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Samsung Galaxy S III Neo

A degraded flagship that has become a representative of the mid-range.

Nearly 2 years after the release of the Galaxy S III, which quickly became a popular and appreciated model, Samsung decided to squeeze the last juices out of the familiar shape and model. The S III Neo is practically the same device, only with a changed SoC from the Exynos series solution in favor of a Snapdragon, more RAM and a slightly newer system with an overlay copied from the Galaxy S4. And all this at the time of the Galaxy S5 launch. What purpose was this supposed to serve? I don't think even the manufacturer itself knows.

Samsung, with the original S III variant, decided to be brazen enough to cut it off from the Android 4.4 KitKat update, justifying it with too little RAM (1 GB). This was obvious nonsense, because Google advertised "KitKat" with extraordinary optimization, so that it could run smoothly even on the weakest phones with only 512 MB of RAM. Therefore, the newly released Neo already has a "cosmic" 1.5 GB, which is still worse than the older S III variant with LTE connectivity (GT-I9305), which had 2 GB. Yes, the S III Neo does not support LTE.

Quirky decisions of the manufacturer aside, the device itself is still pleasant to use and pleases the eye. There is nothing to complain about the smoothness of operation either, as it is proper. Although the phone gets a gentle boost when using unofficial systems, such as CyanogenMod/LineageOS.

Unfortunately, like its predecessor and every other model in Samsung's lineup at the time, the S III Neo suffers from the crumbling paint of the plastic bezel around the screen. The bezel itself on all Galaxy S III variants is also known for its tendency to crack a bit, mainly on the sides and near the micro USB port.

Interestingly, the S III Neo came in variants with different cameras. Some units have a Sony sensor, while others have a Samsung one.

Specifications: