Samsung Galaxy S III vs Motorola DROID X

I recently upgraded my phone from a Motorola Droid X to a Samsung Galaxy S3 (finally!), and WOW what a difference!

Below is a giant chart comparing the two phones, but first I’ll list some random thoughts about owning and using the GS3. Not surprisingly, everything about the Galaxy S III is just amazing!

When I first got my Droid X, I wrote a comparison of upgrading from a Droid 1 to that phone. To continue the trend, this post will be somewhat similar.

First things first: the 4.8″ 720×1280 AMOLED display is sweet! Back in the day, the Droid X’s screen made my Droid 1 look pitiful… well, the GS3’s high res screen makes the DX’s screen look bad!

The GS3 is a bit larger than the Droid X, but much lighter and thinner. The minimization and evolution of technology is so amazing.

The GS3 is fast! A quad core processor – in a phone! Everything feels so snappy.

I like how the Galaxy S III’s screen can get dimmer than the Droid X’s screen (easier on the eyes when looking at the phone in the dark).

The DX came with the incomprehensibly awful MotoBlur as the stock launcher, but the Galaxy S3’s newest Touchwhiz interface is actually very nice and usable for a stock launcher.

The button layout it perfect:  Menu | Home | Back
Samsung made an excellent choice in not opting for the ICS task button, using a menu button instead. And speaking of buttons, it’s great to have dedicated soft buttons again.

When using a ‘4G’ connection, browsing the internet on the phone is pretty much instant! 4G is much faster than 3G.

I finally get to use Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich! (at the exact time that it’s no longer the newest – due to 4.1 Jelly Bean); I do think it is far superior to the Android 2.3 the DX runs. I could do a whole post on the improvements of ICS over Gingerbread, but that has been done many times before.

Samsung’s Kies Desktop and Kies Air apps are actually pretty cool. The Kies Desktop is basically Samsung’s version of iTunes, allowing syncing of all phone data and can even push firmware updates, all in a basic interface. The Kies Air turns your phone to a mobile web server, and allows browsing media and managing files on the device via a web browser on another computer.

One of the complaints I had about the DX was that the speakerphone / loudspeaker was not so loud. The GS3 sounds louder than the DroidX, so this problem is now solved. Pretty much everything I complained about on the DX has been solved in the new GS3.

The main camera on the Galaxy S 3 is very nice. While it has the same megapixels as the Droid X, the images are much better and take much faster; plus, there are more features supported such as HDR and an improved panorama mode. (and now I have a front-facing camera too!)

I love the design of the GSIII, but one of the concerns I have about the form-factor of the phone is about the camera. The only ‘bump’ on the back of the phone is where the camera’s lens is. This means that every time the phone is laid down, it rests on the lens cover of the camera, which worries me that it may get scratched or something much easier.

I’ve been “out of the loop” on the phone front for the past two years while using only the DX, but this has actually helped me enjoy my new phone that much more! Considering that the phone life-cycle is basically 6 months or so, it’s ridiculous that cell phone carriers drag out phone upgrades that long.

It’s no wonder that after two+ years of phone realeases since the Droid X, that I absolutely love my new Samsung Galaxy S3!

^ Image credit: PhoneArena ^