We would’t call this a widespread issue at the moment, however it looks like the conversation is building around a sudden death syndrome on the Galaxy S III. The chatter is coming by way of the XDA Developers forums where the current discussion is up to 64 pages.
The short side of this story goes as follows — uses are reporting that the handsets are dying. And dying suddenly without warning. Some reports have said the handset died overnight while charging and other have said that the handset died during a reboot.
Regardless of how it happens though, the end result is a handset that turns off an doesn’t turn back on. The reports suggest that the issues are happening somewhere between 150 and 200 days of activation. As to the reason, while this has yet to be confirmed by Samsung, it is believed that the NAND is becoming corrupted and failing.
All said and done, Samsung has yet to offer an official statement on the matter, however based on the reports coming from xda users, they are replacing the handsets with no questions asked. In fact, Samsung is even said to be replacing handsets that were rooted.
[device id=2435]
[via PocketNow]
Is it possible this problem is linked to the recent reports of the Exynos malware exploit floating around at the moment? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2048511
Bummer.
is this related to a specific CPU? i.e. quad-core vs dual core.
yes. I know that I didn’t read the XDA entries that probably answer the question.
apparently its both! So you got Snapdragons too along with Exynos. Makes me weary to buy any Samsung phone now even the much lower speced but possibly proper functioning Snapdragon models we have here in the U.S. that just came out like the Galaxy Express
Haha glad I got smart and finally left android behind, iPhone is the way to go!
Glad I came on this Android blog to call you a troll.
Android is the way to go!
All
Nexus
Devices
Rule
Over
Iphone
Dregs
Paul, From being a musician, I can tell you for a fact, most of the software/hardware developers for musical instrument, sound reinforcement and audio production standpoint, they pretty much only support iOS devices, not Android. There is only a couple of Android apps for this market, but for iOS, it’s pretty much the only platform they support. Even in the Windows desktop arena, there are some that have discontinued Windows support in favor of OS X. This is the trend, like it or not. So, your statement of how Nexus devices rule, it kind of pathetic for some people.
There are products that you can take a iPad and have it basically control a 6 or 16 channel mixing console for musicians/bands that can also be controlled by an iPhone. Mackie makes them, they are a VERY reputable company and these things are selling quite well around the world. Can’t do that on an Android.
Yamaha, Korg, Alesis, Roland, McDSP, SSL, and a whole bunch of other mfg just simply don’t support Android devices.
The problem with Android is that these developers have to write code, test every device that run Android and there just isn’t enough desire to do that primarily due to too many devices/OS versions to test. So, if they do write code, it might not work that well on all devices due to screen size/resolution or the processor might not be fast enough, so it depends on which model.
Sorry, but the music industry is a LOT bigger than you think it is.
Most creative professionals are pretty much using iOS devices vs Android. A lot more and better apps than for Android.
Have a nice day.
Another industry that is supporting IOS more than Android is home automation. Philips makes the HUE color LED lights and they are iOS only. Savant Systems makes high end automation systems for home and commercial use and they are OS X and iOS only. Savant can do some pretty cool stuff and they don’t support Android. So for those that want a high end automation system, it’s better with iOS devices.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but that’s reality.
The medical industry is all over iOS devices, NOT Android. Hospitals are buying up iPads by the tens of thousands nowadays. Doctors and nurses are finding them to be much better than what they used prior. So, chances are when/if you go to a hospital, they’ll be using an iPad. Helps them process people faster.
Educational institutions are buying iPads up like crazy, Android has barely dented that market, so it’s pretty much a iOS market.
Android products are typically going to people that have little money or don’t spend much money on the phones and third party products, most of those devices are just not going to the high end market.
Nexus? Those phones don’t always upgrade to the last OS. Some of the older models Nexus One and Nexus S can’t always upgrade to the latest OS and they aren’t that old. I read that Google simply didn’t order that many Nexus 4 phones. The reason I read is that they didn’t want to infringe on the non-Nexus Android market.
I don’t know what Google has up their sleeves in terms of their next generation products, but they aren’t making that much money from these Android devices. Motorola Mobility unit lost money, $353Mil, last quarter and that’s not a good sign.
Has anyone heard of over-heating issues with S3? Mine has that problem. While other phones seem to get the signal properly my S3 keeps trying to catch a 3G signal and overheats. This probably one SD card to fail (the heating is in the area where SD and SIM are). This issue happens across carriers and even in different countries.
i think this can be fixed.. Samsung better explain and issue the statement..
My s3 motherboard is sploit after 5 months. It can’t be started.
I had the same thing happen to my phone. It was fine before I left work, then when I got home it was a brick.
You’re holding it wrong.
Samsung S 3 – Sudden Death problem: In my oppinion it’s very disturbing to treat customers so badly!!!
You buy the open version of the top device for € 600, – but after just 4
months absolutely everything is dead . The “Top” (Hahahah)-device dies
exactly at Christmas time, but does anyone at Samsung care?!?
Absolutely not! Marc Mueller of Samsung’s hotline even has the
impertinence to say my situation was not that bad, because I could send
the device in for a service… Once he even threatend to end the call – I
call this treatment customer friendliness par excellence!
Figuratively customers pay a S-class Mercedes, but are treated as buyers
of a Lada with standard equipment (nothing against Lada – that should
only show the disproportion).
Once you google the problem you
will find many sites on which the problem is described in detail!!!
Unfortunatelly the people at Samsung think it’s not even worth to write
an official statement (which would enable the immediate exchange of the
device at the pos). Apparently Samsung employees have to learn a lot in
terms of customer treatment, at least I have not experienced a shameful
approach like this one so far by any other company.
Original sound, Mr. Mueller: “We do not have many S3 with problems, otherwise we would have issued a statement …”
Thanks for the great customer service!!! OK – a top device should not
last longer than a maximum of two quarters, so Samsung can write
profits… I fully understand…
Of course, I am also
disappointed by the lack of goodwill from my merchant, but at least I
can understand the situation this pos is in because of Samsung.
I always imagined to start the Christmas Eve like today!
Thank you very much, Samsung!!!
I was the first one to buy this phone at a TMobile store in Santa Monica in June ’12. Almost exactly 150 days later, the phone bricked. Two weeks later, and after spending almost $300 to have the phone shipped overseas where I had to go on business, I received my new replacement S III. This all happened last month so I am hoping it doesn’t happen again in 4 months. Unreal this could be the case for a phone that costs $500+ which I paid cash.
This just happened to me this morning – phone is only 6 months old
My S3 is in that time period, let’s see what happens xD
i can confirm that my phone was rooted, and did die from the sudden death.. have t-mobile usa; gave them my phone, NO INSURANCE, but still had approx 1 month left on the 1 year warranty; will cost me $20 for replacement, and about 4 days to get it; hopefully a brand new cell, not refurbished.
my s3 ad 2 go back yesterday due 2 sudden death
fuck samsung sending bullshit update that kills s3
I have a 13 months old Galaxy S3 that the power completely died last week. I took the phone to Samsung Authorized repair center who informed me that the motherboard needs to be replaced, but the repair is not covered since the phone is 1 month out of the warranty period.
I belive this is a quality/design issue that should be addressed by Samsung considering that its product reputation is on the line. The bottom line is I will not recommend Samsung products to anyone due to poor quality and reliability.