Hands-On with the Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III

We have already handled with the Sprint version of the Samsung Galaxy S III and now we have our hands on its Verizon counterpart. This version is different from the Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile versions by using only LTE bands for its 4G. Will this version wow us even more than the other versions, or will it disappoint us? Let's take a look at this carrier version of the Samsung Galaxy S III.

Look and Feel

The Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III looks exactly like the other models except for a Verizon logo and a 4G LTE logo. The version we handled was the white version, but it is also available in the brushed blue color. Both of these versions are made with a very glossy plastic that feels better than cheap plastic, but as we said in our Sprint version hands-on, this is Samsung's flagship and it should be made of more premium materials. This plastic may be glossy, but it probably will not slip out of your hands when your holding it except when your hands are greasy or slippery. The pebble design of the Galaxy S III makes it feel really good in the hand and it does not jab into your hand. Overall, this design is good, but Samsung should have used more premium materials to make its flagship.

Software

The Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III runs the same Android Ice Cream Sandwich version 4.0.4 with the TouchWiz skin and Nature UX. This skin is far better than Samsung's previous offerings, but that is not saying much. This new skin is quick and responsive, but the skin still makes the phone look like a Gingerbread handset instead of an Ice Cream Sandwich handset. Samsung should have made a bigger change to the UI to make it look more like Ice Cream Sandwich, but they still need their differences. Yes the notification tray does have the settings in there like Ice Cream Sandwich and the keyboard does kind of look like the Ice Cream Sandwich keyboard, but these are only two Ice Cream Sandwich-like features when Ice Cream Sandwich introduced many new features. This TouchWiz does not hinder performance, and it is a very light skin. Our experience with the smart phone was butter smooth and we experienced no hiccups in the software. Overall, Samsung's new skin is good, but they should have done a better job of representing Ice Cream Sandwich.

Display

The Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III has the same amazing 4.8 inch 1,280 x 720 Super AMOLED display. Viewing angles are spectacular, colors are greatly saturated, whites look white, and blacks look like abysses that are on your screen. This display is fantastic, but our favorite mobile display still is the Super LCD 2 screen that is on the HTC One X. The One X's screen does not lead by a huge margin, but it is still a little ahead of the Samsung Galaxy S III's display. We do not want to put into anyone's mind that the Samsung Galaxy S III's display is bad, but when we are nitpicking when we say that the One X's display is better. The Samsung Galaxy S III has a great display and is one of our top three favorite mobile screens on the market.

Performance


The Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III has the same innards as the other U.S. carrier Samsung Galaxy S III's with the 1.5GHZ Qualcomm snapdragon S4 Krait processor accompanied by 2GB of RAM. In our short time with the phone, we experienced no lag, flipping through home screens was butter smooth, and the Galaxy S III did not hesitate in any situation. What makes this Galaxy S III different from the others is that this one has 3G EV-DO and LTE (that is actually in more than 30 cities *cough AT&T cough*). On Verizon LTE with full bars, you can receive top speeds of about 25-35MBPS download and about 15-20MBPS upload. These speeds are extraordinary and shows what true 4G speeds are. AT&T's LTE may get you the highest data speeds on a mobile device (36MBPS download), but that does not happen all the time and Verizon has a huge amount of more coverage than AT&T (about 10x AT&T's amount). These speeds are incredibly fast, and Verizon is where you can get the most reliable 4G LTE network. Overall, this Samsung Galaxy S III performs the same as the other carrier Galaxy S III's, but this one has only LTE that is very reliable.

Wrap-up


The Verizon's version of the Samsung Galaxy S III is definitely one of the best versions of the Samsung Galaxy S III ( it is our personal favorite of the bunch) This version has all of the same looks and hardware specs as the other carrier Galaxy S III's and it improves upon them by including the great Verizon LTE in it. Samsung has finally got a hold on the carriers by making them not change the Samsung Galaxy S III design, especially when we all know that Verizon likes to carrier brand its handsets. Samsung did such a good job with the carriers that we can not really say to many things that are different about the different carrier's Galaxy S III's. On all carriers, it has a great display, fantastic camera, and is incredibly fast, except for the different data speeds on the different carriers. Overall, Verizon's Samsung Galaxy S III is a great version, does not disappoint, and is great enough to be our personal favorite of the S III's. We give a big thumbs up to Samsung for finally taking charge, and making the carriers not mess up a good thing.