The Galaxy S5 is the Ultimate Gimmick
I really liked the S4 because it brought their screen resolution in line with Apple (the pen tile display has half as many blue and red pixels, resulting in their stated resolution basically being a lie and the S3 looking grainy despite having very high stated resolution, the S4 gave the Galaxy the same PPI as the iPhone 5/5S basically), and I also really liked the fact that the phone now had amazing color calibration, something that was severely lacking in the S3. The S4 also pioneered the idea of shrinking the bezel of the phone, it was basically the same size as the S3 with a larger screen. The S4 was also a super slim phone. All in all it was a genuine upgrade and a great phone.
The S5 is the ultimate gimmick.
Samsung basically decided to copy everything Apple did and throw in a few rumors from the iWatch, and then up the screen size even more.
Let's start with the most important first:
1. Fingerprint "Sensor"
Apple internally developed it's fingerprint sensor with technology that essentially uses capacitative sensors to scan the finger down to several layers of tissue, it's sub-dermal and does the whole finger at once, this is almost completely unlike any standard fingerprint sensor and uses very different technology. I work with fingerprint sensors every day and they are extremely inconsistent because most scan the surface layer where dust and dead skin are. The standard procedure is to wipe your finger down before using the sensor several times and then maybe it works 50% of the time. Apple basically developed their own consistent fingerprint sensor because it's faster than entering a lock code.
Samsung just threw a standard fingerprint sensor on the S5. Not only does it not scan the whole finger leaving you to slowly move your finger down the scanner it's a dermal scanner, which is very inconsistent. It doesn't work with any dust or dead skin on your finger. The whole point of a fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 5S was that it was FASTER than using a lock code, it's instant and works very consistently. The sensor on the S5 misses the whole point. It's slow and tedious. There were plenty of phones with fingerprint sensors before the iPhone 5S, but they didn't catch on for a reason, they're useless to the average person unless they work instantly. This whole feature with the inferior fingerprint sensor screams cheap copy cat, and has failed for other manufacturers that have put the same cheap imitation in their phones recently.
2. Goldpagne S5
Gimicky. copy. cat. There's no other conclusion that can be reached here.
3. "16 megapixel" camera.
Even if Samsung used the best cameraphone sized 16 megapixel sensor you would never get 16 megapixels of resolution, in most cases you get 7-9. It's a struggle for 2 pound $2,299 top of the line pro DSLR lens on a top of the line pro body to resolve 16 megapixels:
http://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Canon/Canon-EF-24-70mm-F28L-II-USM
There is no universe where the Galaxy S5 resolves much more than half of the resolution it's sensor has. The only purpose 16 megapixels serves is to deceive consumers into thinking the product is superior while severely reducing storage space. It's not just a gimmick, it actually makes the phone worse, because it wastes memory for no reason. Apple was smart to focus on noise with a bigger sensor, faster lens, and digital image stabilization on the S5. That cut the noise by a factor of 3x+. Most smartphone cameras deliver photos that are so grainy in typical poor lighting that you can barley make out 2 megapixels. So having smaller pixels with even more noise is a step backwards for Samsung.
4. Bigger 5.2" Screen, at the cost of a bigger body.
I think most people will agree that 5" was more than enough, by going to 5.2" with the S5 there was no innovation, the cost was that the size of the phone ballooned. The S5 actually has a larger bezel than the S4. This is both undesirable and a step backwards. They have just continued their one trick pony of having a bigger screen, which seems undesirable at this point.
5. Intermittent heart rate sensor on the phone.
Who has ever asked for this? Heart rate sensors are generally useful when they continuously monitor. Stopping and pulling your phone out, and waiting a few seconds every few minutes of a long distance run seems ridiculous.
6. Dual wi-fi LTE download.
For those people like me who have huge data plans and don't care about gobbling up data this seems useful, for everyone else who connects to wifi to conserve data this seems like another bell and whistle.
There are a few good features with the S5 however, that I really like behind all the gimmicks.
The good:
1. Ultra low power mode, this is genuinely useful, it turns off all the features of the phone and sets the display to black and white giving you 24 hours of stand by at 10% battery, as battery life can be an issue when you're low on power and need to be reached.
2. Kids mode, having a mode or home screen just for kids is a great idea. It makes the phone dual use, and if you have kids you don't have to worry about what they do on your phone.
3. Water and dust resistant, I think that phones really need to start moving in this direction and I'm really proud of Samsung for moving this way already. It's a natural evolution.
4. Phase detect autofocus, this gives the phone faster focusing and while the usefulness of faster autofocus on a wide angle lens is debatable and won't benefit everyone, it can't hurt and it's a good technological leap.
Overall I think the S5 is a huge step backwards, after the amazing bump the S4 was. It's a shame. I also think the bumpy surface is quite ugly but that's personal preference.
