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Samsung Galaxy S3, iPhone problems revealed by huge survey

A new report has gathered together the top complaints about the iPhone, Samsung Galaxy S3 and other top phones.

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Expertise Films, TV, Movies, Television, Technology
Richard Trenholm
2 min read

I got 99 problems and my phone is one. Whether it's the battery, the screen or the volume, it seems every new smart phone has something wrong with it. A new report has gathered together the top complaints about the iPhone, Samsung Galaxy S3, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Nokia Lumia 900, HTC Titan 2 and the BlackBerry Curve 9300, along with handy solutions.

Tech support site FixYa has compiled common complaints about the big phones to see what's been going wrong with them -- although it doesn't reveal which phone is the borkiest. Have you encountered any of these complaints?

The Samsung Galaxy S3 has only been around for 5 minutes, but it seems phone fans have already had problems with the microphone -- a problem also plaguing the Galaxy Nexus. Owners complain that they're unable to hear people on a call, and when they hang up, signal can disappear for minutes at a time. The only solution is to update the firmware or restore the phone to minty-fresh factory settings -- which wipes all your data.

The main complaint about the iPhone 4S is the battery life, a gripe that can be solved by turning off location services, push notifications, Siri, Wi-Fi, screen brightness... basically, all the things that make a phone a smart phone. That's the problem with these fancy Dan smart phones: as a smart man once said, "The light that burns twice as bright burns for half as long, and you have burned so very, very brightly, Roy."

Two phones running Windows Phone software are included in the report. Nokia's Lumia 900 frustrates users with a weird purple tint to the screen  -- now solved by an update -- and a camera button that doesn't wake the phone for quick snapshots.

BlackBerry Curve owners also complain about their phone suddenly rebooting at random times.

Other phones to suffer snafus include the HTC One X, which suffers from a flexing screen and Wi-Fi issues; the HTC One S, which chipped at the back; and the iPhone 4, subject of the iPhone death grip -- the daddy of disasters. 

Has your battery broken? Is your screen shot? Have you had any problems with your phone? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.