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The Galaxy S5

MacRumorUser said:
They have made some nice improvements to the launcher all of which I approve of. :)

Now can we take bets that we won't see the new touchwiz on our more than capable Note 3's ?
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Hmm anyone else able to see that video? It might be my work network, but it says video unavailable or I get an error.
 
mattopotamus said:
I think it has more to do with this:

A few years ago apple was so far ahead of the competition. In the last few years android has made GIANT leaps (jellybean and later). Now that apple and android are pretty much on par, you are going to start seeing these marginal upgrades. People often critize Apple b.c they feel the iphones do not change that much, but there is only so much that can be done b.c of technology limitations. Both companies are hitting that point. The one thing Apple has over android is they can still make a larger phone to entice people.
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For the most part they are on par but I think aesthetically apple is still ahead.

It's a smoother experience and nicer to look at. I'm coming from a s4 and note 2 in which both were flashed with kit kat.
 
Shanghaichica said:
That's not true in my experience. I had the original galaxy note and on its last update it got the same UI as the S3, plus the majority of the features from the note 2.
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I guess i worded it wrong, i meant not usually. I have an S3 and when it got the 4.3 update it got the S4 UI but no S4 features even though Samsung said it would get some of the features.
 
spinedoc77 said:
Then again we have pretty awesome plans like the Next plan where you get a 0% loan and don't even have to sign a contract or put down a down payment anymore so everyone can have their iphone.
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Not to hijack the thread but I hope this poster doesn't honestly believe he gets a good deal from this. You are paying double to subsidize your phone. Yes they let you upgrade early. But you have to trade the phone in. And then when you get the new phone, there is no discount. You go back to paying twice for that phone.
 
lsutigerfan1976 said:
Not to hijack the thread but I hope this poster doesn't honestly believe he gets a good deal from this. You are paying double to subsidize your phone. Yes they let you upgrade early. But you have to trade the phone in. And then when you get the new phone, there is no discount. You go back to paying twice for that phone.
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No, the give you a $25 discount on your plan and you only have to turn your phone in if you upgrade early, because that phone isn't fully paid of yet. It would be the same if you bought it outright and than at 12 months they gave a $200-$300 trade in value.
 
lsutigerfan1976 said:
Not to hijack the thread but I hope this poster doesn't honestly believe he gets a good deal from this. You are paying double to subsidize your phone. Yes they let you upgrade early. But you have to trade the phone in. And then when you get the new phone, there is no discount. You go back to paying twice for that phone.
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Nah, you have to do the math. You can pay $30/month to have a brand new high end smartphone every year, that's EVERY year. So about $360/year for a $720 smartphone in my case, no interest, no activation fees, no down payment. Under the old subsidy model I'd pay $299 for my phone plus $36 activation fee and I'd get a new phone every 2 years, I'd be able to sell my phone and recoup some costs but a 2 year old phone wouldn't net more than $300ish in my experience, mileage varying with which phone you had of course. Keep in mind doing the next program you also save $15/month x 12 months = $180.

Next: 30/month x 12 = $360 - $180 saved monthly = $180 total cost every year. 1 new phone every 1 year.

Old subsidy: $299 (for a note 3) every 2 years + extra $15/mo x 24 = $660 - selling used phone for $300 = $240 ($120/year). 1 new phone every 2 years.

Time is money, and personally I'd rather be making money than having to deal with ebay or craigslist, but I work a lot and am not a college student anymore with free time. Yeah the difference might be a bit more with the high resale value of an iphone, or with a savvy negotiator selling their phone, but in the end for me it's about convenience. You also have to factor in getting a new phone every year. You can probably make a better case for buying the phone outright but it won't be that much of a financial advantage and now you have 2x the hassle of selling your phone.

Disclaimer: I have bought my phones unsubsidized for as long as I can remember, just buying them outright. But when the ip6 comes out I will most likely take advantage of Next.

Anyhoo, sorry for being off topic.
 
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Thanks samsung for slowly reducing my interest in your phones i guess....

My excitement for the S3 was huge, for S4 was somewhat excited, but for S5 it is now "nah...what is the point??. Same old garbage skin with bloated stuff i don't want and bad UI design, and the back is ugh, wtf was samsung thinking? They should have just left it the same as S4 IMO. Or dropped that horrible dots pattern.

Any how, with their Knox BS they were already testing my patience, and now i have a much clear decision to make later this year: Nexus 6 or iPhone 6. Simple. I like that :)
 
sentinelsx said:
Thanks samsung for slowly reducing my interest in your phones i guess....

My excitement for the S3 was huge, for S4 was somewhat excited, but for S5 it is now "nah...what is the point??. Same old garbage skin with bloated stuff i don't want and bad UI design, and the back is ugh, wtf was samsung thinking? They should have just left it the same as S4 IMO. Or dropped that horrible dots pattern.

