Samsung Galaxy S3 Duos: review, review and features

The exact copy of the 2012 flagship smartphone from Samsung with improved specifications and support for two SIM cards is the Galaxy S3 Duos. Despite the fact that since the beginning of sales of this device has already passed a lot of time, its characteristics still continue to be relevant. They, as well as reviews about this gadget will be discussed in detail in this article.

Niche smartphone

From the standpoint of performance Galaxy S3 Duos can be safely attributed to the entry-level solutions. But at the same time, it has a slightly overpriced price. But this significant disadvantage is easily compensated by a number of characteristics (for example, the increased size of the diagonal of the touch screen, the impressive capacity of the integrated drive, the improved parameters of the camera base). Therefore, this model of the smartphone is of the greatest interest for those who want an entry-level device, but with slightly improved parameters in comparison with competitors. Well, for these improved parameters will have to overpay. But, on the other hand, this is completely justified, because you get a device that is much easier and more convenient to work with.

Equipment

The Samsung Galaxy S3 Duos phone boasts a standard bundle. It includes such components and, of course, accessories:

• Smartphone.
• The battery is 2100 mAh (it is inside the gadget and is removable).
• Advanced stereo headset with a set of baits.
• Charger.
• Interface cord.
• A short manual and a warranty card are combined in one booklet.

The body of the device is mostly made of plastic. To avoid possible damage during operation, you will immediately have to purchase a cover. And this device is almost an exact copy of the original flagship S3, and the covers from the latter are ideal for S3 Duos. For the same reason, it is recommended to strongly purchase and attach a protective film for the touch screen. This will also help to avoid possible damage in the future. Another important accessory is a memory card. It is also not on the list of supplies, and therefore will have to be bought separately. Although, in principle, the owner of this device can do without it. The capacity of the integrated drive allows this.

Design

In terms of design, the gadget is completely identical to its predecessor Galaxy S3 Duos. Overview of the appearance of these devices even allows you to distinguish between them. The difference is only in the inscription on the front panel, at the end of which the word Duos was added. On the front panel of the gadget, as expected, the display is displayed with a diagonal of 4.8 inches. Below it, there is a familiar control panel, which consists of a central mechanical button and two extreme sensory buttons. Unlike most similar devices, in this case the buttons have a backlight, which greatly simplifies the work on the smartphone with insufficient illumination level. Above the screen is a conversational speaker, the "eye" of the front camera and the sensors of illumination and distance detection. On the top edge of the smartphone is located only a wired audio jack 3,5 mm. On the left side of the device, buttons for adjusting the volume are eaten out, and on the right side - locks. At the bottom is located the micro-USB connector and the opening of the conversational microphone. On the back cover, besides the logo of the manufacturer and the inscription DUOS, there is also an opening of the main camera and LED backlight. Here, the main speaker, which is hidden behind a metal mesh, is displayed.

CPU

Galaxy S3 Duos as a computing platform uses a time-tested and very reliable chip - it is Snapdragon 400, developed by Kualcom. It consists of 4 computational models of the architecture "Cortex A7". Each of them can be accelerated to 1.4 GHz at maximum load. Also it is made on 28-nm technical process. All this allows him to combine an acceptable level of computing performance and high energy efficiency. To solve most everyday problems of this semiconductor crystal is more than enough. This list includes video playback, listening to music and radio, reading books, browsing the Internet. But the most demanding games of the last generation will certainly not be launched on this device. Most of them are optimized for 64-bit computing, and this chip can process only 32 bits per clock cycle. Hence the problems with their launch.

Display device and graphics

Very high-quality display in the Galaxy S3 Duos. The characteristics of it are as follows:

• The manufacturing technology of the matrix is "Super AMOLED".
• The resolution is 1280x720.
• The display diagonal is 4.8 inches.

Such technical specifications require a good graphics accelerator. In this case, "Adreno 305" is used. Of course, he can not boast of a sky-high level of performance, but it's certainly not necessary to expect such an entry-level device. However, to solve most everyday tasks, its availability is quite enough.

Cameras

Just an excellent main camera in the Samsung Galaxy S3 Duos. She has a sensor element of 8 megapixels. Also, the technology of autofocus is implemented, there is a digital zoom. Well, in the dark, a high-quality picture will give you, even a single, LED backlight. As a result, the quality of the photo is very good. With the recording of the video, too, everything is fine. The resolution of the rollers can reach 1920x1080. This will update the image 30 times per second. More modest parameters for the front camera. Her sensor is 1.9 MP. Therefore, there can be no question of a qualitative "Selfie" in this case. But for video communication this is more than enough.

