Gadgetory

one of these smartphones is the newest and largest Windows Phone 8 device on the market the other is a stalwart of the Android space that needs no introduction comparing them might be impractical but we're gonna give it a try anyway I'm Michael Fisher this is PocketNow and this is Samsung ativ S vs samsung galaxy s3 our comparison videos spend some time focusing on comparing specs app launch times benchmarks and so forth with a video like this that's impractical though the atif s runs Windows Phone 8 and the galaxy s3 runs Android and if you're hoping to see a fight between these two os's tune out now that's not what we're doing the platform differences are extreme and if you're a prospective buyer you've already given thought to which ecosystem you're signing up for that said there are Hardware similarities here we can't ignore so many that the achieve s is unofficial nickname around these parts is the galaxy s3 with Windows Phone so for those few people still vacillating between Windows Phone and Android or those just curious about how different or alike these devices really are let's get a little nerdy and quickly informally compare them in the three areas we can build display and camera in the metrics that matter these devices are about as close to identical as you can get the Verizon galaxy s3 weighs in at 133 grams and measures eight point six millimeters thick while the atif s comes in at 135 grams and eight point seven millimeters by themselves those disparities are imperceptible but the slight design differences in these chassis x' mean the phones are distinguishable in the hand the galaxy s3 with its pebble like more rounded corners feels less substantial and its hyper glaze coated battery door is very slick the atif s is still more slippery than most phones but the coating on its faux aluminum battery door feels almost semi-gloss instead of polished up front the displays on both phones are covered by Gorilla Glass 2 button feedback on each device is identical except for the HOME key which is much less mushy on the Atif s than the s3 despite these and other minor differences like the galaxy s3 is big notification light and the higher placement of the power standby key on the atif s the feel in hand is very similar on these devices and aesthetic concerns are likely going to be the ones to dictate which one you prefer under that gorilla glass to protective layer sits an identical panel on each device a 4.8 inch Super AMOLED display at 720 by 1280 resolution this is one of the most concrete examples of the differences or lack thereof between these two devices while the disparate interfaces make these screens look different under certain conditions and the achieve s is less granular brightness controls mean it always features the brighter screen hopping into a browser session with some test patterns reveals that these displays are indeed a perfect match in color display and gradients from the highly saturated colors to the deep blacks common to AMOLED these screens are one in the same that holds true for the camera hardware as well other news sources have said that these devices use the same optics for their primary shooters and that looks to be all but confirmed in our brief testing of course you'll get more customization options with the wider array of photo editing software available on the Google Play Store but that's a gulf that Windows Phone will hopefully close over time from a stock perspective though the galaxy s3s camera comes with much more utility bundling in features like burst shot HDR smile shot and so forth all features unavailable or requiring a third-party app on Windows Phone so despite the identical hardware the galaxy s3 still comes out on top in the camera department taking the OS platforms out of the equation these are indeed very similar devices with their primary differentiators lying principally in their aesthetics if you're on the fence between Windows Phone and Android there's not much here in the physical world to make your choice easier between these two devices the tie breaker will have to take place in the virtual world of software we've got a whole lot more on the atif s over at pocketnow.com including an unboxing and hardware tour a comparison with the lumia 920 and of course the full review we also discussed the Atia vests in depth on the pocket now weekly podcast and Jaime Rivera covers it almost every day on the pocket now daily make sure and follow us on Twitter so you don't miss any of that pocket now tweets is the official account you can follow me I'm at captain two phones if you want to do that and throw us a like here on YouTube if you liked the video leave us a comment ahead pocket now if you have something to say as always thank you for watching we'll see you next time