The Samsung Galaxy S5 is finally right here, taking its location at the top of Samsung’s variety and probably as the face of Android itself.
There’s been a lot of anticipation and buzz, virtually too much to live up to, however the Samsung Galaxy S4 is nearly a year old and has faced extremely stiff competitors from the likes of the HTC One and the LG G2. Samsung is no more the only big name in Android and the need for a shiny new flagship has never ever been greater.
That does not mean the Galaxy S4 is now redundant, it’s still a great phone and still at the greater end of the market, if anything this will certainly just open it approximately new buyers. It’s already down to around ₤ 350 SIM free and that rate is likely to drop additionally as soon as the S5 is in shops, which itself will probably cost at least ₤ 500. So before going out and buying the most up to date and biggest, continue reading to see just how it stacks up to the S4.
Screen
The Samsung Galaxy S4 has a 5 inch 1080 x 1920 Super AMOLED screen with a pixel density of 441 pixels per inch. In our testimonial we said the Galaxy S4 had the very best display you could discover on a smartphone and it’s definitely still up there.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 marginally ups the size to a 5.1-inch Full HD display and it’s still Super AMOLED, so not a large change. In truth if anything it’s slightly less sharp as that extra 0.1 inch brings it down to 415ppi.
Design
One of the few elements of the Galaxy S4 that we just were not so thrilled by was its design. While Sony explore glass and metal and HTC put everybody to embarassment with its aluminium unibody HTC One, Samsung stuck to plastic. It feels solid enough and the faux-metallic band around the edge gives it a touch of course however it simply does not appear as superior as the competition.
The design has altered a little in the Galaxy S5. It’s still plastic regretfully, but this time the look is more industrial than inspired by nature and it feels more solid in the hand. At 142 x 72.5 x 8.1 mm and 145g it’s slightly larger and heavier than the Galaxy S4, which is 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 mm and 130g.
OS
The Samsung Galaxy S4 currently runs the most up to date version of Android (4.4.2 KitKat), so the 2 phones equal during that sense. They also both use Samsung’s TouchWiz interface and while the notifications bar and lockscreen have been altered for the Galaxy S5 on the whole they are not dramatically different. But exactly what changes there are appear to be for the much better. As an example, the alerts screen provides you quick access to more settings.
Battery
The Galaxy S4 has a 2600 mAh battery which gives it an above average quantity of juice. We discovered that with medium to low use you’ll still have around 50 % battery at the end of the day as well as with heavy use it must easily last you till you enter from work and can connect it to a charger.
The Galaxy S5 has a slightly larger 2800 mAh battery, and Samsung claims its much better too, apparently making it through approximately 10 hours of internet browsing or 12 hours of video. Obviously till we’ve actually put it through its speeds we’ll not know for sure how true that is. If nothing else though it’s an Ultra Power Saving Mode which closes down all none-essential features and makes the display black and white to optimize its battery life.
CPU
The 1.9 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor and 2GB of RAM packed into the Galaxy S4 guarantee it’s slick and effective, however it’s because been topped by more recent, faster processors, such as the 2.5 GHz quad-core Krait processor discovered in the Galaxy S5. The S5 still sticks with 2GB of RAM.
Features
If anything the Galaxy S4 has feature-overload, with the similarity Air View, Air Gesture and Smart Scroll all sounding exciting on paper, but feeling a bit gimmicky in practice.
The brand-new functions added for the S5 sound rather better. The long reported finger print scanner made it. The Samsung Galaxy S5 is also IP67 licensed dust and water resistant and has the ability to integrate Wi-Fi and 4G to enhance the speed of downloads.
Fitness seems to be a big focus for the Galaxy S5 too, as Samsung’s added a new version of its S Health app to the phone and the electronic camera flash can double as a heart rate display if you leave your finger on it for around 8 seconds.
Camera
The 13-megapixel snapper on the Galaxy S4 is capable of taking great shots, but it’s likely to be improved by the 16-megapixel camera on the Galaxy S5. Aside from upping the megapixel count, the S5’s camera likewise allows you to alter the focus of shots after taking them. It can likewise take photos in just 0.3 seconds and it’s able to show the impacts of HDR in real-time, so you can see how an image will look before you take it.
The Galaxy S4 can shoot 1080p video, but the Galaxy S5 again exceeds it with its capability to shoot 4K video footage as well as the front-facing electronic camera gets a little much better, up from two megapixels on the S4 to 2.1 megapixels on the S5.
Security
The Galaxy S4 has the conventional security functions that we have come to get out of Android phones, such as a choice of a pin, password, pattern or face unlock.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 adds to the options with its finger print scanner which is on the home key. You just move your finger downwards to utilize it. Not just can it be made use of to open your phone, however it can likewise provide access to personal information and replace passwords.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy S4 is unquestionably still a terrific handset, however it looks set to take more of an upper mid-range position in Samsung’s line-up now, making it a phone suitable for those who want a great all-round performer without paying leading end costs.
The S5 on the other hand takes its place at the top of the array with the anticipated specifications improve alongside a host of new features making it a phone to be considered. If you want the most up to date and greatest, this is it.