Samsung Galaxy S III vs Nokia Lumia 900

Introduction:

For the last couple of months, the Nokia Lumia 900 has established itself as a viable competitor thanks to the combination of it stellar design and killer $100 on-contract price. Arguably, it’s the best of the best when it comes to the Windows Phone community, but as we know all too well in the smartphone industry, there’s always a snake hiding behind the bushes waiting to attack. With that in mind, the Samsung Galaxy S III is undoubtedly ready for the challenge, as it’s undeniably one of the most highly anticipated smartphones out there. Obviously, they’re running completely different platforms, but we’ll see which one is able to soundly perform in all categories to come out on top.

Design:

Sure, it’s been making the rounds for some time now, but we still have to hand it to the Nokia Lumia 900 when it comes to design – mainly because it’s original and fresh when compared to other things. Well, it’s not to say the Samsung Galaxy S III  pales in comparison, since it’s technically lighter and thinner, but when first impression make a ton of difference, it doesn’t quite have the resounding wow factor when compared to something like a cyan Nokia Lumia 900. On top of that, the Lumia 900’s unibody polycarbonate construction feels considerably sturdier than its rival.


Naturally, the two handsets feature capacitive buttons below their displays, though, the Galaxy S III incorporates a physical home button, but in any event, they’re spaced evenly from one another to minimize accidental presses. However, we prefer the physical buttons clinging around the sides of the Galaxy S III over the Lumia 900, since they’re slightly raised more and offer a better response. Rounding things out, it’s worth noting that the Galaxy S III is benefitted by its video-out functionality with the aid of a special MHL adapter, removable battery, and expandable memory via its microSD card slot.


When it comes to snapping photos, both flaunt 8-megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flashes, but the Lumia 900 has the acknowledgement of having Carl Zeiss optics. However, the Galaxy S III is capable of shooting 1080p videos with its camera – whereas the Lumia 900 is limited to 720p. Additionally, they both have front-facing cameras for all our video-chatting needs, but the Galaxy S III’s higher count 1.9-megapixel camera has the ability to shoot 720p videos.



Display:

Simply turning on their displays, it’s quite noticeable that the Galaxy S III has the commanding attention with its 4.8” HD (720 x 1280) Super AMOLED display. Conversely, the Lumia 900’s 4.3” WVGA (480 x 800) ClearBlack AMOLED display is still nice and pretty, but it lacks the wow factor to capture our attention between the two. Furthermore, the Galaxy S III wins with its higher resolution display, which is most apparent when looking at fine text in the web browser. Naturally, both displays are extremely vibrant and boast wide viewing angles, but it’s the Galaxy S III’s overall package that reels us in more than Nokia’s offering.

Interface and Functionality:

So here we are with yet another comparison between an Android powered smartphone and one running Windows Phone. Needless to say, they both have their perks and strengths, but there’s simply no comparison as the Galaxy S III’s TouchWiz Nature UX running on top of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is simply more comprehensive.  Specifically, it beats the Window Phone 7.5 Mango experience of the Nokia Lumia 900 in the personalization department, but beyond that, Samsung’s beauty begins to differentiate itself with its expansive tertiary functionality with things like S Voice, S Beam, ShareShot, AllShare, SmartStay, GroupCast, and much more. Still, we have to give the Windows Phone credit for its dynamic start screen and ease of use – though, it lacks some deep personalization.



At the core of things, both handsets’ organizer apps function relatively in the same manner, but there’s some advanced functions attached with the Android experience of the Samsung Galaxy S III. Since it’s running Google’s mobile platform, it provides for the best experience with the Google ecosystem – like what we find with Gmail.

Even though Samsung’s pride and joy has the more spacious on-screen keyboard, we can’t count out the Windows Phone keyboard of the Lumia 900 – mainly due to the fact that it offers one of the best auto-correct feature on any platform. Regardless of that, both are extremely responsive in keeping up with our pace.




