Galaxy S5: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

[Adranalyne]

I just find it amusing that people absolutely love and praise the Moto X (plastic build, textured back, no revolutionary specs, etc) and look at this as some awful upgrade. Everyone that has had their hands on this phone has commented how much better it feels in the hand compared to the S4. There was not one complaint about the Moto X or Nexus 5 being plastic, but because the S5 still is, albeit much better, it's unacceptable?

The Moto X has a 720p AMOLED screen, yet there wasn't a lot of contention there because it was a move to preserve battery life. Guess what? So is staying at 1080p. Improving the way it functions in sunlight and making it more efficient is a big step, even if it doesn't say something marvelous on the spec sheet. They increased the battery size to 2800 mah, kept it removable, and added enhanced power saving features. Every iteration of the SoC seems to get more power efficient as well, so the 801 probably helps quite a bit there, too. I expect solid battery life from this phone because all the components are there.

So putting this up against the vaunted Nexus 5, how is it not a winner? Faster chipset, larger battery, almost assuredly a better camera, slightly larger screen, faster/more efficient connectivity (which too many people are overlooking), more storage space with expandable storage up to 128 GB, etc. It's Touchwiz, right? That's the deal breaker? From what I've seen, the redesign, even if it's not a complete overhaul, is a step in the right direction. The animations look to be lighter and according to those who got to test it, there was no lag.

So if this all adds up to a phone that's significantly faster than it's predecessor, has a better camera, has better battery life, adds some cool functionality (finger scanner, heart rate monitor, private mode), improves the screen, improves connectivity, and has a better in hand feel and better looking/functioning UI----how is that disappointing?

Posted via Android Central App

 

[monsieurms]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

....Same horrible physical home button (ughhh), Basically the same capacity battery, a couple more megapixel camera, no improvement to the screen, it's significantly larger and heavier with only a 0.1" bump in screen size. No metal body as had long been rumored, same cheap s*** plastic look and feel as other Galaxy phones. Not a thing to really "move the needle." No 4000Ma battery, no optical image stabalization, no ultra HD screen, etc. In short, a serious piece of s***.
Samsung, you're going to get you *** handed to you by Apple.
This is just pathetic.

Disagree entirely. I cannot imagine why anyone keeps ranting about the cheap plastic. Most people use cases anyway. The lighter the original casing and the less expensive---so much the better. No one is ever going to see mine.

This looks like a pretty awesome phone. The question of whether it is a big enough upgrade on the S4 to make me run to the store is a different one, but if I needed a phone, this would be what I would buy and Apple wouldn't enter into the discussion.

The changes here are under the hood---camera, some waterproofing, screen adapting display, along with some things like fingerprints and heart monitors.

Hands On With the Samsung Galaxy S5 | PCMag.com

Why in the world would ANYONE that has an S4 get this? Really? What is the ONE selling point? None at all.

That's a somewhat different question. As phone technology matures, the new gee-whiz features become fewer. The changes are not as great. What makes you run to the store and ditch your $500 device in 12 months? That's a harder question to answer. There are many features here I want--the water resistant issue could be a lifesaver. The Screen adapting display could correct the complaints on bright light. The speed and specs seem great. The camera is better.

Will any of them immediately make me run to the store? I doubt it. I love my S4 and I'm just throwing it away after a year or so? But when I'm in the market for a new phone, those will be things that will lead me here.

The truth is that it is getting to a point with ALL phones where you can probably skip a release without pain. Maybe my next will be the S6 or the Note 4. As others here have pointed out, a lot of S3 owners never bit on the S4 for these same reasons. They will be in the market now and S5 will be a perfect upgrade for them.

The imperative to upgrade immediately and constantly is waning. That's not Samsung's fault. That is the nature of maturing technology. There was a time when I upgraded my desktop computer every 18 months, too, and I always seemed to be behind the curve even so. Those days have also ended. That's what happens when tech matures. These smartphones are functioning at a level where it would've seemed like magic in the Palm Treo days. Things have changed. How much more can they do without some fundamental tech breakthough like, say, the invention of a battery that will last 5 months?

Change will be more evolutionary not revolutionary.

 

[garublador]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

I just find it amusing that people absolutely love and praise the Moto X (plastic build, textured back, no revolutionary specs, etc) and look at this as some awful upgrade. Everyone that has had their hands on this phone has commented how much better it feels in the hand compared to the S4. There was not one complaint about the Moto X or Nexus 5 being plastic, but because the S5 still is, albeit much better, it's unacceptable?

While I agree that are is a LOT of double standards among "power users" on here about what Motorola and the Nexus phones have done compared to what Samsung does, I disagree that there was nothing revolutionary about the Moto X. They shifted their focus from one upping everyone else on specs and changed it to adding functionality while also lowering power consumption. Adding always-on features that take little to no battery isn't evolutionary because they were the first to do it.

