Review of the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone: serial killer. Review of Samsung Galaxy S5 (SM-G900F). Everything is as it is! Review of Samsung S5 G 900

Information about the make, model, and alternative names of the specific device, if available.

Design

Information about the dimensions and weight of the device, presented in different units of measurement. Materials used, colors offered, certificates.

Width Width information - refers to the horizontal side of the device in its standard orientation during use.	72.5 mm (millimeters) 7.25 cm (centimeters) 0.24 ft (feet) 2.85 in (inches)
Height Height information - refers to the vertical side of the device in its standard orientation during use.	142 mm (millimeters) 14.2 cm (centimeters) 0.47 ft (feet) 5.59 in (inches)
Thickness Information about the thickness of the device in different units measurements.	8.1 mm (millimeters) 0.81 cm (centimeters) 0.03 ft (feet) 0.32 in (inches)
Weight Information about the weight of the device in different units of measurement.	145 g (grams) 0.32 lbs 5.11 oz (ounces)
Volume The approximate volume of the device, calculated based on the dimensions provided by the manufacturer. Refers to devices with the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped.	83.39 cm³ (cubic centimeters) 5.06 in³ (cubic inches)
Colors Information about the colors in which this device is offered for sale.	Black Blue Golden White
Materials for making the case Materials used to make the device body.	Polycarbonate
Certification Information about the standards to which this device is certified.	IP67

SIM card

The SIM card is used in mobile devices to store data that certifies the authenticity of mobile service subscribers.

Mobile networks

A mobile network is a radio system that allows multiple mobile devices to communicate with each other.

GSM GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) is designed to replace the analogue mobile network (1G). For this reason, GSM is often called a 2G mobile network. It is improved by the addition of GPRS (General Packet Radio Services), and later EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) technologies.	GSM 850 MHz GSM 900 MHz GSM 1800 MHz GSM 1900 MHz
UMTS UMTS is an abbreviation for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System. It is based on the GSM standard and belongs to 3G mobile networks. Developed by 3GPP and its biggest advantage is providing greater speed and spectral efficiency thanks to W-CDMA technology.	UMTS 850 MHz UMTS 900 MHz UMTS 1900 MHz UMTS 2100 MHz
LTE LTE (Long Term Evolution) is defined as a technology fourth generation(4G). It is developed by 3GPP based on GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA to increase the capacity and speed of wireless mobile networks. The subsequent technology development is called LTE Advanced.	LTE 800 MHz LTE 850 MHz LTE 900 MHz LTE 1800 MHz LTE 2100 MHz LTE 2600 MHz

Mobile communication technologies and data transfer speeds

Communication between devices on mobile networks is carried out using technologies that provide different data transfer rates.

Operating system

An operating system is a system software that manages and coordinates the operation of hardware components in a device.

SoC (System on Chip)

A system on a chip (SoC) includes all the most important hardware components of a mobile device on one chip.

SoC (System on Chip) A system on a chip (SoC) integrates various hardware components, such as a processor, graphics processor, memory, peripherals, interfaces, etc., as well as the software necessary for their operation.	Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC
Technological process Information about the technological process by which the chip is manufactured. Nanometers measure half the distance between elements in the processor.	28 nm (nanometers)
Processor (CPU) Primary function of the processor (CPU) mobile device is the interpretation and execution of instructions contained in software applications.	Krait 400
Processor size The size (in bits) of a processor is determined by the size (in bits) of the registers, address buses, and data buses. 64-bit processors have higher performance compared to 32-bit processors, which in turn are more powerful than 16-bit processors.	32 bit
Instruction Set Architecture Instructions are commands with which the software sets/controls the operation of the processor. Information about the instruction set (ISA) that the processor can execute.	ARMv7
Level 0 cache (L0) Some processors have L0 (level 0) cache, which is faster to access than L1, L2, L3, etc. The advantage of having such memory is not only more high performance, but also reducing energy consumption.	4 kB + 4 kB (kilobytes)
Level 1 cache (L1) Cache memory is used by the processor to reduce access time to more frequently used data and instructions. L1 (level 1) cache is small in size and works much faster than both system memory and other cache levels. If the processor does not find the requested data in L1, it continues to look for it in the L2 cache. On some processors, this search is performed simultaneously in L1 and L2.	16 kB + 16 kB (kilobytes)
Level 2 cache (L2) L2 (level 2) cache is slower than L1 cache, but in return it has a higher capacity, allowing it to cache more data. It, like L1, is much faster than system memory (RAM). If the processor does not find the requested data in L2, it continues to look for it in the L3 cache (if available) or in RAM memory.	2048 kB (kilobytes) 2 MB (megabytes)
Number of processor cores The processor core executes software instructions. There are processors with one, two or more cores. Having more cores increases performance by allowing multiple instructions to be executed in parallel.	4
CPU clock speed The clock speed of a processor describes its speed in terms of cycles per second. It is measured in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz).	2500 MHz (megahertz)
Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) Graphics processing unit (GPU) handles calculations for various 2D/3D graphic applications. In mobile devices, it is most often used by games, consumer interfaces, video applications, etc.	Qualcomm Adreno 330
Number of GPU cores Like a CPU, a GPU is made up of several working parts called cores. They process graphical computing different applications.	4
GPU clock speed Speed ​​of work is clock frequency GPU speed, which is measured in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz).	578 MHz (megahertz)
Volume random access memory(RAM) Random access memory (RAM) is used by the operating system and all installed applications. Data stored in RAM is lost after the device is turned off or restarted.	2 GB (gigabytes)
Type of random access memory (RAM) Information about the type of random access memory (RAM) used by the device.	LPDDR3
Number of RAM channels Information about the number of RAM channels that are integrated into the SoC. More channels mean higher data rates.	Dual channel
RAM frequency The frequency of RAM determines its operating speed, more specifically, the speed of reading/writing data.	933 MHz (megahertz)

Built-in memory

Each mobile device has built-in (non-removable) memory with a fixed capacity.

