Samsung Galaxy S5 Pro Reviews

After its predecessor’s scattershot feature-set, the more focused approach of the S5 makes for a more confident feeling device. The camera is solid and its new UI clean, and while the heart-rate sensor takes a little getting used to for finger positioning, once you’re familiar it’s a useful addition for those who want to track basic fitness without spending on a dedicated wristband. Water-resistance is something we find ourselves wishing every phone offered.Unfortunately, not everything works as it should. Biggest disappointment is the fingerprint scanner, flawed in both ergonomics and consistency, though for a device that makes a point of working on the basics, the underwhelming speaker also warrants a mention. Making predictions about whether the Galaxy S5 will sell or not is pointless: Samsung shifting millions of units is an inevitability. More pertinent is whether it’s worth Galaxy S4 owners upgrading, not to mention if they should opt for another Samsung or consider jumping ship to something like the HTC One M8. As upgrades go, the Galaxy S5 feels iterative. Some of the rough edges of before have gone, though others have been introduced in their place; viewed alongside, the Galaxy S4 still feels a solid handset, and we can’t help but think you’d have to be particularly keen on a specific S5 feature for it to be worth switching out. As for the One M8, Samsung’s camera has the edge in everyday use, though we prefer HTC’s design, construction, and UI. Brand zealots and lawyers care about where Samsung did or didn’t get its inspiration from; for the average consumer, what’s more important is whether their new smartphone has useful features and whether they work as they should. On that basis, the Galaxy S5 is a mixed bag.

The answer depends on how important battery life and photo quality are to you. If your answer is "very," then yes, you should buy it. The camera is way better than the HTC One's, and the battery life is way better than the Nexus 5. From there, you just have to decide if it's worth dealing with Samsung's software. If you've gotten along with TouchWiz just fine in the past, it's a no-brainer. This is easily the best version of TouchWiz yet. If you're feeling more adventurous, you could also ditch Samsung's boss camera app, root the phone, and install a clean version of Android. There's been no mention of a Google Play Edition of the S5 yet, but we wouldn't be surprised if that happens at some point. You may lose all the lovely HDR tricks (and UHD) video, though. (Actually commenter Tad-bravo points out that you can install a clean ROM but keep the S5 camera app, in which case, YES, do that.) Ultimately, the S5 is a quality phone with an excellent screen, a very nice camera, a rockstar processor, and fantastic battery life. For 200 bucks on contract, you could do a lot worse, as long as you can be happy with the phone you have, not the phone it could have been if Samsung had gotten fully out of its own way.

Things haven't changed much from the Galaxy S4 but Samsung, as usual, has packed the Galaxy S5 with features but a lot are somewhat unnecessary. The heart rate monitor is a prime example and while the fingerprint scanner is cool, it's difficult to use. There is some top end hardware here, particularly the screen, but nothing which stands out in a busy and competitive market. A key element is that the design of the Galaxy S5 falls short. It's plastic, looks like every other Samsung handset and doesn't feel premium. Galaxy S4 users needn’t upgrade and anyone looking for a flagship smartphone can get better elsewhere.

The Galaxy S5 is a fantastic phone. It doesn’t look different, but there’s a lot to love. For the first time, Samsung is innovating like Apple, instead of just mimicking it. Last year we got a bunch of new apps, and with the Galaxy Pro tablets at CES we saw a stupid new interface, but with the GS5, Samsung has taken a hard look at what people really want from its phone and tried to deliver a compelling new product that focuses its efforts on a few great features. If you have a high-end phone from last year, there is no reason to rush out to buy the Galaxy S5, but if you’re in line for an upgrade, this is the only flagship phone with a waterproof exterior on all four major carriers. T-Mobile has the Xperia Z1S, which is great, but outside of that, it’s GS5 or a cheaper device. It’s also the only phone with a heartbeat monitor, if that’s your thing. Overall, Samsung isn’t reinventing the wheel, but the Galaxy S5 is a fantastic new phone to buy and a definite contender for phone of the year.

