Confirmed: the Samsung Galaxy S III is polycarbonate, not plain plastic
0. phoneArena posted on 21 May 2012, 13:45
Just about every article around has been giving the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S III generally good reviews except for one downside: the casing. Everyone, including us, were convinced that the Galaxy S III was using a plastic case...
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16. Guile posted on 21 May 2012, 14:14 0 0
You're so right... it's probably the best plastic that they can use... but it's still plastic. On the other hand the confirmation from Samsung doesn't says that it's not plastic, they just give the type of plastic...
21. SuperAndroidEvo posted on 21 May 2012, 14:20 3 1
Kevlar is a form of plastic too. I rather have Kevlar than polycarbonate.
19. Sniggly posted on 21 May 2012, 14:17 3 0
That's like deriding Phonearena for making a distinction between Gorilla Glass and any plain old glass.
60. ph00ny posted on 21 May 2012, 16:12 0 0
Exactly.
I've been responding to every HOX/Lumia900 owners who comments with polycarbonate that polycarb is plastic
18. ddxmms posted on 21 May 2012, 14:15 1 0
but the question is does it feel polycarbonate or it feel plastic??..lol
23. murati posted on 21 May 2012, 14:21 1 2
HTC one X looks sooo much better, they are both polycarbonate plastic but HTC still can make phone that does look amazing not like s3. Only plus for me in s3 is SD card and removable battery, Sense 4.0, display and design on X are pluses for me.
117. Bronx posted on 22 May 2012, 05:47 0 0
Only plus???? There are lots of pluses there mate! True that HOX is a looker compared to GS3 but other than that everything else is a point for GS3 including the once untouchable Sense.
24. 1ceTr0n posted on 21 May 2012, 14:22 6 0
I honestly can't belive how much people are bitching about how much "plastic" a modern electronic device like the S3 using. Farking duh people! Look around you! What DOESN"T have farking plastic in it nowadays, especially portable electronics?
28. Galen20K posted on 21 May 2012, 14:27 2 0
People just like to complain, no matter how amazing a product may be.
32. SuperAndroidEvo posted on 21 May 2012, 14:36 2 0
Yep this world is built on plastic. Without plastic this world that we live in now just can't be possible.
34. Sniggly posted on 21 May 2012, 14:46 1 0
Fun trivia: plastic was originally conceived in the search for a material to replace ivory.
51. taz89 posted on 21 May 2012, 15:08 0 0
whats your tv casing made out of,or your desktop or speakers or headphones,ps3,xbox etc plastic is durable and can take bumps and knocks etc its why it used alot along with the fact that it is cheap :)
81. 1ceTr0n posted on 21 May 2012, 17:05 0 0
Exactly. Until someone actually makes a metal that can "un-dent" itself, plastic is just praticually unbeatable for many, MANY applications.
Metal is nice and very good in certain devices, but smartphones just aint one of them
101. remixfa posted on 21 May 2012, 21:02 0 0
i remember back in the olden days with my 8086 CPU PC in its big arse metal casing. That case was probably 60-70lbs with the PC in it. Now you can get a case that weighs just a few pounds because its filled with plastics with some aluminum inside it.
For some things, like MOBILE things, plastics are superior in weight, the ability to distribute vibrations from a drop, dent protection,ect.
29. Joshing4fun posted on 21 May 2012, 14:29 1 0
If it looks like plastic and feels like plastic (from what I've read), then it might as well be plastic. Fancy name or not.
49. taz89 posted on 21 May 2012, 15:04 0 0
just cause it looks and feel like plastic doesnt make it just like any plastic...it is actually very strong and i would rather have a plastic phone then a glass phone and not have to worry about dropping it.
38. andsteroid posted on 21 May 2012, 14:51 0 0
I dunno what ppl r talking bout?? I love every aspect of this phone.. Its Jizz-worthy..
40. Berzerk000 posted on 21 May 2012, 14:55 0 0
I figured this, but it still looks like a very poor build quality. Granted, it probably feels pretty solid, I wouldn't know, but still. HTC used polycarbonate too, but because they don't use a gloss (usually) finish it looks a lot better than the GS3. The One X even though using the same materials as the GS3, looks a lot better aesthetically. Samsung really skimped out on the design in my opinion. Though some people do like the plastic, many people would prefer a matte polycarbonate design with metal accents. Too bad that rumored ceramic casing didn't come true, it would've been really nice. Though, with the problems with the One S and it's ceramic chipping, I can kind of see why they chose to lean away from ceramic. But not having metal, or a matte finish instead of glossy polycarbonate, that's just kind of ridiculous.
105. taz89 posted on 21 May 2012, 21:37 0 0
finally someone who understands just cause its glossy doesnt make it cheap...agree i too would have prefered a matte finish,am sure there will be a third part back cover which is metal or matte...i got a metal back cover for my s2
43. EarnYourLeather posted on 21 May 2012, 14:56 1 2
Still big and ugly though.
