Samsung has almost released the year's most talked about Android phone (hint: it's a sequel to the Galaxy S4). But before you go spend your hard earned cash on the Samsung Galaxy S5, I thought you may want to have a clearer picture of what the phone can offer you and if it's worth buying. Here's my review:
The Look
Let's start off with the phone's presentation. Although it's plastic, I really liked how the back feels like leather. Plus, I appreciated the variety of colors you can choose from: black, white, blue, or gold. But as with all mobile devices, it's what's on the inside that counts.
The Tech
As far as the tech behind the S5 is concerned, there's plenty here. It has a 2-megapixel sensor on the front-facing camera; a rear-facing camera sporting 16 megapixels (this is an upgrade from S4, which has 13 megapixels, as noted on Verizon Wireless); a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 chipset; and 2GB of RAM. As a result, the S5 ought to satisfy Galaxy fans, and speaking as one of these fans, I was pleased with what I found. Unlike the previous version, which has a 2,600mAh battery, the S5's battery has much stronger 2,800mAh battery that lasts well over 10 hours while streaming video. Additionally, the S5 offers 802.11ac and comes with MIMO support and booster tech using LTE + Wifi. Regarding the phone's pictures and video, I liked that the camera can autofocus in up to 0.3 seconds, and how it offers 4K video recording.
Speaking of video recording, the phone should last for 12 hours of looped video, compared to the S4's 11 hours. I don't plan on playing video for that long, but someone out there might like this feature. As far as the 5.1" screen size goes, it's up .1 inches from the S4, while the 1080p Super AMOLED screen (as noted by Trusted Reviews) remains the same.
The New
Some may complain that these changes between the Galaxy S5 and the Galaxy S4 aren't significant enough to deserve another purchase. And while many of the changes are fairly minor, there are certain features that make the S5 stand out.
For instance, Samsung has placed a lot of emphasis on the fitness features intended to help Galaxy S5 owners live a long, happy life (they've referred to this as "S Health"). Case in point, there are the built-in heart rate monitor, pedometer, and fitness tracker.
Whether these features will become staples in other smartphones, well, time will only tell. And while the phone's new features might help you prolong your life, Samsung wants to prolong the life of the phone by making it splash and dust resistant. In fact, they've design the S5 to with stand 30 minutes under three feet of water—just in case you ever fall into a pond or go swimming in a shallow pool without emptying your pockets first.
Finally, for you parents out there, the "Kids Mode" feature might interest you. This allows parents to block their children from accessing their email or Netflix account, thereby saving themselves some potentially embarrassing (or worse) situations.
So, do you plan on buying a Samsung Galaxy S5 or will you stick to your current mobile device? Feel free to sound off on our Facebook page.
Guest Post by Blaine Kelton
The Look
Let's start off with the phone's presentation. Although it's plastic, I really liked how the back feels like leather. Plus, I appreciated the variety of colors you can choose from: black, white, blue, or gold. But as with all mobile devices, it's what's on the inside that counts.
The Tech
As far as the tech behind the S5 is concerned, there's plenty here. It has a 2-megapixel sensor on the front-facing camera; a rear-facing camera sporting 16 megapixels (this is an upgrade from S4, which has 13 megapixels, as noted on Verizon Wireless); a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 chipset; and 2GB of RAM. As a result, the S5 ought to satisfy Galaxy fans, and speaking as one of these fans, I was pleased with what I found. Unlike the previous version, which has a 2,600mAh battery, the S5's battery has much stronger 2,800mAh battery that lasts well over 10 hours while streaming video. Additionally, the S5 offers 802.11ac and comes with MIMO support and booster tech using LTE + Wifi. Regarding the phone's pictures and video, I liked that the camera can autofocus in up to 0.3 seconds, and how it offers 4K video recording.
Speaking of video recording, the phone should last for 12 hours of looped video, compared to the S4's 11 hours. I don't plan on playing video for that long, but someone out there might like this feature. As far as the 5.1" screen size goes, it's up .1 inches from the S4, while the 1080p Super AMOLED screen (as noted by Trusted Reviews) remains the same.
The New
Some may complain that these changes between the Galaxy S5 and the Galaxy S4 aren't significant enough to deserve another purchase. And while many of the changes are fairly minor, there are certain features that make the S5 stand out.
For instance, Samsung has placed a lot of emphasis on the fitness features intended to help Galaxy S5 owners live a long, happy life (they've referred to this as "S Health"). Case in point, there are the built-in heart rate monitor, pedometer, and fitness tracker.
Whether these features will become staples in other smartphones, well, time will only tell. And while the phone's new features might help you prolong your life, Samsung wants to prolong the life of the phone by making it splash and dust resistant. In fact, they've design the S5 to with stand 30 minutes under three feet of water—just in case you ever fall into a pond or go swimming in a shallow pool without emptying your pockets first.
Finally, for you parents out there, the "Kids Mode" feature might interest you. This allows parents to block their children from accessing their email or Netflix account, thereby saving themselves some potentially embarrassing (or worse) situations.
So, do you plan on buying a Samsung Galaxy S5 or will you stick to your current mobile device? Feel free to sound off on our Facebook page.
Guest Post by Blaine Kelton
