What are the Pros and Cons of the Galaxy S5?

[JackiG69]

I have always been an iPhone owner and have now switched (bc of boyfriend) to the Samsung Galaxy S5. Cam anyone tell me their thoughts on the pros & cons of this phone? And of any good points or hidden fun things on it?
TIA
Jacki

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central, and congratulations on your new S5! What you're asking is a little broad, so I would suggest you first peruse the S5 forum, where people often talk about what they love as well as the problems that arise: Samsung Galaxy S5 - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com

 

[black_thorne]

I recently switched over from iphone also. Some of the pros of the galaxy would be: option to increase memory, water proof/resistant, potential to take nice pictures, operating system has more freedom than iphone. I'm sure there's other, but I'm new.

Cons: not quite as smooth operating as an iphone, it's a bit large to carry in pocket, has some querks, it's hard to get those potential nice pictures.

Overall it's a very nice phone.

 

[steve Sharra]

The pros are:
Water resistant
Fingerprint id
Usb 3.0 charges fast like iphone
Screen is very bright like iphone
Ultra power saving mode
Light weight for big phone
Multi windows
Private mode
Battery life for me 1 day n half /removable battery
Cons:
I dont have any at this point, though some people experience lag, i have not

SAMSUNG GALAXY S5

 

[jolcoracer]

I just "jumped" from S4 to S5 and the Gallery feature is horrible and completely useless when trying to organize photos with other apps. With the S4 I was able to view my individual Facebook Photo Albums, Dropbox Photos/Subfolders, Picasa Albums, and Instagram photos in the native Gallery app. Wonderful, a one stop source to view all things photos!

With the S5 I can no longer view ANY of my Instagram photos from the native gallery app and all photos from Facebook/Dropbox/Picasa are lumped into one folder respectively with no Album/Subfolder organization. My Facebook Folder has all my Facebook photos in random order which makes it useless to search/view with several hundred photos. Dropbox and Picasa have their individual folders as well with the difference that the photos seem to be categorized by time; at least.

Some have said there are work arounds. Well, accessing the individual Gallery, Facebook App, Instagram App, Picassa App, Dropbox App to view all things photos is not a work around; it's **** poor design by Samsung and an inefficient use of technology. Quickpic does not allow you to view your Facebook, Instagram, Picassa Photos/Albums/Photos. It has a slightly better UI over the native gallery app and maintains the same limitations.

The finger print scanner so far has been useless. Scanning few times to unlock your phone is, again, poor design and a waste of time.

The heart rate monitor is interesting as it offers several different results in a short period of time. I guess my heart rate is going up just by using this "next best thing."

 

[AZgl1500]

The pros are:
....
Usb 3.0 charges fast like iphone.....

SAMSUNG GALAXY S5

Have to clear this up. USB 3.0 has nothing to do with charging rates, zip, nada... the 3.0 port is ONLY used for data.

The faster charging is the result of using a bigger charging module along with larger gauge wires in the charging port circuit of the existing USB 2.0 port OEM cable that came with the phone.

any good quality USB 2.0 cable will also give the same higher charging rates, provided it is connected to a 2.1 amp or better power source.

 

[steve Sharra]

Maybe you might be right, but i have a 1amp 2.0 usb at work and it takes forever to charge my s5 with it.when i put the stock 3.0 it charges fast like the iphone do...this is all charging through wall not computer...i have tested this for 5 months now. I was reading my wife's iphone 5s wall charger it says 1.0amp my samsung says 2.0 amps so im guessing its in the phone why it charges fast

SAMSUNG GALAXY S5

 

[StylinProfilin]

One thing I don't like about my S5 is that the volume and power buttons are exactly alike. I can never tell which one I'm pushing unless I'm looking at the phone. It's annoying because sometimes I'll be laying in bed listening to music and just want to lower the volume, but I always end up hitting the wrong one. This looks to be fixed on the Note 4. I have a UAG case on it now and the buttons are more distinguishable. The only other thing that bothers me is the speaker and it's placement. Sometimes it's not loud enough either.

Everything else about the phone is great. I've had it since launch and no other phones are pulling me away from it.

 

[black_thorne]

To add to your power and volume complaint, I always have trouble pushing one without accidentally hitting the other. It's kind of annoying. Someone was definitely hitting the pipe when they were working on that design.

 

[AZgl1500]

To add to your power and volume complaint, I always have trouble pushing one without accidentally hitting the other. It's kind of annoying. Someone was definitely hitting the pipe when they were working on that design.

This has always been my complaint about Galaxy phones. I have the Galaxy S and it is the same friggin stupid way.
How do you press the volume button one handed? Why by holding the phone balanced with your other fingers natcherly... oops, just hit the Power Off button on the other side. DUMB DUMB IGNORANT is what it is.

Or, you intend to put the phone to sleep and you hit the Volume Down button and mute the damn thing, now it won't ever alert you again that someone is trying to call you.

I resolved this last UnFeature by installing MacroDroid and creating a macro that senses Screen Locked, then it Resets Ringer Volume to MAX. At least this way, I will never, ever, again miss an important phone call. (don't bother explaining that you are in a conference.... I could give a rats behind about that... turn the phone OFF if that bothers you)

I also created a macro that when the Screen is Unlocked, it will Reset Receive Volume to MAX. That takes care of Samsung's stupid blunder of placing the important buttons diametrically opposite each other.

 

[shanghaichica]

One thing I don't like about my S5 is that the volume and power buttons are exactly alike. I can never tell which one I'm pushing unless I'm looking at the phone. It's annoying because sometimes I'll be laying in bed listening to music and just want to lower the volume, but I always end up hitting the wrong one. This looks to be fixed on the Note 4. I have a UAG case on it now and the buttons are more distinguishable. The only other thing that bothers me is the speaker and it's placement. Sometimes it's not loud enough either.

Everything else about the phone is great. I've had it since launch and no other phones are pulling me away from it.

Having a case really helps. I'm using a spigen ultra clear case and it makes the buttons much more tactile and easy to find.

Posted from my S5