After all the rumors and hype, the Samsung Galaxy S5 revealed. Sure, it's a great smartphone - as you'll see in our in-depth review..!
Screen
The phone sports a 5.1-inch OLED display – ever so slightly larger than the S4′s 5-inch display; the screen’s resolution remains unchanged at 1080p.
Battery
A 2,800mAh battery may not be the largest in all of smartphonedom, but it's a little larger than the Galaxy S4's 2,600mAh ticker. Samsung promises up to 10 hours of web surfing over an LTE cellular connection, or up to 12 hours of video playback. There’s a new "ultra power saving" mode that will shut down all but the most essential features and turn the screen to black and white.
Cameras
The rear-facing camera gets a slight bump, jumping to 16 megapixels . Autofocus speed has been increased, and the actual image sensor is larger than the S4.
A new on-screen control comes to the camera app, and it's a pretty good one. Samsung also notes that the GS5 uses a more sophisticated HDR technology that makes images look even better.
Build
The case is still polycarbonate. There’s a perforated back, though, which looks somewhat similar to the Galaxy Note 3. Color options include black, blue, white and gold.The phone is also water- and dust-resistant.On the back of the phone, right under the camera sensor, there’s an integrated heart-rate monitor — the first of its kind in a smartphone. Hold your finger against the monitor and it’ll tell you your pulse.
The Galaxy S5 measures 142mm by 72.5mm by 8.1mm -- or 5.59 inches tall by 2.85 inches wide by 0.32-inch deep -- and weighs 145 grams, or 5.1 ounces. It's taller and heavier than the Galaxy S4 as a result of its extra hardware.
Data Connections
The Galaxy S5 sports fifth-generation Wi-Fi (a first for smartphones, says Samsung) that can be paired with the LTE cellular connection to accelerate overall download speeds.
Security
One of the biggest talking points for the Samsung Galaxy S5 is that new fingerprint scanner. The S5 has its own fingerprint scanner for unlocking privileges and mobile payments. You’ll have to actually swipe your finger, so it’s different from Apple’s TouchID sensor. You can use the sensor to unlock the phone, log in to a handful of apps (such as PayPal), and to protect certain files and settings on the phone from others.
Software, Processor, Memory and Storage
The Samsung Galaxy S5 offers a top-of-the-line 2.5GHz Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB of RAM, an IR remote, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 BLE/ANT+, Cat 4 LTE (up to 150Mbps down/50Mbps up) and your choice of 16GB or 32GB of internal storage; oddly, 64GB doesn't appear to be an option, though you can add up to 128GB via a microSD card if needed.
Availability
The Samsung Galaxy S5 will be available starting April 11 in 150 countries. In the US, it'll come to AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless; MetroPCS and U.S. Cellular. You'll also be able to pick it up at retail stores like Best Buy, Amazon, Costco, RadioShack, Sam's Club, Target, and Walmart.