Well, we've been patient for these two particular smartphones, and now that they are both here, the only thing left to do is to make the difficult decision of which one to choose. Quite frankly, both the Samsung Galaxy S5, and the HTC One (M8) are superb devices that can offer you an astonishing user experience throughout most areas. Some of the rare exceptions where these two are faltering are the UltraPixel camera of the One (M8), which continues to lag behind its rivals when it comes to quality, and the other is the somewhat unnatural color tones of the Galaxy S5's AMOLED screen (though they are admittedly punchy and eye-catching). Leaving these few weaknesses aside, it's clear that you simply can't go wrong with either of these, as they pack a tremendous amount of goodies to further complement their premium set of core features. The main distinguishing feature of the HTC One (M8) is, naturally, its premium, all-metal design, which is something that you don't get with the Galaxy S5 and its perforated plastic body. Without a doubt, the M8 feels like the more expensive product of the two, but it's also the colder product of the two. What we mean by this is that it's very likely for the Galaxy S5 to physically be the more comfortable phone to use for most people out there, and that shouldn't be overlooked. At the end of the day, Samsung and HTC are once again neck and neck with their latest flagship smartphones. The Galaxy S5 proves to be one step ahead with its superior camera, but the One (M8) kind of makes up for it with its premium design, more natural-looking screen and better speakers. The choice is yours!

At the end of the day, Samsung is staying true to its winning formula with the Galaxy S5, but the company has made some welcome, much-needed refinements, mostly involving getting rid of redundancies and focusing on what really matters, and that is the quality of the user experience. Of course, it's also worth checking out the HTC One (M8), Sony Xperia Z2, LG G2, or Apple iPhone 5s, since these are all options that can successfully compete with the Galaxy S5, but the fact remains that Samsung once again has a smash-hit with its latest flagship smartphone, and there's much, much more to it than just a strong marketing campaign.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is not a radical upgrade over last year’s Galaxy S4, but it brings gradual evolution in almost every aspect – starting with the fresh new design with added protection from the elements, to the more user-friendly TouchWiz interface, faster under the hood engine, and improved camera. The new Galaxy retains the unrealistic, eye-popping colors of its successor, though, and the flashy new features like fingerprint scanner and heart-rate monitor come with some caveats, and are a bit too fiddly. Another worrisome change in the S5 is its larger footprint – while the Galaxy S4 felt like a large, but yet compact for its size device, the same cannot be said about the new S5. Summing it all up, we'd say that Samsung has innovated mostly in areas that make a difference, rather than focusing on adding many ad-friendly, but rarely used features like Air Gestures. At the same time, it's hard to argue that the evolution that has happened is gradual rather than radical, and convincing Galaxy S4 users to upgrade to the S5 won't be an easy task.

Galaxy S5 and the iPhone 5s might not seem in the same category, when it comes to one-handed usage, but the traditional Apple-Samsung rivalry has always set the duo apart, and this year won't be an exception. The phones are priced quite similar, as usual, but offer a completely different approach to your mobile needs. Both have very good displays and cameras, fast processors, and offer lag-free interface and app experience for their respective mobile platforms. The steel-and-glass design of the iPhone 5s, however, looks better, and is way more comfortable to use with one hand than the largish plastic Galaxy S5. Samsung, however, offers a more versatile design with the water-resistant chassis, swappable battery and expandable storage of the S5. Granted, its Fingerprint Scanner is much more finicky to use than the elegant Touch ID solution of Apple, but the S5 throws in some extra features that the iPhone doesn't have, like a heartrate sensor, and an IR blaster that could prove more useful. Samsung offers a more functional interface, too, and one-ups the iPhone in the video capturing department, offering 4K video. In case your preferences usually gravitate towards much more compact and leaner chassis than what the S5 offers, or you are firmly invested in the iOS ecosystem, the iPhone 5s will come to the rescue with a premium design and fine performance where it counts. If Samsung's extra hardware and software features mentioned above, however, seem more important for you, or you can't live without a large display, the Galaxy S5 is the one that will justify your interest.

