Engadget’s smartphone buyer’s guide: fall 2012 edition

Engadget's smartphone buyer's guide fall 2012 edition

Shopping for a smartphone can be an exciting and arduous experience. Along with the promise of something new and fantastic, it brings the fear of commitment, and even worse, the prospect of saddling yourself to a lousy device for two years. Fortunately for you, Engadget spends tons of time playing with the latest gear and we're constantly on the lookout for what's coming next. If you're wanting to take the pain out of shopping for a smartphone, you've come to the right place. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Engadget's smartphone buyer's guide: your one-stop resource to finding the best and most exciting handsets on the market today.

Before you dive in, however, we've introduced a few changes to the buyer's guide, so take a minute to prepare yourself for what's in store. First and foremost, you'll now find alternate selections to supplement our top picks. This should already be familiar to many of you, which is the same format we use for our seasonal gift guides. The next one is a biggie: we've dropped the QWERTY selection. By and large, manufacturers and carriers alike have shifted their focus away from keyboard-equipped smartphones, and you'll rarely find more than one option on any given carrier. That said, if you still insist on the tactile experience, you'll always find everything you need to know in our reviews. Finally, whenever possible, you'll now find prices from Amazon Wireless, which allows us to provide you with more compelling budget selections and highlight the substantial savings that you can score by circumventing the carriers. It's not like they need your charity, anyway.

If you're curious to see how it all unfolded -- and we know you are -- join us after the break, where we round up the very best smartphones of the season.

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Engadget's smartphone buyer's guide: fall 2012 edition originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung begins delivering Jelly Bean to UK-based Galaxy S III owners

Samsung Galaxy S III with Jelly Bean in South Korea

Samsung has already started on the Jelly Bean upgrade path for the Galaxy S III, but that hasn't meant much so far unless you live in Samsung's homeland. The update's global relevance is expanding in grand fashion now that the company has confirmed the software is rolling out to Galaxy S III units across the UK. Variants on the smartphone for British carriers should get their taste of Android 4.1 over the course of a multi-week update process that brings everyone to the new version. Different carrier testing methods prevent Samsung from being any more specific; it's reasonable to say, though, that most owners living in Old Blighty should be running Jelly Bean before the holiday season kicks into overdrive.

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Samsung begins delivering Jelly Bean to UK-based Galaxy S III owners originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy S III hitting MetroPCS next Monday for $499 off-contract

We got tipped off way back in August and managed to get a little hands-on time with the variant, and now that October is well under way, MetroPCS is offering up some more info on its Galaxy S III offering. The popular Samsung handset will be hitting the carrier's stores and site on Monday, October 22nd. Off-contract pricing for the Android smartphone's gonna run you $499, on top of $30 to $70 a month for one of the carrier's LTE plans. Spec-wise, you're getting a 4.8-inch SuperAMOLED display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 2GB of RAM. More info on the offering can be had in the press release after the break.

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Samsung Galaxy S III hitting MetroPCS next Monday for $499 off-contract originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 08:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy S III hitting MetroPCS next Monday for $499 off-contract

We got tipped off way back in August and managed to get a little hands-on time with the variant, and now that October is well under way, MetroPCS is offering up some more info on its Galaxy S III offering. The popular Samsung handset will be hitting the carrier's stores and site on Monday, October 22nd. Off-contract pricing for the Android smartphone's gonna run you $499, on top of $30 to $70 a month for one of the carrier's LTE plans. Spec-wise, you're getting a 4.8-inch SuperAMOLED display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 2GB of RAM. More info on the offering can be had in the press release after the break.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy S III hitting MetroPCS next Monday for $499 off-contract

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Samsung Galaxy S III hitting MetroPCS next Monday for $499 off-contract originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 08:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Isis makes October 22nd mobile payment launch official, vows 20 capable phones by year’s end

Isis Mobile Wallet demo

While we could easily see this coming, it's still good to hear the news more directly: Isis has confirmed that its delayed mobile wallet system will arrive on October 22nd. The company's marketing lead Jaymee Johnson tells us that the NFC-based commerce should start in the previously mentioned Austin and Salt Lake City areas. We haven't been given a formal device list, but "as many as" 20 smartphones should be compatible by the end of the year. We can think of at least four. More details will follow on the day in question, although we already know that the cash-averse will need an Isis app, a special SIM card and compatible SmartTap terminals at stores. That's a lot of conditions that have to be satisfied just to lighten the strain on our pockets -- all the same, we'll take it when the alternatives are moving slowly.

