Samsung Galaxy S5 Review
Shubham Devikar
Author
April 20, 2014
Samsung Galaxy S series has been the best in business for quite a while now. Since the introduction of Galaxy S2, the Galaxy S Series has been a force to reckon with. Android is the most popular mobile OS in the world and Galaxy S Series is the most popular lineup. Galaxy S5 is the latest from Samsung. Let’s see if this flagship is a worthy successor to the Galaxy S4.
Design and Build Quality:
Look and Feel:
The Samsung phones have been bashed for a long time for their uninspiring designs that look far from premium. The cheap plasticky feel has been the Achilles heel of the Galaxy line-up, rightfully so. They don’t inspire the feeling that you are holding a flagship phone.
On the positive side, Samsung has been slowly improving the look and feel of their phones with each new edition. Samsung Galaxy S5 sports a very compact design for its screen size. The bezel is super thin and helps in better handling.
Look and Feel:
The Samsung phones have been bashed for a long time for their uninspiring designs that look far from premium. The cheap plasticky feel has been the Achilles heel of the Galaxy line-up, rightfully so. They don’t inspire the feeling that you are holding a flagship phone.
On the positive side, Samsung has been slowly improving the look and feel of their phones with each new edition. Samsung Galaxy S5 sports a very compact design for its screen size. The bezel is super thin and helps in better handling.
Samsung has ditched the plastic back of Galaxy S4 in favor of the much nicer rubbery plastic back with dotted pattern. This is a welcome change and as a result, Galaxy S5 scores much better in looks over its predecessors.
Under the hood:
What is a flagship without having something to boast about, right?
Samsung has left no stones unturned in the hardware department. Here are the tech specs of Galaxy S5:
What is a flagship without having something to boast about, right?
Samsung has left no stones unturned in the hardware department. Here are the tech specs of Galaxy S5:
Specifications | Description | |
---|---|---|
Processor | Snapdragon 801 SoC, 2.5Ghz Quad Core Krait 400, Adreno 330 GPU | Snapdragon 801 is the best SoC in the market presently. |
Ram | 2GB | Doesn’t get any better than this. |
Memory | 16/32GB with MicroSD card slot | Ample space with an option to further increase it by using a Micro SD card |
Display | 5.1” 1080p Super AMOLED HD | Really good! Samsung has done a commendable job by surpassing the quality of Samsung S4’s display. More on this later. |
Weight | 145 Grams | Light, for its size. |
OS | Android 4.4 with TouchWiz | Latest Android version modded the Samsung way. |
Camera | 16MP ISOCELL Camera with 16:9 stills , 2160p Video Recording | Promising specs. |
Usability and Features:
Display:
Display:
This is a phase in Smartphone industry where there is little to distinguish between phones. They all sport comparable CPUs, GPUs, Android version, and even the same form-factor. In a market where everyone is featuring LED Displays, Samsung vouches for its Super AMOLED display.
The display of Galaxy S5 is an improvement over that of Galaxy S4. AMOLED displays are often criticized for their inability to show accurate colors as compared to their LED counterparts. But with Galaxy S5, Samsung has overcome that problem to a large extent.
Galaxy S5 is capable of displaying incredible contrast which was always a strong suite of Samsung AMOLED displays. The maximum brightness has improved dramatically over Galaxy S4.
Overall, Samsung has done a terrific job with the display with improved brightness and color accuracy.
The display of Galaxy S5 is an improvement over that of Galaxy S4. AMOLED displays are often criticized for their inability to show accurate colors as compared to their LED counterparts. But with Galaxy S5, Samsung has overcome that problem to a large extent.
Galaxy S5 is capable of displaying incredible contrast which was always a strong suite of Samsung AMOLED displays. The maximum brightness has improved dramatically over Galaxy S4.
Overall, Samsung has done a terrific job with the display with improved brightness and color accuracy.
