Samsung finally unveiled the Samsung Galaxy S III, the follow up to the company's successful Samsung Galaxy S II. The release of the smartphone was met with enthusiasm as many users were impressed by the features and specifications of Samsung Galaxy S III. This leads us to the big question: To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade?

There are many factors to consider before answering this important question. The Samsung Galaxy S II was one of the highly-rated smartphones that was released last year-both commercially and critically. This can be the reason why some people are not so excited about switching because they believe that there is really no difference between the two. On the other hand, some people are much more inclined to upgrade because the newer model has better specifications and features.

In order to make an objective decision about this matter, it would be best to compare the specifications between these two Samsung Galaxy smartphones:

Dimensions and Form

The Samsung Galaxy S II has dimensions of 125.3 x 66.1 x8.5mm and weights 116g while the Samsung Galaxy S III has dimensions of 136.6x70.6x8.6mm and weighs around 133g. Samsung is known as to use "durable plastics" for its design and this is certainly felt for both the Samsung Galaxy S II and Samsung Galaxy S III. The materials used for both smartphones give a really "plastic" feel as opposed to having a sophisticated feel. Both smartphones have a physical home button and capacitive back and menu controls.

Winner: Draw. No notable differences between Samsung Galaxy S II and Samsung Galaxy S III.

Display

The Samsung Galaxy S II has a 4.3-inch AMOLED screen with 480x800 pixels. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S III has a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED screen with 720x1280 pixels. If compared, the Samsung Galaxy S III has a slightly bigger display size if compared to Samsung Galaxy S II. Aside from that, the Samsung Galaxy S III also has a sharper and vivid display courtesy of the Super AMOLED HD technology that it utilized in the smartphone.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S III is clearly the winner due to the bigger display size and enhanced visual quality.

Processor

The Samsung Galaxy S II has a dual core ARM Cortex-A9 processor running Samsung's own Exynos 4210 chipset clocked at 1.2GHz. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S III is the first quad-core smartphone from Samsung and it utilizes a new Exynos 4212 chip clocked at 1.4GHz but still uses the ARM Cortex-A9 processor though it has now doubled as compared to Samsung Galaxy S II.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S III. Though both smartphones are quick and fast in terms of performance, the quad-core option for Samsung Galaxy S III has room for better and faster results.

Storage Capacity

Samsung Galaxy S II and S III have similar features in terms of having 1 GB of RAM and micro SD capabilities which can have expendable storage of 32 GB. In terms of internal storage, both the Samsung Galaxy S II and S III have the 16GB and 32 GB option for users. The Samsung Galaxy S III has a further option which is the 64GB model.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S III for the 64 GB option.

Camera Features

Both the Samsung Galaxy S II and Samsung Galaxy S III both have an 8MP camera with back-illuminated sensors (BSI) and 3264x2448 pixels. Both smartphones also have the same camera features like LED flash, geo-tagging, autofocus, touch focus, face and smile detection and image stabilization.

Winner: Draw. Though Samsung Galaxy S III has some additional camera features, both smartphones still utilize the same basic camera features.

Operating System

Both smartphones have the latest Android version which is the Android 4.0 or Android Ice Cream Sandwich. Though that is the case, Samsung Galaxy S III offers more additional features as compared to Samsung Galaxy S II. Some of the features include S-Voice, Samsung's answer to Apple's Siri. This feature enables the user to communicate with the phone. There is also the Smart Stay option which uses the front-facing camera to track the eyes when looking at the display. The phone them automatically adjusts the settings according to the user's preference. There is a chance that Smart Stay would be also available for Samsung Galaxy S II.

Winner: Draw. Both smartphones utilize Android 4.0 or Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

Upgrade or Not?

Based on the comparison between the two smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy S III has a lot of new and additional features that is not found in Samsung Galaxy S II phones. Though that is the case, both smartphones have the similar basics such as OS and storage, the only difference is the processor for Samsung Galaxy S III which can be a big deciding factor for some users.

Overall, if you are not that bored with the Samsung Galaxy S II, then it is best to stick to it for a little while since its performance is still very much laudable. If you are already bored with the Samsung Galaxy S II, then users could opt to upgrade to Samsung Galaxy S III because of its new and exciting features.

The Samsung Galaxy S III is expected to be released on May 29, 2012 in Europe. Official price for the smartphone has not yet been announced as well as availability to other parts of the world.