And the battery is unimpressive.
Otherwise, it's a good phone. I would get it on Verizon if they weren't discontinuing grandfathered unlimited data.
48. taz89 posted on 21 May 2012, 15:02 3 0
have you seen the battery test on gsmarena...it beats many phones that have smaller screens...big and ugly depends on the person...i think it looks great but i understand that my opinion is not fact.
62. remixfa posted on 21 May 2012, 16:14 1 0
it has a 2100mhz battery. Off the hip, thats the biggest battery this side of the Razor Maxx, with a chip that uses 25% less juice than the one in the SGS2 while throwing nearly double the power.
Yea, unimpressive indeed.
75. taz89 posted on 21 May 2012, 16:44 2 0
some people just judge phones without really knowing much about it.
91. EarnYourLeather posted on 21 May 2012, 17:55 0 0
You're wrong. The biggest battery this side if the RAZR MAXX would be the Galaxy Note. And coming from a MAXX user, that S3 battery is still unimpressive. For a phone that power-hungry, it should have a better battery out of the box. I'm not saying it's inadequate- it'll make it through the day with moderate use, but for a phone that came out months later than mine, is that impressive? No.
And, taz, obviously I know my opinion is an opinion. I find it rather elementary to state the obvious, but since you brought that up- there you go.
Again, I'd get the phone- I don't think its a bad phone. I just find it unimpressive in terms of aesthetics and battery life, for a phone with as much hype as it has gotten.
98. taz89 posted on 21 May 2012, 20:53 0 0
sorry mate didnt mean to offend you in anyway..just saying that outside of the maxx the battery on the s3 is great and better than most android considering the screen size...to get 10hours of non stop video on a 4.8'' screen with 2100mah battery where as the maxx gets 14 hours on a 4.3'' screen with 3300mah battery just shows that the s3 battery is good and will easily last you a day...again sorry
102. remixfa posted on 21 May 2012, 21:05 0 0
The chip inside the SGS3 is a quad core that gets 20% better battery life than the dual core in the SGS2 and the Note. Do you know what the battery life king was until the MAXX came out with its massive battery? The SGS2. Check phone arena's review. They had that going 2 days with regular usage. The Maxx is just a phone with an extended battery out of the box, so it doesnt really count anyways.
You dont have much of a point.
106. taz89 posted on 21 May 2012, 21:39 0 0
one thing i dont get is if moto can fit in a 3300mah battery in a phone the size of the maxx then the s3 and one x etc should have managed 3000mah easily you would think right
123. Berzerk000 posted on 22 May 2012, 14:07 0 0
I thought Moto patented whatever they did to get such a huge battery in the MAXX? Could be wrong
124. remixfa posted on 22 May 2012, 14:41 0 0
there is a size and weight difference between the razr and the Maxx. Samsung obviously felt the balance tipped to far in the wrong direction
47. taz89 posted on 21 May 2012, 14:59 3 0
lol been saying from day 1 that the s3 used polycarbonate plastic but ''certain people'' refused to accept it...love it when am right
53. Tenka posted on 21 May 2012, 15:32 1 0
Ridiculous title. Polycarbonate is a type of plastic.
71. MichaelHeller posted on 21 May 2012, 16:33 1 0
Granted, but the title isn't meant for the strict definition, but more to the connotation each has to tech geeks. Plastic connotes something cheap and flimsy, which is not true of the SGSIII because it is polycarbonate.
54. lzsbleach posted on 21 May 2012, 15:36 0 0
People like the Iphone design but to me it just looks so simple and boring. I like The Galaxy S 3 design. I think everyone imagined it looking like something totally different from a smartphone, probably something an alien would use but it didnt come out like that. I think the design they went for was a safe and a little different from everyone else because of that home bottom which I think will stand out in a room of smartphones when looking from a far.
58. som posted on 21 May 2012, 16:10 0 0
All mobile devices are made from plastics included iPhone.
73. MichaelHeller posted on 21 May 2012, 16:33 2 0
True, but not all plastics are created equal
66. ron1niro posted on 21 May 2012, 16:16 0 2
Proves my point, Nokia innovates, fools copy and make it seem like it was their idea, remember the first phone with polycarbonate was the nokia n9, then it came to the Lumias and now copycats are doing exactly what they are expected to do.
74. MichaelHeller posted on 21 May 2012, 16:35 0 0
It's not "innovation" to use better materials when the technology to use that material presents itself, it's just good business. And, it's not "copying" to also use that better material.
Would you rather just because Nokia used polycarbonate on the N9 that no other manufacturer ever use the material again? With that theory, we'd run out of materials pretty quickly.