Memory cards

Memory cards are used in mobile devices to increase the storage capacity for storing data.

Screen

The screen of a mobile device is characterized by its technology, resolution, pixel density, diagonal length, color depth, etc.

Type/technology One of the main characteristics of the screen is the technology by which it is made and on which the quality of the information image directly depends.	Super AMOLED
Diagonal For mobile devices, screen size is expressed by the length of its diagonal, measured in inches.	5.1 in (inches) 129.54 mm (millimeters) 12.95 cm (centimeters)
Width Approximate screen width	2.5 in (inches) 63.51 mm (millimeters) 6.35 cm (centimeters)
Height Approximate screen height	4.45 in (inches) 112.9 mm (millimeters) 11.29 cm (centimeters)
Aspect Ratio The ratio of the dimensions of the long side of the screen to its short side	1.778:1 16:9
Permission Screen resolution shows the number of pixels vertically and horizontally on the screen. Higher resolution means clearer image detail.	1080 x 1920 pixels
Pixel Density Information about the number of pixels per centimeter or inch of the screen. Higher density allows information to be displayed on the screen with clearer detail.	432 ppi (pixels per inch) 169 ppcm (pixels per centimeter)
Color depth Screen color depth reflects the total number of bits used for color components in one pixel. Information about the maximum number of colors that the screen can display.	24 bit 16777216 flowers
Screen area Approximate percentage of screen area occupied by the screen on the front of the device.	69.87% (percent)
Other characteristics Information about other screen features and characteristics.	Capacitive Multi-touch Scratch resistance
	Corning Gorilla Glass 3

Sensors

Different sensors perform different quantitative measurements and convert physical indicators into signals that a mobile device can recognize.

Rear camera

The main camera of a mobile device is usually located on its back panel and may be combined with one or more secondary cameras.

Sensor model	Samsung S5K2P2XX
Sensor type Information about the camera sensor type. Some of the most widely used types of sensors in mobile device cameras are CMOS, BSI, ISOCELL, etc.	ISOCELL
Sensor size Information about the dimensions of the photosensor used in the device. Typically cameras with larger sensors and lower pixel densities offer more high quality images despite the lower resolution.	5.95 x 3.35 mm (millimeters) 0.27 in (inches)
Pixel size Pixels are usually measured in microns. Larger pixels are able to capture more light and therefore provide better low-light photography and wider dynamic range than smaller pixels. On the other hand, smaller pixels allow for higher resolution while maintaining the same sensor size.	1.12 µm (micrometers) 0.001120 mm (millimeters)
Crop factor The crop factor is the ratio between the dimensions of the full-frame sensor (36 x 24 mm, equivalent to a frame of standard 35 mm film) and the dimensions of the device's photosensor. The indicated number represents the ratio of the diagonals of the full-frame sensor (43.3 mm) and the photosensor specific device.	6.34
ISO (light sensitivity) The ISO value/number indicates the sensitivity of the sensor to light. Digital camera sensors operate within a specific ISO range. The higher the ISO number, the more sensitive the sensor is to light.	100 - 2000
Svetlosila	f/2.2
Shutter speed (shutter speed) Shutter speed reflects the exposure time. Indicates how long the optical shutter remains open during shooting and thus the amount of time the camera sensor is exposed to light. The longer this time, the more light reaches the sensor. Shutter speed is measured in seconds (eg 5, 2, 1 second) or fractions of a second (eg ½, 1/8, 1/8000). Unlike DSLR cameras, which use a mechanical shutter, mobile devices have an electronic shutter.	1/14 - 1/10000
Focal length Focal length indicates the distance in millimeters from the sensor to the optical center of the lens. Equivalent focal length (35mm) is the focal length of a mobile device camera equal to the focal length of a 35mm full-frame sensor, which will achieve the same viewing angle. It is calculated by multiplying the actual focal length of a mobile device's camera by the crop factor of its sensor. Crop factor can be defined as the ratio between the diagonals of a 35 mm full-frame sensor and the sensor of a mobile device.	4.89 mm (millimeters) 30.99 mm (millimeters) *(35 mm / full frame)
Flash type The rear (rear) cameras of mobile devices mainly use LED flashes. They can be configured with one, two or more light sources and vary in shape.	LED
Image Resolution	5312 x 2988 pixels 15.87 MP (megapixels)
Video resolution	3840 x 2160 pixels 8.29 MP (megapixels)
	30fps (frames per second)
Characteristics Information about additional software and hardware features of the rear (rear) camera.	Autofocus Continuous shooting Digital zoom Digital image stabilization Geographical tags Panoramic photography HDR shooting Touch Focus Face recognition White Balance Adjustment ISO Setting Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF)
	1080p @ 60 fps Samsung lens

Front-camera

Smartphones have one or more front cameras of various designs - a pop-up camera, a rotating camera, a cutout or hole in the display, an under-display camera.