Processor and Memory:

Here’s a perfect example why hardware sometimes can’t predict the performance of a device. Since it’s the newer of the two, the Galaxy S III is blessed with a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor with a whopping 2GB of RAM. Certainly, that’ll raise some eyebrows over the Lumia 900’s single-core 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU with 512MB of RAM. However, when it comes down to it, they perform very similar to one another, as every operation is accompanied with fluid movements and instantaneous actions. Ultimately, we can agree that these two handsets are at tip-top shape when it comes to providing a very peppy performance.

Pulling them right of their packaging, the Nokia Lumia 900 has the higher free storage capacity at 13.61GB – versus the 12.05GB available with the Samsung Galaxy S III. Despite that, it’s the latter that offers expandable storage via its microSD card slot.

Internet and Connectivity:

Being the flagship device for each respective platform right now, there’s no surprise that the these two lovely devices fully take advantage of their 4G LTE radios. However, when it comes down to the actual web browsing performance, we have to stick with the Galaxy S III on this one, namely because it coughs up that near perfect desktop experience. Indeed, we love that the two are extremely responsive with their navigational controls, but the support of Adobe Flash on the Galaxy S III is simply icing on the cake.



Since the two are GSM devices, there’s no worry if you plan on traveling internationally, since they’re both compatible with a wide array of GSM networks. Domestically, they can surf the web very quickly while relying on AT&T’s 4G LTE network. And of course, they feature the typical set of connectivity features, but it’s worth noting that the Galaxy S III trumps the Lumia 900 with Bluetooth 3.0, NFC, and 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi.

Camera:

Surprisingly, the 8-megapixel cameras of these two smartphones manage to crank out near exact qualities. For the most part, they produce images with sharp details and neutral colors, but in our experience, the Galaxy S III is more capable at shooting in macro and low lighting. Obviously, we recognize the usual levels of noise with shots taken in low lighting, but there’s some purple fringing going on with the Lumia 900’s results. Finally, their LED flashes perform in the same manner with their effective range.

Although still image quality is similar, the Galaxy S III is the definitive winner when it comes to shooting HD videos. Not only does it capture it in 1080p, as opposed to only 720p on the Lumia 900, but overall, its quality pops more with its distinct details, moderate exposure, clear audio recording, and neutral color reproduction. With the Lumia 900, its quality tends to appear under exposed and its details are softer.




Multimedia:

Carrying on the same music players that we’ve seen before on numerous handsets, there isn’t one that’s considerably more fresh than the other, but the dynamic look of the Zune experience on the Lumia 900 still manages to stand out more than the static presentation of the TouchWiz music player. Without question, the Galaxy S III’s internal speaker is stronger than that of the Lumia 900, but nevertheless, they sound pleasant to the ear.



When you have a larger display, it’s normally the more favorable device when it comes to watching high-definition videos. Rightfully so, that’s exactly the case here, as Samsung’s pride and joy captivates our attention while playing our test video that’s encoded in DivX 1920 x 1080 resolution. It’s not to say that the experience isn’t as good on the Lumia 900, but when you have such a sizable real estate combined with one iridescent display, it’s not hard to look at the Galaxy S III over its competitor.

Call Quality and Battery:

Luckily, calling quality is such a joy on these two beauties, as we’re greeted with ample toned voices that are clear, distinctive, and distortion-free on both ends of the line. Likewise, we’re also agreeable with the audible tones heard through their speakerphones.

During our time checking these two out, the Nokia Lumia 900 is able to edge out the Samsung Galaxy S III in the battery life department. Specifically, we’re able to obtain up to 1 ½ days out of the Nokia Lumia 900, while the Galaxy S III is only able to get us by through a solid one day of normal usage. However, we can agree that LTE connectivity eats it up significantly faster.

Conclusion:

One of the first dilemmas that everyone needs to overcome when looking at these two, it has to be which platform experience is going to be the more suitable one. For us, the TouchWiz Nature UX is light years more expansive with its arsenal of features to put the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango experience of the Nokia Lumia 900 to shame. No doubt, if money is a concern to you, the Lumia 900 is still a great option with its chic design and balanced set of features. However, if you want to experience something utterly cutting-edge, you’ll need to fork over the cash to scoop up the Samsung Galaxy S III – but trust us, you won’t regret it at all!