Ron Amadeo argues that the SIII is ugly because it was designed by lawyers. “So there you have it. A darn-near perfect explanation of the GSIII design. Sure, it’s butt ugly, but it’s also 100% (well maybe 90%) lawyer approved. An amorphous, unsymmetrical blob that doesn’t come in black, with a non-permanent dock and non-square icons. There’s no way Apple can add this design to their Samsung lawsuit.” Sure would explain how Samsung went from the elegantly understated SII to this monstrosity of a phone. Anyone out there who actually likes the SIII’s ‘design’? If so, care to explain why?
I have not held one yet, so it may change when I actually do, but as of right now, I like it. It looks good. Black would be nice, but not necessary. I wonder if the asymmetrical design is actual utility inspired instead of aesthetic. It might make it easier to hold, type, and talk.
Just because it tries something different does not make it bad. It is not even that different.
sgs3 isnt THAT ugly. monstrosity I wouldnt say.
either way I don’t care, what is more interesting is the increasing size. new phones haven’t stopped growing. and I don’t think they’ve stopped with SGS3, either
I have a Note now, if I’m to keep up my trend of having larger phones, my next phone will be a 7″ tablet, and after that, a 10″ one!
If you stick with samsung, the correct progression is 7, 7.7, 8.9, 10.
I don’t like the design of Galaxy SIII.
Edited 2012-05-05 04:48 UTC
– is nearly all screen, no wasted space for buttons
– minimizes the non-screen part, therefore is fairly rectangular
– all edges are slightly curved, no hard edges like on the Iphone 4 or the N9
– is shock- and waterproof, no need for fugly bumpers
Conclusion: both the Iphone and the SIII are ways off perfect, but the SIII is closer because it wastes way less space compared to the screen size
Best possible phone at the moment: N9 with a even bigger screen (otherwise same size) and rounded edges at the four corners
Well well, Helllooooo there, Hindmost.
Aren’t you talking about the Galaxy Nexus or an evolution of it?
Ugly is the name of Apple mobile device “design” (or better lack of), and Samsung’s borrowings of that ugly creation in previous models were equally ugly. And this one is nice. The phone must not be a brick (neither a square) – that’s not what evolution went for during last 20 or so years.
I really don’t understand the complaints about the design. It’s almost identical to the Galaxy Note and I didn’t see anyone complaining about its design, probably because the big news where the huge screen.
The design on these devices is dictated by the screen and there’s not much they can do about it; blame the ridiculously large screens.
Heck if you look at it side by side, it’s not that different to the S II in terms of design elements but the larger screen surely makes it look uglier.
I don’t think the design itself is THAT bad. What’s really bad are the buttons. No conforming to the new UI guidelines about on screen buttons. Not even fake ones like HTC. No, they HAD to include a legacy menu button, holding the platform back.
I can see where they are coming from, consistency and all, but still, this is bad.
I haven’t used ICS on a phone, but what is wrong with the menu button? I use it frequently on my phone running Gingerbread…
(Though I also don’t really have a problem with dedicated capacitive buttons… oh well)
I want Apple to have world wide exclusive right to view icons in a grid. Everybody else should be forced to fix this obvious usability disaster.
I’d prefer them to get the world wide exclusive duty to that.
I don’t think the SIII is ugly. I like its design more than the black, square, ihponesque design samsung has produced in the past.
Having had the opportunity to actually use it for 2 minutes, I think it’s beautiful.
Explanation, you ask? Who the fuck cares why, it’s totally subjective.
The phone itself is not ugly, it’s just cheaply made, completely plastic, which unless it’s the Lumia or Ones that have a nice sturdy non-flexible feel to them, just feels cheap when compared to other phones.
The ugly on this phone is the use of another of the awful pentile displays. Not everyone can see the effect, but I can, and I would never buy one because it looks awful to me. That alone makes this a no-go.
I don’t understand the hate. The all look the same to me.
What you have in your pocket is amazing, and nobody is happy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grxL5umOE6g
Suck it up, you pansies.
Edited 2012-05-05 12:06 UTC
Its looks do matter, if you can have a good functioning phone that looks good, why settle for a good functioning phone that looks bad? Needless to say, I disagree with the video
Random link: http://www.droid-life.com/2012/05/03/specs-galaxy-siii-vs-galaxy-si…
Can people seriously tell the difference between all four of them and an iPhone if they had their logos rubbed out and you were looking across the aisle of a bus?
Design is bollocks especially if they all look the friggin’ same from three metres away. It doesn’t matter.
Seriously, gadget geeks needs to examine their lives. Write your own obituary and think really hard about whether you would really like to be described as a “consumerist who has good design sense about a mobile phone”.
Sure, I can but who in their right mind makes so much noise about such minor differences. Seriously, anyone considering the S3 a monstrosity of ugliness need to get their head checked. And get a life.
I think “good” is questionable.
I like it, not particularly beautiful but for those who complain, it’s what happens when you have goddamn companies like Apple patent-trolling the daylights of design user-space, they want to reduce lawsuits. It’s an efficient design that puts screen real estate to maximum use and it has the most powerful hardware under the hood, keep it up Samsung!, and don’t forget to choke Apple’s supply line one of these days, it would be nice to see the pricks in despair and mindf*cked.
Its a smart phone dang it, not a freaking purse! More to the point, Its no more or less ugly than any other smartphone. Just make it not hot pink, or cyan and I won’t care.
i think the design will grow on you. it’s just like with new generations of car designs, at first you think “that’s weird” and then you get used to it. actually i thought the iphone was way too big and slablike when it came out, whereas now it’s considered a classic.
anyway, this article is pure speculation and i hardly think it proves that the design is by lawyers as opposed to an honest attempt by samsung to try something a little different…
Actually I think the rounded design is made in order to slide easier into the pocket (since it’s dimensions). And it reminds me of Nexus S.
It is a monstrosity. To the point where I will probably not buy any more Samsung smartphones if this is their “design” direction.
Well, the OS will be modded in no time anyway.
I like the design, it looks good, only problem I have with it is that it is too big. 4.8″ screen is too much to hold and use with one hand. Give me this phone in 4.0-4.2″.
It’s nowhere near the design of N9.
they should have called it Barracuda SIII.
And again, I don’t get it. Why is this a monstrosity?
I haven’t used it so I can’t say anything about the functionality but it looks perfectly fine. Sounds a lot like “it doesn’t look like an iPhone, ergo it is ugly” mentality. Or maybe “Darn, it’s almost deadline and I don’t have an article yet”.
Edited 2012-05-06 03:50 UTC
I like the SIII design because it doesn’t look like an iphone!
I think it is a monstrosity. Mostly because i don’t like the rounded corners, so making them even more round and asymmetric etc. isn’t to my taste. The metalic rim isn’t to my taste either. The N9, new there’s a design!
/u9
Oh my God, it’s full of rounded corners!
I’ll stick to my unbreakable water-proof small and efficient Motorola Defy. Upgraded with MIUI of course. All other phones are just lame, unless you use them to play games.
From pictures, I agree this is not the best piece of design out there, but this is a phone not a fashion accessory, most of the times it’s inside a pocket.
Apple and Nokia have done much better design wise, but let’s compare something else.
Samsung has a huge display with more resolution and is lighter; compared to Lumia 900 it uses less volume. Even so, it has inside a considerable bigger battery. Ratio between front and screen area is very good, unlike iPhone with its face plate filled with “sweet nothing”.
In the end I suppose lawyers have done a good job