I feel like the S5 has been the best "modern" smartphone I've ever bought.

[fuzzybabybunny]

I've owned a 2013 Nexus 7 tablet for 3 years and it's still snappy as hell with Marshmallow. If it wasn't for the weird blue blotches on my screen and the weakening battery life I would never consider replacing it.

I've had much worse luck with phones, but the S5 is surprisingly still kicking it:

- Marshmallow makes it snappy and smooth, WAY more than when it had Lollipop.

- The waterproofness has saved it countless times. I'm active and frequently subject all my phones to high humidity, rain, snow, and the occasional dunking in salt and freshwater. The S5 has shrugged all of these events off.

- I've replaced the aging battery a couple times and instantly swapping in a new backup battery is fantastic.

- Having 128GB of storage via MicroSD is phenomenal.

- Adding and replacing $5 tempered glass screen protectors means my main screen has never cracked and is never scratched

I'm looking at all of these newer phones and they all seem so... disposable. I really hope they bring back fully waterproof phones with replaceable batteries and expandable storage.

I compared the S5 to the new S7 and the thickness is functionally the same as is the weight. The size is the same. The feel is a bit different but I've always put TPU wallet cases on my phones anyway so any kind of aluminum unibody would be lost on me. Am I the only one to be this practical?

 

[lxskllr]

I'm very happy with my S5, and have no idea what I'd replace it with today. My requirements in descending order...

rootable
replaceable battery
expandable storage
water/dust resistant

Would love to have...

full gnu/linux system
Not have to jump through hoops to control my system

IOW, I want a phone made from fairy stone and powered by unicorn tears judging by the availability of my checklist.

 

[Insomniator]

Yeah, I was having some issues with mine recently (super lag with hangouts/keyboard) since the MM upgrade, but doing a factory reset fixed that and pretty much everything else. Phone feels brand new again.

There aren't that many phones at this size range with this set of features. The screen and battery life are still great. The 801 chip shows no signs of being old, though I don't play games on the phone. Just reddit and video streaming (twitch/hbogo/netflix) mostly.

Its not that I don't WANT a new phone, I just can't justify one. I just bought my wife a Galaxy Note 5 and sat there thinking maybe I'll get one for myself... but I just couldn't think of a reason to waste money when the S5 is totally fine and better in some ways still.

People gave it a lot of **** for being ugly/cheap feeling but I'd take one over an S6 any day. S7 is basically Samsung fixing what they screwed up with the S6. Bringing back S5 features with a newer SoC.

 

[holden j caufield]

Is there a ROM for the S5 for knockon/knockoff double tap wake/off feature. I love this function and would get a used s5. Also I saw someone selling a used Tmobile one but with the charger port cover missing. If I replace it, I assume it will be waterproof again?

 

[Insomniator]

Is there a ROM for the S5 for knockon/knockoff double tap wake/off feature. I love this function and would get a used s5. Also I saw someone selling a used Tmobile one but with the charger port cover missing. If I replace it, I assume it will be waterproof again?

Not sure about the first, but I bought a new charger port cover for like 5 dollars on amazon. Includes a little gasket just like original to keep it sealed.

 

[Commodus]

I'm very happy with my S5, and have no idea what I'd replace it with today. My requirements in descending order...

rootable
replaceable battery
expandable storage
water/dust resistant

Would love to have...

full gnu/linux system
Not have to jump through hoops to control my system

IOW, I want a phone made from fairy stone and powered by unicorn tears judging by the availability of my checklist.

I'd say the LG G5, but the modular system isn't really dust- or water-resistant.

Probably won't ever get a viable full-on Linux phone, at least not one that matches your other criteria. Most people are more interested in doing things with their phones instead of to their phones... and however unfortunate it may be, you don't need FOSS code to achieve that.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Is there a ROM for the S5 for knockon/knockoff double tap wake/off feature. I love this function and would get a used s5. Also I saw someone selling a used Tmobile one but with the charger port cover missing. If I replace it, I assume it will be waterproof again?

I actually replaced the charger port cover... three days ago, lol. The charger port cover finally broke so I bought 3 replacement ones for $15 shipped. An eyeglass screwdriver and unscrewing a single screw is all that's needed to change it. Super simple.

