I guess the S5 review embargo has lifted

[s44]

GSM Arena:
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s5-review-1064.php
AT:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7903/samsung-galaxy-s-5-review

A few things:
(1) Reviewers seem to like the body a lot more in person. I think some of you predicted this.
(2) The camera has more megapixels only by going to 16:9 (that is, adding pixels to the sides). Otherwise it's just switching from a Sony sensor to a Samsung one with their ISOCELL stuff for low-light.
(3) That battery life... and the download boost thing.
but
(4) Every carrier model is bootloader locked!? Noooooo.........

 

[SAWYER]

" With a metal body, a rear facing camera with larger pixels (perhaps with some tweaks to camera output processing), a better NAND controller, and stereo front facing speakers, the GS5 would probably be perfect."

His opinion but not everyone is on the metal body bandwagon.

 

[s44]

Yeah, I'm not sure which of the two wrote that, but to say the S5 and the M8 have about the same feel in hand is insane given the 15g extra weight that metal costs.

 

[kaerflog]

The S5 would have been a beautiful phone 2 yrs ago.
With the introduction of the minimal bezel G2, the S5 is ugly to me.
I can't stand big bezel phones anymore. Its wasted space to me.
Nothing on this phone that make me want to switch from a G2.

 

[s44]

Well, nothing makes me really want to switch from a S4 either. Except the battery...

The CNet review notes that the phone volume on the *other* end is quite loud.
http://www.cnet.com/products/samsung-galaxy-s5/

 

[Roland00Address]

In sum a marginal improvement of the s5 over the s4. The only massive upgrade I see is a vastly improved battery life. If you can live with the decrease in battery life get the nexus 5, which is a comparable phone even though it is 4 months old now. Same logic with the lg g2 (gets similar battery life as samsung) which should be about $200 cheaper than the samsung.

 

[Ravynmagi]

" With a metal body, a rear facing camera with larger pixels (perhaps with some tweaks to camera output processing), a better NAND controller, and stereo front facing speakers, the GS5 would probably be perfect."

His opinion but not everyone is on the metal body bandwagon.

I'm okay with plastic, it keeps the weight down, and for some reason I'm less worried about scratching on a plastic phone than I am a metal phone, I think the plastic hides it better.

I don't need the whole phone in metal, but I would like to see that plastic fake Chrome replaced with... pretty much anything else. Metal, maybe rubberized plastic, something with more grip or at least feels more substantial.

And front facing speakers are a blessing and curse. HTC One gets lots of complaints about it's size. And some have complained because the S5 got slightly larger (I think because of the water/dust proofing). Yeah, I don't blame Samsung for not making front facing speakers. Though I would like to see it mount on the bottom of the phone like the Note 3 instead of in the back.

 

[s44]

And front facing speakers are a blessing and curse. HTC One gets lots of complaints about it's size.

So this picture from Droid Life shows pretty well why I don't think anyone should buy the M8:

 

[Bman123]

Its another Samsung phone. I don't understand how people still get excited over this. It's not like we are seeing huge improvements. I'm still using a note 2 and feel no need to upgrade

 

[Anubis]

(4) Every carrier model is bootloader locked!? Noooooo.........

itll get cracked in under a month

 

[sze5003]

Its another Samsung phone. I don't understand how people still get excited over this. It's not like we are seeing huge improvements. I'm still using a note 2 and feel no need to upgrade

Yea it's like HTC and Samsung are getting on the Apple design bandwagon. Find something that seems to work and be popular and pump out a new model every year with slight improvements. Anytime a new android phone came out it actually made you want to get one, now....well if your phone is at least one of the recent flagship models, there is no need to replace it.

 

[Oyeve]

Its another Samsung phone. I don't understand how people still get excited over this. It's not like we are seeing huge improvements. I'm still using a note 2 and feel no need to upgrade

The same could be said about an iphone release, same exact look in most cases, yet people get excited. I see no problem getting excited, I am excited on the S5 even tho I have an S4 and Note 3. I will probably get excited when the iphone 6 is announced.

 

[dguy6789]

100% increase in battery life from the GS4 is pretty spectacular. At this stage in smartphone evolution I don't think we can really expect a lot more than SOC, camera, and battery life bumps when moving from one generation to the next.

 

[crashtestdummy]

Has Brian left AT? Sort of surprised he didn't do either this or the M8 review.

 

[poofyhairguy]

(4) Every carrier model is bootloader locked!? Noooooo.........

Oh wow that sucks. I wonder if any exploits will be found.

The battery life is tempting but that is not.

 

[sze5003]

Oh wow that sucks. I wonder if any exploits will be found.

The battery life is tempting but that is not.