The metal body just seems like it's more trouble than it's worth. It adds weight (which is usually considered bad in drop tests) and acts as a shield against EMI (like phone, WiFi and Bluetooth communications). You also don't have the same texturing options that you have with plastics. I'd chose plastic every time.

Also (more generally, not directed at the person I quoted) as others have pointed out they aren't trying to get people to upgrade from an S4, they're going after people with 2 year old phones, like the S3. It's probably too early to tell if it's really worth it over the S4. We'll have to see what actual camera, battery and screen performance is really like to know if it's worth dropping $200 to get the S5 over the S4, assuming a carrier subsidy. For me it was a close call on whether or not to get the S4 over the S3. As for whether to get the S5 over some other phone, my guess is the removable battery and SD card will be a bigger selling point than anything new they've added.

As an aside, how useful could the heart rate monitor really be? The phone is kind of big to be carrying while you exercise, and finding your heart rate isn't that hard to do as long as you have some way to count seconds (and many times it's built into a machine you're using). It seems way faster to just count the number of pulses while looking at your watch than trying to fumble with a phone that large.

 

[boeingrules]

Re: HUGE Disappointment -- Samsung TOTALLY Dropped The Ball

The S4 broke sales records. It wasn't a disappointment.

How is this going to be a "total bomb?"

Samsung was expecting to sell over 100 million S4 units. Apparently, last year they sold a total of 200 million Galaxy units in all, over half of them were the cheaper ones, and only a smaller than expected but still significant slice of the remainder would have went to the S4. Therefore, the sales were a disappointment because Samsung had set the bar too high.

And I'm just curious, what sales record did the S4 break?

 

[trandz]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

It lagged twice just on phils hands on video. Twice in 3 minutes.

 

[Aquila]

Re: HUGE Disappointment -- Samsung TOTALLY Dropped The Ball

And I'm just curious, what sales record did the S4 break?

If I recall right, it was rate of sales out of the gate, but would have to fact check to be sure.

 

[20blks]

Re: HUGE Disappointment -- Samsung TOTALLY Dropped The Ball

Lag at: :43 seconds aaaaaand at 2:37 app opened at 2:41. Thats 4 seconds by my math. Please -___-

Why are you here?

Posted via Android Central App

 

[vikbee]

Re: HUGE Disappointment -- Samsung TOTALLY Dropped The Ball

though i was expecting a brand new form factor but i have to say i like the golfball cover (the blue and gold - particularly look nice). i have a S4 so i am not sure i'll upgrade yet.

BUT I WILL BUY THE GEAR FIT ....LOVE IT!!!!

 

[Adranalyne]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

While I agree that are is a LOT of double standards among "power users" on here about what Motorola and the Nexus phones have done compared to what Samsung does, I disagree that there was nothing revolutionary about the Moto X. They shifted their focus from one upping everyone else on specs and changed it to adding functionality while also lowering power consumption. Adding always-on features that take little to no battery isn't evolutionary because they were the first to do it.

The metal body just seems like it's more trouble than it's worth. It adds weight (which is usually considered bad in drop tests) and acts as a shield against EMI (like phone, WiFi and Bluetooth communications). You also don't have the same texturing options that you have with plastics. I'd chose plastic every time.

Also (more generally, not directed at the person I quoted) as others have pointed out they aren't trying to get people to upgrade from an S4, they're going after people with 2 year old phones, like the S3. It's probably too early to tell if it's really worth it over the S4. We'll have to see what actual camera, battery and screen performance is really like to know if it's worth dropping $200 to get the S5 over the S4, assuming a carrier subsidy. For me it was a close call on whether or not to get the S4 over the S3. As for whether to get the S5 over some other phone, my guess is the removable battery and SD card will be a bigger selling point than anything new they've added.

As an aside, how useful could the heart rate monitor really be? The phone is kind of big to be carrying while you exercise, and finding your heart rate isn't that hard to do as long as you have some way to count seconds (and many times it's built into a machine you're using). It seems way faster to just count the number of pulses while looking at your watch than trying to fumble with a phone that large.

Not trying to one-up others on specs and making the core experience better is exactly what I feel Samsung did this time around. They didn't increase the screen resolution, but improved it's usability. They didn't add on a bunch of battery draining features, they increased the battery size and added more power saving options. They didn't overhaul Touchwiz, but they made it cleaner and presumably quicker with less animations. They didn't redesign the phone, but they made a huge improvement on the back of the device while maintaining the removable battery/expandable storage. If this phone has better battery life, faster functionality, and the camera ends up being as great as advertised, I can't see how this is a failure. I have a Nexus 5 and an HTC One and I plan on getting one of these.

