The Galaxy S III finally went on sale in the UK yesterday evening, after months of anticipation.
With over nine million pre-orders racked up worldwide, the S III is on course to be the best-selling Android device to date. We take a look at the key features of the handset, to help you decide whether it is worth splashing out on.
What is the Galaxy S III?
The S III will take over as Samsung's flagship smartphone. The third generation Android handset follows in the footsteps of the phenomenally popular Galaxy S II, which was released in 2011 and has sold well over 20 million units to date.
The S III packs a number of key features that help it to rival the iPhone 4S, and could make it a popular choice for businesses users looking to give Android a try.
Key upgrades have been made to the display, processor and battery. But the most significant boost has been to the software. Samsung was keen to highlight the gesture-based controls and a voice activated personal assistant (yes the similarities to Siri are striking) during its launch event.
Despite having a mammoth screen, the S III is 8.6mm thick and weighs 133g
How big is the screen on the Galaxy S III?
The S III is noticeably larger than the iPhone 4S, which will make it better for reading documents, emails and watching multimedia content. The Android handset comes with a 4.8in display compared to a 3.5in screen for the Apple device. However, Samsung has managed to keep the weight down to 133g, making it 7g lighter than the Apple device.
Samsung has used Super AMOLED HD technology. This will provide a resolution of 1280 x 720 and a pixel density of 306ppi. On paper this suggests that it won't be quite as crisp as the Retina display on the iPhone 4S, which boasts a 960 x 640 resolution and 326 ppi. However, in terms of brightness and colour replications, the S III is expected to be right up there.
Tell me about the hardware?
The 8.6mm chassis incorporates a 1.4GHz quad-core Exynos processor. The chipset is made using a 32nm processor, which Samsung claims enhances power efficiency. Also included will be 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel camera on the rear and a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera.
The handset will come with a choice of 16/32 or 64GB of internal storage and Samsung has also retained microSD card support (up to 64GB).
