Five Alternatives To Samsung Galaxy SIII

Samsung's new flagship phone Galaxy SIII has arrived and is getting increasingly popular too. The company claims to have taken an inspiration from nature (pebbles and leaves) while designing this smartphone. Galaxy SIII runs Ice Cream Sandwich aka Android 4.0, has a 12.19-cm (4.8-inch), has 720p Super AMOLED display along with a 8 megapixel back camera and a 1.9-megapixel front facing camera. The body is 8.6mm thick and works on 1.4 GHz Exynos 4 Quad chipset, 1GB of RAM, 16 or 32GB of storage, a 2100 mAh battery, and radios for Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, and NFC connectivity. There are two colours available this time- blue and white! It has smooth curvaceous body unlike the square predecessor. As for the hardware, there have been some major changes made in this device. Samsung TouchWiz interface is in full swing with look and feel of nature- like physical looks.

This high-priced device will be available in India in the month of June at a whopping Rs 34K. Would you want to check out other alternatives before you invest in this one? If yes, here is a list of some current and upcoming alternatives of Samsung Galaxy SIII. Have a look:

Apple iPhone 5

As the online reports claim, Apple has plans to launch iPhone 5 this year. If you wish to own an Apple, the iPhone 5 (or whatever the company decides to call it) could be a good choice for you. The smartphone is rumoured to sport 11.7-cm (4.6-inch) display and is likely to hit the shelves as early as June or July. Giving some insights into the name of the upcoming device is the company's filing for a claim for iPhone5.com domain. Apple typically doesn't pursue domain names for its products until after they launch, lest their names be revealed ahead of time by the negotiation process.

ASUS Padfone

The much-awaited tablet-phone hybrid Padfone is likely to hit the shelves this month. It is touted as an all-in-one device with smartphone, tablet and netbook all compiled into one. The company announced its hybrid device at Mobile World Congress held in February this year. What makes it unique is the fact that it is a combination of a phone and a tablet and can further be transformed into a laptop with the help of a keyboard dock, states a report from AndroidOS. The phone part of the Padfone runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system and is powered by dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4. It has a 1 GB RAM, an internal memory of 16, 32 and 64 GB. It sports a 10.9-cm (4.3-inch) super AMOLED display along with an 8 MP rear camera and a VGA front camera. The tablet part of the device - Padfone Station sports a 25.7-cm (10.1-inch) 1280x800 pixel display. It features a 1.3 MP front camera and is 13.65 mm thick and weighs 724 gram. The Padfone also comes with a stylus headset, which can be used as a stylus for tablet and a headset for making and receiving calls.

BlackBerry London

Research in Motion is trying hard to regain its lost ground. The company is preparing to launch BlackBerry 10 platform to revive its image. The first phone to feature this new OS will be the upcoming BlackBerry London. It is a sleek touchscreen likely to feature a 1.5GHz chipset. Some online reports suggest an October release of the device.

HTC One X

HTC One X is one of the most talked about device from HTC. It sports 1.5 GHz quad-core processor and runs Android 4.0 operating system with HTC Sense 4.0 UI. The device comes equipped with a 11.9-cm (4.7-inch) display with 1280 x 720 resolution, 8MP camera, 1.3MP front facing camera, 32GB internal storage and 1GB of RAM. For connectivity, the phone features NFC, Wi-Fi and micro-USB 2.0.

LG Optimus 4X HD

LG Optimus 4X HD, which is the first smartphone from the company to feature a 1.5GHz quad-core Tegra 3. It comes equipped with a 11.9-cm (4.7-inch) True HD IPS LCD (1280x720) and a customised version of Android 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich. The device also features a 2,150 mAh battery, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. The Optimus 4X HD smartphone will be launched in Europe in the second quarter of this year.

-- Diksha P Gupta