Samsung Galaxy S3 – design
The latest leaked image of the Galaxy S3 looks a lot like the Galaxy Nexus with its rounded edges – but we’ve also seen some brilliant concepts that we'd could still appear.
Ideally we expect a slim design (around 8mm) as is synonymous with Samsung in the likes of the Galaxy Note, Galaxy S II, and Galaxy Nexus. We’d also expect a removable battery and microSD slot as was rumoured in leaked specs.
An edge-to-edge screen would be a nice touch – but we’re not holding out too much hope. There is talk of a ceramic body much like that seen on the super strong HTC One S – but with some of HTC's ceramic phones reportedly suffering from peeling, we’re not too bothered if this doesn’t turn up on the S3.
Samsung Galaxy S3 – screen
It’s looking like we can expect a 4.8in Super AMOLED – minus the green hue that the Note’s Pentile display creates. An earlier rumour of a 4.6in display had the resolution at 320ppi so we’re the S3's screen to compete with Apple's Retina Display in terms of resolution – with the advantage of a brighter, more colourful AMOLED screen.
Samsung Galaxy S3 – power
It’s all but been confirmed that the Galaxy S3 will come packing a 1.5GHz quad-core Exynos processor. And with leaked benchmarking reports of the Exynos sporting more power than the dual-core Snapdragon S4 or quad-core Tegra 3 processors, it should be blisteringly fast. Thanks to the quad-core’s efficiency and the phone’s purported 2,050mAh battery, you shouldn’t have to worry about charging too much either.
Samsung Galaxy S3 – camera
This is where the rumour mill throws up conflicting information. It's a dead cert that the S3's camera will shoot 1080p video. But whether the camera will be 8MP or 12MP – or even 16MP – is another matter. Focusing on more important things than megapixels, we’re hoping for a HTC One X style f/2.0 aperture, a 28mm lens, a BSI sensor for better low light shots, and a dedicated imaging chip.
Samsung Galaxy S3 – wireless charging
Not only could the S3 come with wireless charging capabilities built-in – it’s rumoured to work up to two metres from the charging point. Without the need for the bulky charging case seen on current wireless charging solutions, this could deliver a deathblow to charging wires at last. We are, however, skeptical about this turning up.
Samsung Galaxy S3 – eye tracking
This is an out there one – but rumours of eye tracking built into the S3's front-facing camera have been heard. It would suggest that the camera (much like the facial unlocking snapper on Ice Cream Sandwich handsets) can track your eyes to allow quick selections to be made without the need for fingers, or even voice controls. We’d love this feature to be included – but we can't figure out how you'd select icons without blinking, a recipe for mistakes. Perhaps Samsung will surprise us with a clever solution.
Samsung Galaxy S3 – NFC
Now that banks and retailers the world over are jumping on the NFC payment bandwagon it’s only a mater of time before wallets are gone and all mobiles have NFC. Since we expect Samsung to future-proof the Galaxy S3, it’s more than likely it'll arrive packing NFC tech. As well as having the potential to turn your phone into a mobile wallet, NFC is also good for sharing with other phones – as the Galaxy Nexus demonstrated.
Samsung Galaxy S3 – connectivity
Of course the S3 will have 4G. Here’s hoping it’s the right bandwidth this time, unlike the latest iPad. Low power Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 are also obligatory features that we'd expect to see packed into the Galaxy S3.
