HTC One S vs Samsung Galaxy S III
A spec-by-spec comparison of the HTC One S and the Samsung Galaxy S III, taken from their full specification sheets. Green marks the better value in each measured row.
Head to head
| HTC One S | Samsung Galaxy S III |
|---|
| Price | $16 | $50 |
| Our rating | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Battery | 1,650 mAh | 2,100 mAh |
| RAM (max) | — | 2 GB |
| Storage (max) | 16 GB | 64 GB |
| Screen size | 4.3 in | 4.8 in |
| Main camera | 8 MP | 8 MP |
| Weight (lower is lighter) | — | 133 g |
| Released | Apr 2012 | May 2012 |
Summary: Samsung Galaxy S III is ahead on our rating, battery, storage (max), screen size.
★ Which should you buy? Samsung Galaxy S III is the stronger overall pick on the measured specs. If budget matters more than the extra capability, HTC One S is the cheaper option.
Reviewed by the infozme.com Editorial Team — see how we research & rate phones.
Display
| HTC One S | Samsung Galaxy S III |
|---|
| Type | Super AMOLED | HD Super AMOLED |
| Size | 4.3 inches | 4.8 inches, 63.5 cm2 (~65.9% screen-to-body ratio) |
| Resolution | 540 x 960 pixels (qHD), 256 ppi density | 720 x 1280 pixels, 16:9 ratio (~306 ppi density) |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass | Corning Gorilla Glass 2 |
Platform
| HTC One S | Samsung Galaxy S III |
|---|
| OS | Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), upgradable to 4.1.1 (Jelly Bean) | Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich), upgradable to 4.3 (Jelly Bean) or 4.4.2 (KitKat) on some variants |
| UI | HTC Sense UI 4.0 | — |
| Chipset | Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 Plus (for most markets) or Qualcomm MSM8260 Snapdragon S3 (for some variants) | Exynos 4412 Quad (International) / Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 Plus (USA) |
| CPU | Dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait (S4 Plus) or Dual-core 1.7 GHz Scorpion (S3) | Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A9 (Exynos) / Dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait (Snapdragon S4 Plus) |
| GPU | Adreno 225 (S4 Plus) or Adreno 220 (S3) | Mali-400MP4 (Exynos) / Adreno 225 (Snapdragon S4 Plus) |
Memory
| HTC One S | Samsung Galaxy S III |
|---|
| Internal | 16GB | 16GB 1GB RAM, 32GB 1GB RAM, 64GB 1GB RAM (some variants had 2GB RAM) |
| RAM | 1GB | — |
| Card slot | No | microSDXC (dedicated slot) |
Main Camera
| HTC One S | Samsung Galaxy S III |
|---|
| Modules | 8 MP, f/2.0, 28mm (wide), AF | — |
| Features | LED flash, BSI sensor, ImageSense chip | LED flash, Geo-tagging, touch focus, face/smile detection, panorama, HDR, Burst shot, Zero shutter lag |
| Video | 1080p@30fps | 1080p@30fps |
| Single | — | 8 MP, f/2.6, AF |
Selfie Camera
| HTC One S | Samsung Galaxy S III |
|---|
| Modules | VGA (0.3 MP) | — |
| Video | No official video spec, likely 480p | 720p@30fps |
| Single | — | 1.9 MP, f/2.6 |
| Features | — | Video call |
Battery
| HTC One S | Samsung Galaxy S III |
|---|
| Type | Li-Po 1650 mAh, non-removable | Removable Li-Ion 2100 mAh |
| Talk time | Up to 10 hours 30 minutes (3G) | Up to 11 h 40 min (3G) / Up to 21 h 40 min (2G) |
| Stand-by | Up to 440 hours (3G) | — |
Body
| HTC One S | Samsung Galaxy S III |
|---|
| Dimensions | 130.9 x 65 x 7.8 mm (5.15 x 2.56 x 0.31 in) | 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm (5.38 x 2.78 x 0.34 in) |
| Weight | 119.5 g (4.23 oz) | 133 g (4.69 oz) |
| Build | Ceramic-metal unibody design | Plastic body |
| SIM | Micro-SIM | Micro-SIM |
Comms
| HTC One S | Samsung Galaxy S III |
|---|
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, hotspot | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 4.0, A2DP, aptX | 4.0, A2DP, EDR, aptX |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS | — |
| NFC | No | Yes |
| Radio | Stereo FM radio with RDS | Stereo FM radio with RDS (International model only) |
| USB | microUSB 2.0 (MHL TV-out) | microUSB 2.0 (MHL TV-out), USB On-The-Go |
| Positioning | — | GPS, GLONASS |
Launch
| HTC One S | Samsung Galaxy S III |
|---|
| Announced | February 2012 | 2012, May 03 |
| Status | Released April 2012 | Released 2012, May 29 |
Frequently asked questions
Which has the better battery, HTC One S or Samsung Galaxy S III?
Samsung Galaxy S III — 1,650 mAh for the HTC One S versus 2,100 mAh for the Samsung Galaxy S III.
Which is newer, HTC One S or Samsung Galaxy S III?
Samsung Galaxy S III — Apr 2012 for the HTC One S versus May 2012 for the Samsung Galaxy S III.
Is the HTC One S or the Samsung Galaxy S III rated higher?
We rate the HTC One S 7/10 and the Samsung Galaxy S III 8/10.
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