Is the Galaxy S5 still worth buying?

[J1795K]

Hello everyone,

After 2 years of using my Galaxy S3, I think it's time for a new smartphone. It's been a useless device ever since the last Android update (I think it was 4.3(?)) and hasn't been updated since. Time to get rid of it. So as I'm a student my budget has a maximum of 450 Euro's. I've particularly looked at the Sony Xperia Z2, the HTC One M8, the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the OnePlus One.

At the moment, I can't decide between the S5 and Z2. But as Samsung stopped upgrading the SIII barely 1,5 years after the launch, I'm starting to doubt whether the S5 will be upgraded for the next 2 years.

What do you guys think, is the S5 still worth buying for around 370-400 Euros? Should I buy the Z2 or S5?

PS. I've never tried rooting, but I would consider it. I'm bad at those things though.

Thanks in advance to everyone helping me with this!

 

[Gekko]

Hello everyone,

After 2 years of using my Galaxy S3, I think it's time for a new smartphone. It's been a useless device ever since the last Android update (I think it was 4.3(?)) and hasn't been updated since. Time to get rid of it. So as I'm a student my budget has a maximum of 450 Euro's. I've particularly looked at the Sony Xperia Z2, the HTC One M8, the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the OnePlus One.

At the moment, I can't decide between the S5 and Z2. But as Samsung stopped upgrading the SIII barely 1,5 years after the launch, I'm starting to doubt whether the S5 will be upgraded for the next 2 years.

What do you guys think, is the S5 still worth buying for around 370-400 Euros? Should I buy the Z2 or S5?

PS. I've never tried rooting, but I would consider it. I'm bad at those things though.

Thanks in advance to everyone helping me with this!

get the Nexus 6 and future-proof yourself.

good luck.

 

[systemofadown1]

I agree with the above, but the S5 is a great phone & will be for some time to come. I currently plan on keeping mine for awhile - but we are all different so what's good for me might not work for you.
I plan on rooting my S5 here soon - I believe as with most great phones the S5 will see plenty of solid ROMs in its future (after Samsung stops updating).
once you learn to flash custom ROMs it becomes like second nature and if not you always have the forms to help you out

 

[rexbitz]

S5 is still a great phone. The one plus community is pretty amazing. If you go to the website you will see that everyone there roots the phone loll. All the phones you mentioned are great so it's tough to tell you which way to go. Good luck.

 

[T48]

Some friends of mine bought 3 S5's yesterday for the family upgrading from the S4. They were going to wait another month or so to see if the price would drop a little, but their daughter dropped hers (w/o case) down some concrete steps cracking the screen. Got a text last night from them saying all were happy with their new phones. The lack of removable battery on the S6 was why they were passing on that one until it was a proven set up.

So if you wanted to mess with rooting a phone, would think your S3 would be a perfect candidate. If you get another month or two out of it & then score a deal on a S5 after the S6 are fully released?

On a side note, personally have an S3 & it has zero issues. Bought new June 2012 & still on its factory battery. As much as I want to update it, is as much as it worries me to risk a known reliable phone.

 

[ironass]

But as Samsung stopped upgrading the SIII barely 1,5 years after the launch, I'm starting to doubt whether the S5 will be upgraded for the next 2 years.

Can I just correct you there on a couple of points.

The Galaxy S3, GT-i9300, was released in May 2012. Samsung are still releasing updates for Android 4.3 as recent as 4 days ago. The EOL, (End Of Life), of a Samsung phone is around 2 years after which time, support is usually withdrawn.

3 Reasons Why Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 Didn't Receive Android KitKat Update Even With 1 GB RAM

 

[J1795K]

Hmm, it's a brilliant phone, but too expensive for me (~590 Euros) and it doesn't look like the price will drop to 450 within a few months. + every phone that's 5,5" + is too big for me to use comfortably. Kinda sucks. Thank you for the reaction though!

 

[J1795K]

Thank you. I see and understand now. Still strange that a lot of bugs and errors aren't fixed and have only gotten worse. For example, WhatsApp doesn't work anymore most of the time. Whenever I try to open it, it just gives a black screen or freezes or won't display my keyboard, even after cleaning RAM and memory or after turning it off and on. Also, no matter which app I use, my music won't play without continious stuttering, which is unbelievably annoying & not to forget the sudden battery draining. Regularly, the battery completely drains from 40% (for example) to 0% within an hour without me using the phone. These problems all appeared after the last big update I got. I have no idea whether it's because of the update or anything else, but at least I understand why the SIII didn't receive KitKat.

 

[robsawalker]

Well I had the Z2 and swapped it for the S5 which I have been very happy with (lollipop farce aside).

The screen is still one of the best, it's waterproof, removable battery, expansion slot... I love it. Camera can be great bit often is just okay. It is slow though to start up.

Why didn't I like the Z2? Hard to say. Is a great phone worth an amazing battery. I think it was just how our felt in my hand, stupid I know. Line the S5 the camera can take great shots bit equally or can be rubbish. Built in noise cancellation is fab.
You won't be disappointed with either still, If you just want a great all round phone.

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