The market is going crazy for the new Samsung Galaxy S3, but we are wondering if it is actually worth upgrading if you happened to be the owner of a Samsung Galaxy S2? The Galaxy S2 was ahead of its time when it came out and was undeniably impressive, so naturally the S3 is even better, improving on the S2 in a lot of ways, but perhaps not enough of an improvement for S2 users to ditch their current device? Let’s find out.
Samsung Galaxy S3 vs S2: Is it worth upgrading?
Firstly, dimensions; the Samsung Galaxy S3 is slightly larger and heavier, weighing in at 133g and being 136.6×70.6×8.6mm whilst the S2 is lighter and more pocketable at 116g and 125.3×66.1×8.5mm. There were 3 colour options (black/white/pink) and there are 2 on the S3 (pebble blue/marble white). This is really a matter of taste as to what you prefer and you couldn’t necessarily say the S3 is an improvement, just different.
The display on the Samsung Galaxy S3 is obviously a little bigger, as the device is larger, and it is 4.8 inches, whilst the S2 is 4.3 inches. They both have Super AMOLED touchscreens with Corning Gorilla Glass, but the S2 has a Gorilla Glass 2. Unfortunately this doesn’t necessarily mean it is better than the original Gorilla Glass as was reported in a recent drop test where the S3 shattered easily when compared to the iPhone 4S. Resolution-wise however there is no denying the Samsung Galaxy S3 is better – it is 720×1280 pixels while the S2 is just 800×480 pixels.
There are 8MP cameras on the rear of both the S3 and S2, that can take pictures at 3264x2448p res. The features on both cameras are also identical (e.g. LED flash, autofocus, smile detection). The only differences are that the S3 has a higher MP front camera, can support simultaneous capturing of videos and images, and has burst mode.
The processor on the S2 is a dual core, 1.2 GHz Cortex A9 processor, with Gingerbread (Android 2.3.4) and which you can upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) very soon. The Samsung Galaxy S3 already comes with Android 4.0 and while it is quad-core, the US version comes with a dual-core S4 chipset instead.
You will find up to 32GB memory on the S2 internally, with a MicroSD slot that can increase memory by a maximum of another 32GB. The Samsung Galaxy S3 is available with 16GB, 32GB and 64GB options with the added advantage of a microSD slot that can increase memory by up to 64GB. So if you find 64GB storage in the S2 not enough, the S3 is a must.
With regards to battery the S3 has significantly improved upon the S2 with a battery 450mAh larger, at 2100mAh, and around 3 hours more talk time at around 12 hours.
The additional features on the S3 are a little more exciting and smarter, with S-Voice, Smart Call and Smart Stay. However with Android 4.0 coming along for the S2 very shortly, we may see many new surprises on the aging handset as well.
So as you can see, while we do whole heartedly recommend Android fans to jump on the Samsung Galaxy S3 before any other device on the market, we can’t say the same for S2 users. If this is you, it may be better to hang back for the Galaxy S4 or intermittently something like a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (rumored for October launch).
