The Samsung Galaxy S3 and the 5.3” Samsung Galaxy Note – It would be so nice if you can get both. Unfortunately, not all of us are wealthy enough to pay for these two high-end Android smartphones. It’s either you pick the former over the latter or you can just wish to win one in a raffle draw. In the end, you are left with no other choice but to choose the phone that you think would best suit your needs and your budget. That is why in this post, we will try to help you with your dilemma as we will be comparing the specs and features of the new Samsung Galaxy S3 against the specs and features of the Samsung Galaxy Note 5.3.

This comparison will be divided into eight categories. Each category will deal with a certain aspect or factor that we think is necessary to determine the better smartphone. This will include the phone’s design or form factor, display and screen resolution, operating system, performance, memory and storage, camera, connectivity, battery and availability. At the end of this comparison, we hope to come up with a result that would be beneficial to your decision. So without further ado, feel free to read on.

DESIGN (FORM FACTOR)

The design of the Galaxy Note is not as grand as the design of the Samsung Galaxy S3. But you don’t even need to do any special measures to be able to tell the difference. It is very obvious that the Galaxy Note is larger than the new Galaxy S3. It is also thicker and heavier. And when it comes to the phone’s overall look and feel, the Samsung Galaxy S3 flaunts a rounded-off design with thin outer bezel while the Galaxy Note sports a rectangular design with very minimal curves. As a matter of fact, we can say that the design of the Galaxy S3 is similar to the Galaxy Nexus while the design of the Galaxy Note can be compared to that of the Samsung Galaxy S2.

The simplicity of the Note is appealing in its own manner. It doesn’t have any fancy colors and you can just opt to get the phone in White, Black or Pink. But come to think of it, the simplicity of its design can be considered as one of its main assets. You get what you see and even more when you look deeper into its features and specifications. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S3 comes in Pebble Blue and Marble White. You’ll even get more designs in the next few weeks or months. The phone looks really classy and it claims to feature a human-centric design that’s easy to grip and it is also nature-inspired. At first glance, you will definitely be attracted with the S3’s charm. But for those who are not too picky, the Samsung Galaxy Note would do well unless you’re not the type who would opt for a phone with a larger screen size. Oh well, it is indeed a bit bulky and cannot be easily tucked to your pocket or purse.

DISPLAY AND SCREEN RESOLUTION

As we have already mentioned, the Samsung Galaxy Note is larger than the Galaxy S3. It flaunts its large 5.3 inch Super AMOLED capacitive display with 800 x 1280 pixels of full screen resolution. You can also be assured that the phone’s display cannot be easily damaged by dusts and accidental scrapes as it is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass. Just keep it away from water. The Samsung Galaxy S3’s display, on the other hand, is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 2. It flaunts a 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED Display with 720 x 1280 pixels of full screen resolution.

The displays of these two smartphones are almost at par but the true difference lies in the pixel density. The GS3 has a pixel density of 306 ppi while the Galaxy Note has a pixel density of 285 ppi. Eventually, you will be able to enjoy a better viewing experience if you opt to watch your HD videos on the Samsung Galaxy S3.

OPERATING SYSTEM

To everyone’s delight, the Samsung Galaxy S3 comes with Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich. Its UI is based on Samsung’s enhanced user interface called TouchWiz UX. You may feel a bit awkward to see the phone’s new UI as it is not the same as the usual UI that you have seen on Samsung’s previous phones. But if you are open to change and you would like to deviate from the standard style, the Samsung Galaxy S3 can be your phone of choice. Still, we prefer to use the old TouchWiz icons. But look on the brighter side, the new Samsung phone comes with a set of impressive features such as S-Beam, S-Voice, Smart Stay, Smart Alert and a whole lot more!

With S-Voice, you can make use of the phone’s ability to recognize your voice commands as it automatically performs your desired actions. Take for example, you want to launch your phone’s camera without tapping the camera icon, you can easily do so with S-Voice. All that you need to do is to utter a specific voice command and the phone will do the rest of the work.

Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy Note is still waiting for its Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich firmware update. It currently runs on Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread that’s been layered with TouchWiz UI v4.0. We do not know about you but we find the icons of the Note more appealing than the icons of the new Galaxy S3. Even so, we cannot deny the fact that the Galaxy Note lacks the ability to recognize your voice commands and it cannot understand your gestures and motions. But you can make use of the phone’s mighty S-Pen for your doodles. So if you think that you can manage to live without S-Voice for the sake of having an S-Pen, go for the Samsung Galaxy Note.

