Welcome Guest ( Log In | Register )

Bump Topic Topic Closed RSS Feed

Outline · [ Standard ] · Linear+

Review Samsung Galaxy S5 review

views
     
TSNoraDanish
post Apr 11 2014, 06:04 PM, updated 10y ago

New Member
*
Junior Member
34 posts

Joined: Mar 2014
From: Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu.



user posted image


Samsung's new flagship Android smartphone is finally here but has the Korean brand done enough to impress? Check out our Samsung Galaxy S5 review

It's finally here, the Samsung Galaxy S5. A couple of months after its initial launch at MWC in Barcelona, Samsung's latest contender has ditched the bloatware in a bid to take on the likes of the HTC One M8, Apple iPhone 5S and Sony Xperia Z2.

We've been playing with the new handset day and night for the past few days and we've been terrifying ourselves with the new heart-rate monitor and scanning our digits with the fingerprint scanner. We'll be updating our review shortly with more thorough testing including how it works with the Samsung Gear 2 and Samsung Gear Fit.

As we've mentioned, Samsung's latest offering is facing some stiff competition. Last year, we named the HTC One our smartphone of the year and this year HTC has produced and ever better phone, Apple's still going strong with its iPhone 5S and who knows what 2014 could bring in the form of the rumoured iPhone 6. Plus there's the Sony Xperia Z2 which is due to land shortly and looks set to be its best smartphone yet. So let's get down to it and find out if the Samsung Galaxy S5 is up to the challenge.

Samsung Galaxy S5: Size and Build

Previous iterations of Samsung smartphones have been criticised for being too plasticky and for those looking for some metal, you're going to be disappointed.

The S5 is made entirely from plastic apart from the dappled leatherette back. Samsung seems to love making things that look like other materials - the sides look metal but they're plastic. The back looks like leather but it's leatherette.

Having said all that, it's a step up from the Samsung Galaxy S4 and we quite like the design. We expected the back to look cheap and tacky but it is, in fact, a pleasing texture and, dare we say it, premium - a word not often used to describe Samsung smartphones.

Vital statistics are 142 x 72.5 x 8.1mm making it a smartphone on the larger and thicker end of the scale. Its weight comes in at 145g, making it lighter than the robust HTC One M8 (160g) and the difference is noticeable when holding both phones. It's heavier than the S4, which tipped the scales at 130g, and dwarfs the iPhone 5s with a heft of 122g.

As with the S4, there are physical buttons to complement the touchscreen. You'll find the home button still in tact and this also now acts as the fingerprint scanner - more on that later. There's also a volume rocker and the on/off switch.

The headphone jack remains at the top of the device alongside an infared port. On the bottom you'll find, under a hatch, the sharing port. The reason for the hatch? The Samsung Galaxy S5 is IP 67 water and dust resistant. Note: resistant, not proof.

The new Samsung Galaxy S5 is available in four hues; charcoal, blue, gold and white. The blue and gold look a little on the tackier-side of the spectrum but each to your own. We'd recommend the charcoal.

As we've already mentioned, this is a large phone. Testament to this is the fact that on our first run we managed to drop it. Take a tip from us, get a case.

This post has been edited by NoraDanish: Apr 11 2014, 06:06 PM

Topic ClosedOptions
 

Change to:
| Lo-Fi Version
0.0109sec    0.35    5 queries    GZIP Disabled
Time is now: 28th March 2024 - 08:50 PM