BTW, I'm glad I bought three because one of the port covers had pretty bad gasket seal. Luckily I had two others that sealed very, very well.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Ooooooo... what about the S5 LTE-A G906S?

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s5_lte_a_g906s-6450.php

1440 x 2560 pixels (~577 ppi pixel density): same as the S7, so VR-ready

Marshmallow

3GB RAM

Everything else seems to be the same? Removable battery, water resistant, can be submerged, removable battery, memory card.

 

[wilds]

Like you OP, I own an S5 and a 2013 N7. I am still completely satisfied with CPU/GPU performance on both devices.
I am a huge S5 fan. I usually am someone who roots/jailbreaks their phone, but I decided to lose my root (permanently!) for the latest version of Marshmallow Verizon has to offer. I hated Lollipop on the S5. I had periodic crashes in apps like Firefox, Skype, and music apps. With Marshmallow, I have over double the free ram and have not experienced a Firefox crash even with many tabs "opened".

The removable microSD card is a huge plus for me. I love being able to remove my SD card from my dumb camera and plug it in directly to my phone for on-the-go photo uploading and editing.

I purchased a microUSB to USB adapter and have used my phone's giant battery to power USB fans and even charge other devices! This is the first smartphone I have owned where I don't feel artificially limited to what it is capable of doing.

The expandable battery life was the biggest factor for me. I don't care much about a removable battery, but a battery that is large enough to not be needing replacement. Having a 7500 mah battery lets me run the phone at heavy load without worrying about charging it every day. When I go on a camping trip, I know it will survive. Every time I go out with friends, I know I will hear someone ask if they can plug in their phone to charge. I am done worrying about that. Even when my phone hits the 15% warning, I know it can last the day.

A big complaint of the S5 was its fingerprint sensor. Since day 1, I've been using my fingerprint sensor as the lock. The trick I've done is scanning my thumbs in sideways in a sweeping motion. This means I unlock the phone holding it in a far more comfortable position (90 degrees from where Samsung suggests).

This is also the 1st smartphone where I am happy about its performance and longevity after this much time. It is pretty cool knowing that I am not counting down the days until my next eligible upgrade! It is disheartening to know Samsung no longer fulfills my requirements for an upgrade from the S5. I honestly don't know what phone I will be upgrading to...

The AMOLED screen is just as impressive as it was when I first got it. Reading with a black background is a pleasure on this phone. I love how the blacks are truly black.

So I guess my S5 upgrade will need:

Giant built in battery or expandable battery
Micro SD card slot
AMOLED screen
Really fast NAND (The stuff Apple uses)
Front facing dual speakers

The S5's speaker is mediocre. I borrowed an HTC One for a few days and was amazed at its speaker quality. The built in storage on the S5 is not exactly fast, but it is neither slow. I would appreciate more phones with SSD-quality storage speed.

Overall, this phone has been my rock in the mobile world. It has been the most reliable smartphone I have ever owned. I get the feeling I could keep using this S5 as my daily driver for another 2 years without much difficulty. With the giant expandable battery, it reminds me of a PipBoy from Fallout!

 

[pontifex]

I just got an S5.
My biggest issue with smartphones is battery life. even without using them all day, the battery is nearly dead.

Have yet to to see how the battery lasts with the S5.
Seems the only extended batteries are huge and you need a new back for them, which makes the phone twice as thick.

anyone use one of these extended batteries with their S5 and how do you like it?

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I just got an S5.
My biggest issue with smartphones is battery life. even without using them all day, the battery is nearly dead.

Have yet to to see how the battery lasts with the S5.
Seems the only extended batteries are huge and you need a new back for them, which makes the phone twice as thick.

anyone use one of these extended batteries with their S5 and how do you like it?

I don't. But just get a few extra batteries for cheap and call it a day. I feel like the battery life on Marshmallow is pretty good.

 

[Raduque]

I have a Note 4. The only thing it's lacking is the water/dust proofness. Samsung just released the carrier-agnostic S7 for the US, but sadly the Qualcomm SecureBoot chain is intact and unable to be disabled.

F you Qualcomm.

I'm still considering one, though. :/

My Note4 has it's bootloader unlocked. I'm sitting here with full root access, TWRP and realizing, I don't actually need it. Not to mention the only active development for this device is a stupid AOSP rom.

Sorry for the sidetracking, FBB.