The Samsung Galaxy S3 was without a doubt the most hyped Android smartphone this year. However after its official unveiling last week, it was hit a string of criticism that mainly had to do with its looks.
Samsung Galaxy S3: If looks could kill
Speculations of a ceramic case akin to that of beautiful Rado timepieces were thrown out the window when Samsung revealed a hyperglazed and glossy Samsung Galaxy S3 that utilized mainly plastics for its exterior. In addition to the choice of materials, fans were surprised to see that it shared similar design cues with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, a 2012 Samsung device. Fans were expecting something new, something different, something not ‘Samsung’.
Unfortunately for Samsung, all these negative comments seem to overshadow what the Korean manufacturer was trying to portray to consumers, that the Galaxy S3 was “designed for humans” and is a new step towards “human centric devices”. Now at first I took all these slogans as just marketing pushes but my time with the smartphone at the Samsung Mobile Unpacked event in London last week, and then again at CTIA Wireless just yesterday, made me realize that Samsung had shifted their focus drastically. The Samsung Galaxy S3 design was not an accident. It was accidentally perfect. For the Galaxy S3, Samsung shifted from relying on just bleeding edge hardware to creating a device that was more intuitive and simple to use. For a 4.8-inch device, it was comfortable to hold in your hand thanks to the ergonomic curves, as well as lightweight for easy one-handed operation (if you have small hands like me, you will find yourself shifting the device in your hand frequently to reach the different corners of the screen, this is tiresome on heavier devices).
Even the home button was slightly elongated to make it easier for your thumb to reach it given the size of the device. To add to this, Samsung threw in a host of new TouchWiz UI touches to make it more ‘natural’ to use the Samsung Galaxy S3:
Smart Stay: Uses the front-facing camera to keep the screen on while you’re looking at it; Direct Call: If you’re texting someone but decide to suddenly hold the Samsung Galaxy S3 up to your ear, it will automatically initiate the a call; Buddy Photo Share: uses face detection to automatically share pictures of your friends with your friends; AllShare Play: AirPlay clone that lets you share your screen with any other S3 users or DLNA-enabled devices on local WiFi; Smart Alert: If you have any missed messages or calls, Smart Alert will vibrate your handset when you pick it up off the table; and Voice: Siri clone that employs natural language for searching weather, browsing music tracks, configuring alarms and more.
While it may be a couple more weeks to months before you can see the Samsung Galaxy S3 in person, I suggest not dismissing its looks just yet. It certainly is more aesthetically pleasing in real life than in pictures (I’m guessing Samsung didn’t work on making it photogenic enough). Here are three Samsung Galaxy S3 pictures from around the web that I feel do justice to the device. It should help tide you over until you get to see and judge one in person.
