Samsung (SSNLF) may be a consumer electronics giant, but it has come to rely on its mobile division to generate profits. And those numbers are down as its Galaxy S4 flagship smartphone gets long in the tooth.
There’s a lot riding on the new Galaxy S5. It has to do battle against the Apple (AAPL) iPhone 5s as well as Android contenders like the HTC One M8, and the Galaxy S5 will also be facing off against Apple’s eagerly anticipated iPhone 6 later this year. Depending on how that “two new iPhones” rumor pans out, it may be facing a pair of new iPhones, both sporting big displays.
The official Samsung Galaxy S5 release date is Friday, April 11. If you pre-ordered one from AT&T (T), you may have yours already.
For everyone else, our Galaxy S5 review will tell you what you need to know about Samsung’s new flagship smartphone.
Galaxy S5 Review: Moderation is the Name of the Game
Samsung has a reputation for doing everything big — bigger, faster devices with higher resolution, and throwing as many new features on a phone as possible in hopes that consumers love at least a few of them.
The company took a more restrained approach with this new phone. It was probably hoping that a Galaxy S5 review wouldn’t start off like many in the previous generation did, with the reviewer worrying that so many features might overwhelm average consumers.
So the Galaxy S5 gets just slightly larger (a 5.1-inch display, compared to last year’s 5-inches), a bit faster and adds a few new features. It’s still made of plastic, but addresses criticisms of the cheap look of the Galaxy S4 by texturing the back panel. You can even get it in a gold color, in a nod to the iPhone 5s.
In another response to Apple’s smartphone, the Galaxy S5 also includes a fingerprint sensor.
Galaxy S5 Review: Advantages Over the iPhone 5s
Since the iPhone 5s is the Galaxy S5’s primary competition — at least until the iPhone 6 is released — it’s useful to outline the Samsung smartphone’s key advantages over its rival.
The Galaxy S5’s display is one of its big advantages over the iPhone 5s, and the most visible to the average user. It’s considerable bigger (the iPhone is only 4-inches), it’s higher resolution with higher pixel density (432 ppi vs. 326 ppi). In its Galaxy S5 review, DisplayMate ranks the Super AMLOED display in Samsung’s flagship as “the best performing smartphone display that we have ever tested.”
Beyond that display, the Galaxy S5’s advantages over the iPhone 5s include IP67 certification for water and dust resistance, expandable storage (using microSD cards), 802.11ac Wi-Fi, a microUSB port, 16MP camera (vs. 8MP in the iPhone), user-replaceable battery and a heart-rate sensor to complement the fingerprint sensor.
There’s little argument that the iPhone 5s is the better-looking phone, thanks to premium materials like aluminum and Apple’s design aesthetic. But our Galaxy S5 review shows that the new Samsung device holds the upper hand in many other areas.
Whether you prefer Apple’s iOS or Google’s (GOOG) Android will have a lot to do with making a choice as well. Obviously, if you’re in the Android camp, the iPhone is out of the race.
Galaxy S5 Review: Specifications
- 5.1 inch Super AMOLED display at 1920 x 1080 Pixels (full HD) and 432 ppi
- Qualcomm (QCOM) Snapdragon 801 quad-core CPU @ 2.5GHz with 2GB RAM
- 16GB/32GB storage, upgradable using microSD cards
- 16MP primary camera (capable of 4K video recording) with LED flash
- Wi-Fi dual band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
- Bluetooth 4.0, ANT+, NFC, IR blaster, microUSB
- fingerprint sensor, heart rate sensor
- 2800mAh Lithium Ion battery (removable) rated at up to 29 hours talk time
- Weight 5.1 oz
- IP67 dust and water resistant
- Runs Android 4.4 (KitKat with a Samsung skin)
- Available in black, blue, white and gold
- At the time of the Galaxy S5 review, Samsung’s pre-order page listed the phone at five U.S. carriers and multiple retailers starting April 11
- Pricing typically starts at $199.99 on contract
Galaxy S5 Review: Conclusion
During the course of this Galaxy S5 review, one of the recurring themes was that Samsung seems to have learned to show some restraint. The Galaxy S5 is better in every way than the Galaxy S4 and represents a worthy upgrade. It’s also a contender for the best Android smartphone out there and should outperform the iPone 5s in many respects. And it does so without being particularly over the top.
What about performance cheats, a contention that cast a shadow over last year’s Galaxy S4?
I turned to the technical pros at Anandtech who ran thorough tests during a Galaxy S5 review and found no signs of cheating to boost Android benchmarks. They also noted the Snapdragon 801 CPU shows better overall performance scores than the Galaxy S4, particularly in graphics — good news for gamers.
The plastic case still makes the Galaxy S5 look a little on the cheap side compared to flagship smartphones from competitors who obsess over design: Apple, Sony (SNE) and HTC.
But this smartphone represents a solid step forward for Samsung, and you won’t see a Galaxy S5 review that calls it out for being an underperformer in anything except perhaps looks — and that’s a subjective benchmark to begin with.
The big question for SSNLF will not be how well the Galaxy S5 does at launch (it should smash the Galaxy S4’s record numbers easily), but how well it holds up once Apple releases the iPhone 6.
As of this writing, Robert Martin did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