Just for clarity, I want to make sure I state that I absolutely love the Moto X and didn't intend to make it look bad by comparison. It's still the best phone of 2013 IMO.

 

[Aquila]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

This is a friendly reminder to read Paul's earlier sentiments about how we conduct ourselves.

 

[philosopherisdog]

Re: HUGE Disappointment -- Samsung TOTALLY Dropped The Ball

Well, I'll throw my opinion in here, as if it matters...

First of all, this phone will sell. It is just a matter of how well it will sell. Can Samsung lure more people away from the Iphone with this? That is the fundamental question.

The look of the phone isn't my style, in fact I think it's ugly as heck....but I just do not see how it matters. As others have surely mentioned, you should be putting a protective case on it anyway. If you are going to walk around carrying a near $1000 device in your hands without some protection on it, you are either supremely confident in your own ability to never have an accident, stupid, or like to burn money.

I think the greatest potential for the S5 is with the camera, which is something that will take a little time to come to light. If this camera ends up being at least on par with the Iphone5s, it will be a huge deal. If this S5 camera turns out to be decent, or even terrible, I think this device just doesn't make any waves. Again, it will be a while before a good understanding of the quality of the S5's camera hardware and software gets fleshed out. But to me, this is the most important aspect of this phone and the Iphone is still the mainstream flagship smartphone camera king.

Selling a 16gb version is not that huge of a deal for many users, although I will say that we are on the precipice of that becoming a real problem. A lot of people are going to have to purchase an SD card to get buy with the 16gb version, which adds to the cost. In a year or two down the line, I just don't see 16gb being a viable option with the OS bloat that you get with Samsung (and Samsung plus Verizon, sheesh). I think it is only a matter of time before, for example, some mom out there who owns a galaxy S5 won't be able to update to the latest version of Google Maps because it is a 450mb download and they are out of space. That is when this memory thing is going to blow up. But again, I think we are still a couple years away from that for your very pedestrian users.

 

[vamp464]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

Regarding the camera, it is in fact using a new sensor so let's give it a chance. Megapixels do not equal better picture quality. And in that regard, quality is more than just sharpness. Let's wait and see.

IMO image stablilization on cellphones is a bit overrated at this point.

 

[GrooveRite]

Re: HUGE Disappointment -- Samsung TOTALLY Dropped The Ball

Why are you here?

Posted via Android Central App

He is trying his hardest to let us know his distaste for the new Samsung Galaxy S5 and he wants us to sympathize with his sentiments. Highly unlikely and improbable but he keeps trying.

 

[scott_0]

Re: HUGE Disappointment -- Samsung TOTALLY Dropped The Ball

I'm guessing most of these features will make it's way on to Note 4.

a lot of good that will do those of us that dont like carrying around a tablet as a phone, those notes are so stupid looking, what a joke

 

[garublador]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

Just for clarity, I want to make sure I state that I absolutely love the Moto X and didn't intend to make it look bad by comparison. It's still the best phone of 2013 IMO.

I was more nit-picking about a phrase you used rather than actually disagreeing with you. I consider the low power cores and features they were able to add because of it to be more revolutionary than most.

That is a good point about what they did to the S5. Trying to make a phone better in every way rather than just faster with bigger specs is good product design.

Again, as an aside, I don't get why people are so excited about them overhauling TouchWiz, or any OEM skin for that matter. If you don't like it why not just use a different launcher? Perhaps it's just me, but I find that even the free versions of third party launchers are vastly superior to all of the OEM skins. Am I wrong about the third party launchers? If not, what's so exciting about polishing a turd? Or is it that people are more excited about the behind the scenes improvements they may or may not have made?

Selling a 16gb version is not that huge of a deal for many users, although I will say that we are on the precipice of that becoming a real problem. A lot of people are going to have to purchase an SD card to get buy with the 16gb version, which adds to the cost. In a year or two down the line, I just don't see 16gb being a viable option with the OS bloat that you get with Samsung (and Samsung plus Verizon, sheesh). I think it is only a matter of time before, for example, some mom out there who owns a galaxy S5 won't be able to update to the latest version of Google Maps because it is a 450mb download and they are out of space. That is when this memory thing is going to blow up. But again, I think we are still a couple years away from that for your very pedestrian users.

I'll also go on record as saying that I agree that the storage will eventually be a problem. 16GB is enough for most right now, but in a couple years it will not be enough.

 

[MACLuvr4Life]

Re: HUGE Disappointment -- Samsung TOTALLY Dropped The Ball

Don't like it? Don't buy it.. Plain and simple!

