed. Indeed there are widely differing speculated release dates for the Galaxy S3 so we thought we’d take a look at the Galaxy S3 later vs. the Galaxy S Blaze 4G now to give you an idea of these two smartphones and whether it’s worth your while hanging on for the S3.
Many of you may have heard of the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G, which is being carried by T-Mobile USA, and wondered if this could be an alternative to the Galaxy S3. This Galaxy S Blaze 4G is certainly a a decent enough handset and if you’re tired of waiting for the Galaxy S3 then you might consider it instead but let’s take a look at what the Blaze 4G offers. This phone was released by T-Mobile USA in ‘select stores’ on March 21 and will be available nationwide on March 28, just a few more days.
Specs and features of the Galaxy S Blaze 4G include a Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen, 1GB of RAM, 5-megapixel rear camera with 720p HD video capture and 1.3-megapixel front-facing shooter. The 4G connectivity is not true 4G LTE but 4G for T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network. Sadly it hasn’t released on the latest Android ICS operating system but on 2.3.6 Gingerbread, which seems a shame bearing in mind that ICS released last year. You can see the T-Mobile Blaze 4G product page here and the Galaxy S Blaze 4G is priced from $149.99 on the usual two-year contract and after a mail-in rebate.
When comparing this with the Galaxy S3 we have to point out that there are no specs confirmed yet for the Galaxy S3, or a release date for that matter. However, we can tell you what we expect to arrive based on widely-reported leaks and conjecture about this next Samsung flagship device. Although the Galaxy S Blaze 4G certainly looks an adequate device and is very reasonably priced, the anticipated specs and features for the Galaxy S3 pretty much blow it out of the water. The Galaxy S3 is likely to have an Exynos 1.5 or 1.8GHz quad-core processor, a possible step up to a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal memory, 10 or even 12-megapixel rear camera with 1080p HD video recording capability, 4G LTE support and NFC.
Therefore the Galaxy S3 is likely to have quad-core CPU as opposed to the dual-core of the Galaxy S Blaze 4G, true LTE support, much better camera and superior display (although some might prefer the smaller display on the Blaze 4G). As we said these details are unconfirmed but we’d be pretty amazed if at least most of them don’t turn out to be accurate. The Galaxy S3 will also release on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Ultimately then it seems as though it’s definitely worth waiting for the Galaxy S3 but the trouble with that is we don’t know how much longer that will take.
Most recently we’ve heard of a possible event on May 22 to announce the Galaxy S3 but prior to that we’d heard of April and then a few days ago a Samsung executive mentioned the phone may be brought forward to April instead of May. Apart from April and May though, there have also been rumors that Samsung will tie in the launch with its sponsorship of the 2012 Olympics and that doesn’t begin until the end of July, so quite how much longer we’ll have to wait to see the Galaxy S3 is anyone’s guess right now.
Another thing to consider is the price of the Galaxy S3. The Galaxy S Blaze 4G will do the job for most people and at a very reasonable price. However the kind of specs listed above for the Galaxy S3 are not likely to come cheap. We’d expect it to be more than the Galaxy S2, released at $199 on contract, but maybe not quite as much as the Galaxy Note smartphone that came out at $299 on contract and has a whopping 5.3-inch screen, so maybe around the $250 mark with a contract. Therefore you have to make up your mind if you’re willing to pay the extra price, as well as wait for the Galaxy S3.
If you’d like to take a better look at the Galaxy S Blaze 4 you can see a video review of this handset below this story. We’d like to know what our readers think about the Galaxy S3 vs. the Galaxy S Blaze 4G? Could you be tempted to the cheaper Galaxy S Blaze 4G so you can get your hands on a different Samsung Galaxy smartphone now? Maybe you intend to wait for the Galaxy S3, no matter how long it takes? Let us know by sending your comments.
