S5 announced - what do you think?

[peteyt]

Samsung has shown of their latest flagship phone, the s5, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The new phone will be water and dust resistant and following apple's implementation in its flagship iphone 5s, will include a fingerprint scanner.

More details, including specs and an in depth review can be found at http://reviews.cnet.com/samsung-galaxy-s5/

I'm slightly disappointed myself. I'm really happy that the S5 will have water and dust resistant, something which Sony has included lately in some of their smartphones. A top end smartphone with this will be really handy as usually the phone's to include things like this usually are cheap rugged type phones. This may even give the S5 a bit of an advantage over the iphone which currently as far as I'm aware has no water or dust protection although with the iphone 6 being rumoured to being announced this could all change.

My main problem is that the S5 seems to take the best from every other phone but fails to add anything new and original. I have an s3 myself as the contract I have was more affordable as opposed to the s4 but I found the s4 tried to add some new features. While some might find the automatic scroll thing a gimmick, at least it was something new and showed Samsung was willing to experiment with new features hinting they wanted to be at the top of new tech and innovation.

For me the S5 however appears to have taken a step back. Maybe people had too high expectations but I was hoping for something a little fresher and this is coming from a Samsung/android fan who tends to steer well away from apple

[xxMATTGxx]

From the people I follow on twitter it seems their views at the moment are they are quite disappointed with the S5 at this moment in time.

[lucaskf390]

Band-Aid. I was expecting more design :/

[GommeInc]

Samsung reached their peak in design during the S3 years. The S4 was too similar to the S3 so it's not that surprising the S5 is being labelled as too similar. I'm amazed that they're saying it is similar to the S4 when they could easily just say the S3. Also, we're at the point with a product type when anything new isn't that surprising any more and is either expected or seen as barely pushing the boundaries of product evolution.

The only interesting thing was that it was announced on the birthday of Steve Jobs.

[peteyt]

Samsung reached their peak in design during the S3 years. The S4 was too similar to the S3 so it's not that surprising the S5 is being labelled as too similar. I'm amazed that they're saying it is similar to the S4 when they could easily just say the S3. Also, we're at the point with a product type when anything new isn't that surprising any more and is either expected or seen as barely pushing the boundaries of product evolution.

The only interesting thing was that it was announced on the birthday of Steve Jobs.

The only problem is a lot of apple fans criticise the samsung phones for being the similar each new version when if anything the iphone has looked relatively more the same each new version

[e5]

Hmm not much different. Only appealing think is the 16mp cameras. I just stick to iPhones because of the texting abilities (iMessage) and most people have an iphone so you're in contact with no signal but have wifi!

[GommeInc]

The only problem is a lot of apple fans criticise the samsung phones for being the similar each new version when if anything the iphone has looked relatively more the same each new version
That's why you ignore them or pray they drop their phones and put up with the inevitable crack along the screen :P

[peteyt]

Hmm not much different. Only appealing think is the 16mp cameras. I just stick to iPhones because of the texting abilities (iMessage) and most people have an iphone so you're in contact with no signal but have wifi!

Although Whatsapp covers this along with others, although it seems a few people have left Whatsapp after Facebook announced its plans to buy them. Apparently Whatsapp are also planning to add calls to so I presume you'll be able to call other whatsapp users for free in the same way Skype works. Handy to as my girlfriend has just moved outside of the city and rarely gets a signal.

[e5]

Although Whatsapp covers this along with others, although it seems a few people have left Whatsapp after Facebook announced its plans to buy them. Apparently Whatsapp are also planning to add calls to so I presume you'll be able to call other whatsapp users for free in the same way Skype works. Handy to as my girlfriend has just moved outside of the city and rarely gets a signal.

I guess but iMessage is just there and then and links in with normal texts

[xxMATTGxx]

Although Whatsapp covers this along with others, although it seems a few people have left Whatsapp after Facebook announced its plans to buy them. Apparently Whatsapp are also planning to add calls to so I presume you'll be able to call other whatsapp users for free in the same way Skype works. Handy to as my girlfriend has just moved outside of the city and rarely gets a signal.


I guess but iMessage is just there and then and links in with normal texts

I think what the beauty of iMessage is that it's built into the OS from day one of you receiving the phone. You don't need a separate app or anything like that and text messages come up in the same conversation as well so it just makes it easier.

[GommeInc]

I just use Google Hangouts. Texts and over the internet messages in one App from the start of getting the phone. Seems to be what iMessage is. Are texts and IMs separated in iMessage, or appear in the same conversation?

[xxMATTGxx]

I just use Google Hangouts. Texts and over the internet messages in one App from the start of getting the phone. Seems to be what iMessage is. Are texts and IMs separated in iMessage, or appear in the same conversation?

They appear in the same conversation but you can tell them apart from the colour of the message. If that makes sense? :P

There is so many "message apps" now though its getting a bit crazy! There's one now called "Telegram" which has become very popular recently.


"Why Telegram has become the hottest messaging app in the world" - http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/25/5445864/telegram-messenger-hottest-app-in-the-world

[GommeInc]

They appear in the same conversation but you can tell them apart from the colour of the message. If that makes sense? :P
Is that where it appears blue for SMS and green for messages? I had to do a Google search to see what you meant and that's what came up :P It sounds a bit messy really, I like things separated so I have Hangouts from both my Google Accounts and then my SMS messages (so 3 in total). Could be worse, they've done it well if that is what they've done.

[xxMATTGxx]

Is that where it appears blue for SMS and green for messages? I had to do a Google search to see what you meant and that's what came up :P It sounds a bit messy really, I like things separated so I have Hangouts from both my Google Accounts and then my SMS messages (so 3 in total). Could be worse, they've done it well if that is what they've done.

Other way round

Green = SMS
Blue = iMessage

Most of the time it would be blue if the other person has an iPhone/iOS device but if they are not connected to the 3G/4G network or WiFi then it would send as normal text message.

[e5]

I think what the beauty of iMessage is that it's built into the OS from day one of you receiving the phone. You don't need a separate app or anything like that and text messages come up in the same conversation as well so it just makes it easier.

Yep.
It's a basic feature but just like really important for me

[The Don]

Am I the only one impressed that it's waterproof?

[xxMATTGxx]

Am I the only one impressed that it's waterproof?

I think some of us are used to that feature due to the phone Sony brought out sometime last year I believe it was? But yeah if it is actually waterproof then that's a good feature. Is there any videos of it being put in water? I know there was when Sony did their phone with it.

[Oleh]

Am I the only one impressed that it's waterproof?

Honestly, I never saw it coming, now I can play Flappy Bird in the shower! Woo Woo!

My S3 upgrade is also in April, so unless HTC throw out a curveball, I'll be getting the S5 :)

[Calum0812]

People seem to be quite disappointed with it, but my mates seem to be considering an upgrade from their S4... In my opinion, I'd stick with the S4 and then look at an upgrade when their next release comes around in the hope that it'll provide a few more updates.

[Shar]

My second s3 that I got under warranty after my first one broke has also decided to break this week. It randomly stopped working and won't turn on. Although I have had problems with the s3 the warranty has been a life saver, tmobile has been good and samsung have given me a new phone without trouble. I like the sound of the s5 and will probably get it in May when I am due my upgrade (I do hope it has far less problems and doesn't break after a year).