A classy introduction to the much anticipated Galaxy S5 was met with the stark contrast of the introductory video that kicked off the unveiling of the phone. With an overabundance of leaks, pretty much everyone knew what to expect – and some prayed for a few of the leaks to be fake. So without further ado, here is the Galaxy S5:
If the design feels familiar, you’re not mistaken. Borrowing a few elements from the older models (S2 and S3), the result is an phone that looks and feels instantly familiar, and whether that is a good or a bad thing depends on your preference. The phone comes in a variety of colours, should the Copper Gold not appeal to your senses.
The phone’s specs have been bumped; the screen is now 5.1″ and the camera sports a 16MP sensor with phase shift detection. In other words, you’re expected to lightning fast autofocus speed so you wouldn’t miss any moment. We have no information on whether the plethora of shooting modes are still available – Samsung emphasised a simpler approach a few times – but the HDR function was mentioned and has been a point of improvement.
On the hardware side of things, the phone’s now water-resistant and dust-resistant like the Galaxy S4 Active, which is a welcome change. From my experience with the Active, the USB flap proved tiring after a while, and it is very likely that the phone will end up water damaged, so caution is to be exercised.
The battery has also been bumped up to 2800 giving plenty of juice to power your phone through the whole day as well as to fuel all the extra wizardry that Samsung embedded in the phone, such as the heart rate sensor at the back and the finger swipe. The UI has not changed much aside from the menu system. Though many leaks have hinted at a flat, round design, they keynote did not emphasise the UI enough to make it a standing point – so expect inconsistency until we get our hands on a review unit or see how the UI has changed throughout the system.
Overall, the impression we got has been rather underwhelming. Samsung has kept the familiar design year after year, not paying enough attention to what the consumers demand despite their keynote telling otherwise. The Galaxy S5 from what we have seen looks like an improvement of the S4 rather than a revamp that has been promised and expected. The camera improvement and battery life may be enough for people to consider the upgrade, though.
