I’m an Apple Mac fan by nature, and I love my laptop and iPad dearly, but so many friends complained about some of the tricky features on their iPhones that when I was shopping around for a new phone, and reading all the reviews about the pros and cons of various models, I settled on a Samsung instead. It seems I was not alone, as Samsung has reported that thousands of people have pre-ordered the new Galaxy S3 phone, making it the most popular mobile phone of the year.

Favourite features

Slightly bigger than the previous model, the S3’s screen really does give the impression of being enormous and, what’s more, it watches you as you watch it. The display doesn’t dim or turn off as long as you’re looking at it – very ‘big brother is watching you’, but in a good way.

There’s a clever notification system that updates you on what’s happened since the last time you looked, and prioritises the information, and a voice command feature so that you can ask the phone questions and control the volume.

Best shot

The biggest thrill for me was realising that, at last, I could have a quality camera again on a smartphone. Having put up with an inferior 2mp version for too long, I was delighted to see that the S3 sports a camera that is 8mp and can handle photos at the same time as video filming. In burst mode it can record up to 20 shots at a time, and then choose the best one.