Vulcan Challenger Ii Ex 2 in 1 Laptop Review
Following hot on the heels of many successful Samsung launches, the Milky way S5 was touted to be the adjacent large thing. Information technology was rumored to have a flexible screen, a metal chassis, a brilliant camera, and more. Samsung instead, went back to the basics. And we struggle to sympathize what that actually means to the folks in Seoul.
PROS:
- Brilliant, balanced, and sharp sixteen MP shooter
- Dynamic 5.1 inch AMOLED Screen
- IP67 rating that really works
- Best ever Samsung build quality
- Extensive health features, deeply integrated with new line of wearables
CONS:
- Very laggy user experience
- Improved but still express TouchWiz UI
- Strange power saving options
- Problematic connectivity
INTRODUCTION
S5
The Milky way S5 is one of this year's most anticipated phones, if not the most predictable telephone. The Samsung Galaxy S line has long been viewed equally the beginning, and but, true challenger to the iPhone. Last yr's line-up of phones has shown that this is certainly no longer the case. In all segments of the marketplace, other OEMs are taking the fight to Samsung.
In the low-cost segment, we have Xiaomi which has swept the world, and Singapore, by storm (the Redmi and Mi3 sold out within minutes). In the flagship market place, Sony's Xperia Z1, and now the Z2 and HTC'south 1 (M8) have launched a very credible assail on Samsung'due south slice of the Android pie. Its camera, build quality, and speed, are every bit yet unsurpassed. LG brought to u.s. massive innovations, pioneering the first widely available curved screen phone, and other game-changing innovations similar KnockCode.
Let's see the specifications kickoff.
- Display: v.1", 1080p Super AMOLED display
- Camera: xvi.0 MP, 1/ii.half-dozen inch sensor
- Video Recording: 2160p/4K
- Processor: ii.5 GHz Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801
- GPU: Adreno 330
- RAM: 2 GB
- Storage: sixteen/32 GB, micro-SD expandable
- Battery: 2800 mAh, Ultra Ability Saving mode
- Other: Fingerprint Sensor (PayPal certified), IP67 Certified, IR Heart Charge per unit Sensor
In the race to exist rex of the pack then, a flagship phone today needs not only to do the basics well, it needs to truly innovate. All of the top phones you purchase from a shop are fantastically swell phones, with great functioning and features. And there is piffling to stand up between them. The post-obit review is written in this context, a disquisitional evaluative attempt to determine if the Samsung Galaxy S5 is truly the next big thing.
DESIGN, Handling AND BUILD QUALITY
Body
If not immediately evident to you lot from the many publicity pictures that Samsung has plastered (heh) all over the island, the new Samsung Galaxy S5, shouldn't offer a beige variant. We were admittedly no big fans of the new pattern path that Samsung has chosen, and are unsure how the texture chosen for the dorsum comprehend creates a modern, glamorous expect.
What it does do, notwithstanding, is create a nice textured back that is grippier than annihilation seen before the Galaxy Note 3. For a plastic phone so, what the new pattern selection does is make it unapologetically plastic. And at this point in the war against plastic, I posit that that is a great matter. Why?
Considering while all other phones all converge into this monolithic block carved out of solid aluminium, Samsung is remaining true to what it believes. Heck, the telephone might have a braille-like surface that reads "Sometime-FASHIONED", but its unproblematic, adept to the touch, and strangely unique. An odd simplicity from the much complicated company Samsung is.
Samsung phones also tend to announced notoriously cheap (keyword:appear) . In some of their lower end models, the back-lit hardware keys literally stick out like bulbs on a christmas tree. No such problems hither. Samsung has pulled out all the stops to fashion much sleeker LED lights for the capacitative touch cardinal, a more than comfortable rectangular frame, and a banded stainless steel bezel on the side to complete the modern, glam look. In essence, the same premium feel you expect from the Samsung flagships since the Galaxy S4.
And then in that location's the matter of the infamous removable plastic backing, keeping Samsung equally one of the only major OEMs still to accept a removable battery. In all previous Samsung phones, this backing is so thin it warps significantly upon removal. No such problems here too. The backing is rigid, thick, and sturdy.