It would be easy to say that, beyond size considerations, the Galaxy S5 is the better overall device of the two, but size never really left the equation, now did it? Whether it's the larger, 5.7-inch screen and more spacious, 3200 mAh cell, or the inclusion of the S Pen stylus and the plethora of functionality accompanying it, this is always going to be a hard call unless you're certain of the form factor and type of functionality you're after. But a larger screen is definitely not an advantage for everybody, and not all of us really need a stylus. If that kind of thinking applies to you, then it's safe to say that the Galaxy S5 will have the clear advantage here. It reaches a stalemate in the design department with the Note 3, but it has the advantage of a dust- and water-resistant encasing. Thanks to the all-new fingerprint sensor and heart rate monitor, the S5 is also, arguably, the slightly more functional of the two. Moreover, it sports a tad more potent Snapdragon 801 chip, allowing for super fast image sensor processing times. Speaking of images, that's another step where the Galaxy S5 proves more capable -- it offers no revolution, mind you, but an evolutionary step forward in the camera department is hard to argue. All of the above amounts to a wildly nuanced picture. As we mentioned already, the key in picking the right device is really exploring and getting to know what you, individually, are looking for. As complicated as this may sound to some, there's a silver lining here: either device will likely prove a most excellent choice.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z1 offer two very distinct vessels to enjoy Android KitKat. Sony's handset is the one with the more premium, steel-and-glass waterproof design, while Samsung counters with a plastic water-resistant chassis, that lets you easily swap the battery, if needed. We aren't pointing out its Fingerprint Scanner and heart rate sensor as grand advantages over the Z1, as they are a bit cumbersome to use, and most people won't use them on a regular basis. Even if we isolate those two extra features, the Galaxy S5 still registers as the better handset, if you don't mind the plastic build. It has a better display in most aspects, superior graphics and image processing power, thanks to the Snapdragon 801 processor, and an IR blaster. Its camera might be of lower resolution than the Z1, but is on par in terms of detail, and on top of that it offers neat options like 4K video, real-time HDR and Selective Focus, which the Z1 can't muster. When we add to this laundry list of advantages almost twice longer battery life than the Z1, the scales will be easily tipped in the Galaxy S5's favor, if the higher price isn't an issue.

The Galaxy S5 modernizes and improves Samsung's vision for what Android should look like with a nice and modern reiteration of the TouchWiz user interface. Interestingly, in its vision, Samsung approaches Google's idea of what stock Android should look like. While still hugely different, the Nexus 5 and Galaxy S5 seem to be sharing more in terms of interface than before. The Galaxy S5 has some other advantages in the form of its protected from the elements body and more powerful silicon. Its biggest improvement, though, seems to have happened in the camera department where Samsung has done a good job with its ISOCELL sensor. All of these are meaningful advantages over the Nexus 5. At the same time, touted features like the fingerprint reader and heart-rate monitor are a bit fiddly. Most importantly, though, the Galaxy S5 just cannot match the extreme price-to-value ratio of the Nexus 5. At just half the price of the S5, one is tempted to forgive a lot of the flaws in Google's smartphone. Summing all up, we'd say that – regardless of price – the Galaxy S5 is a phone that is better by a slight but consistent margin, in nearly all its aspects. The huge price difference, though, is a tough argument to overcome with gradual improvements, and we still expect budget-conscious buyers to swing towards the Nexus 5.

When you think about it, there is no such thing as a best smartphone. There has never been one, and one would probably never materialize. Yet right now, the Samsung Galaxy S5 is one of the few phones that get reaaly close to that elusive status. Simply put, it is a great phone and we have nothing too bad to say about it. When stacked against the LG G2, Samsung's new flagship proves that it is a step ahead in many ways with its fashionable design, better camera, water-resistant construction, and superior internal hardware. The LG G2, however, isn't lagging behind by much. Its camera is almost as good, its screen is just as eye-pleasing, and its hardware still packs enough punch to handle any app thrown at it. And if that's not enough, the LG G2 is considerably cheaper to own than the Galaxy S5. In the U.S., to be more specific, the latter is on pre-order for about $200 on a 2-year contract, while the LG G2 can be had for free on an identical service agreement. Ultimately, the Samsung Galaxy S5 is your phone if you demand having the best of the best. Just keep in mind that it comes at a price. And if value for money is what you're after, then the LG G2 would be an excellent investment, regardless of whether you pick it on contract or SIM-free.

Powerful, with a fantastic camera and incredible battery life. Factor in the Gear wearables and the Galaxy S5 becomes the most comprehensive smartphone package around