{"id":36076,"date":"2014-07-14T15:06:42","date_gmt":"2014-07-14T14:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/?p=36076"},"modified":"2014-07-14T15:07:04","modified_gmt":"2014-07-14T14:07:04","slug":"samsung-galaxy-s5-review-hands-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/2014\/07\/samsung-galaxy-s5-review-hands-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Samsung Galaxy S5 review: hands-on"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Pros:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bright and beautiful AMOLED screen<\/li>\n<li>Less plastic, more premium than previous Galaxy devices<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Cons:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Gimmicky hardware additions<\/li>\n<li>TouchWiz modifications may not be to everyone\u2019s taste<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-36083\" title=\"Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/1-450x253.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>The Samsung Galaxy S5 is the latest in Samsung\u2019s line of flagship Android phones, refining rather than redefining the series.<\/p>\n<p>Running Android Kitkat (4.4.2) out of the box and with the requisite TouchWiz additions (now loved and hated by Samsung fans in equal measure), alongside a 2.5ghz Quad Core Processor, interaction with the S5 feels silky smooth.<\/p>\n<p>Its 5.1\u201d 1080P AMOLED Screen gives a striking first impression and the relatively thin bezels prevent it from edging too close to \u2018phablet\u2019 territory also keeping it fractionally smaller than the Sony Xperia Z and HTC One (M8), its two closest competitors. The fantastic screen also perfectly showcases the new 16MP Camera which is capable of filming at 4K.<\/p>\n<p>The review model is \u2018<a title=\"Sim Free Samsung Galaxy S5 - White\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/sim-free-samsung-galaxy-s5-unlocked-white-16gb-44282\">Pearl White<\/a>\u2019 but the S5 is also available in <a title=\"Sim Free Samsung Galaxy S5 - Black\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/sim-free-samsung-galaxy-s5-black-16gb-p44278.htm\">Black<\/a>, <a title=\"SIM Free Samsung Galaxy S5 - Blue\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/sim-free-samsung-galaxy-s5-unlocked-blue-16gb-44367\">Blue<\/a> and Gold (not quite the champagne gold which seems to be \u2018in\u2019 now, but close) and has a \u2018dimpled\u2019 finish making it feel much less plasticy than previous Galaxy models.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-36084\" title=\"Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone (2)\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/2-450x253.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/2-450x253.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/2.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>One of the more interesting additions to this year&#8217;s model is a heart-rate monitor located on the back of the device, just below the camera lens. It\u2019s closely integrated with Samsung\u2019s S Health App but its necessity is questionable.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/31.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-36085\" title=\"Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone (3)\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/31-253x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"253\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/31-253x450.jpg 253w, https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/31-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/31.jpg 902w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 253px) 100vw, 253px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Further, and in a clear attempt to ape the iPhone 5 and HTC One Max whilst adding another USP, the S5 includes a fingerprint scanner &#8211; ideal for upping security on the device although its reliability is something that requires a longer term test. So far the consensus is that this is not as accurate and useful as the one featured on the iPhone 5S.<\/p>\n<p>Following the trend set by the Sony Xperia Z, The S5 is both water and dust resistant. Although not to quite the same extent, it will easily survive a drop in the sink or on the beach.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, the Galaxy S5 is a worthy successor to the S4, improving significantly enough to make the upgrade worthwhile whilst also performing favourably when compared to close competitors (the Sony Xperia Z2 and HTC One (M8)). Price-wise it does tend to be the cheaper of the 3 flagships so certainly a strong contender for your hard-earned cash.<\/p>\n\n<!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.27.4 -->\n<div class=\"quads-location quads-ad1\" id=\"quads-ad1\" style=\"float:none;margin:0px 0 0px 0;text-align:center;\">\n<div id=\"bari-widget\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pros: Bright and beautiful AMOLED screen Less plastic, more premium than previous Galaxy devices Cons: Gimmicky hardware additions TouchWiz modifications may not be to everyone\u2019s taste The Samsung Galaxy S5 is the latest in Samsung\u2019s line of flagship Android phones, refining rather than redefining the series. Running Android Kitkat (4.4.2) out of the box and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[311],"tags":[7361,3429,202,173],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36076"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36076"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36089,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36076\/revisions\/36089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}