Sensor model Information about the manufacturer and model of the sensor used by the camera.	Samsung S5K8B1
Svetlosila F-stop (also known as aperture, aperture, or f-number) is a measure of the size of a lens's aperture, which determines the amount of light entering the sensor. The lower the f-number, the larger the aperture and the more light reaches the sensor. Typically the f-number is specified to correspond to the maximum possible aperture of the aperture.	f/2.4
Image Resolution One of the main characteristics of cameras is resolution. It represents the number of horizontal and vertical pixels in an image. For convenience, smartphone manufacturers often list resolution in megapixels, indicating the approximate number of pixels in millions.	1920 x 1080 pixels 2.07 MP (megapixels)
Video resolution Information about the maximum video resolution that the camera can record.	1920 x 1080 pixels 2.07 MP (megapixels)
Video recording speed (frame rate) Information about the maximum recording speed (frames per second, fps) supported by the camera at maximum resolution. Some of the most basic video recording speeds are 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps, 60 fps.	30fps (frames per second)

Audio

Information about the type of speakers and audio technologies supported by the device.

Radio

The radio of the mobile device is a built-in FM receiver.

Location determination

Information about the navigation and location technologies supported by your device.

WiFi

Wi-Fi is a technology that provides wireless communication for transmitting data over close distances between various devices.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a standard for secure wireless data transfer between various devices of different types over short distances.

Version There are several versions of Bluetooth, with each subsequent one improving communication speed, coverage, and making devices easier to discover and connect. Information about the Bluetooth version of the device.	4.0
Characteristics Bluetooth uses different profiles and protocols that provide faster data transfer, energy savings, improved device discovery, etc. Some of these profiles and protocols that the device supports are shown here.	A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) AVRCP (Audio/Visual Remote Control Profile) DIP (Device ID Profile) HFP (Hands-Free Profile) HID (Human Interface Profile) HSP (Headset Profile) LE (Low Energy) MAP (Message Access Profile) OPP (Object Push Profile) PAN (Personal Area Networking Profile) PBAP/PAB (Phone Book Access Profile) HOGP

USB

USB (Universal Serial Bus) is an industry standard that allows different electronic devices to exchange data.

HDMI

HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a digital audio/video interface that replaces older analog audio/video standards.

Headphone jack

This is an audio connector, also called an audio jack. The most widely used standard in mobile devices is the 3.5mm headphone jack.

Connecting devices

Information about other important connection technologies supported by your device.

Browser

A web browser is a software application for accessing and viewing information on the Internet.

Browser Information about some of the main characteristics and standards supported by the device's browser.

HTML HTML5 CSS 3

Audio file formats/codecs

Mobile devices support different audio file formats and codecs, which respectively store and encode/decode digital audio data.

Video file formats/codecs

Mobile devices support different video file formats and codecs, which respectively store and encode/decode digital video data.

Video file formats/codecs A list of some of the main video file formats and codecs supported by the device as standard.

3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project, .3gp) 3GPP2 (3rd Generation Partnership Project 2, .3g2) AVI (Audio Video Interleaved, .avi) DivX (.avi, .divx, .mkv) Flash Video (.flv, .f4v, .f4p, .f4a, .f4b) H.263 H.264 / MPEG-4 Part 10 / AVC video MKV (Matroska Multimedia Container, .mkv .mk3d .mka .mks) MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14, .mp4, .m4a, .m4p, .m4b, .m4r, .m4v) VC-1 WebM WMV ( Windows Media Video, .wmv) WMV7 (Windows Media Video 7, .wmv) WMV8 (Windows Media Video 8, .wmv)

Battery

Mobile device batteries differ from each other in their capacity and technology. They provide the electrical charge necessary for their functioning.

Capacity A battery's capacity indicates the maximum charge it can hold, measured in milliamp-hours.	2800 mAh (milliamp-hours)
Type The type of battery is determined by its structure and, more precisely, the chemicals used. There are different types of batteries, with lithium-ion and lithium-ion polymer batteries being the most commonly used batteries in mobile devices.	Li-Ion (Lithium-ion)
2G talk time 2G talk time is the period of time during which the battery charge is completely discharged during a continuous conversation on a 2G network.	29 h (hours) 1740 min (minutes) 1.2 days
2G latency 2G standby time is the period of time during which the battery charge is completely discharged when the device is in stand-by mode and connected to a 2G network.	480 h (hours) 28800 min (minutes) 20 days
3G talk time 3G talk time is the period of time during which the battery charge is completely discharged during a continuous conversation on a 3G network.	29 h (hours) 1740 min (minutes) 1.2 days
3G latency 3G standby time is the period of time during which the battery charge is completely discharged when the device is in stand-by mode and connected to a 3G network.	480 h (hours) 28800 min (minutes) 20 days
4G talk time 4G talk time is the period of time during which the battery charge is completely discharged during a continuous conversation on a 4G network.	29 h (hours) 1740 min (minutes) 1.2 days
4G latency 4G standby time is the period of time during which the battery charge is completely discharged when the device is in stand-by mode and connected to a 4G network.	480 h (hours) 28800 min (minutes) 20 days
Characteristics Information about some additional characteristics of the device's battery.	Wireless charger Removable
	Wireless charging - market dependent

Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)

The SAR level refers to the amount of electromagnetic radiation absorbed by the human body while using a mobile device.

