Upgrading to a brand new smartphone is always exciting, but setting up your brand new Galaxy S3 can lead to a bit of frustration at first. From learning how to access settings, figuring out how to tap, glide and drag on the touchscreen and how to add your favourite apps, smartphones are not unlike mini computers for all of their functionality.

Whether you have upgraded from an S2, moved to Samsung from another phone type or even changed over to touchscreen after years of traditional phone keypad or QWERTY keypad, there are a few things to know in order to get set up.

How to Set Up a Galaxy S3 Smartphone

We are assuming here that your new phone is connected to your mobile network via 3G or WiFi, but if you are not able to get online, your first step is to get your network activated. This will allow you to move on to the fun stuff.

Some other things to remember when you set up your Galaxy S3 include the following:

• Configuration – When turning on the phone for the first time, you will see the configuration screen – this is where you can choose your language, set the date (click the ‘automatic date and time’ to make this easier), select your WiFi network and sign in or register for a Google Account.

• Backups – After adding your account, you can then choose to backup phone data via your Google Account. Data will then be restored this way too.

• Accounts – In the Settings menu, you can set up S3 accounts such as Gmail, Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook and whatever other accounts you want to add. You can choose to sync these accounts with your main phone contacts, for an expanded contact list.

• Applications – Google Play is where you can find various apps, from social media to games, music, photos and whatever else you want to add. Choose from the displayed lists of free and paid categories, or search for specific types of apps. Once they are downloaded, they will install in the background.

• Notifications - This screen is accessed from your main home screen, by pulling it down from the top of the screen in a downward swipe movement. It shows new message alerts across your accounts, app updates, missed calls and any other notification that you may want to see.

• Customisation – You will find all the sounds, picture, background and other settings in the Settings menu – this is usually found in the Applications list. To use music as your ringtone, you will first need to add music to your Music folder, by USB, Bluetooth or file sharing application.

• Home Screens – There are several home screens on the Galaxy S3, which can be customised with various widgets such as weather, clock, news, RSS feeds, social media feeds and key contacts. To move between them, simply slide left or right. Clicking the middle button brings you back to your primary home screen again.

• Calls and Messages – Many new S3 users may struggle to answer incoming calls at first – instead of tapping the answer button, you do a quick right swipe instead, holding just a tiny bit down as you swipe. Ending calls is done with a press motion. Messages are easy to access, either from the main messaging screen or from the contacts screen by pressing on a contact name to bring up options (call, message, email, WhatsApp among others).

As for the rest, we will let you figure it out as you play around a bit. With a very intuitive design, this device is easy to use, despite the few little hiccups that may arise as you get used to the layout. Once you have set up your S3 phone, you’ll be good to go.

Tweet