Information technology should exist too. Being IP67 certified, the Galaxy S5 is supposed to withstand upward to 1 m of water for thirty minutes, too every bit be completely dust-proof. The flimsy rubber lining on the within of the backing left me with my doubts on how waterproof the internal circuitry actually was, every bit did the flimsy flap which covers the micro USB 3.0 port.
s5-usb
All the same, after rigorous water testing, the device held upwardly very well, taking no water impairment whatsoever. A further inspection of the dorsum panel of the phone revealed that water had indeed seeped through the plastic backing, but had been stopped by that much-maligned thin strip of rubber.
So overall, this section actually looks pretty good. We only wish that a micro USB 3.0 cablevision comes out of the box as with the Galaxy Note 3. I am puzzled by the decision to supply a USB two.0 cable, every bit one would think Samsung would at the very least extend its focus on luxury to the bones accessories.
Upon extended use of the telephone, nosotros realized some practical flaws in the pattern approach. While the square protrusion of the camera lens unit fits in with the overall design, its so patently protruding that a slight knock at the incorrect angle spells disaster for your camera, it cracks. As does your waterproofing.
The Galaxy S5 and so, is very solidly congenital, with only a few kinks to iron out.
DISPLAY
Display
The display on the Galaxy S5 is nix brusk of vivid. Almost of my colleagues here will disagree with me, simply I love the brilliant, brilliant, and yes over-saturated colours of the AMOLED screen, and is one of the major reasons why I purchased a Milky way S4.
Yes, I know the colours are artificially reproduced, and that AMOLED screens tend to be a hit on battery. But at that place is simply no other technology now that can replicate the vibrancy, or the deepness of the blacks, in giving a vivid well-baked prototype. And so what if it is merely a thou illusion, life is a grand illusion anyway. Perchance though, a 2K IPS LCD screen would simply well-nigh purchase me out of the Samsung campsite.
Looking at the numbers, the S5 performs superbly, achieving the deepest blacks and infinite contrast cheers to the AMOLED display. The S5 is also sufficiently brilliant enough, and sunlight legibility is still great.
Comparing similar for like, with all the other Super AMOLED screens Samsung has put on its phones, the one on the Galaxy S5 is vastly superior. Information technology is of the right size to take reward of the many dual window features Samsung offers, delivering a superior split screen experience. And while a .1? upgrade from the S4 seems insignificant, it allows for a great deal more of viewer condolement, and is my opinion the perfect telephone screen size around.
Some smart improved Arrange Screen settings also control the saturation and dissimilarity levels of the AMOLED screen more appropriately to the visual situation, to produced a very natural, colourful experience that is of now unrivalled by whatsoever AMOLED screen out there.
USER INTERFACE AND APPS
The biggest modify that strikes you when you switch on the Milky way S5 is the completely redesigned icons that requite off a much flatter wait. Johnny Ives would be proud. The icons notwithstanding remain rather skeumorphic, though significantly less gaudy.
The colour palette is far more palatable, and everyday usage of the phone just seems a lot more bright and welcome than TouchWiz has e'er been. Folders are nicely designed (though I suspect that has more to practise with Android iv.4.two), the notification bar is cleaner, and the native browser a lot more minimalist. The listing of largely positive changes could run on for the whole review but past far the most important, is that the settings menu is actually understandable, and navigable.
The TouchWiz Nature UX iii.0 UI that runs the phone then, is a brilliant master-stroke from Samsung in the aesthetic, besides as usability department. And when you lot look at the screenshots, I'm sure you will agree.
In the performance section, there is nonetheless much to exist desired. Already in the Milky way S4, the phone was chockfull with features from Air Gesture to Air View, and all sorts of TouchWiz overlays. Some of these overlays were helpful, some were not.
The skillful news is that Samsung has removed some of the features that were much maligned. I was pleased to detect that I could non activate Smart Scroll. The debacle of smart scroll, where browsers scrolled according to your centre movement (randomly or not at all, in reality), needs no introduction, and we are pleased Samsung is learning from the process. Nosotros are also pleased that they accept removed the handwriting office from Southward Memo, which really only could be used with the S Pen that the S5 does not come with.
Much to the chagrin of the other editors hither at Twenty Commencement Tech, I exercise however relish the fact that Samsung has ported over some of the seeming gimmicks that were on the S4, like Air Gesture and Air View. I had grown used to these features, and they are much meliorate executed on this UI.