Head SAR level (EU) The SAR level indicates maximum amount electromagnetic radiation to which the human body is exposed when holding a mobile device next to the ear in a conversation position. In Europe, the maximum permissible SAR value for mobile devices is limited to 2 W/kg per 10 grams of human tissue. This standard established by the CENELEC Committee in accordance with IEC standards, subject to the ICNIRP guidelines of 1998.	0.562 W/kg (Watt per kilogram)
Body SAR level (EU) The SAR level indicates the maximum amount of electromagnetic radiation to which the human body is exposed when holding a mobile device at hip level. The maximum permissible SAR value for mobile devices in Europe is 2 W/kg per 10 grams of human tissue. This standard has been established by the CENELEC Committee in compliance with the ICNIRP 1998 guidelines and IEC standards.	0.406 W/kg (Watt per kilogram)
Head SAR level (US) The SAR level indicates the maximum amount of electromagnetic radiation that the human body is exposed to when holding a mobile device near the ear. The maximum value used in the USA is 1.6 W/kg per 1 gram of human tissue. Mobile devices in the US are regulated by the CTIA, and the FCC conducts tests and sets their SAR values.	1.2 W/kg (Watt per kilogram)
Body SAR level (US) The SAR level indicates the maximum amount of electromagnetic radiation to which the human body is exposed when holding a mobile device at hip level. The highest permissible SAR value in the USA is 1.6 W/kg per 1 gram of human tissue. This value is set by the FCC, and the CTIA monitors mobile devices' compliance with this standard.	1.58 W/kg (Watt per kilogram)

It so happened historically - simply due to the fact that Korea recently became a developed and high-tech country - that Samsung has always been in the role of catching up, no matter what product area you take. And she has always professed the approach of “we will overtake and surpass”, and, as a rule, not so much in the sense of “we have better”, but in the sense that “we have more”. Whether this is good or bad is an open question, but this approach has always worked and ultimately allowed Samsung to become one of the largest and most influential companies in the difficult and changing high-tech market.

The Koreans themselves, it seems, are still at a loss about this and do not fully understand what to do. Because it’s one thing to be a successful and dynamic “number two”, and quite another to try to orchestrate the market, come up with new ideas, develop previously non-existent directions, and all that stuff. This is not to say that Samsung is not trying to do this - they are really trying. But so far with varying degrees of success: Korean ideas often turn out to be very artificial.

Apparently, Samsung decided to slow down a little with its usual quantitative approach. It’s not that we completely abandon it - of course, in the Galaxy S5 there is a certain amount of “more”, “higher” and “more often” - but there is still an attempt to carry out serious work on mistakes: to do not only “a lot”, but also "Fine".

⇡ Appearance and ergonomics

Design is a subtle matter. When we are talking about the company’s products, which sell millions of copies - and therefore, obviously, are very popular with a huge number of people, then everything is very complicated. Here we must speak carefully about design: either good or nothing. Otherwise, there will be tons of people who are indignant at value judgments. So, about the aesthetic component, sorry, this time we’ll just keep silent and focus on the facts. The facts are: compared to Galaxy S4 new smartphone acquired a more square shape, acquired corrugation on the metallized rim, back panel is now decorated with leatherette covering, and the sizes have grown significantly. As a result, the S5 looks more like the Galaxy Note 3 than the Galaxy S4. Is it possible that instead of a “stitch” on the back there is “perforation”.

Structurally, the S5 is completely no different from all previous Samsung devices in a serious price category. Inside there is a magnesium frame, which plays the role of a durable and rigid frame, on the outside there is only a plastic body kit. Either the plastic panels in the S5 have become a little thicker than in the S4, or the vibration isolation has been strengthened, but the “ringing” of the case, characteristic of the previous Samsung flagship, has seriously decreased. The case still vibrates when you knock on it, but it is much less noticeable.

The main innovation of the Galaxy S5 is the appearance of protection against moisture and dust. Koreans have already tried their hand at this genre, but earlier, separate smartphone models were created for experiments. In the “regular”, “main” flagship, Samsung uses this feature for the first time.

Moisture and dust protection is implemented according to class IP67. There was a marketing ploy here: to the uninformed, IP67 is obviously bigger and “better” than IP58, which it claims for its Sony flagships. In fact, this is not at all true: the fact is that the Ingress Protection rating (the same abbreviation IP) consists of two numbers that are independent of each other. The first number speaks about dust protection and only about it - accordingly, in terms of water protection, the IP6x class is no better than IP5x.

Second distinctive feature Galaxy S5 - presence of a fingerprint sensor. Like Apple, the sensor is built into the only physical button on the front panel. But it works completely differently: you can turn on the iPhone with a button and, by holding your finger on it for a few seconds, you can unlock the smartphone. IN Samsung Galaxy S5, these actions are divided into two independent operations: you first need to turn on the smartphone, and then slide your registered finger from the mark on the display to the sensor.

