It certainly feels like Samsung is taking
over the world right now – at least, the Android world. There's no doubt that
last year's Galaxy S2 was arguably the phone of the year.
And not in recent times, discounting Apple
of course, can we remember the anticipation and expectation of a phone as much
as the Galaxy S3.
If you needed a barometer of this, just
look at how it was unveiled. Not at MWC like lots of others, but its own event.
Yep, the Galaxy line has reached the level where it can guarantee hoards will
come just for an unveiling. Very Cupertino.
But despite the whooping masses and the
queues on launch day, it wasn't the five star phone we hoped it would be...
there's still very much room for improvement. So here's what we'd like to see
for next year's SIV.
This was the main source of criticism. The
Galaxy S2 had an amazing Super AMOLED Plus display – and boy, was it vibrant.
The S3 upped the screen size from 4.3-inches to 4.8-inches and the pixel density
went from 217 to 306 to take a run at the iPhone's Retina Display.
But, Samsung also opted for a PenTile
approach, to the chagrin of geeks. What does that mean for the end user?
Well, the screen looks great but you can
make out pixels if you really, really strain. And some of the vivacity and
colour saturation is lost. On the plus side, Samsung reckons the screen will
last longer – but we'd rather see a much more S2-like screen with a sharper
resolution - and given that's now appeared on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, we're
pretty hopeful we'll get it on the Samsung Galaxy S4 too.
Alternatively, there have been a number of
rumours that Samsung is going to bring a flexible screen to the Galaxy S4 - but
given the
Korean brand is already pushing the delivery of such tech back into 2013 for its customers, we think we'll be in Galaxy S5
territory before that happens.
It seems more than likely that Samsung
will eschew MWC 2013 once more for the release of its top handset, instead
focusing on the launch in May 2013, which we'd really like to see.
This makes sense for a number of reasons:
time to allow the current customers to buy the S3, being able to scoop up all
the customers about to come out of contract from the S2 and also not making its
fans feel like its throwing out a new flagship phone every three seconds.
However, that didn't stop the rumour mill
deciding that the Galaxy S4 launch was set for March 2013, based on something a
Samsung 'representative' said to the media. The brand quickly took to Twitter to discredit
the rumours, so it looks like the middle of the year launch is still firmly on
the cards.
Samsung may be setting up its Galaxy Beam smartphone as an individual entity
but we'd love the ability to be able to beam stuff straight from our S4 onto a
wall and truly show off the eight-core and Super HD capabilities. Imagine the
faces of iFans when it's a spec-off and you shine THAT (literally) in their
faces.
The fact of the matter is that the S3 has
the processing power to run graphically-intense offerings and the Google Play
store lets you download movies. As long as there was some way of also booming
out the sound, we think this would be a great addition
Ok, we admit we always want more. The S2's
1,650mAh was manageable and the S3's 2,100mAh blows that out of the water. But
it's still only OK.
You can get by on a day of moderate use
but if you use this phone heavily (and we're talking watching TV shows on the
morning and evening commute alongside your normal tinkering), this handset will
still want a plug in at some point.
Motorola has proven it can be done by
whacking a 3,300mAh power pack into the RAZR Maxx which can still be considered a
skinny Minnie. Something of that size – along with ICS and Samsung's power
management abilities – would really be the icing on the Ice Cream Sandwich.
We've lost count of the amount of people
we've shown our device off to who've replied with the words: "Yeah, it's great
but looks like a bit of a toy." It's a double-edged sword: the plastic is used
to keep this handset nice and light, but does detract from what should be a
premium device.
A bit of glass wouldn't go amiss. Android
users, say what you like about the iPhone 4/4S (and we know you won't be short
of words), but aside from being smash-tastic, the glass really adds that premium
and expensive feel that the S3 just doesn't have.
Forget what your mum told you – it's
what's on the outside that counts too, so the Samsung Galaxy S4 needs to step it
up in the design stakes.