The new iteration of features on the S5 are far more practical also, largely involving the now much extended South Health iii.0. But more on that subsequently.
The bad news all the same, is that TouchWiz is still and then full of bloat that in that location is but up to 400 MB of free RAM out of the box. This is severely bad news. It is a devastating accident to the performance of the phone. And crushes the sleek, modern, glam feel that the whole telephone is trying to achieve. Because effectiveness, efficacy, and efficiency is the essence of modernity, no?
Then, there are the host of software issues. On many occasion, the last opened app spontaneously pops up on the screen without warning. For Flappy Bird users, its irritating to say the least, but for someone trying to write a painful break-up letter, one misplaced tap could be an result of life and death. Then, the earphone jack sometimes suddenly connects to a phantom headphone. So your listening session back habitation on the MRT volition go out without a sound nor whimper.
TouchWiz Nature UX 3.0 is better, just even so very much a work in progress. The flaws are serious, and demand to be fixed. If not by Nature, and so past Nurture.
BATTERY LIFE
On the topic of power, the new benchmark that phones in 2014 need to alive up to is to accept a bombardment larger than 3000mAh. The Galaxy S5 only has 2800mAh. But nosotros are very pleasantly surprised by the real-world results.
In a heavy day of usage, equally well as judicious toggling of the various power saving options, the bombardment managed to terminal a full heavy work-mean solar day filled with location tracking, and extended on-screen time due to extended communications. At the terminate of the day, twenty% of battery was left. This is a marked improvement from the Galaxy S4, which required about ii full recharges to terminal my typical day.
It was a huge relief to not have to behave around a heavy duty portable charger just to have those final few drops of battery to call somebody, and for the typical user, the battery life is more than sufficient. And should you be unfortunate enough to forget to charge your phone on a daily basis, ultra power saving mode allows y'all to preserve those critical basic functionalities that ensure you do non get stranded in the middle of Ulu Pandan.
A worthy point of mention is that you can indeed add whatsoever core app y'all want onto the highly simplified home screen, from WhatsApp to Facebook, and use these in all their greyscale glory. It's a novel experience at first, only certainly a feature never intended for the long haul. Merely hey, since AMOLED screens consume huge amounts of power, turning the color off saves you a whole lot of battery, so the days of Nokia-esque battery life could alive on.
However, the residual of the flagship phones out there this yr though, have a far higher capacity and will indeed last for much longer than this will, without having you suffer a trip back to the 60s era of black-and-white TV. The Milky way S5, with all its hype about power saving, is thus a but competent bombardment performer, and barely and then at that.
PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS
The list of specifications in the Galaxy S5 is zero short of stunning. Spec for spec, it compares with all the top-terminate phones out there. The listing of benchmarks shown below show that on residual, the performance of the phone should exist about on par with this year'due south flagships, and you would expect the equivalent performance standards.
In benchmarks, the story follows the script.
In AnTuTu, a comprehensive benchmark that test everything from CPU to storage speed, the S5 led the pack, edging out the One and Z2.
In BrowserMark 2 though, the S5 raced ahead of the pack.
In Vellamo, surprisingly, the 2014 flagships fell far behind their Q4 2013 counterparts (save the Nexus five). In between themselves though, the S5 once again just got ahead of the Z2.
But there's one seemingly pocket-sized loose end the phone leaves out on – RAM. The Galaxy Annotation 3 paved the fashion for a smooth-running UI by giving us 3 GB of RAM. The Xperia Z2 followed accommodate, giving us this gratuitous effigy of RAM too. Except for Samsung'due south Galaxy S5, such a RAM capacity is not complimentary. Information technology is necessary.
And then, why then would Samsung make the determination to give usa just a usable ane.viii GB of RAM, where the UI occupies one.4 GB?
Fifty-fifty when the processor is allowed to run at full clock speed, the phone feels like it is struggling to keep up. Scrolling through the pages is smooth, but just barely, and the brimming-load of widgets that cram your home screen, take quite a while to initialize. HTC's BlinkFeed loads in a blink, equally information technology name suggests, only Samsung's Mag run by Flipboard, loads only afterwards y'all've washed a few flips.