Fingerprint sensor integrated into the Home button

The sensor works quite well - it recognizes the finger quite reliably, even if you move it at all sorts of unnatural angles, except that it doesn’t work upside down. But the process itself is less convenient than Apple's and takes a little more time. However, even in this form it turns out much faster than with entering a password or a pattern of dots. Additional actions can be linked to the fingerprint sensor, including authorizing transactions in PayPal.

There is only one “loud” speaker in the Samsung Galaxy S5, it is located at the back. Sounds pretty nice and very loud

However, it should be borne in mind that, as in the case of the iPhone, they have already learned how to bypass the protection: to do this, you need to take some actions that are not exactly simple, but still not quantum mechanics. So it’s worth minimizing the risk: do not attach the most valuable and easily “monetized” login passwords, such as bank passwords, to your “fingers,” and also use for identification those fingers, good prints from which, most likely, will not remain on the glass of the front panel - the little finger or nameless.

The third unusual feature of the Samsung Galaxy S5 is the built-in heart rate sensor. It is located in a small niche on the back side of the case; the camera flash is placed in the same niche. The sensor consists of a pair of elements: a diode that illuminates the finger, and a simple camera that reads the pulsation.

Due to the protected design, the body has grown significantly. At the same time, the display increased purely formally - by 0.1 inches. So there is no talk of any new level of comfort when working with the screen, but you have to reach much further for the necessary elements. Visually, the Galaxy S5 does not give the impression of a large device - the shape greatly smoothes out the dimensions - but in fact it has almost caught up with the Xperia Z1. And it greatly outperformed the LG G2, equipped with a larger screen.

However, this is the problem with most modern flagships: they are all too big. We have already gotten used to this: we have long learned to stretch our fingers to distances that were previously difficult to imagine, and also to quickly grab the tubes from a comfortable grip to one that makes it easier to reach the button with your finger.

⇡ Technical specifications

Samsung Galaxy S5 (SM-G900F)
Display	5.1 inches, 1920x1080, AMOLED
Touch screen	Capacitive, up to 10 simultaneous touches
Air gap	No
Oleophobic coating	Eat
Polarizing filter	Eat
CPU	Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC v3: four Qualcomm Krait-400 cores (ARMv7), frequency 2.46 GHz; process technology 28 nm HPm
Graphics controller	Qualcomm Adreno 330, 578 MHz
RAM	2 GB LPDDR3-1600
Flash memory	16 GB (about 12 GB available) + microSD
Connectors	1 x micro-USB 3.0 (MHL) 1 x 3.5mm headset jack 1 x microSD 1 x micro-SIM
cellular	2G/3G/4G Qualcomm MDM9x25 modem (built into processor), WTR1625L transceiver + WFR1620 receiver One SIM card in micro-SIM format
Cellular connection 2G	GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Cellular 3G	WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100 MHz DC-HSPA+ (42.2/5.76 Mbps)
Cellular 4G	LTE FDD band 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20 (2100/1900/1800/850/2600/900/800 MHz) LTE Cat. 3 (150/50 Mbit/s)
WiFi	802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4 and 5 GHz
Bluetooth	4.0
NFC	Eat
IR port	Eat
Navigation	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou
Sensors	Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Accelerometer/Gyroscope, Magnetometer (Digital Compass), Barometer, Fingerprint Sensor, Heart Rate Sensor
Main camera	16 MP (5312x2988), 1/2.6’’ Samsung S5K2P2 CMOS matrix with back-illumination and ISOCELL technology, element size 1.12 µm autofocus, LED flash
Front-camera	2 MP (1920x1080), CMOS matrix Samsung S5K8B1YX03 size 1/7.3’’ with back illumination, element size 1.12 microns without autofocus, without flash
Nutrition	Removable battery 10.78 Wh (2800 mAh, 3.85 V) The battery has a built-in NFC antenna
Size	142x73 mm Body thickness: 8.3 mm (9.7 mm including camera)
Weight	145 g
Water and dust protection	IP67
operating system	Google Android 4.4.2 (KitKat) Samsung's own TouchWiz shell
recommended price	29,990 rubles
* There is also a version with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage

⇡ Hardware and communications

In past years, Samsung flagships first appeared with their own Exynos processors and only then, due to the special wishes of American operators cellular communication, versions were released on Qualcomm chips. The turning point occurred at the launch of the Galaxy Note 3: versions for this model were simultaneously announced for both Exynos and Qualcomm Snapdragon.

For the Galaxy S5, the main one will be the version (or rather, “versions” - there are quite a few of them for different markets) on American processors. Modifications for Exynos also exist, but as secondary auxiliary ones, for some special markets - it is not yet clear for which ones, they have not yet gone on sale. One way or another, on Russian market on this moment The current version is SM-G900F, equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor with the simple model name MSM8974AC v3.

At the beginning of this year, the American chipmaker introduced considerable confusion into its the lineup, so it makes sense to provide a table showing the differences between different Qualcomm SoCs.