Samsung bootloaders are more difficult to crack but the m8 is already unlocked and it hasn't been out a month yet so it should not take long.

 

[dawheat]

The S5 would have been a beautiful phone 2 yrs ago.
With the introduction of the minimal bezel G2, the S5 is ugly to me.
I can't stand big bezel phones anymore. Its wasted space to me.
Nothing on this phone that make me want to switch from a G2.

Seems to be a side effect of being dust and water resistant - but I do understand your preference as well as I prefer minimal bezels as well. At least you're getting something for it with the S5 and Z1/Z2.

Personally I'm a bit stunned by the battery life improvements in this generation of phones - the S5 beating the Note 3 pretty much across the board? Amazing and it seems like we're finally reaching the true 'all day' threshold.

And it's also a significant milestone that someone like Anand believes the newest AMOLEDs are as good as the best LCDs and that the tipping point might actually be reached right now.

Camera is a good improvement over the S4/Note 3 in low light - but still disappointing compared to the best. Still not as good as the iPhone 5 in low light. I really feel like Apple has the right balance of daylight resolution, quick snap, and low light quality.

 

[dawheat]

Samsung bootloaders are more difficult to crack but the m8 is already unlocked and it hasn't been out a month yet so it should not take long.

AT&T bootloader for the Note 3 is still uncracked (I think Verizon as well, though I'm not sure). I'm actually not really optimistic, though safestrap is still a workable alterative.

 

[ewdotson]

Referring to the anandtech review: sorry, but I've still never heard anyone use "Galaxy" as a generic term to refer to android phones.

 

[cronos]

Samsung bootloaders are more difficult to crack but the m8 is already unlocked and it hasn't been out a month yet so it should not take long.

Just a little clarification: HTC actually provided everyone the tools to unlock the bootloaders for the M8 through htcdev.com, just like for the M7 and the One S/X/etc from 2012.

An unlocked bootloader on an HTC device provides you with the ability to root, install custom recovery, and flash custom ROMS.

What you're probably talking about is S-OFF, which impressively came out two days ago (for the M7 it didn't come out until at least 2-3 months after release). This allows you to flash custom kernel, firmware, and other low level stuff.

 

[sze5003]

Just a little clarification: HTC actually provided everyone the tools to unlock the bootloaders for the M8 through htcdev.com, just like for the M7 and the One S/X/etc from 2012.

An unlocked bootloader on an HTC device provides you with the ability to root, install custom recovery, and flash custom ROMS.

What you're probably talking about is S-OFF, which impressively came out two days ago (for the M7 it didn't come out until at least 2-3 months after release). This allows you to flash custom kernel, and other low level stuff.

Not for Verizon. You can not unlock through HTC dev I tried when I got my m7 and my buddy tried on his m8. Tmobile and att users can still use it.

 

[cronos]

Not for Verizon. You can not unlock through HTC dev I tried when I got my m7 and my buddy tried on his m8. Tmobile and att users can still use it.

Sorry, I'm not aware of that because I've never dealt with carriers who do silly stuff like this

Anyway, I posted that because I thought you were mistaken and confusing S-OFF with bootloader unlocking (obviously being S-OFF lets you unlock your bootloader with a one line command, but that besides my point). So on your post that I replied to were you really talking about Verizon M8 bootloader (that it now can be unlocked) or are you talking about S-OFF for M8 which came out two days ago?

 

[lothar]

So the only improvement is the screen and battery life? Pass...
Not enough to justify leaving my Nexus 5 for it. Certainly not for an additional $600.

A GPe of this device would be better than the GPe of the HTC One M8. That part for me is clear.
HTC's problem is both hardware(absurd screen ratio real estate and unnecessarily large bezel shown in post #8 prove that) and software. A GPe device of it can't fix hardware.
Samsung's problem to me is software, not hardware. A GPe device of it can fix it.
That said I probably won't be getting a GPe device of either as none of them are enough of an upgrade for me to leave my Nexus 5.

 

[lothar]

Referring to the anandtech review: sorry, but I've still never heard anyone use "Galaxy" as a generic term to refer to android phones.

I still hear more people refer to Android phones as "Droids" than "Galaxy"(in the US at least), even today so I'm not sure what their point was.

 

[sze5003]

Sorry, I'm not aware of that because I've never dealt with carriers who do silly stuff like this

Anyway, I posted that because I thought you were mistaken and confusing S-OFF with bootloader unlocking (obviously being S-OFF lets you unlock your bootloader with a one line command, but that besides my point). So on your post that I replied to were you really talking about Verizon M8 bootloader (that it now can be unlocked) or are you talking about S-OFF for M8 which came out two days ago?

Yea I should have specified. For the Verizon model unlock of the bootloader and s off came out yesterday.