Any how, with their Knox BS they were already testing my patience, and now i have a much clear decision to make later this year: Nexus 6 or iPhone 6. Simple. I like that :)
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They'll launch a metal phone me thinks with bumped up specs after they see how the "premium" designs from HTC and sony perform in the market. Only problem would be that that would get them closer to the middle of the year, and that leaves only a few months before iPhone 6 is launched. If they intended to poach customers from the iPhone towards their flagship (because apple was poaching customers from them at a 3 times higher rate) they will fail..They should have launched the F / Prime version in april, and a cheaper version later on perhaps in may-June.
 
vomhorizon said:
They'll launch a metal phone me thinks with bumped up specs after they see how the "premium" designs from HTC and sony perform in the market. Only problem would be that that would get them closer to the middle of the year, and that leaves only a few months before iPhone 6 is launched. If they intended to poach customers from the iPhone towards their flagship (because apple was poaching customers from them at a 3 times higher rate) they will fail..They should have launched the F / Prime version in april, and a cheaper version later on perhaps in may-June.
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Well, metal isn't what i was specifically looking for. As i said, they could have left the back intact like S4 and i would not have a problem either.

But this is not as big of a deal as the rest of the package. The nexus 5 is not metal and yet i want it badly, but i have to exercise restraint and blow the saved $$ on a better model late this year as my S4 with GE rom is still flying so no need for a change yet.
 
sentinelsx said:
Well, metal isn't what i was specifically looking for. As i said, they could have left the back intact like S4 and i would not have a problem either.

But this is not as big of a deal as the rest of the package. The nexus 5 is not metal and yet i want it badly, but i have to exercise restraint and blow the saved $$ on a better model late this year as my S4 with GE rom is still flying so no need for a change yet.
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Well i can speak of what many were looking for (including myself) and what the competition is. Certainly plastic can be done a lot lot better as earlier and current phones have shown. Nexus 5 is plastic and looks and feels much better than the S4 (IMO)...yet you do not mind its overall asthetics as its half the price of most flagships unlocked. This plastic device ( and a rather poor implementation of the material, and a predictable design) costs the same as phones that offer much better asthetics and form (iphone 5s, HTC One and Future M8, Sony Z2 etc)..
 
AQUADock said:
I guess i worded it wrong, i meant not usually. I have an S3 and when it got the 4.3 update it got the S4 UI but no S4 features even though Samsung said it would get some of the features.
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Yes they did say that the S3 would get the S4 features and the Note 2 would get the note 3 features. Looks like they have dropped the ball with their updates. I read the other day that the international version of the S3 wouldn't get kit kat. Ridiculous for a phone that's only had one major OS update (ICS to JB).
 
Shanghaichica said:
Yes they did say that the S3 would get the S4 features and the Note 2 would get the note 3 features. Looks like they have dropped the ball with their updates. I read the other day that the international version of the S3 wouldn't get kit kat. Ridiculous for a phone that's only had one major OS update (ICS to JB).
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Is that confirmed? Sounds pretty stupid considering they supported S2 all the way to jellybean and are leaving S3 on Jellybean too. It should atleast get 4.4.2 even if they stop there.
 
Since I have my note 3, I have no reason to upgrade. So, I'm not upset about the S5. However, for 2014, it is ridiculous to not offer at least 32gb for the base model (especially, since tw takes up so much).
 
Very underwhelming device.

The same SoC, less RAM than Note 3, terrible design!
 
rhinosrcool said:
Since I have my note 3, I have no reason to upgrade. So, I'm not upset about the S5. However, for 2014, it is ridiculous to not offer at least 32gb for the base model (especially, since tw takes up so much).
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I'm pretty sure we'll still see 16GB as the base model for high end and mid end for many many many years to come.
 
Sensamic said:
I'm pretty sure we'll still see 16GB as the base model for high end and mid end for many many many years to come.
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That's pretty sad. With Samsung's skin, the os, and other things 16gb is paltry. The note 3 came with 32 gb standard, but it was more expensive.
 
I believe the rumors are true and Samsung is going to create another line of smartphones using premium materials called the Galaxy F. While I do think metal feels premium, I do think it can be overrated. It dents, scrapes with a different color underneath, high SAR, adds weight, and signal can't always come through. I have seen some dinged up HTC One's that don't look so great with dents you can't just rectify so quickly like with plastic/removable back covers from Samsung. If the Galaxy F is really F for false rumors or just another S4 in a nicer casing, then I believe Samsung will put all their eggs in one basket with the Galaxy Note 4.

In fairness, the S5 doesn't look so bad after watching the Android Authority, The Verge, and Samsung Mobile first-look videos. The black version looks pretty decent but still not on par with the likes of Apple, Sony, and HTC. Samsung didn't use glossy plastic material that attracts fingerprints and would feel slimey after extended use. And while it is water/dust resistant like the Xperia Z series and has a fingerprint scanner like the iPhone 5s, the most interesting feature is actually that heart sensor. The Xperia Z2 might look better but generally more of the same spec bump and a much better screen while the Galaxy S5 seems to have more interesting features and FORESIGHT like a heart monitor, WiFi ac MiMo, and still providing a memory expansion slot up to 128 GB and a removable battery

Some people are forgetting Samsung has already made their way into the medical field with many of the medical equipment manufactured by them. No different than LG getting into the appliance business. My portable air conditioner is made by LG and my washing machine is made by Samsung. They don't just make solely portable electronics or TV's. I guess Samsung is now targetting more health conscious people and the much older crowd.

I expect the Galaxy Note 4 to have ALL those features that the S5 has and then some! And the best designed and interesting gadget by Samsung that was announced in MWC was NOT the Galaxy S5. It was the Gear Fit. I would rather get a Gear Fit than a Galaxy Gear 2 even though the latter looks pretty decent and taking photos is more obscure than Google Glass. Galaxy S5 with a revamped S-Health, heart sensor, and Gear Fit makes a very interesting health conscious combination.
 
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