95. ron1niro posted on 21 May 2012, 19:12 0 1
Ok, forgive my ignorance but I thought that the point in innovation is coming up with something that has never been done before! The fact that Nokia thought of using a more premium type of plastic when everyone else was using cheap plastic over and over again is innovation to me. Are you trying to say that if everyone comes up with something new then we would run out of ideas? There are many materials or even alloys that could try out. If everyone keeps doing the same thing then where are we headed? When was the last time you heard of Samsung coming up with an original idea, not a gimmick but real innovation?
103. remixfa posted on 21 May 2012, 21:08 0 0
innovation is finding better ways to do things, not specifically finding brand new things to do.
So for example.. Goodyear (just throwing the name, not throwing facts) invents the rubber air filled tire that we use today. So if no one else was ever allowed to design similar technology, what would Michelin, Toyo, and the rest have to sell?? Wooden tires?
They have all taken the technology and innovated and evolved the products in their own way.
107. taz89 posted on 21 May 2012, 21:42 0 0
samsung have used polycarbonate before i think it was the samsung d600 a long time ago way before the lumia and i wouldnt be surprised if nokia also used it before and just called it plastic back then when plastic didnt mean cheap in every case but now that plastic is put together with cheap they decided to probably just get away from that term.
108. taz89 posted on 21 May 2012, 21:45 0 0
samsung spend alot of money on innovating the bits and pieces like cpu and screens etc that make a phone,they might not be innovative when it comes to look but they do in other areas..they just recently made a breakthrough on the use of graphene.
112. MichaelHeller posted on 22 May 2012, 00:12 0 0
New does not equal innovative. New equals new. Plenty of new things are simply the logical progression of things. It wasn't innovative to make cell phones smaller and easier to hold, that was just the logical progression of the technology. It wasn't innovative to make mobile networks that run faster data. And, it's not innovative to take a stronger version of a material that everyone is already using to build a product.
Whoever created polycarbonate was an innovator. Whoever uses polycarbonate to make a better product is just doing their job.
69. Iphone4 (unregistered) posted on 21 May 2012, 16:27 1 0
Dose it really matter plastic or polycarbonate? It stills the best android phone ever. No one can touch it. HTC one x can’t even do a simple thing as multitasking. Samsung galaxy Ace can do better job then HTC one X. That is a fact. If you looking for a well built and good design go and buy yourself an iphone 4s or HTC one x or s. S3 all the way
72. Iphone4 (unregistered) posted on 21 May 2012, 16:33 0 0
Dose it really matter plastic or polycarbonate? It stills the best android phone ever. No one can touch it. HTC one x can’t even do a simple thing as multitasking. Samsung galaxy Ace can do better job then HTC one X. That is a fact. If you looking for a well built and good design go and buy yourself an iphone 4s or HTC one x or s.
78. Alfred03 posted on 21 May 2012, 16:50 0 0
Hi! That sounds great! My next device will be a SGSIII....greetings! ;-)
79. jeraldjamescapao posted on 21 May 2012, 16:54 1 0
LOL. I don't care about the haters... I will buy this phone next month! Hahaha
80. matrix_neo posted on 21 May 2012, 17:05 0 0
Nice article, now we know what kind of plastic it is made of. Now those s 3 haters will stop complaining., hopefully. Samsung departed from a rectangular design which a very common design now, look the HTC one, right? ! If I have money I still prefer to buy the galaxy s3, it's completely different kind of phone .
82. JunitoNH posted on 21 May 2012, 17:08 1 0
How many barrels of oil did they have to waste to built this monstrosity? Wow and they want $800 for this ugly thing.
83. skymitch89 posted on 21 May 2012, 17:16 1 2
I don't really see why most everyone doesn't like the design of the GS3. I like it and think that it's a good addition to the line of Galaxy devices.
84. Hemlocke posted on 21 May 2012, 17:19 0 0
Funny, it looks just like the cheap plastic used in the Galaxy Note (Great phone, mediocre build quality). I have owned plenty of Samsung phones, and just one HTC (Int. One X), and the difference in the material feel is pretty extreme, weighted in HTC's favor.
85. oldmandaddy posted on 21 May 2012, 17:27 0 0
Polycarbonate is fancy name for plastic or mean high class plastic, it's still a plastic and fell like plastic.
93. MichaelHeller posted on 21 May 2012, 18:14 5 0
Just like a BMW is a fancy name for a car, but if it looks and feels like a Yaris, what's the difference?
87. Tmachaveli posted on 21 May 2012, 17:42 1 1
If you dont want the phone then dont by it plan and simple
94. 1ceTr0n posted on 21 May 2012, 18:51 1 2
It'd apparent from all the plastic.haters on here that there will be plenty of g3s to go around, as we wont have to worry about all the plastic haters getting one as they would rather stick with their ourdated, overrated and frageelay iphones
96. alifbata posted on 21 May 2012, 19:33 1 0
in case you don't know polycarbonate is a thermoplastic. so, its a plastic.
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