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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
Evolutionary NOT revolutionary!By rpv
Oh, Another year, another set of phones from manufacturers! I have been hooked onto get the latest phone every year syndrome and love reviewing specifics. Disclaimer, I love Android and have been using from very early days. I will not call Samsung Galaxy S5 as revolutionary, but it is certainly evolutionary. If you have an older phone more than 2 years old, absolutely get this. I love Samsung Galaxy S5 from its competitors for few reasons - removable battery, microSD card support and the maturity of the product. I have been using a S5 for past couple of days and have ordered one from my local store. There are so many variants already in the market. So do check local specs. For example, in china market dual SIM S5 is available.
Galaxy S5's back plate has a perforated dot pattern and a excellent matte finish. As a result, the phone looks far more sophisticated than its past designs despite its plastic build. Its surface feels nice to the touch without being too rough or too slippery. I really do _not_ care about the plastic, in fact the lightweight nature is what I care. Some people make a huge deal out of it. A high quality plastic is good for lightweight and I go with lightweight than a heavy phone in the pocket. A reputed tech site called recently Samsung as the “undisputed king of the Android smartphone space”. True indeed. With the plethora of devices in tablets/phones, they have iterated so much that they can produce truly stunning products.
If you care for weight, the Galaxy S4 is lighter than S5. (please see my stats below). In fact pixel density is slightly higher in S4 due to a 0.1in size difference. So get an S4, it is cheaper and still same phone that came out last year. If you care for heart rate monitor, fingerprint scanner, and water proof, get the S5. Otherwise literally similar set and you can save a lot by getting S4 now. Last year when S4 came out it was a great phone. It still is, though S5 came out now. Obsoletion is in the mind of the us, not on the devices.
In my opinion, following are key specs to consider when you buying a phone. Most of others are standard or does not matter at all. First size,weight and resolution are part of look and feel. RAM/CPU part of performance. external Storage is part of expandability. Camera is obvious! SAR (Specific Absorption Rating) is an often ignored, but I feel essential to making a buying choice. Manufacturers don’t advertize or mention SAR prominently.
phone parameters: {size, weight, resolution, ppi, RAM, ext Storage, camera, CPU, USA SAR rating}
Samsung Galaxy S5: 5.59 x 2.85 x 0.32 in, 145 gm, 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.1 in, 432 ppi, 2 GB RAM, microSD upto 128 GB!, Qualcomm Snapdragon 801, MSM8974-AC Processor: Quad core, 2500 MHz, Krait 400, 0.63 W/kg (head), 0.82 W/kg (body)
Samsung Galaxy S4 (Intl version): 5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31 in, 130 gm, 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.0 in, 441 ppi, 2 GB RAM, microSD, up to 64 GB, 13 MP/2MP, Exynos 5 Octa 5410 CPU, Quad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7, 0.85 W/kg (head), 1.55 W/kg (body)
HTC One M8: 5.76 x 2.78 x 0.37 in, 160 gm, 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5 in, 441 ppi, 2 GB RAM, microSD upto 128 GB!, 4 MP (rear), 5 MP(front for selfies), Qualcomm Snapdragon 801, Quad core, 2300 MHz, Krait 400, 0.94 W/kg (head), 0.83 W/kg (body)
LG G2: 5.45 x 2.79 x 0.35 in, 143 gm, 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.2 in, 424 ppi, 2 GB RAM, no ext Storage, 13 MP/2.1 MP, Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon 800, Quad-core 2.26 GHz Krait 400, 0.50 W/kg (head), 0.69 W/kg (body)
Google Nexus 5: 5.43 x 2.72 x 0.34 in, 130 gm, 1080 x 1920 pixels, 4.95 in, 445 ppi, 2 GB RAM, no ext Storage, 8 MP/1.3 MP, Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon 800, Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400, 0.92 W/kg (head), 1.23 W/kg (body)