	Maximum CPU frequency	Maximum GPU frequency	ISP	eMMC	Dual SIM Dual Active	Memory interface
Snapdragon 800
MSM8974VV v2	2.2 GHz	450MHz	320 MHz	4.5	No	800 MHz
MSM8974AA v2	2.3 GHz	450MHz	321 MHz	4.5	No	800 MHz
MSM8974AB v2	2.3 GHz	550MHz	322 MHz	4.5	No	933 MHz
Snapdragon 801
MSM8974AA v3	2.3 GHz	450MHz	323 MHz	5.0	Yes	800 MHz
MSM8974AB v3	2.3 GHz	578MHz	465 MHz	5.0	Yes	933 MHz
MSM8974AC v3	2.5 GHz	578MHz	465 MHz	5.0	Yes	933 MHz

So, MSM8974AC v3 is the most powerful Qualcomm chip available today. It is still quad-core and 32-bit - it uses the Krait-400 architecture running with the ARMv7 instruction set. But compared to the “regular” 800, the new version is noticeably overclocked: the maximum frequency of both the computing cores themselves and the graphics adapter built into the processor is higher, the chip can work with faster memory, even the ISP, the unit responsible for working with cameras, has been overclocked .

In addition, new versions of Qualcomm flagship chips now support more fast interface for connecting eMMC 5.0 flash memory, as well as support for two SIM cards in Dual mode SIM Dual Active (DSDA). The latter, however, for our Galaxy versions S5 is not relevant - it only has one SIM card, micro format.

The amount of RAM has not changed compared to that in the Galaxy S4 and is still 2 GB. The memory type is apparently the same as in the Galaxy Note 3 - LPDDR3-1600. As for the flash drive, there are versions with both 16 GB of built-in memory (about 12 GB of which are available) and 32. Of course, microSD cards are supported; Samsung prefers not to limit the user’s desire to expand the storage capacity.

With communications, by and large, everything is the same: the Snapdragon 801 has the same MDM9x25 modem built in as the Snapdragon 800, which can work with any existing networks second and third generations, and also supports LTE category 4 networks. Support for faster LTE networks Cat. 6 (remember, in Moscow such a network already operates within the Garden Ring) you will have to wait until the next generation of modem, MDM9x35. Moreover, at first this modem will be external and only by the release of Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 will it move into the SoC.

As for the RF part, everything is more interesting here: the Samsung Galaxy S5 uses a new WTR1625L transceiver, equipped with a WFR1620 companion chip, which is an additional receiver and is designed to implement carrier frequency aggregation technology. The Galaxy S5 also has a QFE1100 chip, which is responsible for Envelope Tracking technology. All this additional equipment, in theory, allows you to increase data transfer speeds and reduce power consumption.

The connectors for micro-SIM cards and memory cards in the Samsung Galaxy S5 are arranged in a “sandwich” arrangement. And the NFC antenna is built into the battery

With the set of supported ranges, alas, everything is not as great as we would like. Samsung prefers to differentiate markets, including support for cellular networks. This is good for sellers in local markets, but not so good for those who travel frequently and want to enjoy fast data transfers anywhere in the world. SM-G900F is the European version of the device, and in Europe there will be no problems with communication. However, it is not so suitable for other regions: many popular 3G/4G bands in the US are not supported. Not to mention China.

The micro-USB 3.0 connector is hidden under a plug. You will have to open it each time to charge; the ability to connect a docking station is not provided, but you can purchase a back panel with wireless charging- of course, for additional money

For wired connection, a micro-USB 3.0 interface with MHL support is used. Wireless interfaces - a complete set: the user has a dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac adapter, Bluetooth 4.0, and NFC. There is also an infrared port - so the smartphone can work as a universal remote control remote control. Among other things, this can be useful if you want to turn down the volume of the TV in some public place.

The Qualcomm iZat Gen8B module built into the processor is responsible for working with navigation satellite networks, exactly the same as in the Snapdragon 800. Let us recall that in addition to the GPS and GLONASS systems that have already become standard, this module and the WTR1625L transceiver already mentioned above also support the Chinese Beidou. Moreover, the Samsung Galaxy S5 seems to be the first “global” smartphone for which Beidou support is stated in the official specifications and actually implemented - on the SGS5 we were able to catch Chinese satellites for the first time.

Test of GPS/GLONASS/Beidou receiver of Samsung Galaxy S5. From left to right: 15 seconds after start; one minute after the start; in room

Navigation works very quickly: even without access to the Internet, the Galaxy S5 literally finds a dozen satellites in a matter of seconds and confidently determines the coordinates. This is the fastest navigation smartphone we've ever seen - the speed is simply amazing.

One of the most anticipated new products of 2014, which, despite all the criticism in its direction, has been actively and successfully sold for about two months in domestic retail. Samsung Galaxy S5 is probably the most popular flagship in our country running Android OS. In addition, this is the most controversial device of this year. Serious performance, rich functionality, as always, a lot of new interesting features, but still the same missing design.

Now that all the flagships from the largest companies have already been released at retail, it’s time to draw conclusions regarding the Galaxy S5. We were late Sony Xperia Z2, which was initially supposed to go on sale before the S5 by a whole month, but ended up being late by the same period. LG drew the line with the release of its G3. And now we can make the most objective and balanced conclusion regarding the main Korean miracle, but first, let's figure out what interesting things the Samsung Galaxy SM-G900F can give us.

