Galaxy S5 reviewed

Photo : Ehsanur Raza Ronny

Smartphones aren't the fragile creatures they used to be. They still break if you throw it at an annoying colleague but robustness is on the up and up. The most noticeable change with the S5 is the way it looks. While the design isn't a massive upgrade, the new rubberized textured back plate is a welcome change. Personally the previous shiny plastic looked and felt, well, plasticky. Some might say cheap. Now the premium price tag is met by a premium feel. The big 5.1 inch phone now offers more tactile feedback from the grippy back. The rest of the design remains in the safe zone with no significantly radical changes. A less noticeable yet very important change is the water resistance of the new phone. This is where the whole do more part comes in. Apparently it will survive the occasionaldunking but swimming with it is probably not the best of ideas. I took it out in the rain for some shooting. Here's the caveat: water droplets will interfere with your finger inputs. So you need to dry the screen before you can get accurate response. Still, if you're the kind of business magnate without a Rolls Royce who gets caught in the rain and needs to close a multimillion dollar deal, this phone will suffice.

Photo : Ehsanur Raza Ronny

The 5.1 inch HD Amoled display renders colors brilliantly with sharp contrast without resorting to previous process of over saturation. The 432ppi makes sure the smallest text on websites is visible. And the 4.4 Kitkat come preloaded along with a new and streamlined looing TouchWiz UI. The new UI features solid color icons that offer a refreshed look to the customizable layout.
The big news is the new camera. Megapixel wars are silly if cameras can't have better sensors and reduced shutter lags. The new unit on the S5 improves on both counts. The camera fires up real quick and the colours are accurately portrayed although it takes a bit of a hit in low light. But try the HDR function. The results especially in low or unusual light are magic.

Photo : Ehsanur Raza Ronny

The S Health app now comes with a unique heart rate tracker at the back. Not much into health stuff but would prefer to plonk down in front of the TV? Infrared is back for a lot of phones to help control a host of devices like TV and AC or practically anything that receives inputs from IR.
Combined with the smoother TouchWiz and the Snapdragon's blazing Quad-core2.5GHz 801 processor, the S5 is now a really worthy contender for one of the bestphones you can get your hands on. Sure, the design is played safe. Samsung went with the evolutionary route to come up with something they know the consumer will lap up. They didn't go with massive new tech in terms of what this phone will be used for most: camera shots especially selfies. But it packs a brilliant punch overall. I never liked the way the S3 or the S4 looked or felt. The S4 even had the occasional creak that detracted from its premium positioning. But the S5 is a solid joy to hold, so much so that I'd even ditch my iPhone and get one for everyday use. It's got a great camera, multi-windows for those that can't set their mind on one task and a supper fast engine. Battery is up as well with a nifty feature for ultra power-saving that turns your phone into a black and white device with minimal call and messaging functions that will power you through for days. I tried it on from five percent and it lasted me for several hours with multiple calls in between.
Best of all, despite being a big phone, it aces the 'man-pocket-test'. It slides into jeans very easily. What's not to like?

Samsung Galaxy S5

Predecessor:     Samsung Galaxy S4
Type:     Touchscreen smartphone
Form factor:     Slate
Dimensions:     142 mm (5.59 in) H 72.5 mm (2.85 in) W 8.1 mm (0.32 in) D.
Weight     145 g (5.11 oz)
Operating system     Android 4.4.2 "KitKat"
System on chip:     Samsung Exynos 5 Octa 5422 Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (LTE versions)
CPU:     2.1 GHz quad-core Cortex-A15 and 1.5 GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 (big.LITTLE)/2.5 GHz quad-core Krait 400 (LTE versions)
GPU:     ARM Mali T628MP6
Adreno 330 (Snapdragon variant)
Memory:     2 GB LPDDR3 RAM
Storage:     16 GB, 32 GB
Removable storage:     microSD up to 128 GB
Battery:     2800 mAh Li-ion
Display:     5.1 in/ 1920x1080 /432 ppi Full HD Super AMOLED Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Rear camera:  16 megapixels (5312×2988 px)
Front camera: 2 megapixels (1080p) HD video recording @ 30 fps back-illuminated sensor