Apple iPhone 5S: 4.87 x 2.31 x 0.30 in, 112gm, 640 x 1136 pixels, 4.0 in, 326 ppi, 1 GB RAM, no ext storage, 8 MP/1.2 MP, Apple A7, Dual-core 1.3 GHz Cyclone (ARM v8-based), 1.12 W/kg (head), 1.18 W/kg (body)
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 N9000: 5.95 x 3.12 x 0.33 in, 168 gm, 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.7 in, 386 ppi, 3 GB RAM, micro SD upto 64 GB, 13 MP/2MP, Exynos 5 Octa 5420, Quad-core 1.9 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7, SAR: 0.24 W/kg (head), 0.72 W/kg (body)
Nokia Lumia 1520: 6.41 x 3.36 x 0.34 in, 209gm, 1080 x 1920 pixels, 6.0 in, 367 ppi, 2 GB RAM, microSD up to 64 GB, 20 MP/1.2MP, Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 CPU Quad-core 2.2 GHz Krait 400, SAR: 0.59 W/kg (head), 0.24 W/kg (body)
Motorola Moto G: 5.11 x 2.59 x 0.46 in, 143 gm, 720 x 1280 pixels, 4.5 in, 326 ppi, 1 GB RAM, no ext storage, 5 MP/1.3 MP, Qualcomm Snapdragon 400, Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7, SAR: 1.17 W/kg (head), 1.06 W/kg (body)
Given the above key specs, my suggestion to my friends is to choose 2 or 3 KEY features you require (may be large screen size, maybe less weight, maybe more CPU power) and then start nailing down the phones. Definitely and definitely go to a phone or a big box store and feel the phone. Nothing replaces that. In the end end you are using it for days and years, so the tactile feel is very important.
SCREEN SIZE/RESOLUTION:
I have experimented with many phone sizes and I have come to a conclusion 5” is the best form factor for me. Your mileage may vary, but after using Note for a while, I don’t use it as a primary phone. The display in S5 is absolutely stunning with a Super AMOLED display and you have to see to feel it!
ANDROID UI:
S5 has Android 4.4.2 KitKat out of the box. User Interface hasa flatter and simpler design, as is now the trend across the industry. Once you get used to user interface you get used to it. Android is very flexible and when I show my phone to a iPhone users they are usually in awe. I recently to my friends shows the details of processes. battery usage like which process takes up more battery, Qi charging receivers for wireless charging on Galaxy phones and they were in awe.
WATER PROOF:
Obviously I have not tested this!, but a very nice to have feature and gives a peace of mind
CAMERA:
This can just replace a point and shoot camera. Wait, what is a point and shoot camera?! Very impressive. S5 has a 16MP camera with super-fast autofocus, HDR mode with real-time preview, and support for 4K video recording. Definitely state of the art. I took several indoor photos and they look great. It will be interesting to see how photos appear in a vanilla S5 which Google will release.
S-HEALTH:
I rely and use S-Health more than any other app in my Galaxy S5. It has driven my fitness regimen to a very good progress and the design of app is nothing short of buttery and beautiful. I am often too in good favor of Samsung loading the phones with S-Ware, but their design of S-Health is definitely breathtaking. Heart rate monitor is a great addition to the fitness tools. I used it for walking several steps and found it same as in S4.
PROCESSING POWER:
Don’t bother about it. For 99% of users, this is good enough. The phone has more processing power than the rocket that went to moon first time and much more. The games are very smooth, the UI is very smooth.
Qi WIRELESS CHARGING:
I wonder why Samsung does not release wireless charging built in. You have to get a external Qi wireless charger and open the back, align it and use with a Qi charger. It should be integrated, but you can do it after the fact.
NFC Tags:
Wow, this is the most underrated in all reviews. Get bunch ( I mean around 10) of NFC Tags and use in bedrooms, offices, cars, living room and customize what your phone wants to do in those areas. For example in my S4, when I enter the car most often I use a) Navigation b) Listen to Podcasts. So I program my NFC tags accordingly using apps like Trigger and tap my phone to the NFC Tag and boom, phone does both. I am programming my S5 also to do host of things.
