This review is from: Samsung Galaxy S5, Black 16GB (Sprint) (Wireless Phone)
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 a unlocked 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.
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.
