Was having a look at phones in Kmart and found the Samsung galaxy s3 4g for $249 seems like a pretty good deal for local retail stock
Optus Samsung Galaxy S3 4G - $249 @ Kmart
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moto g 2nd gen or galaxy s3?
can't decide..
moto g 2nd gen
newer, faster, better…….
& no Touchwiz!
As much as I hate touchwiz (and I seriously hate it) I would still be going for the s3, if it got to me it could always be hacked off for a version if cyanogen
My 14 old S3 kept having pop-up every 2 minutes saying TouchWiz has stopped working!
Moto is newer, but S3 still has better camera, 2GB RAM (Moto has 1GB), and 4G data speed, so still worth a look if those things matter to you…
I think Exynos 4412 is better than Snapdragon 400 as well, though Samsung does have awful software and Moto G is praised for how optimised it is, so I am not sure how well they compare to each other.
Moto G Vs S3:
IPS LCD vs AMOLED screen (both 720p)
Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7 vs Quad-core 1.4Ghz Cortex-A9. But the Moto G is apparently optimised for speed.
8GB vs 16GB internal (for apps)
Removable S3 battery."But the Moto G is apparently optimised for speed." Right. Because there's no way Samsung would be trying to make their Android device fast.
@Diji1: Sadly you would think so, but this phone is terrible with Touchwiz. Putting a custom ROM on it really speeds it up.
@Diji1: Samsung tend to add features that not many people uses which runs on the background, not to mention, Samsung seem to put default apps like broswer apps and media player which cannot be deleted unless you root the phone.
I have this phone. It's rapidly approaching 3 years old. Running Slimrom on it. It runs nice and smooth. However the Moto G being a newer release will have better long term support. (and you don't need a ROM on it out of the box).
locked to optus?
Pretty sure its locked to a lot of bloatware.
Buy a unlock code from eBay or something, then install custom ROM like Cyanogen.
Be careful this one is different to the i9300 for which there are a lot of ROMs and working S5 ports. Installing the wrong one will cause instability ( crashes) and might brick it. Best to root and install a custom recovery prior to any software upgrades as well. That being said have an i9300 (regular s3) running CM11 absolutely perfect. The camera is a little worse but not by a long shot for the types of photos I use them for.
It's an i9305 and there are heaps of ROM options. Been running lollipop on mine for months now and very stable.
See http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/development-i9305/…
Similar performance to my wife's Moto G 2nd generation but better camera, NFC and removable battery plus expandable storage and 2Gb ram.
@rygle: I recently loaded CyanogenMod to my old i9305t, also replaced the battery. It still works like a charm. I would go with S3 simply because of 2G RAM.
How to flash CyanogenMod: http://dengpeng.de/how-to-install-cyanogenmod-on-the-samsung…
It's a shame that you'd need to root it and get custom ROM for it if you want lollipop as well. :(
http://www.youmobile.org/blogs/entry/Samsung-Galaxy-S3-Andro…
Though, I think it's an alright deal, since other big retailers like JB and DSE seem to have it for $300~
EDIT: I think the reason that they give for S3 not being supported do not apply to S3 4G too much since according to gsmarena, 4G variant has 2GB RAM. Though I am almost certain that 4G variant wouldn't get Lollipop anyways.
Do you know if i9305 custom ROMs would be compatible with the i9305T or would it brick it?
@Fobsessive: Dunno. https://crowdsupport.telstra.com.au/t5/Android/Difference-be…
This sort of suggest that it would probably work, but I am not an expert and it's your phone. Just be careful.@AznMitch: Better to be safe than sorry I guess. Still on default 4.1 Jelly Bean because I don't like the white notification bar of Kit Kat.
@Fobsessive: Is it because of burn in or just aesthetic reasons? I feel really weird, I was not planning on this, but I ended up getting LCD devices by Samsung. Galaxy S4 Active (from my younger brother) and TabPRO 10.1.
@AznMitch: Just for aesthetic reasons. Grey and green vs bright white.
