The Samsung Galaxy S5 details and specs were announced yesterday at a live event, and I had the roundup covered for you. I'd like to take more of a look into the features to compare the new flagship smartphone to its S4 predecessor and competitors like the iPhone 5s, and hopefully walk away with some idea about industry trends.
On the subject of the most basic observations, appearance and size, the S5 is a standout. It's even larger than the S4, which I admit I'm surprised about. The dimensions of the S5 are 5.6 (height) x 2.85 (width) x .32 (depth) inches with a 5.1 inch screen, and it weighs in at 5.11oz-a few tenths of an inch bigger than the S4 in every direction, and slightly heavier.
I still use an S3 and enjoy the size, and having tried the S4 (which is larger), the dimensions are still good. Going even bigger is a bit risky, as you might alienate people who were already cautious about the Galaxy lines' sizes, but it's not a problem to me and, seemingly, most people.
The S5 is a bit longer and wider than the iPhone S5, which opted for more height rather than overall size, sizing up at under an inch taller and half an inch wider. The screen is 1.1 inches larger than the 5s'.
It's up to each consumer if that difference is a benefit or a problem for him or her. Apple has clearly made the decision to stay smaller and lighter, as it could've easily made the jump in screen size since the S3 and S4 have been released, but hasn't. It remains to be seen if they'll go big with the iPhone 6, and I think they should-iPhones feel tiny in comparison to me after such large screens, and I can't personally go back.
The appearance is also pretty unique, featuring a perforated leatherette back and coming in multiple colors. It has copied Apple's gold iPhone 5s option (though the entire back is gold, rather than the siding and a part of the back panel) along with white, black and a neat blue color. The S4 only launched in "White Mist" and "Black Frost", and later added a few more options.
Color options are definitely very much in in the industry right now, as people love to customize and accessorize, perhaps matching their phone or case with their outfits, even. It's good to see more choices, though-the Galaxy had gotten a little stale with its dark blue/black or white offerings.
What's not surprising is faster hardware, as that's more or less expected. I spoke more about that in the roundup post, but know that the S5 is faster and lasts longer than any phone before it, including a special download booster feature and ultra battery saving mode. It beats out the S4, as it should, and I would bet it remains faster than the next iPhone, too.
A feature that is certainly more than inspired by Apple's product is the fingerprint scanner. Apple was definitely not the first one to come up with this (it's a feature laptops have been using to log in for years), but it's hard to convince me that Samsung would have included it if Apple had not. This sort of back and forth is to be expected in competition though, and you'd take days to determine everything one company "stole" from the other.
The heart rate sensor is a first though, which could be pretty useful for fitness enthusiasts as the phone has software built in to make use of it. It will be interesting to see if Apple follows suit with the iPhone 6 as pretty much every industry becomes more fitness conscious. The S5 is also water resistant (IP67 resistance rating says phone can last up to 30 minutes in 3 feet of water, but Samsung reminded us it's resistant, not water proof, so try not to hold it under), which fits into their efforts to make this phone fit into an active lifestyle.
The rest is expected-a better camera (and the S5's does look good), better battery, faster internet speeds, new operating system--all the things that make a sequel phone an incremental improvement over its predecessor and competition. The S5 largely plays it safe, but isn't afraid to innovate, and is both following and making some industry trends. Check out The Verge's hands-on video showing off the device and its features below.