Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S III (GT-I9300), was finally launched on the 3rd of May 2012 in London. Suzi Perry was the MC of the grand launching of the Samsung Galaxy S III that was entitled the Samsung Mobile Unpacking 2012. The London Metropolitan Orchestra has also showcased the event by playing live music through the ceremony.
Samsung was successful in keeping the latest Galaxy S III to be disclosed to be public before its official launch. JK Shin, the President and Head of IT and Electronics Division of Samsung, said that some of the speculations were right and some were not. Finally, he showed the final design of the phone to the public and presented the phone’s innovative features, claiming that the S III can “see you, listen to you, and understand what you want”.
Samsung Galaxy S III, even before it was officially announced, has always been compared to other new smartphones in the market such as, its archrival, the Apple iPhone 4S, HTC One X, Sony Xperia S, and LG Optimus 4x HD P880. With the knowledge of the actual specifications and features of the Samsung Galaxy S III we can now generate a more accurate comparison between the phone and its competitors.
Now we have the liberty to examine and compare the Samsung Galaxy S III (GT-I9300) against its quad-core competitor the LG Optimus 4x HD P880. Let us see who among the two will stand out.
Design
Samsung Galaxy S III took its design concepts from the basics of nature specifically from pebbles, leaves, and the sound of a water drop. The phone has highly curved corners that resemble the contours of a pebble and even though the phone is packed with several additional features and powerful processor it still manages to have a thickness of only 8.6 mm.
The dimension of the Galaxy S III is also the smallest compared to its competitors at 136.6 mm by 70.6 mm, which almost similar to the dimensions of its predecessor the Samsung Galaxy S II. A physical button for the Home key can be noticed at the bottom of the slim bezel design with two touch sensitive buttons on its sides, the menu key and the back key. Samsung Galaxy S III is made of a polycarbonate casing that was the key component that made the phone light-weight and it also provides the device with a ‘hyperglaze’ coating. The S III will be available in two colors variants – Pebble Blue and Marvel White.
On the other hand, the LG Optimus 4x HD showcase an impression of a premium phone with its dual metal rims running around the circumference of the phone with a prism detailing at the middle which is part of the signature design of the latest LG phones. The textured back of the phones makes it really comfortable to hold and provides a feeling that the phone is even slimmer and that is not that bulky. Its casing is made of mostly plastic, but the build quality is firm and still maintains the premium look of the phone. It also has three buttons below the screen, all of which are touch buttons.
Samsung Galaxy S III wins this round due to its slimmer body, hyperglaze coating, sleek design, and the availability of more color choices.
Display
Samsung Galaxy S III has a 4.8 inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. Its display is not using the RGB matrix, instead it uses the PenTile RGBG pixel arrangement, which means that the user gets a slightly sub-par display compared to its competitors such as the Optimus 4x HD. The Galaxy S III only relies on its HD resolution and the excellent contrast of the AMOLED technology to compensate for the screen set back. However, the Samsung Galaxy S III uses the Gorilla Glass 2 technology as compared to the 4x HD.
On the other hand, the LG Optimus 4x HD has a 4.7 inch True HD IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with a similar resolution with the S III having 720 x 1280 pixels. Optimus 4x also has higher pixel density compared with the Galaxy S III and the Optimus 4x HD also has an RGB matrix.
For the round, LG Optimus 4x HD wins with its True HD IPS RGB matrix display screen.
Processor
Samsung Galaxy S III is powered by the Exynos 4212 Quad which has a 1.4 GHz Quad-core Cortex A9 processor and 400 MHz Mali-400MP GPU. The AnTuTu benchmark test of the S III showed a score of 11,878 which makes it faster than its competitors. Samsung Galaxy S III also scored a record breaking 5642 in the Quadrant test. The latest Samsung device had also topped the SunSpider test with 1479 and BrowserMark test with 169811, which the score that have been seen so far.
On the other hand, the LG Optimus 4x HD P880 is powered by the latest Nvidia Tegra 3 with 1.5 GHz Cortex-A9 processor and ULP GeForce GPU. Optimus 4x have scored 11,147 in the AnTuTu test, while scoring not so high in the Quadrant test with a score of 4,512.
The winner of this round is the Samsung Galaxy S III since several benchmark tests have proved that the device can outperform every single smartphone in the market today. LG Optimus 4x HD is also a powerful device however, if you we compare it with the benchmark results, the Exynos 4212 processor of the S III is faster by a small margin than the Tegra 3 processor of the 4x HD.
Camera
Both devices are equipped with an 8 megapixel camera with autofocus and bright LED flash. The Samsung Galaxy S III however has a lot of added features with its camera. It is capable of simultaneous HD video recording while taking images, has a face and smile detection, and image stabilization. Samsung also added a 20 shot burst mode, the Best Shot feature, and the Best Photo feature that will have an 8 shot burst and then the device will automatically choose the best taken photo among the 8 frames. The phone also feature a backside illumination sensor that lets it take high quality picture at low lighting conditions. LG Optimus 4x HD also offers several options for its camera, the user can tweak the images using effects, scenes can be added and the ISO and brightness can also be adjusted.