128 GB Micro SD card!!
This is just incredible. If you see my reviews, I have been saying having external capacity is very key. With a 4K camcorder you can fill your space in a blink of the eye. Movies take up space. Who would have thought a 128 GB tiny card can fit in a phone. This is just incredible. I tested with a 128 GB and it works wonderfully! A 16 GB phone memory will have around 10 GB spare initially.
OTG - USB Hosts:
This is also often ignored feature in many reviews. On the GO USB cable + S5 means you can use with external hard disks, and virtually many of USB devices. If you have a thumb drive and have files, you can in fact read with a phone and don’t necessarily have to open a laptop. works out of the box.
BATTERY:
Do you really need to care for battery anymore. I don’t. Just use the phone. I have battery power banks with capacity as high as 30,000 mAh to 8000 mAh that I can charge virtually anywhere without a power supply. So this has become moot for me in past year. I would also suggest you get power banks and not really care of battery drainage. Use the phone and enjoy!
MISC FEATURES:
I tested fingerprint scanner, but I am not sure how reliable it will be over time with scratches/oily fingers etc. I have to test it further, but for now I will settle on traditional passwords till bugs are ironed out. Apple’s initial fingerprint software had bugs which was fixed subsequently. There are so many other features in S5. Some of them have become so standard that they are not review worthy! e.g., Infrared for wireless remotes, GPS etc. GPS was spot on and I tried multiple GPS apps. It was bright outdoors (had to crank the brightness all the way up).
To give a sample, I tried following apps and they just worked awesome.
Amazon Mobile, Androidify, Angry Birds (multiple themes), Asphalt 8, Box, Chrome, NAVIGON (from Garmin - offline maps), TOM TOM, , Google Navigation/Earth/Maps, Google Currents (nice way to read News), Google Drive, Ebay, Linkedin, Google Music, Tapatalk (awesome forum browsing app), Microsoft One Note (legacy docs, skydrive of 25 GB is good), Microsoft Office, (yes they hve for Android!), Subsonic Music Streamer, TweetCaster Pro for Android (excellent twitter client), Twit.Tv, Trigger, Google Voice
Ask questions, the review cannot do justice to Galaxy S5. I will be glad to answer any questions within 24 hours.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
Came with problemBy André Mello
This is my first day with the phone and I can't usr It.
It's shutting down and It's show the headphone icon even when it is no connected, what mean the only way to call is using de headphone.
No Warranty, the only thing I can do is Cry.
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
A Samsung EvolutionBy Johnny Saigon®
First off, I am not a professional reviewer, nor am I employed or compensated by Samsung or any other company. Instead of boring you with facts - which you can find anywhere on the Net - I will just give you some real-world impressions on how it looks, feels, and runs. With that out of the way, let's get to the point and the nitty gritty, shall we?
* THE SCREEN - that is the very first thing you will notice when you look at the S5. Samsung has found its niche with AMOLED screens, which are BRIGHT & SATURATED. Everything almost literally jumps out at you, and sometimes even too much so. I had to switch to the "natural" setting, as the "vivid" and even "standard" profiles are too saturated(and FAKE) for me. It's better as a demo unit to draw you in, but for everyday use, I recommend switching to the natural profile.
FACTS: The Galaxy S5 has a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with Full HD resolution - 1080 x 1920 pixels or ~432 ppi pixel density, plus Gorilla Glass 3 to protect the screen from scratches.
