The Samsung Galaxy S3 (S III) is one of the hit smartphones of the year even before its release. Sales are already assured following the huge popularity of previous Galaxy S handsets and especially the phenomenal sales of its predecessor the Galaxy S2. Today we want to take a look at how much better we think the Galaxy S3 could be to the S2.
Obviously the Galaxy S3 has not yet been announced and so all the specs and features that we will talk about are not yet confirmed. Nevertheless they have been widely reported from leaks and rumors and we would be pretty surprised if the S3 didn’t live up to at least most of these expectations. We’ve gleaned our information from our many Galaxy S3 posts so far although have left out what we think is least likely.
Recently we told how the release of the Galaxy S3 seems to suggest unbelievable sales figures for Samsung following reports of the most recent smash Samsung figures, even before the S3 launch. We know that the Galaxy S3 will be a success and 10 million orders have already been placed, but just how successful it is may depend not only what it has to offer against other smartphones such as the iPhone 5, but also how much of an upgrade it is to the Galaxy S2.
The processor is one of the most important specs for many people purchasing a new smartphone and the Galaxy S2 launched with the 1.2GHz Exynos dual-core processor, no slouch at the time. However with the first influx of quad-core processor smartphones we think it’s pretty likely that the Galaxy S3 will have an Exynos quad-core processor, either 1.5GHz or 1.8GHz as has been widely conjectured. Just the fact that it could be one of the first handsets sporting a quad-core processor could be enough for some to make the jump to update from their Galaxy S2.
Display-wise the Galaxy S2 features a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display with a resolution of 480×800 but the Galaxy S3 really steps up, both in display size and also clarity, as it’s expected to feature a 4.6-inch Super AMOLED Plus HD display with a likely resolution of 1280×720, a huge leap forward. As far as design goes the Galaxy S2 received some criticism for its somewhat plasticky feel although many users had no quibbles whatsoever and loved its slimness. However the Galaxy S3 is rumored to be even thinner and we have also heard talk of a ceramic backing to give the Galaxy S3 a classier feel, although of course it would also be more likely to suffer damage.
Moving on to storage the Galaxy S2 has 16GB internal memory, expandable with micro SD card to 32GB and also 1GB of RAM. We’ve heard that 32GB of internal storage is likely for the Galaxy S3 with an increase to 2GB of RAM, again a big increase. The cameras on the Galaxy S2 were highly praised with an 8-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front-facing shooter. A rear camera of 10 or even 12-megapixels is anticipated for the Galaxy S3 along with a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.
Many potential Galaxy S3 owners are happy that it is likely to feature the very latest Android operating system, 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which was received with very positive feedback when it arrived at the end of last year, featuring on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. The Galaxy S2 was launched on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Meanwhile there’s a real possibility that the Galaxy S3 will also have 4G LTE connectivity for the flourishing networks that are rapidly spreading.
From what we’ve looked at here it goes without saying that the Galaxy S3 will outshine the Galaxy S2. That much is pretty obvious as since when did a phone come out that was not a step up from its predecessor. Nevertheless we’d say that from what we expect of the Galaxy S3 it will be a pretty major update from the Galaxy S2 and many current S2 owners may well face an upgrade dilemma.
What we’d like to hear from readers is, if you have the Galaxy S2 will you upgrade to the S3 if most of what is expected is fulfilled? Have you already made up your mind to purchase the Galaxy S3 or maybe there’s one killer feature that it would have to include to make it your next smartphone?