SAMSUNG GALAXY S5 REVIEW

Samsung Galaxy S5 review: Design and
build
The Galaxy S5 retains that recognisable
Samsung look which means not much has
changed compared to previous generations
and, for that matter, other Galaxy devices.
The S5 looks a lot like the Galaxy Note 3
which is a shame because it really requires its
own style as a flagship device. Unfortunately
it's bigger, squarer and more boring than the
Galaxy S4 . Read: Galaxy S5 price and where
to buy in the UK .
It also doesn't feel like a premium
smartphone in the hand. A 'perforated' rear
cover supposedly makes it feel more natural
but we just don't see the benefit here. It does
feel nice and soft to the touch and has a nice
grip to it but reminds us of that 3D style
wallpaper you can get for your walls (that's
bad).
A huge design change is that Samsung has
added dust and water resistant credentials.
That's something which Sony has been
offering for a while now in its Xperia range.
The Galaxy S5 has an IP67 rating which means
it will happily get wet, even submersed in
water, without frazzling inside and is
completely sealed from dust particles.
However, you'll need to make doubly sure
that the microUSB port cover is on and the
rear cover is perfectly clipped into place. I'm
sure a number of users will get an unwanted
surprise when the gaps aren't completely
covered since it needs to clip in properly in a
total of nearly 20 places around the edge.
Samsung has decided to go against the trend
of on-screen navigations buttons and stuck
with its physical home button with a touch-
sensitive counterparts either side. Instead of
the previously used menu, we now have
recent apps. The physical button is fine and
houses the fingerprint scanner (see hardware)
but the other two, particularly the back
button, are hard to reach.
The Galaxy S5 comes in four colours at launch
– black, white (as you might expect) plus blue
and something called 'copper gold'. At launch
Vodafone has the network exclusive on the
gold model.
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Samsung Galaxy S5 review: Hardware and
performance
Inside the Galaxy S5 is the kind of high-end
specs you'd want to find in a flagship. Like
rival devices, the handset has a Qualcomm
Snapdragon 801 processor which is quad-core
but clocked a little higher at 2.5GHz. This is
accompanied by a now standard 2GB of RAM,
although a handful of devices do have more.
We've hit a point where flagship smartphone
offer excellent performance – it almost goes
without saying. They're all running of
powerful and efficient processors so we're not
surprised to find the Galaxy S5 nippy in day-
to-day performance but it's not flawless.
For starters, there is a slight delay between
pressing the power or home button and the
lockscreen appearing and the same is true
when hitting the recent apps button. There's
also the fact that the camera app takes a good
few seconds to launch and quitting to the
homescreen from apps doesn't happen
straight away. These are minor gripes but the
Galaxy S5 seems slow in these areas compares
to rivals which can do these tasks seemingly
instantaneously.
See also : Samsung Gear 2 review: Classy Tizen
smartwatch is too expensive .
Samsung Galaxy S5 review: Storage
The Galaxy S5 is available in either 16- or
32GB capacities, although it seems to be a
classic situation where the larger of the two is
like a super rare Pokémon. A microSD card
supporting up to 64GB is almost a given
nowadays but the Galaxy S5 can take double
that at 128GB. Like other Samsung
smartphones, the Galaxy S5 also offers 50GB
of free Dropbox cloud storage.
It's a good job there is plenty of storage
options because like the Galaxy S4, a lot of
the Galaxy S5's internal storage is used up
before you've even downloaded an app. Our
16GB has just under 10GB available which is
less than average.
Samsung Galaxy S5 review: Screen
Despite numerous rumours of a 5.25in
screen, the Galaxy S5's display is only
marginally larger than the Galaxy S4's. It's
5.1in and if you were hoping for a new crazy
high resolution then you might be
disappointed to find out that the Galaxy S5
has a now very standard Full HD display - we
were expecting the next generation of
technology so can't help but feel a little
disappointed.