Both devices are capable of HD recording at 1080p at 30 fps. What makes the two different is their front facing camera. While the LG Optimus 4x HD is using the conventional 1.3 megapixel camera, the Samsung Galaxy S III has a 1.9 megapixel secondary camera that is capable of recording HD videos of yourself with a resolution of 720p at 30 fps.
Though both devices has an 8 megapixel camera sensor, the round goes to Samsung Galaxy S III. The added features and voice command and the auto-tag technology of the Samsung camera that was specifically designed for social media make it the clear winner of this round.
Software
Samsung Galaxy S III and LG Optimus 4x HD runs with the latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) OS. The latest TouchWiz Nature UX that comes as an overlay to the Android ICS provides added functionality to the ICS and the menus are really easy to navigate. Also, Samsung has added a new unlock animation that resembles a water drop when you click the homescreen. On the other hand, LG also has its own UI overlay on the ICS that improved and organized the menus so the user can easily use the phone. It has also added a drag-and-drop feature and folder management.
We call this one tie. Even though we have already seen the features of the Samsung Galaxy SIII TouchWiz nature UX, LG still has some added features that quite awesome too. So it will be fair enough that we decide for this round to be a draw.
Features
Samsung Galaxy S III is packed with a lot of innovative features that the user will really find helpful. According to Jean-Daniel Ayme, the Galaxy S III is able to see, listen, and responds to the need of its user. The phone has voice recognition, called S-Voice, that far better and effective than any similar system that was introduced before. It can be unlocked using voice command, take pictures, and more. The S III also has a Smart Stay feature wherein the screen does not go dim as long as the user’s eyes are looking at the screen with the front camera tracking eye movements.
There is also a direct call feature wherein the on-screen contact such as while writing or reading a text message will be automatically dialed when the user places the phone near his ear. Another feature is the S-Beam, which is only available for Galaxy S III. It uses the Near Field Communication (NFC) technology or Wi-Fi direct to transfer and share files with other S III phones or DLNA compatible TV any content that you want at speeds of 300 mbps.
Samsung Galaxy S III has more features like a pop-up player of HD movies which can go virtually anywhere on your screen, and intelligent camera, and a lot more of features.
On the other hand, the LG Optimus 4x HD allows impressive HD playback and it is possible to zoom in and out of HD videos without any slow down to the video. It is also possible to increase and decrease video playback speed even while running the video. It is said that the LG Optimus 4x HD will have 8 new, unique user experience features that we will find out soon.
For now, with the great array of features that the Samsung Galaxy S III have showcased, we give the title to the Galaxy S III as the winner of this round…for now.
Data Connectivity
Samsung Galaxy S III supports 4G LTE network on a regional basis. It also supports HSDPA and HSUPA. The S III has a Wi-Fi capability and support for DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, and Wi-Fi Hotspot. It has the latest Bluetooth v4.0 with A2Dp and EDR technology. It also supports NFC and it has a microUSB 2.0 with USB On-the-go feature.
On the other hand, the LG Optimus 4x HD also supports HSDPA and HSUPA. However, it does not have the LTE network compatibility. The 4x HD is also capable of connecting to Wi-Fi networks as well as support DLNA features and create a Wi-Fi hotspot. It uses the older Bluetooth version compared with the S III.
Samsung Galaxy S III clearly wins this round with the advantage of having LTE support, Wi-Fi direct, NFC support and the 4.0 version of the Bluetooth.
Memory
Samsung Galaxy S III will have three models with different storage sizes. The typical options of a 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB models will be released. The phone also has 1 GB of RAM installed. On the other hand, the LG Optimus 4x HD has a lower 16 GB with no announcements yet if it will have the 32 GB and 64 GB variants.
Internal memory is not that much of an issue for both phones since each support micro SD expansion of up to 64 GB. So, we call this round again a clear tie.
Battery
Samsung Galaxy S III boasts of its 20% reduction in power usage due to its efficient hardware. The 2100 mAh standard battery can keep the phone running for a couple of hours longer than other smartphones. However, LG is not left out with having stronger battery for its smartphone. The LG Optimus 4x HD has a 2140 mAh standard battery. For now, there are still no available data for the stand-by and talk time of both phones. For now, we won’t be having a verdict for this round as the power usage will ultimately affect the battery life of the phones.
Price
The Samsung Galaxy S III has already launched its official price in the UK. A 16 GB variant will be on sale at a price of £500. It is also expected that the 32 GB variant will cost £600 and £700 for the 64GB model. On the other hand, the LG Optimus 4x HD is also expected to have a price tag of about £500 for its 16GB model. Therefore, the price for both phones is almost similar. So we call this round a clear draw.
Conclusion
The raw performance of the Samsung Galaxy S III will surely take Samsung again to the upper ranks of the smartphone industry. However, the LG Optimus 4x HD also has its own great potential and we still have little knowledge of the other features that it has in store for us. The Galaxy S III leads by a few marks but let’s just wait for the final release of the 4x HD for a more accurate conclusion.
