Samsung Galaxy S5: Disappointing looks

The looks
Let's face it. Samsung is not known to make the best looking hardware for their phones. The internals and display are powerful, but it just looks, boring, and sometimes, plain ugly.

This is the case with the newly announced Samsung Galaxy S5.

Samsung has clearly taken the faux leather back to new heights of ugliness. Source: Phone Arena

It looks reminiscent of the Nexus 7 (1st generation) but that device was never meant to be a premium device. At $199, the first Nexus 7 was meant to be a tablet that you can throw around. This phone, however, will be the top of the line Galaxy S phone for 2014. It will also cost at least RM2200 and it is really hard justifying to pay that kind of money for this phone.

Previously, Samsung phones just feel plastic-ky. No matter how this feels in hand, it feels like Samsung has already lost in terms of looks.  If I got one, I will probably superglue some cover onto it so that I don't have to ever see the back again.

The Notification Panel has been revamped a little, making it looks less 2009 and more 2011. Source: Engadget

It is not a complete revamp of the entire Touch Wiz, but it is a step in the right direction - into present, or almost. This still looks incredibly outdated compared to what Google/Sony/HTC has on their phones.

This is a summary of the revamped areas in the Touch Wiz UI. May I conclude that it is not enough? Source: Lowyat.net

The camera section also got a new UI that makes it easier to use compared to the hellish experience on the Note 3.

The new stuffs
On the bright side, the screen of the S5 got a little bigger (5.1" vs 5.0" - resolution stays the same at 1080 x 1920 pixels). It has 2 new sensors - heart rate monitor, and fingerprint sensor, to make your lives easier. It also packs in a 2800 mAH battery, an incremental 200 mAH upgrade from last year's 2600 mAH battery.

The fingerprint sensor is a no brainer for Samsung. Apple has it, so Samsung has to have it as well. The problem is that I am not too sure if Samsung has implemented it as well as Apple has. Knowing Apple, the fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 5S or Touch ID, might have been in the pipelines for years. It might have taken them years to perfect it and confidently place it on their flagship phone. For Samsung, it might be a rushed "cut-and-paste" job. That, we can only tell when it has been launched and extensive testing have been done.

The heart rate monitor is included because of the health/wearable craze that seems to hit no one but the developers themselves. I would see heart rate monitors be better on wearables such as the also newly announced Galaxy Fit, but I am not too sure about it being on a phone. Granted, it might save a few lives when people can check the heart rates with the phone digitally instead of doing it manually.

The S5 also got a new 16 MP camera but regretfully OIS (optical image stabilization) or hardware stabilization, is not included. That sample pictures now are not of the final production hardware/software. So that, we shall wait to conclude its effectiveness.

Also, included are Wifi MIMO (multiple in multiple out) with 802.11ac support. I guess this might mean that the S5 is able to handle connecting to a dual band router properly. It also has an interesting Download Booster that performs downloads over both your Wifi and Mobile Data connection. It should be good when you are in a place where your LTE speeds are way faster than your broadband.

The S5 is now waterproof
Yes, you read that right. It seems like Samsung is also taking a leaf out of Sony's pages. The new S5 has a IP67 rating - which means you can temporarily submerge your phone in water of up to 1m depth for less than 30 minutes. This is still lagging behind the IP58 certification that the Xperia Z2 has - which allows it to be submerged for more than 30 minutes.

This is a welcome change, as no one likes to be too careful with their phones. I wish the standard of smartphones are like the Panasonic Toughpads, where I can simply throw my phone around and not giving two hoots about dunking it in water. But we cannot always have what we want, so this, I agree is a good move.

New internals
Better processor, better GPU is expected in the S5. The new Snapdragon 801 processor is said to be 15% faster and the Adreno 330 GPU is said to be 28% faster than the Snapdragon 800 processor. Not much to write about actually. So I will just leave it at that. Oh, RAM is the same at 2 GB.

Conclusion
Truth be told, I am disappointed. But that's the beauty of competition. The Xperia Z2 sure got me thinking of trading in my phone for it. Depending on how the new HTC flagship will come to be, I am sure that the Z2 will be held in the top 2 spots for the best Android phone of 2014.

Sony Xperia Z2 vs Samsung Galaxy S5. Source: Android and Me