Memory

1.5 GB is the amount of RAM in the Galaxy S3 Duos. 16 GB is the capacity of the integrated drive. The average user of this will be quite enough for work and leisure. If, for some reason, you need to increase the amount of memory in the device, you can install an external flash drive. In this case, its maximum volume can be equal to 64 GB. For greater reliability, it is recommended to store the most valuable information on cloud services. This will avoid its loss in case of theft or breakage of the smart phone.

Autonomy of the device

High autonomy can not boast of the Samsung Galaxy S3 Duos. The main reason here is the battery capacity of 2100 mAh. In a case with a thickness of 8.6 mm, a larger battery is difficult to put. Add to this the presence of two sim cards and a diagonal display of 4.8 inches. To some extent, the problem is solved by an energy-efficient processor, but this is not enough to fully solve this issue. As a result, all the above factors lead to the fact that at maximum load this smart phone can reach a maximum of 12 hours. If you reduce the load, we get 2-3 days of confident work on a single charge of the battery. If this is not enough, then we buy an additional external battery. Of course, this is not quite an elegant solution, but your phone will not fail you at the most inappropriate moment for this.

Interface set

Samsung Galaxy S3 Duos boasts the following interfaces:

• "Wai-Fay" - a fast download to the smartphone of data from the Internet in any amount.
• GSM and 3G - with their help you can download information from the global web, make calls and send or receive SMS.
• "GLONASS" and GPS allow you to accurately determine your location or make a route.
• NFC - this wireless interface makes it possible in minutes to download files of any size to a similar gadget.
• "BLUTUZ" allows you to do the same thing as NFC, but the amount of data should be much smaller.
• Audio jack 3,5 mm allows you to output sound from the smartphone to external sources of sound (speakers or headphones).
• With the help of micro-USB the battery is recharged. Also this wired interface provides synchronization with external devices (PC, laptop).

Software

As the system software in this smartphone is used "Android". Initially, it installed the version with the serial number 4.3. But after the first connection to the Internet, the Galaxy S3 Duos firmware will be updated to a more recent version - 4.4. Further updates of the system software owners of this gadget should not happen. The smartphone has long been sold, and for a long time the manufacturer does not release an updated software. Over the operating system, as in any other device of this manufacturer, the proprietary TouchWiz shell is installed. Also you need to allocate an impressive amount of pre-installed software. First of all, this is the "Polaris office". That is, this smartphone can immediately out of the box to work with various electronic documents (* .doc, * .xls, * .pdf and so on). There are also familiar programs from Google. Do not forget the Korean programmers and social networks. Well, to top it all, there's a full set of utilities built into the OS. So the smartphone out of the box is completely ready to go.

Gadget price to date

As noted earlier, against the background of direct competitors, the cost is slightly overestimated in the Galaxy S3 Duos. Its current price is 180 dollars. But, on the other hand, this can be justified by improved technical specifications. This is an increased diagonal of the display, and a better organized memory subsystem, and a more productive computing platform. Therefore, the higher cost of this gadget is compensated by a number of advantages.

Reviews

There are minor flaws in the Galaxy S3 Duos. Reviews highlight this:

• Glossy back cover. Such a constructive solution leads to the fact that dirt is collected on its surface and prints can be clearly seen. It is difficult to remove them. A simple solution to this problem is the purchase of a silicone cover - a bumper. As a result, the cover surface will be reliably protected from various "harmful" effects.
• Small "glitches" in the software part associated with the work of just two sim cards. This problem manifests itself on the old version of the operating system. After installing all the updates it will not be.
• Slippery surface of the back cover - because of this, you can accidentally drop the phone. Again, this problem, like the first, is solved with the help of a cover.

But there are much more positive sides:

• A productive computing platform.
• Increased the amount of RAM and the capacity of the built-in storage.
• A good set of preinstalled software.
• Sufficiently large display diagonal.
• The ability to manage using gestures.

Results

In the end, we get an excellent entry-level smartphone with a slightly inflated price against the background of similar devices. But this minus Galaxy S3 Duos is more than compensated by significantly improved specifications. This makes the purchase of this gadget more justified. You receive immediately from the box a ready-to-use device that does not need to be filled with application software.