When you lot add even the slightest hint of ability saving, the phone is literally unbearable. And I am proverb this not as a reviewer with high standards. The Galaxy S4 was no Speedy Gonzales. Just in that location was no screen fierce as you transition between the habitation pages, no heavy juddering as you scroll through Facebook, and no text that appears merely a second after yous hit the icon. For a 2014 Flagship telephone, or in fact whatever telephone in this cost range, it is only unacceptable.
And the sad thing is none of this has to do with the phone per se, but the heavy load that it has to work nether. I only promise that a software update would help lift this burden off its very sturdy shoulders.
CAMERA INTERFACE
The photographic camera app, however, might be the nearly useful of all the new add together-ons in the S5.
First, its new stage detection focusing technology, allows for what Samsung claims to be blistering fast focusing times, 0.3 seconds. The reality is that focusing times are indeed faster, but nowhere most that figure. Yous are looking more at 1-2 seconds in real world conditions where lighting situations get circuitous. Face detection, however, seems to work improve.
Second, Samsung boasts auto HDR, with auto preview. Information technology is indeed the simply phone on the market place now which offers this feature.
Instantaneous HDR is something of a piping dream for photographers, and for it to announced on a telephone is admittedly astounding. As a result, all regions of any photo the S5 takes looks properly exposed. And its done completely fuss-free, but film the HDR switch, and your photos instantly look great. I cannot run across why anyone would turn it off. Its like shooting fish in a barrel, quick, and expert. It's easily the S5?s all-time feature.
Third, Samsung totally overhauled their camera app with a bunch of cool new features, notably selective focus. This allows one to shift the focus of an epitome after information technology has been taken, from a near focus shot, to a far focus i. We can merely testify you lot the near focus shot because the data within the image tin just be accessed from a Galaxy S5, and you cannot modify the focus the moment you are on a calculator.
The feature merely works in very selective circumstances though, and does not rank high in usability. 6/10 times the phone volition prompt yous to reselect a subject in the foreground. One might besides manually click the area to focus on before hitting the shutter, particularly since focusing is now and then much faster.
Otherwise, Samsung'south telephone comes with the almost robust set of camera settings I accept ever seen on a smart phone, including options like tap to shoot (anywhere on the screen instead of the camera button), and many others.
Aforementioned goes for its videos too. Merely about whatsoever resolution standard in utilise now is in the phone. Everything from Ultra HD for razor sharpness, to sixty FPS Total Hard disk drive videos for that ultra smooth event. Basically, the camera app is comprehensive, and deals with just about anything the world can throw at it, in still or in move.
CAMERA Operation
A major selling betoken for the Galaxy S5 is its behemoth of a 16MP camera, with a far larger sensor size than any predecessors. The public has become aware that megapixel count is not everything, and sensor size matters a lot besides, because image quality is also about how much calorie-free falls upon the epitome sensor.
And Samsung has delivered in spades, though just stopping brusk of matching Sony'southward sensor size. All images are pin-sharp, and fantastic.
The S5 still lacks an Optical Epitome Stabiliser though, and images tin can turn blurry on the off chance, though much improved form the S4, and lacks a physical photographic camera button, increasing shake fifty-fifty further. You tin come across the samples of the stills, as well as videos taken even underwater, and come to the conclusion yourself that this is indeed a very powerful shooter, that captures the full range of the visual lighting spectrum.
Nonetheless Image Quality (Day Samples):
Video Quality:
Day Sample (4K/2160p):
Day Sample (1080p):
In the twenty-four hours colour reproduction is good, and white balance is fine. Equally is to be expected, the 4K video had more particular.
Underwater Sample (4K/2160p):
Underwater Sample (1080p):
A indicate to annotation though is that to video underwater, you have to start the video above water outset considering you cannot touch annihilation on the screen underwater, and have to wipe dry out the telephone before y'all tin use the touchscreen again. A physical camera push would have been nice.
All the same on my wish list though, is a better selfie cam, I institute the colours washed out, and the airbrush event a little overdone (yes this camera automatically removes your pimples in your selfies).
SECURITY
Samsung has jumped on the thumbprint scanner bandwagon with the Milky way S5, following hot on the heels of the iPhone 5s. In fact, ever since the 5s, every unmarried manufacturer has come with some course of unique identification method. LG for instance has Knock Code, which allows you lot to unlock your phone with a serial of knocks.