* The Look - the S5 has a more squared-off edges look than the S4, which is more squared off than the S3, but all three are not as angular as the S2. In terms of roundness-to square-ness, it goes from the S3 - S4 - S5 - S2 (the original S just looks like an iPhone 3GS). Check out my images for an easier comparison. The S5 is the tallest and widest, but not the thickest of the Galaxy S's. The best thing I can say about this is it's an evolution. Beauty is subjective, so judge for yourself. The front side is almost the same as any other Galaxy phone: You have the physical Home button, flanked by the "back" and "menu" capacitive buttons. Probably the most improved aspect of the design is in its functionality - it is now dust-proof, and water-proof up to 3 feet!
FACTS: The dimensions are 5.59" x 2.85" x 0.32"(142cm x 72.5cm x 8.1cm), and weighs 5.11oz(145g).
* The Feel - Samsung has taken a lot of flack for making the Galaxy S line so cheap looking and feeling with its plastic bodies, for being the top Android phone maker. HTC has been known to have the best craftsmanship with their all-metal One phones. Perhaps Samsung feel they are so dominant that they don't have to spend more to mass-produce metal phones, but since they don't want to come off as too arrogant, so their compromise is a dimpled, faux-rubber backside like the Nexus 7(2012) and its very own Galaxy Note 3. It definitely gives a better feel - it doesn't slip and slide in your hands or pockets anymore - but it cannot compare to the feel and craftsmanship of the HTC One(both the m7 and m8). It is on the right track though, so let's hope that rumored luxury "F" line or next year's S6 will continue to get better.
* How it Runs - This phone is fast, fast, FAST! With a 2.5gHz Snapdragon 801, it has the fastest processor out there right now. It terms of real speed, I cannot say if it is faster than the HTC One m8 or the Sony Xperia Z2, but it is definitely up there. When you touch an app icon to launch it, it launches nearly instantly. To really see how this phone flies, just open the gallery app and scroll through all your photos and you'll see what I mean. Usually the gallery is where most phones stutter as it tries to load all your photos and albums - but NOT the S5!
* The Camera - FINALLY! Samsung has decided to make a decent camera, and not just as an afterthought. This 16mp camera is really awesome, so much better than the S4. I would always get washed out images with my S3/S4/Note 2, but with the S5, it actually looks like it's from a decent point-and-shoot dedicated camera with crisp, bright, and saturated images. Low-light shooting is also vastly improved, although not as good as the new HTC One m8. 16mp means 5312 x 2988 -resolution images, so you can actually blow them up or crop them down without fearing the dreaded pixelation monster. There are a myriad of other cool and useful camera features that I will save for you to find out(like macro and "Google Street View" modes :]). And lastly, the focus is quick, quick, QUICK! Nearly instantaneous focus allows you to capture those hard-to-capture moments easier. A definitely thumbs up to Samsung for paying attention to the camera and its functions.
* Software - I'm still trying to figure out everything, as there is A LOT of stuff under the hood. Samsung's TouchWiz user interface this time around is A LOT less intrusive though, as much as can be without being totally stock Android, I guess. The layout and iconography are flatter and simpler, and for the better in my view. There is also a new sensor on the back, just beneath the camera lens. It is a heart-rate monitor/pedometer, and it comes with its own health app called S Health. There is a new battery-saving mode which can save you precious minutes when you're caught in a bind. All in all, I think this version is a lot nicer-looking, more responsive, and better than the precious S phones.
The ultimate question is whether this phone is a worthy upgrade over the S4. As my review title suggests, it is an evolution, an incremental upgrade over the S4. So with that said I cannot whole-heartedly recommend it if you already have a good phone, or even over the S4. But I do feel this upgrade is more vast and much better than from the S3 to the S4, so in that sense Samsung has done a much better job this year. If you are switching from an older phone that was made at least 2 years ago, then I would tell you jump right in and try the S5 - it will not disappoint you. But for those with already a good phone, and/or say you just finished year one of your 2-year contract, then I would say think hard before you make the leap. For my money, I think the Note 4 and S6 will be the bigger upgrades more worth waiting for.
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Phone is okay, not happy with the seller.
