The official "I've got my Galaxy S3" thread!

[heineken1863]

OK I've had mine 2 weeks now.

I first reported on the battery life being terrible. I've found two things that have helped me. I use a lot of internet radio streaming. I was using xiiaLive and I found that it wasn't closing properly and if i force it down the battery obviously is better. The other thing I found was that I had all my sounds set to vibrate and that just killed the phone as well. I get a lot of messages/texts. Once I silenced the alerts or used a sound that also helped. It's still not great. I never make it more than 15 hours or so. I do charge it on an off throughout the day as well. Hopefully this is fixed or maybe I'm just heavy user. I had a DX and it blew away this phone in battery life.

The 2nd issue is that I constantly have drops on my network while streaming and receiving email. It could just be my area (Pitt, PA). The streaming drops way more than the email or it's justs more noticable. Again the DX rarely had these issues.

I'm doing nothing different with this phone than what I did with my DX

Everything else works great.

[bionic805er]

Dissapointed with my samsung galaxy s3 and i used my upgrade after my bionic got stolen i didnt like the s3 so i returned it for a droid x2 now im regreting it and mad..the only thing i liked was ics and battery life other than that i miss my bionic... i wished i could track my phone down

[Caesars]

I'm a bit confused, did you use an upgrade on a dx2, or return your gs3 and buy a x2 used? I'm super tired and probably misread hehe.

Googorola MAXX

[jimmiem]

Been living with mine for a week now. It is, in every way, an improvement over the Thunderbolt. Well, every way but the keyboard. I had to install Swiftkey because I found the keyboard unusable. That's okay, Swiftkey is pretty awesome.

Now that I have the phone set up the way I want (rooted, wireless tether working, wifi notification and reminder gone, notification toggles themed in blue) I'm extremely happy with this phone. I usually prefer to stay more or less stock vs. a custom ROM so the bootloader doesn't really bother me.

I was using LauncherPro on the TB so I had to switch to Apex. I'm happy to say that it gives me all the features I enjoyed in LP in a clean, zippy interface.

Speaking of zippy, this phone is smoking fast. I don't know why anyone would feel the need to OC as the phone is fast enough as it is.

I love the hardware. It's incredibly thin and a lot of people say that weight makes it feel cheap but I don't get that sense at all. I like that the entire front is glass and the back is all one, easily replaceable piece. That makes it easier to keep it looking new. I'm also planning to order a replacement back so I can get rid of the VZW logo.

I'm not crazy about the side power. With the ability to turn the phone on with the home button I would prefer the power button be a little more out of the way. I do love the physical home button. I know lots of peeps hate it but turning the phone on with that button is far more comfortable than how I used to have to contort my hand to turn on my TB.

I loved my Thunderbolt when I first got it, but I definitely had more complaints right from the beginning. The SG3 is far better "out of the box" and with some continued tweaking and Jelly Bean I have every confidence we will be very happy together.

[tc1]

I've heard a few mentions of sup par reception. This is what has me hesitant about picking one up.

So what's the final verdict? Is the reception good and if not, are you in a weak signal area?

[jgmecarter]

I've heard a few mentions of sup par reception. This is what has me hesitant about picking one up.

So what's the final verdict? Is the reception good and if not, are you in a weak signal area?

My S3 has better reception than than my nexus. But has the same reception as my Razor maxx. I am in a extended coverage area and I have no problems with my S3 at all

[bsweetness]

I've heard a few mentions of sup par reception. This is what has me hesitant about picking one up.

So what's the final verdict? Is the reception good and if not, are you in a weak signal area?

That depends on what phone you're comparing it to. If you're comparing it to Motorola or HTC devices, most people have reported that the S3 falls short of the reception of most of their devices. If you're comparing it to other Samsung devices on Verizon - Galaxy Nexus, Charge, Stratosphere - most people indicate that the reception is better on the S3. Check out this thread for a more in-depth discussion on reception with the S3: 4G not as good on S3

Personally, having owned several of the recent high end phones on Verizon, the S3 falls short of the RAZR/MAXX, the Rezound, and the iPhone, but it's better than the Galaxy Nexus. I've been surprised with how well it holds a signal compared the Nexus, Charge, and Stratosphere.

[tc1]

I read the link, I actually had already read and posted in it.

Checked my signal strength on my Rezound and it's - 96 dBm, apparently not the greatest number although I've never had a problem dropping calls or anything.

If the samsung galaxy s3 is at least as good reception wise as my current phone its enough.

[bsweetness]

I read the link, I actually had already read and posted in it.

Checked my signal strength on my Rezound and it's - 96 dBm, apparently not the greatest number although I've never had a problem dropping calls or anything.

If the samsung galaxy s3 is at least as good reception wise as my current phone its enough.

Having owned both, the reception on the Rezound is better than the reception on the S3. That said, I've found the reception on the S3 to be good enough to make the switch from the MAXX. Given my experience with the Galaxy Nexus (as well as the Charge and Stratosphere), I was worried that the reception on the S3 might be a deal-breaker, especially coming from the stellar reception of the MAXX. While the S3 isn't up to the MAXX or Rezound, it holds a signal much better than I expected.

[Parzec]

I feel like the reception and sound quality is every bit as good as my Maxx. In fact, the S3 seems to hold the 4G signal much better. On the Maxx it would periodically drop data even in strong signal area...to the point of being an annoyance and causing many users to disable LTE (prior to that feature being removed in the ICE upgrade)

I agree with the other poster that the build quality is solid in the S3.. .do not confuse a clunky heavier Maxx with superior build quality. The engineering in the S3 feels more refined and elegant...and fits better in my hand.

I have also been seriously impressed with the battery life. As a heavy user, I can go a whole day without a charge. I end up plugging in this phone to charge during the day as often as my Maxx.

This is the best phone currently available through Verizon IMO.