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Isis makes October 22nd mobile payment launch official, vows 20 capable phones by year's end originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 12:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung will update US Galaxy S III devices to Jelly Bean ‘in the coming months’

Samsung commits to rolling out Jelly Bean to USbased Galaxy S III devices in the 'coming months'

The about screen on your US Samsung Galaxy S III may look a lot like the one above in the near future (albeit in English). Samsung has officially announced its intention to make an upgrade to Jelly Bean available to stateside versions of the company's flagship, though it left out one very important detail: the actual date. Instead, all we know at this point is that an upgrade to Android 4.1 will be offered OTA and via Kies sometime in the coming months. Why so vague? It's likely because Samsung is now at the mercy of each individual carrier to finish testing the new version of Android on the GS3 before unleashing it to the public. The refresh will deliver some TouchWiz-based enhancements like Blocking Mode, Easy Mode and a few new camera settings, as well as the usual suite of Jelly Bean improvements like Google Now and expandable notifications. Head below to check out the press release, which offers a more detailed list of what to expect.

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Samsung will update US Galaxy S III devices to Jelly Bean 'in the coming months' originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 10:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon Galaxy S III now available in black and brown

Verizon Galaxy S III now available in black and brown

Verizon teased on Monday that black and brown models of Samsung's Galaxy S III would be coming soon, but mum was the word on exactly how quickly that would be. Turns out, it was real fast. The pair of smartphones are now available at the carrier's online storefront with a $199.99 price tag for those who don't mind a two-year commitment with Big Red. If the new shades strike your fancy, hit the source link below to give one (or two) of the devices a new home.

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Verizon Galaxy S III now available in black and brown originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Oct 2012 03:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mobile Miscellany: week of October 8th, 2012

Mobile Miscellany week of October 8th, 2012

If you didn't get enough in mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This past week, Samsung confirmed its Canadian release date for the Galaxy Note II, Alcatel took the wraps off of its first Windows Phone and it was revealed that T-Mobile will no longer openly market the iPhone in conjunction with its BYOD value plans. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of October 8th, 2012.

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Mobile Miscellany: week of October 8th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Oct 2012 21:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung reveals the Galaxy Music: part budget phone, part mobile disco

Samsung reveals the Galaxy Music part budget phone, part mobile disco

When we first saw the name "Galaxy Music" in a Samsung press release a few weeks ago, we totally overlooked it among all the other budget Galaxy spin-offs. Now that it's official, the Galaxy Music (or equally the dual-SIM Galaxy Music Duos variant) turns out to be just that -- with Android 4.0 running on a low-res three-inch touchscreen and an unnamed processor. On the other hand, the handset does have some features that may be of interest to those who use their smartphone mainly for tunes (if not to full-blown audiophiles): there's a microSD slot for cheap storage, out-of-the-box compatibility with FLAC, OGG and many other file types, Sound Alive and SRS audio modes, a dedicated music player button, plus dual frontal speakers and a WVGA projector for sharing the love. Full specs at the source link.

Update: It's been sensibly pointed out there isn't much room for a projector on this handset, judging from the pictures above. Although the Samsung spec sheet lists one, and even its brightness, we're going to treat that spec as doubtful until it's proven otherwise.

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Samsung reveals the Galaxy Music: part budget phone, part mobile disco originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 05:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung announces Android 4.1 availability for Galaxy S III in South Korea

Samsung announces Android 41 availability for Galaxy S III in South Korea

It was pretty much inevitable, and true to its promise, Samsung has announced the availability of Android 4.1 for the Galaxy S III. Now before you get too excited, it appears that the upgrade applies only to the SHW-M440S variant, which is specific to Samsung's home turf in South Korea. Nonetheless, if the translation is correct, the new Jelly Bean release is said to bring usability improvements to the home screen, along with the ability to pause movies during recording and a smart rotation feature to the camera. Samsung's Kies software is specifically mentioned in the announcement post, although it looks as if an over-the-air install may be possible as well. Hopefully this news is a sign that certification for the global model and its domestic counterparts is just around the corner.

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Samsung announces Android 4.1 availability for Galaxy S III in South Korea originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 22:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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