How's the LCD compared to AMOLED?@Fobsessive: I think I shouldn't have bought Tab S beforehand (bought it for my dad, had to hold onto it for a month). TabPro display is good, but in terms of colour, Tab S looks amazing whereas TabPro is more of, meh. Though for my purpose, reading PDFs and stuff, I think LCD is better. AMOLED do have problems with displaying whites (it forces them to use more battery, though they don't use much battery with displaying black)
@Fobsessive: I had an i9300T (S3 3G version) a little while back and after a bit of research found it was identical to the i9300. I even got the Samsung Store to flash the normal non-Telstra branded software onto it for me (XSA) so didn't void warranty. The only difference is the software/carrier branding/Telstra logo printed on the back cover but from a hardware perspective I believe they are identical. Some websites say the aerial is built slightly differently / optimised for the Australian Telstra network on the T version but not sure if that's true as there are differing opinions on this.
So same should go for the i9305T/i9305 - ie you can use any i9305 firmware regardless of whether it's the T model or not.
@Fobsessive: CyanogenMod rom for i9305 compatible with i9305t. Just did it on my i9305t, see my blog here: http://dengpeng.de/how-to-install-cyanogenmod-on-the-samsung…
@cloo: Apparently the i9305T only has two frequencies for 4G: 1800MHz and 2600MHz, less than the international i9305 version. Works fine anyway, and I don't feel the difference with 4G for regular phone use.
I had a Telstra branded i9305 and then an unbranded i9305 and didn't find any difference in performance, the "bloatware" was just a few extra programs so really who cares? If it really bothers you, you can use a launcher like Nova or Apex and hide the programs and Greenify those apps to close them and little bit of space they take up? Pfft who cares with a micro SD card! I reckon bloatware isn't as much of a problem as it's talked up to be.
Also I installed CM11 on mine after warranty expired to get Kitkat 4.4.4 instead of 4.3 but I preferred the stock ROM for two reasons; firstly HDMI over MHL stopped working and the camera quality is much better on the stock ROM (and also the CM camera kept crashing). In both cases this is because of the drivers not being available to the Cynogenmod team. Anyway maybe that helps someone.
Couldn't you get 4.4.4 firmware from other conutry? Technically you wouldn't break the warranty as you are using the official firmware from Samsung (at least it would be reversible as it doesn't trigger KNOX as far as I know).
Different model, but I have German Lollipop firmware on my S4 Active, the firmware that it was on had Jelly Bean on it. I've been moving from UK to Russian to Germany firmware, and it seems to be working fine. The process took less than 10 minutes for each upgrades (though after the upgrade, the phone did go through app optimisation which took longer than actual firmware update), though you need to get the official firmware from Sammobile or somewhere. Also, there is a chance of soft bricking the phone as well.
Normal price for S3 4G now.
Not really DSE and JB Hifi has them more expensive than that ($340+).
For local stock? Are you sure?
how old is the S3 now?
I am no iPhone/Apple lover and have only Android at home and work but people really bag iPhone deals with old phones so why is this such a deal for an old Android?
I'm guessing it's cheaper than the comparable iPhone of similar age …
I guess, but wouldnt there be better android phones that are newer? maybe not?
Zenfone 2 is probably a better deal.
Mid 2012. Similar era to the iphone 5.
People are morons? Who knows but they're certainly full of double standards and arbitary drawings of "lines" (where a half price old Apple flagship device is just terrible but a half price old Samsung flagship is worth considering even though it's old crap).
If you are referring to the iPhone 4 deal, that one was 3rd party refurbished. Nobody knew how old the phone was (in terms actual age/how old the phone that you were getting was) nor when it was fixed, nor the quality assurance of the refurbishment was there.
Not to mention, the phone that could be comparable to this would be iPhone 5 or 5c, if you look at release date and spec (since iPhone 5c is simply 5 with plastic casing). FYI, an iPhone 5c deal, from 5 months ago, that had it for $399 received 181 votes.
If this was an iPhone 5 for $250 people would be losing their minds, this is of a similar vintage.
Its because Apple are clever.. They use this S suffix to sort of placate people in thinking the older series can't be too old. More susceptible people would think different between a say iPhone 4 and 5, One number off makes it seem comparable. Instead you should be using a more through overview and look at release date.
As for this device its about $50-100 cheaper than the current RRP, whereas the iphone 5C was like $200 cheaper than the RRP.
