Earlier this week, a leaked T-Mobile roadmap for 2012 showed that both the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Samsung Galaxy Note would be making their way to the pink carrier this summer. While the Samsung Galaxy S3 is newer of the two models, the Samsung Galaxy Note has some unique features which helps it hold its ground. Let’s take a look.
T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S3 vs Galaxy Note: which is a smarter upgrade?
Samsung revealed their latest incarnation of the Galaxy handset, the S3 earlier this month and it should be hitting stores very soon. The Galaxy Note of course was announced earlier this year and readily available on AT&T and as unlocked GSM models. So which will be considered the best bet for T-Mobile users looking to upgrade? Here’s a specs comparison.
Display: The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a Super AMOLED screen of 720×1289 pixels with 306 ppi, 4.8 inch. The Galaxy Note has a Super AMOLED display of 800×1280 pixels with 285 ppi, 5.3-inches. Given that the pixel density and resolution is very close, size naturally wins i.e the Samsung Galaxy Note.
Processor and memory: The Samsung Galaxy S3 comes with a quad core 1.4GHz processor, 1GB RAM and is available in three models, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB with additional SD storage of 64GB. The Galaxy Note has a dual core 1.4 GHz processor, 1GB RAM and comes in 16 or 32GB with support for SD card up to 32GB. With more processing power and higher internal memory choice, the Galaxy S3 comes out on top.
Connectivity: Both handsets have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC and GPS, and are expected to support T-Mobile HSPA+ 4G bands.
User interface: The Samsung Galaxy S3 has Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with TouchWiz 4 and numerous features such as S Voice and Smart Stay. The Galaxy Note has Gingerbread 2.3 but there is an update to ICS coming with its own bag of tricks dubbed Premium Suite which are a bunch of exclusive apps. While it may not pack features like S-Voice and Smart Stay, it supports a stylus pen which opens a whole new window of capabilities. Verdict? This may be a draw.
Camera: The Samsung Galaxy S3has an 8 megapixel camera on the back and can capture 20 shots continuously with no lag. The Note also has an 8-megapixel camera but is without the zero lag function. Winner: Samsung Galaxy S3.
Battery: The Samsung Galaxy S3 comes with a 2,100 mAh battery but real world performance is not yet known. The Samsung Galaxy Note has a 2,500 mAh battery with great performance records. As the performance of the S III battery is unknown we may have to let the Galaxy Note with its higher capacity battery hold this title for now.
Conclusion: While the Samsung Galaxy Note has a great large display it is no match for the hardware inside the Samsung Galaxy S3, nor the software tweaks. However it does have a stylus function and a massive screen that leaves it uncontested in this regard. So while we would dub the Galaxy S3 the winner, some users may find the unique features of the Galaxy Note more important than power and those intuitive tweaks.