S-Voice just isn't there. At least Siri had the nous to call itself a BETA so
that it could be excused for not getting things right at times. The problem we
have with S-Voice is it just doesn't seem to be able to do much.
Sure, it can tell you what the weather is
like if you really can't be bothered to look out the window. And it'll save you
10 seconds by setting an alarm.
But it's just not powerful enough - and
is, frankly, awful for something that's supposed to be a headline feature on one
of the world's best smartphones.
We've actually been using Speak To It
Assistant far more often because it's superior. Samsung could do worse than buy
a company like this to give the Galaxy S4 a real chance of being the best
voice-controlled mobile out there.
Yep, we know many consumers believe Mac
users account for only 0.000001% of Android owners (why wouldn't they just buy
an iPhone, right?)
But there are lots who like Apple
computers as well as Android devices. And up until the S3, they got on famously.
But Android has changed the rules and how
storage works so that it follows the MTP Protocol which plays along brilliantly
with Windows but can't stand Macs.
Yes, we know this is a Google issue and
not something that Samsung can be blamed for. But having said that, the HTC One X also runs Ice Cream Sandwich and it has managed
to tweak the code enough for there to not be a problem.
Please Samsung – don't shut them out. Ice
Cream Sandwich may be frozen – but we shouldn't be, so when you bring out the
Jelly Bean or Key Lime Pie-powered Galaxy S4, let's get some support.
Samsung unveiled the SIII alongside a raft
of accessories – the usual things like cases were complimented by the C-Pen
(like the Note 2's S-Pen but smaller) and the dongle for connecting to your TV
to stream stuff.
The problem is, they're all so expensive:
£20 for the C-Pen and the best part of £70 for the AllShare Dongle. They're not
mainstream accessories – and little wonder.
If Samsung made these cheaper – or even
threw them into the box for the Galaxy S4 (highly unlikely, but we can dream)
then it would make for a much happier customer.
Perhaps a premium package where you spend
a little more but get the accessories at the same time would work... people like
to get the most out of things when they get their shiny new device.
Plug it in and charge until it's full.
That's always been the way. But we'd love to see a more advanced version of
charging - ditching the wires should be more prevalent.
Maybe something similar to the conductive
methods used by Palm in the Pre which never really caught on. The idea being
that you don't have to plug the phone in to charge, just place it on a
particular mat or place and it does it automatically.The S3 has that
functionality, but it's hardly been well-publicised since launch.
The likes of Nokia with the
Lumia 920 have been banging on about the amazing world of
wireless charging for ages now, with a range of accessories too. Given that it
will all be based on the Qi wireless charging standard, we'll soon see reams of
coffee shops and airports with these charging stations littered around - just
don't forget to watch your phone.
Or how about something really radical –
like a battery that can also charge kinetically on the S4. Sure, it would be
slow but wouldn't it be great if you could go for a run and manage to gain an
extra 10 or 20% just by doing so to get you through the day? Radical – yes. But
Samsung is known for its innovation.
As beautiful and wonderful as the S3 is,
the speaker still sounds tinny. Ringtones sound cheap and when it is on its
back, they're also muffled. At least the iPhone has a bit of bass.
But what about going a bit further? Have
three or four powerful but small speakers around the rim so when you play music,
it comes out loud and with a bit of bass.
Hell, even make it so strong that it
negates the need for a travel dock so you can play music at a decent volume when
you nip away for the weekend or are sitting on the beach. That'd be a real
selling point.
The range Samsung has in its various hubs
is admirable - the Music Hub has a lot of functionality with streaming and radio
recommendations, and the Video Hub... well, it has some videos. But it's bitty
and on top of that you've got all of Google's media offerings too. This is one
of Apple's strengths – it just all works as one ecosystem.
Maybe Samsung could look at teaming up
with Google or even Amazon to create a 'super media store' that would really
knock the socks off Apple when it launches the S4 - imagine a service where you
got unlimited movie streaming each month as part of your contract.