As always, the smartphone comes in a box made from recycled materials, which in addition to the device itself also contains a charger, a synchronization cable, and a proprietary headset with a remote control on a cord.

And now I’ll focus on what makes it possible to distinguish korean smartphone from any counterfeit that radio markets are littered with, namely, the packaging contains a wide variety of leaflets made from recycled paper. Please note that some of them have high-quality color printing. In addition, the “original” kit should contain just such a warranty card.

Most likely, none of this will be present in a box with a fake. Usually the Chinese limit themselves to a couple of pieces of paper with printing of relatively poor quality. Thus, we figured out how to distinguish the S5 from a fake, paying attention only to the accompanying documentation.

Appearance

In my opinion, from the point of view Galaxy design The S5 consists of exactly two smartphones. One we can observe from the front side, and the second is not at all similar to the first and we discover it by turning the device over. First things first.

Galaxy S5. Model 1: front side

There is a chrome-plated plastic frame around the entire perimeter of the device. It is not clear whether the shiny coating will peel off. From users during the two-month operation of the device negative reviews There has not yet been a relative parameter for this. Obviously, the coating is more or less high quality.

The shiny frame protrudes far above the surface of the screen. I immediately remember the once popular Nokia 5800, whose plastic frames made using the smartphone quite inconvenient.

In Samsung, of course, they don’t stick out so much, but it would be better not to have them. In the same HTC One(M8) there are also protruding sides, but they are made very carefully and are almost invisible.

Around the display there is a dark blue surface rolled under glass, which is framed by a layer of a slightly different color. This is noticeable, but does not have a negative impact on the perception of the device.

Below the display there is one physical Home key, which also doubles as a fingerprint scanner. The button travel is smooth and moderately soft. On the sides there are touch buttons: a back key (on the right) and a button responsible for displaying the most recently used applications (on the right). It's great that Samsung engineers did not transfer the smartphone controls to the screen, but left them under the display. Many manufacturers do not follow this tradition, resulting in empty space under the screen.

At the top there is an LED indicator for various events, then a grid conversational dynamics, under which the company designation flaunts. Closer to the right edge there is an ambient light sensor, a proximity sensor and a front camera eye.

The edge of the device has three edges, which makes the boring design of the smartphone a little more interesting. On the left side of the device there are sound control keys. WITH right side There is one single button responsible for turning off the screen.

At the top there is a sealed 3.5 mm audio output, a microphone hole and an infrared port.

At the bottom there is a hole for another microphone and a flap hiding the micro-USB 3.0 connector (type B). There is also a small loop for attaching a lace to the device.

The back of the device is completely different and what was described in the first part has nothing to do with the design of the back of the S5.

One gets the impression that the appearance was handled by two separate groups of designers. Laughter through tears.

The first thing that catches your eye is the surface with dots pressed across the entire area. What does the back cover feel like? It's difficult to make a direct comparison. The closest comparison would be to soft and glossy leather.

The back surface of the S5 is very pleasant to the touch. You want to touch and touch your smartphone.

At the top there is a peephole for the main camera, which protrudes quite strongly from the body. Directly below it, in a similar style, there is a slot for an LED flash and a heart rate monitor with an auxiliary LED. The latter slightly illuminates the skin while measuring the pulse with the corresponding sensor.

At the bottom there are holes for the main speaker. There are no other elements at the back anymore.

The back cover of the smartphone can be easily removed and provides access to the battery (2800 mAh). The memory card and SIM card are not hot-swappable, as the battery must be removed each time.

By the way, the SIM card slot is inconvenient: getting the card out of the slot is very difficult. It’s trivial: there’s simply nothing to hook the plastic with.

Dust and moisture protection

It is worth mentioning here that according to the Samsung Galaxy S5 specifications, it has IP67 water and dust protection. It is understood that the smartphone can be underwater at a depth of up to one and a half meters for 30 minutes.

Employees of the Korean company explain this approach by saying that users forget to close the plugs of the connectors, as a result of which the devices still burn out. Obviously, even the system’s regular warnings about the need to check the tightness of the device’s caps every time after recharging do not help.

In general, you can swim with the S5 at your own risk. This is not the Sony Xperia Z2, which you can safely forget in an aquarium or in a bowl of soup.

Pay attention to the rubber band that is located on the back of the battery cover. It protects important electronic elements from moisture, since after immersion water accumulates, including under the removable cover.

Usage

The smartphone turned out to be moderately large. It is an order of magnitude larger than its predecessor (S4), but smaller than all its competitors. I suggest comparing the dimensions of the device in the table below.

	Length	Width	Thickness	Weight
Samsung Galaxy S5		72,5
Samsung Galaxy S4	136,6
HTC One (M8)	146,4	70,6
Sony Xperia Z2	146,8	73,3
LG G3	146,3	74,6

Despite the very slippery back surface, the device lies securely in the hand. Of course, you can feel it in your trouser pocket, but it doesn’t hinder your movement. Still, this is not a Galaxy Note III, and certainly not a Sony Xperia Z Ultra. For people with small hands, Samsung has provided the activation of a one-handed control mode.