PERFORMANCE, MEMORY AND STORAGE

Dual Core vs. Quad Core – Obviously, the trophy will go to the one with four cores. And if we speak of performance, the Samsung Galaxy S3 would definitely do better than the Samsung Galaxy Note. After all, its 1.4GHz Quad Core Exynos 4 Quad Processor with Mali 400MP GPU and 1GB RAM would be a lot faster than the Note’s 1.4GHz Dual Core Exynos Processor with Mali 400MP GPU and 1GB of RAM. Furthermore, the Samsung Galaxy S3 comes in three storage options: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB while the Note only comes with 16GB and 32GB of internal storage. And if you’re in the mood for more, you can definitely take advantage of the S3’s 64GB of external storage. The Note can only give you a maximum of 32GB storage.

FRONT AND REAR CAMERAS

Camera wise, the 8MP snapper of the Galaxy S3 can record HD videos while taking photos. It can also take up to twenty images in one single shot thanks to its new feature called Burst Shot. But that’s not all. The phone can even make use of its 1.9MP front camera to record videos in Full HD quality which is very ideal for those who are into video blogging. Just record a video of yourself and you can instantly upload your video on your site or blog.

The Samsung Galaxy Note does have a nice 8MP camera with auto focus, geo-tagging and LED flash. It can also record videos in 1080p HD resolution but it just cannot do things such as simultaneous HD video and image recording. Furthermore, its 2MP camera cannot be used to record HD videos.

CONNECTIVITY

Both phones can connect via LTE. That’s if you are living in an area with LTE connection. If not, you can just opt for Wi-Fi or 3G. It’s just that the NFC support in the Galaxy Note is optional unlike the Samsung Galaxy S3. Plus, the Note comes with Bluetooth 3.0 while the S3 comes with high speed Bluetooth 4.0. When it comes to connectivity, we can say that the new Samsung smartphone is a wee bit better because of its NFC and advanced Bluetooth connectivity.

BATTERY

We are yet to find out if the Samsung Galaxy S3’s 2100 mAh battery can last longer especially when being put into heavy work. As far as we know, the 2500 mAh battery of the Samsung Galaxy Note can last for more than 12 hours. Of course, that would vary upon your usage. It is a fact that Android phones can drain batteries faster than any other phones. That is why it would be better for you to make sure that your handset won’t easily go off especially when you are in the middle of a business call.

AVAILABILITY

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is yet to be made available in the market. Thus, its final price is yet to be confirmed. Of course, it is expected that the phone’s price would vary from market to market. But right now, Negri managed to offer the 16GB model of the GS3 for $695.50. We are not really sure if this will be the official price of the phone but we’re still keeping our fingers crossed. Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy Note is currently being offered by Negri for a special price of $569.50. If this is the case, then there’s no doubt that the price of the Note would be a whole lot cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy S3. But considering that the S3 comes with a premium suite of features, we wouldn’t mind paying for more.

CONCLUSION

The price difference between the two smartphones can be considered as justifiable. The Galaxy Note with S-Pen will surely be sold cheaper because it lacks the advanced features and its specs would need to be upgraded to be able to go head-to-head with the new Galaxy S3. But to give you a clearer view of what you are about to get, you can ask yourself. Would you be willing to trade the Note’s S-Pen for GS3’s S-Voice? Would you be willing to pay for more just to be able to use the Galaxy S3’s simultaneous HD video and image recording and photo burst? Most importantly, would you be able to accept the fact that you would be using a dual core powered phone when you have the chance to get a quad core powered phone?

In our point of view, the Samsung Galaxy S3 deserves to be recognized because of its revolutionary features and specs. The Note, on the other hand, is a powerful handset that’s quite useful and pretty much reliable. Its S-Pen technology is also very handy especially to those who are engaged to art, math and other related sciences. Come to think of it, why can’t Samsung make a variant of the S3 with a Stylus Pen? That’s just part of our own wishful thinking though. Anyways, if you want a bang for your buck and you can afford to pay for the price of the Galaxy S3, we recommend that you get it because it is truly a remarkable smartphone. Oh well, the final say will still be yours.