 

[Ikeman90]

Re: HUGE Disappointment -- Samsung TOTALLY Dropped The Ball

I dont want sammy to fail or anything even remotly close to that but i do what this phone to sell poorly (prolly wont) so sammy will stop making what they think people want and listen to what the people are asking for! reduce the on-board apps, make the body more solid (we can forgo lightweight for a premium feel), and get rid of that button, it sticks and breaks!!

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

....Same horrible physical home button (ughhh),

Not everyone hates the physical home button. I could honestly care less. They also added a fingerprint scanner to it (another feature I could care less about, but others may), so that does show some innovation on that front.

Basically the same capacity battery,

According to this article, that batter IS indeed larger with "20% better stamina"

a couple more megapixel camera,

The camera on the S4 was already incredible...how much improvement did you expect?

no improvement to the screen,

Same as above, how much better than the S4 does it need to be? I know there is room for some improvement here, but at what cost? The current S4 screen is fine for my needs on a 5" device, and I'm certainly not willing to sacrifice battery life for a slightly better screen.

it's significantly larger and heavier with only a 0.1" bump in screen size.

Haven't seen enough on the specs to comment on this. Frankly, I do think the S4 was big enough...actually, I thought the S3 was big enough, but smaller devices is not the trend. I'm not planning on buying this, but at least it didn't get too much larger than the S4.

No metal body as had long been rumored, same cheap s*** plastic look and feel as other Galaxy phones.

Actually, the back casing is different, and now has a "soft touch" (i.e. more rubbery) texture, which I would actually like. The primary reason I feel the need to keep a case on my S4 is because it's so darn slippery.

Not a thing to really "move the needle." No 4000Ma battery, no optical image stabalization, no ultra HD screen, etc. In short, a serious piece of s***.
Samsung, you're going to get you *** handed to you by Apple.
This is just pathetic.

Among other quoted features, I think that the USB 3.0 compatibility (for faster data speeds and potentially faster charging times) is a nice addition, and let's not forget about the water resistance either...which could be a lifesaver in the event of certain mishaps.

Frankly, I just don't see how this announcement could be that upsetting to anyone, nor do I see as a move that kill any of Samsung's existing market share. The Galaxy S series is wildly popular, and I believe will continue to be so with the release of this model. People tend to say the same thing every other year when Apple does one of it's "minor" updates to the iPhone line...and yet people still show up in massive numbers to buy them...when you're already ahead of the curve and making great devices, there isn't always a ton of room for drastic improvements every year.

If this device doesn't have the features you want...don't buy it. There are plenty of other Android options out there, and I'm sure Apple would be happy to your money as well.

 

[bobbob1016]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

Hurray for 32GB options

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

So, to make up for Samsung's garbage (eye tracking is non-sense), I need to pay them more money? Or get an SD card and have a mis-mash of where things save, and what apps go where? Or root and void my warranty?

 

[el3ctronics]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

I just find it amusing that people absolutely love and praise the Moto X (plastic build, textured back, no revolutionary specs, etc) and look at this as some awful upgrade. Everyone that has had their hands on this phone has commented how much better it feels in the hand compared to the S4. There was not one complaint about the Moto X or Nexus 5 being plastic, but because the S5 still is, albeit much better, it's unacceptable?

The Moto X has a 720p AMOLED screen, yet there wasn't a lot of contention there because it was a move to preserve battery life. Guess what? So is staying at 1080p. Improving the way it functions in sunlight and making it more efficient is a big step, even if it doesn't say something marvelous on the spec sheet. They increased the battery size to 2800 mah, kept it removable, and added enhanced power saving features. Every iteration of the SoC seems to get more power efficient as well, so the 801 probably helps quite a bit there, too. I expect solid battery life from this phone because all the components are there.

So putting this up against the vaunted Nexus 5, how is it not a winner? Faster chipset, larger battery, almost assuredly a better camera, slightly larger screen, faster/more efficient connectivity (which too many people are overlooking), more storage space with expandable storage up to 128 GB, etc. It's Touchwiz, right? That's the deal breaker? From what I've seen, the redesign, even if it's not a complete overhaul, is a step in the right direction. The animations look to be lighter and according to those who got to test it, there was no lag.

So if this all adds up to a phone that's significantly faster than it's predecessor, has a better camera, has better battery life, adds some cool functionality (finger scanner, heart rate monitor, private mode), improves the screen, improves connectivity, and has a better in hand feel and better looking/functioning UI----how is that disappointing?

Posted via Android Central App

B/c the Moto X is a MUCH better size than the S5, has significantly better and less bloated software, and features that make the user experience light years better than the Galaxy S devices. If all you care about is specs then yea, get the S5. If you want a device that was built for real people with useful features that you'll actually use on a daily basis, then the Moto X ****s all over it.