Does Rooting Galaxy S5 Really Make Sense??

[deckie49]

My old phone was a DroidX. Rooting it made a world of difference in performance. I question whether rooting a Galaxy S5 will result in any real benefits. First, Samsung has built in the ability to disable most all the apps thereby removing issues they may cause. You can't uninstall them, but with the increased storage from an microSD space really isn't an issue. The other thing is that rooting always poses some risk, especially to those who aren't well experienced in rooting. Bricking your device is always a concern or somehow causing a glitch in the operating system that could cause problems later down the road. So, I ask myself, what would I really gain by rooting the S5? And at what potential risk or cost?
What do you think?

 

[nahoku]

You shouldn't root your phone unless you have a specific need in mind. That's my philosophy. Personally, I can't root my VZW Note 4, but if I could, it would be so I could gain access to and edit the "hosts" file. And, perhaps load a few ported apps. Other than that, I see no reason to root my Note 4. With programs like Debloater (run from PC), or an app like Package Disabler Pro from Playstore, you can disable a lot of bloatware on your phone without having to root it. There is a lot of risk in rooting... you already know that... unfortunately, witnessed on this forum, many people don't, and now they're asking how to fix their phone. I rarely get into threads about root-gone-bad because it's just too difficult to see what's really going on. Root is NOT for play... unless you really don't care if you brick the phone. My opinion.

 

[ironass]

I, on the other hand, had my S5 rooted within 30 min's of unboxing it. I could not bear to be without some of the features that are available to rooted users, see link. One of the big advantages of rooting, IMHO, is the ability to flash custom ROMs and mods that can enhance the phone's usage and correct firmware problems.

The biggest rooting will take place after Samsung and/or the carriers stop supporting the S5. With a rooted phone you can install the latest Android software and security updates, long after the phone has been abandoned. For instance, a neighbour of mine now has my 4 year old trusty Galaxy S2 which has been running on Android 6.0.1, Marshmallow, quite happily for the last few months.

Top 10 Reasons to Root Your Android Phone

 

[deckie49]

Thanks for the comments.