Samsung Galaxy S5 Review

Going against expectations, Samsung didn't overhaul the planning, feel and appear of its new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S5, instead going for modest tweaks and two new sensors geared toward making it the keys and eyes to your life.

Whereas Samsung has typically out-specced its rivals, the new Galaxy S5 seems to be aimed at outsmarting them instead. Whether or not it be enough to make shoppers jump at what's likely to be a dear device is another matter, with few visible variations between its new flagship and its feature packed predecessor, the Galaxy S4.


The South Korean tech large's Galaxy Note devices already offer customers a bevy of choices within the larger phablet category, thus Samsung did not want to push the boundaries of size for its Android 4.4.a combine of KitKat-primarily based S5, that has a touch larger 5.one-in. show than the S4's 5-in. show.

At a look, it's quite troublesome to determine any changes between the S4 and S5, that shares the identical basic type and physical vogue, such as the curved frame together with shiny metal edging and the same old oval home button. Whereas the S5 remains fairly snug and lightweight within the hand, Samsung failed to make the S5 lighter or slimmer. At 100 forty five grams and 8.one millimetres skinny, it's fifteen grams heavier than the S4 and surprisingly zero.a pair of millimetres thicker.

Some fans had hoped Samsung would follow HTC's and Apple's lead in using full-metal jackets to provide their premium devices a sleeker feel. Apple managed to extend the dimensions of the show on its iPhone 5s whereas creating it lighter at the identical time, weighing in at 112 grams. To achieve a further luxury feel, Samsung simply created the plastic back plate perforated. It's still removable, that suggests that the battery will get replaced.



There were rumours Samsung would pack the S5 with a whole new super high resolution "2K" show however there is truly no modification here. Like the S4, it's got a full HD Super AMOLED show at 1920x1080 resolution, which still offers the clear, detailed and crisp footage one expects from a premium phone.

Apps should be slightly faster with the new a pair of.5 gigahertz (GHz) quad core processor, up from one.nine GHz in the S4, whereas the rear-facing camera has been boosted to sixteen megapixels (MP) compared with the S4's 13 MP camera. As expected, the S5 conjointly supports Australia's 4G networks.



"We tend to did a global survey of customers to essentially perceive what they needed from their phones," Arno Lenior, chief selling officer for Samsung Australia, told Fairfax Media. "There are some dramatic enhancements to the hardware, but it's how people are using their phones and what's very important to them."

He pointed to the S5's dirt and water resistance, that was achieved by covering internal elements and the earphone jack in silicon, whereas the ability jack incorporates a new cover.

A nifty new power-saving mode will be handy where there is restricted chance to recharge, like at a pageant or conference. It might additionally atone for the battery solely being boosted from 2600mAh to 2800mAh.

Activating power-saving mode dims the display and reduces it to black and white, limiting access to only some key apps, like email, phone and internet browser. Samsung claims it might give the device three to eight days of life without charging.

The camera conjointly has some spectacular software improvements. It's perpetually annoying missing a rapid because the camera fumbles over focus, that the S5 overcomes with its lightning-quick auto-focus. Samsung claims this happens in 0.3 seconds and though robust to live, some test snapshots in an exceedingly well-lit area did work as claimed.

Another camera feature that helps improve the quality of photos is that the selective focus, which takes two footage – one every of the foreground and background – and allows you to pick where you would like the photo to focus.



Samsung's fingerprint scanner is just like Apple's iPhone 5s TouchID, however instead of a lightweight persist the house button, you swipe down from the bottom of the screen to the house button. The feature is solely enabled when the user registers up to three fingerprints on the device. The arrange is to change passwords and pass codes for payments or to unlock services. The scanner appeared to work well on the devices displayed at Mobile World Congress, but it will be fascinating to work out whether or not troubles emerge, as they did for Apple's iPhone 5s, once the S5 is throughout the rough and tumble of each day use by various shoppers.

Cleverly though, Samsung partnered with PayPal to launch its fingerprint scanner, giving it potential throughout a broader obtaining ecosystem than Apple's, that thus far solely allows payments in Apple's App Store and iTunes.

Samsung's fingerprint scanner additionally permits house house owners to unlock apps protected by Knox, the protection system Samsung hopes can be its doorway to a heap of enterprise users.

The various sensor – a heart-rate monitor nestled below the rear camera – has additional questionable worth, however it fits the health theme of Samsung's new Gear Work fitness band, that launched alongside the S5.

Samsung's 1st attempt at wearable gadgets was widely deemed a failure by observers and launched only with the Galaxy Note 3, while support for alternative devices stumbled with delayed software updates. The new line of Gear a pair of good watches and Gear Work might stand a higher chance being integrated with the Galaxy S5 from the outset.

Despite an earlier unveiling than last year, the Galaxy S5 will be accessible to consumers in Australia at roughly the same time as last year's S4, with all major telcos providing the device from April. A retail worth and subsidised plans have however to be released.