Ars Technica's Samsung Galaxy S5 Review

[Citizen Coyote]

Ars Technica has posted their Galaxy S5 review, and it's pretty harsh. The reviewer says the performance is nice and he likes the waterproofing (even if it does mean fiddling with port flaps), but he hammers Samsung's scattershot UI. He also calls the heart rate monitor a gimmick, since in his testing against a real heart rate monitor it was only correct about half the time and is not very easy or quick to use.

I think he has a point on the UI. I've never been a fan of TouchWiz ever since using the original Galaxy S, and what I've seen of the S5 is disappointing given the design directions Samsung's competitors have adopted. However, it looks like the camera is quite good and I think he sold the fingerprint scanner short. Is it a bit more finicky than Apple's? Apparently, but people here have figured out how to get it to work with one hand with excellent accuracy by using more than one "slot" for the same finger when recording their print.

Thoughts? Is the UI as big a mess as he claims, or is this just Samsung hate on parade?

Samsung’s Galaxy S5 has plenty of upgrades—so why does it feel so meh? | Ars Technica

 

[dwd3885]

Ron Amadeo is a prime Nexus/stock android lover. He really hates the S5 because he doesn't agree with the design choices. I don't really pay attention to anything he says. Very biased.

 

[anon367353]

Those are certified Samsung-hate, along with Verge. They are sort of nexus-is-God elitists.
After using N4, I can safely say that anyone who harps about stock Android is just another show-off/geek who thinks he knows more than anyone else.
it's your opinion if you like/dislike the review.
I don't trust any review apart from probably Anandtech/AC/GSMArena. But I make my own decisions. My last decision based on reviews (N4) was a complete disaster.

Reality is that some people don't give enough credit to Samsung/Apple for creating nice devices.

 

[snobrdr2324]

Those are certified Samsung-hate, along with Verge. They are sort of nexus-is-God elitists.
After using N4, I can safely say that anyone who harps about stock Android is just another show-off/geek who thinks he knows more than anyone else.
it's your opinion if you like/dislike the review.
I don't trust any review apart from probably Anandtech/AC/GSMArena. But I make my own decisions. My last decision based on reviews (N4) was a complete disaster.

Reality is that some people don't give enough credit to Samsung/Apple for creating nice devices.

I do have to agree with the stock android part. I've had the gnex, nexus 4 and nexus 5 and I'm always disappointed in stock android. I don't necessarily like Touchwiz (I do like Sense and Sony's UI) I would probably take it over stock android still.

 

[edgefever]

My review... Awsome

Sent from my SM-G900V using AC Forums mobile app

 

[felyke]

I go the phone today and so far I'm really impressed. Im coming from the nexus 5 and note 3. The S5 ui looks better than the noted 3 by a mile. Stock android looks awesome too but I think is overrated and too simplistic.

Sent from my SM-G900P using AC Forums mobile app

 

[planoman]

Those are certified Samsung-hate, along with Verge. They are sort of nexus-is-God elitists.
After using N4, I can safely say that anyone who harps about stock Android is just another show-off/geek who thinks he knows more than anyone else.
it's your opinion if you like/dislike the review.
I don't trust any review apart from probably Anandtech/AC/GSMArena. But I make my own decisions. My last decision based on reviews (N4) was a complete disaster.

Reality is that some people don't give enough credit to Samsung/Apple for creating nice devices.

People still read verge? I thought they were like bgr...deleted.

Sent from my Moto X!