Now I haven't exactly looked much into it, as I'm not a big fan of Samsung, but whats with all the hate?
When someone doesn't like something it doesn't mean it's hated on. My last two phones were the Galaxy S3 and the S4 but I do not like the S5 and it's more to do with the design than anything.
1) Its not premium!!
Well it has metal sides doesn't it? Thats better then nothing, but to be honest I actually prefer that, don't like Apple or HTC One because of the all metal.
It doesn't have metal sides - it's still plastic and actually this is the part of the design I don't like the most, the cheap looking shiny chrome. The S4 has plastic sides but the faux metal looks far superior to this blinged up nasty design.
2) Ugly back?
Didn't the N7 '12 have a textured back? It was pretty well received, and they did it to reduce slippage, which is a good thing. Plus its exchangable, so what?
This isn't so much of a problem I agree however I don't like the dots either, I tend to put cases on my phone anyway but I hear people saying buy a metal snap on back - I done this with the S3 and it could hardly get any signal what so ever. The phone is not designed to have a metal back and still be as functional.
3) Same old, Same Old.
Not really. Samsung is refining its Touchwiz Software, not as much as we expected but its a start. The Galaxies have held the same design ish, not as close as iPhones, but its pretty much always been the same, even for the windows phones. The HTC M8 is relatively the same, and I hope the Moto X2 is the same-ish design.
Same old same old can be taken by many different aspects - for me it's the design and not so much the software as I like Samsungs stock media apps for there connectivity with other devices like my Samsung Smart TV.
The design needs a refresh, I always assumed Samsung put the money elsewhere with the S line like giving you the best specs above the competition so plastic phone was a compromise - I hate the flex in these phones and the creaks and noises from the chassis it doesn't feel premium at all.
When I seen the 2gb RAM I was like Hello Xperia Z2 - why for my ?600 should I feel like my phone is less "worth it" when I could have a phone that feels worth every penny AND has better internals and is fully waterproof not just resistant.
IMO the design is also a step back from the S4 which had slimmer bezels and I liked the textured glass look and is bigger in every way.
Worst of all - that fingerprint scanner home button has to sit at an angle not even flush to the phone, what on earth were they thinking? This I thought would be the thing that would make me buy it as I like the idea of fingerprint security.
4) Lack of features.
Yes I know Samsung is known for its feature packed phones. But really after all they added with the S4, I'm glad their not doing another S4. Plus if Samsung really fixed up its HR sensor, fitness apps, it would be a dream!
I love my S4, it's a great phone - I was happy to support Samsung if the S5 was a more premium device but they don't want to deliver a device that I feel is worth my money - the S5 is a slight bump up from what I have already, it can't really do much more.
5) I don't know what to put here, but I felt like it needs a 5th.
Nobody has mentioned AMOLED this time around - which is good as it usually gets slated but I believe the S4 has shown it's a proven technology.