Was this phone good enough to keep Samsung fighting with Apple at the top of the sales charts? Yes, but that's mostly through the impressive marketing machine that rolls out in every territory - and even that hasn't led to the greatest sales for the new phone. That's only a small part of the story though, and underneath the hood Samsung has continued its play of stuffing all the latest specs in and optimising them in a way that doesn't suck down oodles of battery.
The simple answer, from the second you hold it in the hand, is no – because the design simply isn't up to the same level as the likes of Apple and HTC. The water resistance will make a splash with a few buyers Is the Alpha better than the S5? Check out our Samsung Galaxy Alpha review to find out.That phone has a premium design fused with power under the hood - but with a sky high price and the lower-res screen. That's offset by a metal design, although only around the edge of the phone - and Samsung has gone once again for a light weight, rather than making it feel weighty and ergonomic in the hand.
#ZOOM MATH 500 REVIEW 720P#
You can always look at the Samsung Galaxy Alpha, a smaller phone with equal power to the main Galaxy S5, but with a lower-res 720p screen. In short, it's the amazing phone I wish Samsung had announced originally and sold all over the world. This one has a Snapdragon 805 CPU, a WQHD screen and all the high end features you can wish for. However, that was pushed back (likely to do with issues in creating the screen in high enough volumes) and has since appeared in the South Korea-only Samsung Galaxy S5 LTE-A version. There's also the small notion of an improved version - I was told that it was very likely the Galaxy S5 was going to launch with a Samsung Galaxy S5 Prime version in February, with oodles more RAM, a faster processor and QHD screen on board. It promised a 'fashionable' and 'glam' design, a camera that works in the way you'd want it to and strength through being water resistant. The messaging around the launch of the Galaxy S5 was that Samsung had listened to the consumers and dialled down the gimmicks, focusing instead on what makes a phone special to the consumer.
So really think about buying something like the OnePlus 3T instead - you'll be glad you've got something a bit newer.
#ZOOM MATH 500 REVIEW SOFTWARE UPGRADE#
The thing is, it's packed with much older tech than other phones that cost the same, and it won't be getting an Android Nougat, nor will it receive Android Oreo, thanks to phones powered by Google's OS having a much shorter software upgrade cycle. It's a pretty woolly place out there when it comes to buying the Galaxy S5 as most places are running out of stock, so you'll be advised to shop around. It'll be about $220 for the same thing, and AU$350. If you're thinking of still picking the Galaxy S5, it'll set you back £190 in the UK, with the refurbished or second hand markets the place to get your hands on it. However, it's hard to point to one stand out feature that will grab the prospective user when they handle the Galaxy S5 for the first time.Īnd now it's been in the market for a long time, and most places aren't even stocking it thanks to the fact the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S7 and now, the Samsung Galaxy S8 have emerged to take the mantle of flagship from Samsung, and both offer a much better experience and design.