I have this phone, apart from a bit of sluggishness when updating applications and some random active sync (exchange) issues it seems to still be a pretty decent phone.
I'm running stock Optus variant 4.3 firmware, not sure whether later revisions e.g. 4.4/4.5 would be any better.
Battery life after 2 years is usually enough to get through a frequent usage day (for me not a huge amount of calls, but a fair bit of data/email and general screen time).
Overall for $249 I think this is a bargain, especially considering the price points of the new Apple and Samsung Galaxy phones.
Er … isn't Activesync a very out of date feature of Windows for dealing with Windows Phone OS?
Battery life after X years is a non-issue with these Samsung phones, since genuine brand new batteries on eBay are cheap as (like $20).
root and install a new OS = No unlock required?
I think you need an unlock code. I'm not sure, but I think you need to.
Get officeworks to price beat and get it for $236 :)
Officework's website reports no stock anywhere
This phone is already 3 gens behind, definitely not worth this price.
isnt something like an asus zenphone with pretty much current gen specs like $250?
Definitely, but some people don't like going for grey import.
Phone is a rip off at this price but if you'd rather this than something newer and faster go ahead it's only 3 generations behind. You won't notice. Much. If you stick to less demanding applications.
I have a pet peeve with all the S series after the S2 in any case: they look like they're designed by lawyers to avoid legal action from Apple. Awful.
I agree with the pricing, but disagree about less demanding apps… Mine is still running fine with CM11 installed. Of course not as zippy as my Z3 but for a gaming phone it's fine.
I know this cost a fair bit more, but wouldn't this be a better deal? https://www.telstra.com.au/mobile-phones/prepaid-mobiles/sam…
SoC is worse, RAM is worse, since it's a budget phone, it would be hard to find custom ROM for it.
Have an old one sitting for years with non working LCD. LCD replacement cheapest is $200.. and new phone is now $249.. Haha! All the more reason to NOT get it fixed..
more reason to get an iphone right :)
Wow.. Thanks @Zuuutoootuuu.. Isnt Mother's day on Sunday? Well… will go and ask the staff at the store whether its Saturday or Sunday promo
Well its Saturday clearly on the ad :) and confirmed by the store staff..
Slightly tangent to what you are saying, LCD refers to/uses a different type of technology from what Samsung uses.
So where is the stock? Called a few stores in Victoria and none of them had it.
the stores you didn't call
Yeah, coz I have things to do like work, so didn't get time to call all Victorian kmarts.
hehe
Picked one up from Chadstone last night and they had about 4 or 5 in stock
Put Cyanogen rom on it you will be amazed it's actually very fast compare to stock touch wiz
Decent deal but this was the phone that turned me off Samsung. Software support was awful when I had it, buggy and no news of updates or the like… It felt like the S3 was the forgotten middle child.
actually the S3 was the one that made Samsung name on the smartphone market and no longer iPhone cloner.
I've had this phone and ran many custom ROMs on it. They all had kernel wakelock problems.
What is the problem? How does it impact?
I currently run Android 5.1.1 via Cyanogenmod and I have absolutely no issues. This phone is still very good hardware wise.
Does anyone know how to redeem that 3 months of netflix? I havn't been given the option? Thanks
does anyone know the frequencys it takes - will it work on Telstra once unlocked. The ones down my local Kmart had the specs covered by the sim card.
If I bought this, can I unlock it by using unlockunit.com? I'm not worried about modding it to upgrade android.
Thanks!
If you are going to mod it, you won't need unlocking.
I brought it home and put my Telechoice sim in and it appears to be working fine with no prompt for an unlock code. I can make calls.
Cool. What phone you had prior to this?
@ms: I have a Nexus 5; the Galaxy S3 is a gift. I can confirm that it can make/receive calls and texts, 3G etc all working on Telechoice with no unlock code requested.
I noticed there's only nightly versions of CM11 for this model… Anyone using the nightlies?
Belconnen Canberra had like 5. The staff was surprised by price and the fact that they had them. Was about to buy, but didn't.
Much better going for Lumia 640 Optus locked, cheaper better, or something like Samsung Galaxy Core Prime. good batteries in both. still to much for a S3 phones are getting cheaper.
Did anyone try non optus sim card in this phone?
Plus 3 months Netflix free.