Today at MWC, Samsung unveiled their new flagship, the Galaxy S5 and it is sure to disappoint a lot of people who were expecting an entirely new design out of metal, the QHD display, and more of everything. There is no mistaking the Galaxy S5 for anything else – the same basic look and design, although slightly closer to the Galaxy Note 3 in shape. It is still made out of polycarbonate, although there is glass fiber in the sides to add strength and, like the Note 3, it has a flexible pleather back with dimples like a golf ball.
We wanted to give you a comparison between the new Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S4 and we threw in the Galaxy Note 3 as well. The chart below will give you an idea of how it compares to the other two in terms of size, weight, and features. The Galaxy S5 is slightly larger and heavier than the Galaxy S4. The new S5 does have the water and dust protection built-in, IP67 certified so no special Active model is needed. The display goes from 5-inches to only 5.1 and keeps the same Full HD resolution and its Super AMOLED branding.
The camera should be a big improvement, not that it was bad to begin with, but the extra jump from 13-16 MP will not hurt and the camera sensor is slightly larger which should help in low-light situations. The front facing camera also got a slight boost from 2.0 to 2.1 MP. The processor is definitely a step up from a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 to an 801, although benchmarks appear to show an 800. With a clocked speed jump from 1.9MHz to 2.5MHz and the Graphics processor jumped from an Adreno 320 to a 330 it should help performance. System memory stayed the same at 2GB as did the 16GB of internal memory. The battery only jumped from 2600mAh to 2800mAh, but it is supposed to have 20-percent more capacity than a normal 2800mAh, so we will have to wait until we get a chance to test one.
Several software upgrades, a fingerprint scanner on the front using the home button, a USB 3.0 charging and data transfer plug like the Galaxy Note 3, and a heart rate monitor for your finger on the back near the LED flash round out the major updates.
Take a look over and do the numbers and see if you think the upgrades were enough over the Galaxy S4 or S3, since many S3 users will be ready for their two-year upgrade, to make the switch. Let us know on our Google+ Page what you think of the new Galaxy S5 – we would love to hear your opinions.