Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III vs. HTC One X

There's no battle to end all battles in this industry but there's no point either trying to reason with two deadly droids, armed with the latest technology. We have two of the season's hottest smartphones in combat mode and android supremacy is the prize. The HTC One X and the Samsung Galaxy S III are cast in the same mold and stand at the pinnacle of Android revolution. Two big, scary droids and room for only one.

The two flagships have a lot in common - both run heavily customized ICS on quad-core CPUs and pack huge 720p displays. There's more to these droids though - each tries to squeeze every drop of known technology for a feature set that goes way beyond what vanilla Android has to offer. The HTC One X has the advantage of a market headstart, impressing users with its build and finish, latest Sense UI and the ImageSense technology of its camera.

The delayed launch of the Galaxy S III seems to have let Samsung make sure their flagship can match the functionality of the One X down to the last spec - and even raise the ante.

Here's a quick glance at what each phone has in its favor:

HTC One X over Samsung Galaxy S III

• Impressive polycarbonate unibody
• Brighter IPS LCD2 screen with a full set of subpixels
• Beats Audio
• Already on the market
• Likely a bit cheaper

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• Bigger screen - 4.8" over 4.7"
• Higher display contrast and better sunlight legibility
• More storage options- 16/32/64GB + microSD over non-expandable 32GB
• S Voice natural language commands and dictation
• S Beam for easy and fast file transfers
• User-accessible 2100mAh battery over non-removable 1800mAh battery
• 1.9MP front-facing camera with Smart Stay

We've reviewed the HTC One X and did a couple of previews of the Samsung Galaxy S III, so we know both phones fairly well. But it's still hard to pick a definite winner. Both are excellent phones, but there are tradeoffs to be made. For one, the polycarbonate body of the One X looks and feels cooler, but it locks away the battery and precludes memory expansion.

  
Samsung Galaxy S III • HTC One X

Many of the Galaxy S III advantages are software-related (S Voice, Smart stay, etc.) or narrow wins in terms of hardware (screen size, thickness). And it even gets more complicated with things like battery life. Sure, the S III has a bigger battery (2100mAh), but the Exynos chipset lacks the extra power-saving core of Tegra 3.(gsmarena)

Samsung Focus 2 review

The Samsung I667 Focus 2 for AT&T is the third LTE addition to the carrier's impressive Windows Phone lineup. However, in order to avoid clashing with the platform heavyweights - the Nokia Lumia 900 and the HTC Titan II - the Korean offering undercuts both in terms of specifications and price.

As you can probably guess, Samsung's approach towards its latest product to run Microsoft's mobile OS differs significantly than the aspirations of some of major its competitors. The Focus 2 is not meant to sell by the millions - Samsung has its perfectly established Android lineup up to this task. Instead, the white clad Focus 2 aims to offer an entry to the smartphone realm to all those people, who are still in the dark ages of feature phones.

   
Samsung Focus 2 official photos

Save for the LTE radio on board, there are hardly any surprises regarding the specifications of the Samsung Focus 2. Microsoft's strict windows Phone hardware requirements, coupled with Samsung's large parts bin have resulted in a device, which despite being new to the market, is hardly unfamiliar.

Here is the full list of key features, which the Samsung Focus 2 has to offer.

Key features:

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• Tri-band 3G with HSDPA 21 Mbps and HSUPA 5.76Mbps
• Cat 3 LTE connectivity
• Windows Phone 7.5 Mango OS
• 1.4GHzQualcomm MSM8255Snapdragon CPU, Adreno 205 GPU, 512MB of RAM
• 4" 16M-color Super AMOLED display with WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels); Gorilla Glass
• 5 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and dedicated hardware button
• Front-facing unit for video calls
• 720p video recording @30fps
• 8GB of built-in storage
• Standard 3.5mm audio jack
• Standard microUSB port (charging)
• Wi-Fi b/g/n
• Stereo Bluetooth 2.1
• Mobile office document viewer/editor
• Social network integration and cloud services
• Built-in GPS receiver, A-GPS
• Stereo FM Radio with RDS
• Comes with a Video call app and other custom Samsung apps

Main disadvantages:

• Non-expandable storage
• No mass storage mode; Zune-only file management and sync
• No Bluetooth file transfers
• No Flash (nor Silverlight) support in the browser
• No DivX/XviD video support (automatic transcoding provided by Zune software)

As you can notice above, the spec sheet of the Samsung Focus 2 is business as usual. You get the standard Windows Phone 7.5 Mango fare, which, on this occasion, is wrapped in a good looking and compact package. Samsung have been careful to differentiate the handset from its competitors by outfitting it with 4" display.

The situation is no different with the list of the smartphone's disadvantages. They are almost entirely related to the limitations of the OS on tap. Surely, the built-in memory could have been more, but, we suspect, that the price tag of the I667 would have suffered as a result. Besides, the potential users of the device are not likely to care about many gigabytes of storage available to them.

  
Samsung I667 Focus 2 live shots

As always, we are going to begin this review with a look at the retail package of the Samsung Focus 2, followed by a design and build quality inspection.

Editorial: You might notice that this review is shorter than usual and doesn't include all of our proprietary tests. The reason is it has been prepared and written far away from our office and test lab. The Samsung Focus 2 for AT&T is a US-only phone and it's unlikely it will be making rounds on the Old Continent. Still, we think we've captured the essence of the phone in the same precise, informative and detailed way that's become our trademark. Enjoy the good read! (gsmarena)

LG Optimus 3D Max P720 review

It's been almost a year since the release of the original Optimus 3D from LG, and in that time we've been watching 3D technology continue to evolve. Undoubtedly you've seen the changes in your local cinema, and even your living room, if you happen to have a 3DTV. While it still hasn't permeated every aspect of our reality as in Total Recall or the likes, it's at a stage of budding infancy. Since the Optimus 3D, LG have been the only big-name manufacturer to stick to their guns in the 3D smartphone market. There's been nothing official about a potential EVO 3D sequel by HTC and it's a safe bet to say that the cutting-edge of mobile 3D technology can be found in the Optimus 3D Max.

  
LG Optimus 3D Max official photos

It's hard to look at the 3D Max apart from its 3D viewing and recording capabilities - after all, it has 3D in the title.