Everything about the Samsung Galaxy S5 has been low-key so far. The specs are decent, but nowhere near where the rumors were pegging them at. The design is slightly different, but still retains the plastickiness of its predecessors. Even the official launch event was nowhere near as grand as last year’s event for the S4. So what has Samsung decided to offer with the latest iteration of its flagship Galaxy S series?
The Screen
The Samsung Galaxy S5 features a 5.1 inch Full HD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920. That gives it a whopping pixel density of 432ppi. To put things in perspective, you’re getting the same amount of detail as mainstream 42 or 60 inch LED TV on a device that you can fit in your hand.
Performance
It’s driven by a Snapdragon 800 SoC with a 2.5GHz quad core processor and Adreno 330 GPU. The Snapdragon 800 is one of the most powerful chips currently available on mainstream devices, meaning the Samsung Galaxy S5 should power through even the heaviest games like a hot knife slices through butter.
RAM and Storage
You’re getting 2GB RAM and a choice between 16GB or 32GB of internal storage. The RAM is a little disappointing considering the Note 3 comes with 3GB. You’ll probably also want to choose the 32GB storage option since Samsung’s TouchWiz Nature UX and accompanying bloatware eats up 8GB all by itself.
The Software
Speaking of the TouchWiz UI and software, it’s been cleaned up so it doesn’t look as cartoonish as it used to. There’s also a chock-full of special software on top of Android 4.4 KitKat to enhance the Galaxy S5’s usability for different situations, such as S-Health, Kids Mode and Ultra Power Saving Mode. Except for that last one, I have no idea just how much of it the average person would find useful, but just wait for the reviews for that.
Camera
As for imaging, the Galaxy S5 is fairly well-equipped. It’s got a 16mp rear-facing autofocus camera with LED flash and ISOCELL. The rear shooter is actually capable of recording in 4K resolution, although there seems to be limited to just 5 minutes per 4K recording so you don’t eat up your storage that quickly. The front camera is just a 2.1mp shooter, which is good enough to facilitate the basic selfie and video calls.
The Rest of the Specs
The Samsung Galaxy S5 comes with a complete set of wireless connectivity options. Naturally, it will support up to Cat. 3 LTE mobile data speeds. WiFi support covers 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac. You also get Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GPS, GLONASS, and NFC.
One feature that has me interested the Galaxy S5’s IP67 certification, meaning it’s spillproof and waterproof. The micro USB port is even covered with a plastic flap to keep any water or other liquids from getting inside.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 is powered by a respectable 2,800mAh battery. That should be enough for a good day’s usage and there’s no doubt it will benefit from that Ultra Power Saving Mode.
Could There Still be a Galaxy S5 Prime?
All in all, the Samsung Galaxy S5 is a fairly respectable device, but it’s a rather underwhelming one considering all the hype prior to launch. There were rumors that it would feature a 2K screen (1,440 x 2,560) and metal/aluminum frame, among other things. Unfortunately, none of that came true, but there have also been rumors that Samsung might release two versions of its flagship Galaxy S5, a basic plastic Galaxy S5 variant and a more premium Galaxy S5 Prime.
Could the rather lackluster launch for the Galaxy S5 mean that Samsung has something better in store in the form of the Galaxy S5 Prime? We’ll just have to wait. In the meantime, we’ll just have to settle for the regular Samsung Galaxy S5, which starts rolling out on April 5.
