The Samsung Galaxy S5 is the most anticipated Android phone of the year. It has rivals, but no other Android has managed to summon quite as much excitement as this one.
It offers plenty of upgrades over its predecessor the Galaxy S4, including a much-improved screen, redesigned software and a slightly better camera. However, there are some parts that aren’t quite perfect too. We’re not in love with the design, the new heart rate sensor will be a bit pointless for many and the fingerprint scanner is fiddly.
Want to know the core specs before we dig deeper? The Galaxy S5 has a 5.1-inch 1080p Super AMOLED screen, up 0.1 inches from last year. It uses a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor and has a 16-megapixel camera with an all-new Samsung-made sensor.
These may sound like slight upgrades to some of you, but these small step-ups are what you’ll also see in the Sony and HTC rivals. We think the Galaxy S5 is a great alternative to those phones, as long as you can live with the lesser styling and the foibles of the Samsung TouchWiz interface.
So what are the most notable differences between the Galaxy S4 & Galaxy S5?
TouchWiz
TouchWiz now looks strange. It’s like a crossover between TouchWiz and Tizen.
While the overall look and feel of the main interface remained very similar to that of the S4, the menu has been completely revamped. The menu icons are entirely different, they’re all circular and flat. There might be a bit of a learning curve for avid Samsung users who are upgrading to the S5 with this.
We’re not very happy with this change because we feel it’s disconnected from the way the rest of the UI appears. The menu seems like it belongs in another phone or OS and this disrupts the fluidity and unified look and feel with the user experience.
The Camera
Like the menu, the camera’s UI has also been completely revamped. More options, ability to edit and tinker with the photos more than ever, and more streamlined experience. The camera upgrade is something we’re actually happy about.
One nice new feature, which the S5 shares with the HTC One (M8), is the Selective Focus functionality. You need to select it as a mode first before taking the shot, then once the picture is taken you have the liberty to choose between near and far objects as a focal point.
The Heart Rate Sensor
It works, most of the time. Why would anyone use it is beyond us. We used it once to make sure it works, then another time to show it off to some friends. Beyond that it proved to be absolutely useless.
We see how heart rate tracking can be useful when doing sports. But we don’t see anyone picking up a 5.1 inch smartphone out of their pockets, placing their finger on the sensor, keeping still and waiting for it to do its thing….while actually working out!
Unless you have a heart condition where you have to measure your heart rate on a continuous basis, there’s really very little use for this seemingly expensive feature.
It’s water and dust proof, to a certain extent
Now THIS is a much-welcomed feature. When Samsung released the S4 Active last year, we felt that it should have been the actual S4. It seems our hopes have been answered with the S5.
The S5 can withstand a considerable amount of submersing, splashing and dust and sand particles. Just don’t go showering or swimming in it.
One important thing to note is that this is only possible if you ensure that the back casing and the charger lid are properly closed. If they’re not, water will leak into the phone rendering it bricked.
One handy feature Samsung added is a screen that pops up warning you if you haven’t closed the back cover properly. This is quite useful and appreciated, especially when bricking the phone is at risk here.
Ultra Power-Saving Mode
Samsung’s new Galaxy S5 doesn’t skimp on battery power, with an expected 10 hours of web browsing and 12 hours of video playback on a single charge. When you’re on hour 11 of watching cat videos with no charger in site, the handsets new “ultra power-saving mode” will keep your handset purring along by making the screen black-and-white and turning off all the non-essential services on your phone. Even better, Samsung says if you put your phone in standby mode with only 10 percent of the battery left, it will still last “up to 24 hours” before running out of juice.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time to test this feature out, as we had to return the device back to Samsung fairly quickly.
Download Booster
Download Booster takes advantage both 4G LTE and Wi-Fi together, enabling faster downloads of large files. 2×2 MIMO is a chip that makes your streaming experience up to 30% faster, thanks to an extra antenna and fifth-generation Wi-Fi 802.11ac protocol.
We’ve actually tested this and it works like a charm. The only watch out here is your data limits. You might be inclined to start downloading large files or torrents when you use this feature, and since it uses both WiFi and LTE, it will eat at your data package.
Fingerprint Scanner
Placed on the Home button, it works about 90% of the time, which isn’t bad. But you’ll have to keep your finger straight and slide it vertically across the scanner from top to bottom.
When you check your smartphone every5 minutes like I do you’ll find this feature to be very impractical. It reduces the ability to use the phone with one hand and it sometimes requires you to scan more than once for the sensor to pick up your print.
We turned it off after a few hours of using it.
The Screen
This is one of Samsung’s speciality and most notable features. The Samsung Galaxy S5’s screen is absolutely stunning!
It’s a 5.1” full HD Super AMOLED display with Adapt Display technology that not only adapts the screens brightness, it also changes color, contrast, saturation and sharpness depending on surroundings. The aim here is to have a continuous beautiful experience with the display, and it works.
We wish we had more time to test this feature more thoroughly though.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy S5 is a beast of a phone. It’s powerful, packed with features, some you’ll immediately love and appreciate, like the Ultra Power Saving Mode, water and dust resistance and the new camera functionality, and some you’ll probably end up never using, like the Fingerprint Scanner and Heart Rate Sensor.
The display, speed, overall richness of features ensure the smartphone sits on the top 5 list of best and most powerful smartphones out there. They also provide a rather enjoyable user experience overall.
My issue with the S family is that it tries to be everything, and never really succeeds, because something always has to give.
HTC, for example, decided that too many features are overkill, and decided to focus on user experience and form factor instead; something which has paid off with the One and One (M8).
We get asked by a lot of friends if they should get the S5 or HTC One (M8), and here’s my answer: If you’re on the geeky side of things and you enjoy deploying tons of features and making use of them. And if you take smartphone photography seriously, the Galaxy S5 is the better choice for you. If you’re looking for a sexy device, with a sexy curvy metallic body, an beautiful and extremely fluid user experience, while maintaining a powerful and fast performance, the HTC One (M8) is the smartphone of choice for you.
I, personally, would choose the S5. But I’m a super geek and my preferences vary from the average user.