Nevertheless, the display does look brilliant
on a number of levels. Of course, it's still
Super AMOLED as you would expect from
Samsung so colours are vivid and pop out at
you and contrast is good, too. As you might
presume, the Galaxy S5 offers excellent
viewing angles.
The Galaxy S5's display performs better than
most outdoors and we found we rarely need
to up the brightness to gain visibility.
Maximum brightness is good and about level
with what we're using to seeing but it's worth
noting that the display goes exceptionally dark
which could be handy for saving battery or
situations like reading in the dark. A handy
brightness slider resides in the notification
bar but it can be switched off if you prefer.
Smart stay is carried over from the Galaxy S4
and keeps the screen from switching off as
long as you're looking at it. By default, the
screen is set 'adapt display' which
automatically adjust elements like colour
gamut, white tone and contrast but you can
use other modes which tweak the settings if
you prefer: Dynamic, Standard, Professional
photo and Cinema.
Flagship smartphones are generally large these
days so we're talking 5in and above. This
makes them difficult to use one-handed but
Samsung has included a special mode which
you can enable in the settings menu. A quick
swipe into the middle of the screen and back
out will launch the one-handed mode. Here
you can adjust the size of the interface so it's
easy to reach. It's a bit strange but we can
see it being helpful to some users.
Samsung Galaxy S5 review: Fingerprint
scanner
A key hardware addition is a fingerprint
scanner. It's keeping up with the Jones' here
since the iPhone 5s has one. The Galaxy S5's
is also built into the home button but you
have to swipe your finger across it. You can
register up to three fingerprints and need to
set a backup password because there's a five
attempt limit on using your paws to unlock
the device.
See also : Samsung Galaxy S5 fingerprint
scanner gets hacked: Follows iPhone 5s Touch
ID.
In general, the fingerprint scanner is accurate
at reading your print but swiping your digits
across it in the correct manner is awkward to
do one-handed which is quite annoying.
Unless you hold it with one hand and use
your other hand to swipe, you'll quickly hit
the attempt limit. Messages like 'swipe over
the centre' and 'swipe the entire pad' are a
little too common.
As well as unlocking the Galaxy S5 with your
finger, you can use your precious print to
authorise you Samsung account instead of
typing in a password. The same is true of
PayPal payments so this does make things
quicker and more secure. Furthermore, it can
be used to launch a private mode (see
software).
Samsung Galaxy S5 review: Heart rate
monitor
Samsung has successfully added new features
to the Galaxy S5, but this is one which might
sound cool but isn't something most users
will find to be an actual benefit.
Below the camera is a flash but also a heart
rate monitor, making the Galaxy S5 the first
smartphone to come with the feature. Place
your finger on the sensor and it can read
your heart rate in a matter of seconds. It's
integrated into the S Health app and while it's
a novelty to check your pulse a few times,
realistically it's something only enthusiasts
are going to use regularly.
We feel it's the kind of tech which is better
reserved for smartwatches and fitness
trackers. It seems more like Samsung has
added it just to tick a 'new feature' box on a
check list.
It's also worth noting that the S Health app
also keeps track of your daily step count
without a wrist band or similar additional
gadget, so the Galaxy S5 is keeping up with
rivals on this front – namely the iPhone 5s
and HTC One M8.
Samsung Galaxy S5 review: Wireless
connectivity
Wireless connectivity is all pretty up-to-date
with 11ac Wi-Fi (MIMO), NFC, Bluetooth 4.0,
an infrared transmitter, and the latest 4G
technology. Samsung has fitted the Galaxy S5
with Cat 4 LTE supporting eight bands and a
download booster which uses your Wi-Fi
connection combine with mobile data to give
you a theoretical max download speed of
400Mbps.
Unfortunately wireless charging is not
something which is built-in – look to Nokia's
high end devices and Google's Nexus 5 for
this. However, a charging cover will be
available to add this facility.