Thumbprint scanning is a great idea, if implemented properly, and we heaped praises on the one in the iPhone 5s. However, that worked from all orientations. This one in the S5 only works on a very specific bending and force per unit area. Misalign your finger slightly on the scanner, and the phone will become it wrong.
Most of the time, I take but resorted to typing in my Pin though to be off-white, the system works flawlessly 50% of the time, some other 30% of the fourth dimension, it unlocks with great difficulty.
With the thumbprint scanner existence the key to the whole suite of security features like private style, I cannot say I am impressed by Samsung's security features. The scanner is sadly, a gimmick at best.
Fitness AND WEARABLES
Samsung is unique in the Android world where it is following Apple tree in creating its own ecosystem. By choosing to run Tizen on its watches, it has locked whatever Samsung users who own a Samsung smartwatch into the Samsung fraternity. The phone and the lookout man become together similar bread and butter, and indeed 1 would be useless without the other, at least for this reviewer who has been spoilt past the instant notifications of the Galaxy Gear 1.
A divide review would have to exist written on nothing less than 3 Galaxy Gears, simply they are mentioned in this section because they form the extension, and data collection units of the newly integrated Due south Fit line
I have non actually been a big fan of Samsung's attempt to integrate the fitness market, just the inclusion of the heart rate monitor in the S5 persuaded me to try.
What I found was a very inclusive ecosystem that integrated my step count, heart rate, weight changes, calorie intakes, and even sleeping patterns to give me a very comprehensive thought of my well-existence. Using the heart rate monitor is decently uncomplicated, equally long as you figured out how exactly to identify your finger on the IR sensor, and detection is fast one time you know how to do information technology right.
Many people, including our ain editors, would claim this to be a gimmick, but to me information technology'south 3 huge strides frontwards for Samsung technologies, because it has substantially cannibalized the Exercise picket, and took fettle to the same level.
Receiving prompts on my wrist to speed up or dull down with constant heart-rate monitoring, GPS tracking, forth with my sleeping patterns, all in one nice digital fettle logbook is a great thing to have, and was one of the few things I truly missed subsequently returning my review unit. I had fears information technology would be complicated to use, merely actually it is user-friendly, and not at all reeking of infamous Samsung fragmentation.
Granted, there are flaws. The data on the phone and the watches still run asynchronously, which I neglect to go, because I do non want 2 sets of stride count readings. The range of practice activities is as well express to running, walking, cycling and hiking. No resistance preparation, or better yet, swimming.
However, the heart rate monitor remains the key to the gilded palace of fettle nirvana that I firmly believe Samsung owns.
Conclusion
The Galaxy S5 is thus a actually mixed pocketbook. As a Samsung product, I am willing to put my foot down to say that information technology is technically the most advanced thing shipped out of Seoul, jam-packed with the latest loftier-tech wizardry the tech globe can offer.
Its camera is brilliant, its UI looks much better than what nosotros have ever seen on the Galaxy S line, and its list of gimmicks like the heart-rate monitor and thumb print scanner are magical when they piece of work together. Information technology'southward like a whole new ecosystem from people who truly want to take technology frontwards, when the folks at Cupertino got besides caught up with perfectionism.
Indeed, no one, I repeat no i can match the composure of Samsung'south split screen technology, with all its content transfers etc., its video sharing, and its long tech specifications listing. (Information technology'southward quite literally two full pages long.)
Simply at the end of the day, it feels like a lab product. I would take a longer battery, a fast processor with no judder, a slightly inferior camera, and a nicer user interface, over any of these features in the long run.
Every bit a phone, a flagship phone of 2014 no less, a basic expectation is that information technology works. All the time. And I was not convinced that it did this time. The S5 tried to pluck an Apple, a phone that only works. But that'south different from a phone that does everything. The S4 made no apologies for trying to do the latter.
And for that reason, I actually rather have the S4 over the S5. I am so so sorry to the folks at Samsung, for I can see that this fourth dimension, they really tried. We are shut, but not quite.
The article Samsung GALAXY S5 Review – Not Quite Back to Basics originally appeared on Xx Showtime Tech, a content partner for Vulcan Post.
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Source: https://vulcanpost.com/10770/samsung-galaxy-s5-review-everything-you-need-to-know/
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