Camera:
Galaxy S5 sports a 16MP camera with ISOCELL sensor. It takes photos in 16:9 aspect ratio natively.
The stills from this camera are top notch and come out better than its competitors. The low light performance is also great with fast shutter speed.
Galaxy S5 takes videos in 2160p which is up from 1080p of most Smartphone. Higher resolution results in better quality videos. Coupled with the impressive sensor that Samsung has put in Galaxy S5, videos come out to be of amazing quality.
Overall, Galaxy S5 is one of the best camera phones in the market today and if you are into mobile phone photography, you’ll be very pleased with what Galaxy S5 has to offer.
The stills from this camera are top notch and come out better than its competitors. The low light performance is also great with fast shutter speed.
Galaxy S5 takes videos in 2160p which is up from 1080p of most Smartphone. Higher resolution results in better quality videos. Coupled with the impressive sensor that Samsung has put in Galaxy S5, videos come out to be of amazing quality.
Overall, Galaxy S5 is one of the best camera phones in the market today and if you are into mobile phone photography, you’ll be very pleased with what Galaxy S5 has to offer.
Battery Life:
We have come to expect great battery life results from Samsung lately and Galaxy S5 doesn’t disappoint. Galaxy S5 offers very good battery life. It can easily go for 2 days with moderate to heavy usage.
It also sports an ultra power saving mode which will take you through the day with just 10% battery (with a lot of features disabled, obviously).
It also sports an ultra power saving mode which will take you through the day with just 10% battery (with a lot of features disabled, obviously).
IP67 Certification:
Well, this is a trick from Sony’s arsenal but it is nice to have it here. With an IP67 certification, Galaxy S5 is resistant to sweat, rain, liquids, sand and dust.
Fingerprint scanner:
Talking about borrowing tricks from competitors, here’s another. The Home button doubles up as a Fingerprint scanner. Though it doesn’t have much of a use right now, but it is supposed to make your phone more secure. With Fingerprint scanner, you can unlock your phone and make payments via PayPal with a swipe of your finger.
Final thoughts:
The latest iteration of the Galaxy S line up is a worthy successor to previous flagship Galaxy S4.
Samsung has put a step in right direction and Galaxy S5 improves on a lot of things over Galaxy S4.
To start with, Samsung has done a good job with the design and materials used. It may not look as premium as iPhone 5S or HTC M8 but it is certainly better than Galaxy S4 and feels great to operate.
Likewise, the Super AMOLED display has improved over its predecessor. The TouchWiz UI also appears more polished along with Android 4.4.
The camera of Galaxy S5 is a great performer and easily beats the competition and takes the crown. Nothing beats it in photography.
Samsung has done a terrific job with Galaxy S5 by improving on a lot of things which Galaxy S4 already did well. If budget is no bar and you want the best phone in the market then look no further. Galaxy S5 won’t disappoint you.
Talking about borrowing tricks from competitors, here’s another. The Home button doubles up as a Fingerprint scanner. Though it doesn’t have much of a use right now, but it is supposed to make your phone more secure. With Fingerprint scanner, you can unlock your phone and make payments via PayPal with a swipe of your finger.
Final thoughts:
The latest iteration of the Galaxy S line up is a worthy successor to previous flagship Galaxy S4.
Samsung has put a step in right direction and Galaxy S5 improves on a lot of things over Galaxy S4.
To start with, Samsung has done a good job with the design and materials used. It may not look as premium as iPhone 5S or HTC M8 but it is certainly better than Galaxy S4 and feels great to operate.
Likewise, the Super AMOLED display has improved over its predecessor. The TouchWiz UI also appears more polished along with Android 4.4.
The camera of Galaxy S5 is a great performer and easily beats the competition and takes the crown. Nothing beats it in photography.
Samsung has done a terrific job with Galaxy S5 by improving on a lot of things which Galaxy S4 already did well. If budget is no bar and you want the best phone in the market then look no further. Galaxy S5 won’t disappoint you.