From year to year, Samsung continues to improve its flagship devices. If earlier the main innovations in them were related to the display size and performance, then now with the advent of the Galaxy S5 the manufacturer has decided to focus on additional features. This new approach has led to the creation of a flagship with water and dust protection and a fingerprint scanner.
Let's take a closer look at the main advantages of the Galaxy S5.
Samsung Galaxy S5 Specifications
- Release date: 2014, February
- Colors: Charcoal Black, Copper Gold, Electric Blue, Shimmery White
- Dimensions: 142 x 72.5 x 8.1 mm.
- Weight: 145 g.
- Screen: 5.1" in, 1080 x 1920, Super AMOLED
- Camera : Single, 16MP
- Chipset: Qualcomm MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 (28 nm)
- CPU: Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400
- Memory: 16/32 GB, 2 GB RAM
- Battery: 2800, Removable Li-Ion
- Network: GSM / HSPA / LTE
- Operating system: Android 4.4.2 (KitKat), upgradable to 6.0 (Marshmallow); TouchWiz UI
- Sensors: Fingerprint (front-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, gesture, heart rate
If you are curious to find out all the details before reading the full review, visit the page for Samsung Galaxy S5 Specs, where you will find even the smallest detail about the phone.
Design
The model is Samsung's first flagship to be available in four colour options since the launch. It is traditional for the company's devices to have a black and white version. Now, blue and gold are added to them.
In appearance, you can't help but recognize the Galaxy S5. It has the specific corporate style of Samsung smartphones. The designers haven't given up on a successful design, but they have dared to make a few innovations.
On the front panel, the corners are less rounded. While the main material the body is made of is plastic, it looks and feels like a completely different one. It's significantly better compared to the previous version of the flagship.
The Galaxy S5's faceplate is concealed by a whole piece of protective glass. At its top are positioned the light and distance sensors, as well as the 2-megapixel camera. Compared to the S4, the ergonomics of the Galaxy S5 have not changed significantly.
As for the rear panel, in the Galaxy S5 it deserves separate attention. It has retained the idea launched with the Note 3 model, with only the texture drawing changed.
Water and dust protection
The Galaxy S5 is equipped, for the first time in the history of the Galaxy flagship series, with protection against water and dust to IP67 standard. This rating means protection of the body from dust and also partial protection against water ingress. In particular, the smartphone can be submerged in water up to a depth of 1 meter for half an hour. In other words, you can swim with the Galaxy S5, but not dive. If you get caught in heavy rain, it'll be no problem to take your phone out and answer a call. The device won't let you down if you drop it in the bath, either. Moreover, the manufacturer has left an option to remove the back panel and access the battery and microSD memory card slot.
Caution: the IP67 standard protection does not guarantee complete sealing of the housing.
Display
The Galaxy S5 uses a 5.1-inch touchscreen OLED display based on Diamond Pixels technology. The resolution is 1920 x 1080 pixels. The pixel density per inch is 432. For the time this model has been out in the market, this is one of the best smartphone screens. It is characterized by excellent color rendering and viewing angles. The screen is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
Traditionally for flagships of the South Korean manufacturer, in the settings of the Galaxy S5 you can choose one of five modes: Adapt Display, Dynamic, Standard, Professional Photography and Cinema. Each has its own set of image settings. Only the first one automatically adjusts the display according to environmental conditions. This is useful when you're outdoors in bright sunshine.
The minimum brightness of the Galaxy S5's display is 2 cd/m² and the maximum is an impressive 698 cd/m².
Performance
The Galaxy S5 is based on the Exynos 5 Octa with a processor running a big.LITTLE scheme. It incorporates four Cortex A15 cores clocked at up to 1.9 GHz and also four Cortex A7 cores clocked at up to 1.3 GHz. The graphics is handled by a Mali-T628 MP6 chip with OpenGL ES 3.0 support.
All this is complemented with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory, the latter of which can be expanded by another 128 GB using a microSD memory card.
Cameras
In the Galaxy S5, you get a 16-megapixel camera with a 1/2.6-inch ISOCELL sensor and an f/2.2 aperture. Using this sensor has allowed for a significant improvement in HDR mode shooting. Now shooting with it results in instantaneous recording of the footage. In a good light level, the camera takes excellent pictures. In HDR mode, it handles the contrast.
Among the interesting features of the camera should be noted the extended focus mode. In it, activating the camera captures near and far objects. After the photo is taken the user can change the focus from near to far or focus the entire photo.
The front camera of the Galaxy S5 is a 2-megapixel camera. It shoots standard for such a resolution.
With this smartphone, you can record video in HDR mode at 1080 resolution at 60 frames per second. UHD video recording at 3840×2160 pixels resolution at 30 frames per second is supported. In this mode, the additional effects, which include HDR, are not available.
The Galaxy S5 also offers slow motion video capture.
Fingerprint scanner
The fingerprint scanner built into the Home button allows the user to enhance the security of the data they store on Galaxy S5. A fingerprint is required to unlock the device.
S Health app
With the Galaxy S5, the company is launching a new healthy lifestyle app, S Health 3.0. Compared to the previous version, the program has become more pleasant to look at, and in place of the not-so-popular measurements of environmental parameters - such as temperature and humidity - have been added those that characterize human health. For example, heart rate monitor, exercise log, calorie expenditure measurement, etc.
Autonomous operation
Galaxy S5 has a 2800 mAh battery. With active use of the smartphone, which includes the Internet, navigation, calls, games and listening to music, you can count on about 8 hours of operation with over 3 hours of screen time.
In normal mode, the smartphone maintains an autonomy level of 1-1.5 days, and even 2.5 days in moderate mode.
Conclusion
The Galaxy S5 is one of the most functional smartphones for its time. It is based on a powerful platform and is equipped with an excellent camera. It supports UHD video recording and is IP67 protected.
Pros:
- Quality craftsmanship;
- Beautiful and bright display;
- Water and dust protection;
- Flagship-level performance;
- Quality camera;
- Power saving modes;
- Infrared Port;
- Wonderful sound;
- Four color choices.
Cons:
- Under prolonged load, case heating can be perceptible.
Samsung Galaxy S5 video review
Disclaimer: The information presented in this article is based on our team's personal experience with the Samsung Galaxy S5 and third-party sources. While every effort has been made to provide accurate and reliable information, readers should keep in mind that this is a subjective assessment. The writing of this article was not paid for or sponsored by Samsung.