By swiping your finger across the screen from the middle to the edge, the active part of the display is reduced in half. In this case, all areas of the screen can be reached with your thumb. The reverse gesture stretches the active screen to cover the entire available area.

In addition, of course, there is support for many different options for people with disabilities. Samsung is one of the clear leaders in this direction.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is available for sale in several color variations: black, blue, gold and white.

Display

The screen is covered tempered glass with an oleophobic coating that protects the surface from the appearance of greasy fingerprints. The distance from the edge of the display to the edge of the device is about 4 mm, which is quite a lot, but still does not leave a negative impression. Fine!

The screen is a key parameter of any mobile device and the Galaxy S5 is no exception. It has a Super AMOLED matrix with a diagonal of 5.1 inches. Resolution 1920x1080 pixels at a density of 432 pixels per inch. The brightness reserve is very large. Color rendition is generally typical for displays based on Super AMOLED technology.

I mean that, as always, there are bright acidic colors with a bias towards green-yellow shades.

The greenish glow is especially noticeable when looking at the smartphone screen at an angle. The sharper the angle, the greater the color distortion and the appearance of a faint metallic sheen. Black remains black under any conditions. You can verify this in the example photos below.

In the settings, you can select several of the preset screen profiles. New is a setting that optimizes the picture depending on what application is currently in use. The mode is aimed primarily at saving battery consumption, since the display is traditionally the most power-hungry component in the device.

In the sun, the screen does not fade; everything remains readable, thanks to the anti-reflective coating of the glass and adequate operation of the light sensor.

In the settings, you can activate increased sensitivity of the touch surface, as a result of which you can operate the smartphone with gloves.

Specifications

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor with a frequency of 2.5 GHz (4 cores)
• video chip Adreno 330 (578 MHz)
• RAM 2 GB LPDDR3
• memory for data storage 16 GB (11.5 GB actually available)
• card slot micro memory SD (up to 128 GB)
• 5.1’’ display with a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels (432 ppi) based on Super AMOLED
• front camera 2 MP (1920×1080 pixels)
• main camera 16 MP (image resolution 5312×2988 pixels)
• 2800 mAh battery (removable)
• water and dust protection (IP67)
• Sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, proximity sensor, barometer, light sensor, fingerprint scanner, heart rate monitor
• Android 4.4.2 platform with proprietary TouchWiz shell

• 2G, 3G, 4G (LTE)
• Wi-Fi (801.11 a/b/g/n/ac), MIMO (2x2)
• Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
• USB 3.0 infrared sensor, OTG, MHL
• aGPS, GLONASS

There are no questions about the performance of the smartphone.

Everything flies without any delays. Applications, including the camera, launch very quickly.

Of course, all the most modern toys can be easily swallowed by a smartphone, even with the most high settings graphics.

Branded TouchWiz shell does not slow down, as happens on the company’s tablets. Everything here is very well optimized. In synthetic tests, the device scores almost maximum points. IN AnTuTu smartphone gave the palm to HTC One, taking second place. Let's look at the screenshots.

Camera

One of the main advantages of Samsung flagships has always been their photo capabilities. S5 is no exception. The built-in 16 megapixel module is capable of producing very decent image quality. Error-free focusing, good stabilization and good color reproduction are the main positive aspects of the built-in camera.

You can safely score on additional settings and shoot only in automatic mode. Good ambient lighting will help in getting decent shots. The only thing I recommend is setting the HDR setting to “On” and then the saturation of the images will be at least twice as high. The risk of blurring the image in this mode tends to zero, since the device does not have a high rate of fire.

The HDR mode is most noticeable when it is backlit or in the presence of strong shadows, as is often the case in direct sunlight. Pay attention to the photographs below and see for yourself that I am right.

No HDR
HDR

Now let's evaluate examples of photographs taken in various conditions.

The main camera of the smartphone copes with most of the possible variations of photography. Again, with plenty of light the photos come out great. In low-light conditions, the photo quality, of course, deteriorates, but overall it looks adequate. Footage of city streets at night looks good only on a smartphone display. When you open them on the big screen, all the flaws in the pictures immediately catch your eye. Noise, of course, is present, but still to a lesser extent. Exposure occurs correctly, which is why there is no shift to green or scarlet shades.

Still, the Samsung Galaxy S5 has one of the best cameras.

As always, there are a very large number of settings, which even dazzle your eyes. Out of habit, it is very difficult to quickly find what you need.

Of course, there are many different shooting scenarios available, including skin retouching, shooting fast-moving objects, creating panoramas and much more. There is even a fisheye filter.

Using the built-in camera, you can create virtual tours of the premises. I think real estate agents will be very pleased. Although, except on the device itself, you won’t be able to view such pictures anywhere else.

The quality of videos shot with the main camera is very good. The detailing and choice of exposure raise no questions. In addition, it is possible to set tracking autofocus or independently specify the object to focus on. In this case, the camera quickly and without errors “grabs” the object. What can I say, it’s better to independently evaluate the capabilities of the video camera in your smartphone:

While recording a video, the video size is displayed (in the upper right corner of the screenshot), which increases as the recording lasts.

4K video pleases the eye with deep detail. You don’t have to look far for an example:

Fingerprint's scanner

I have already mentioned the central button, which has a built-in fingerprint sensor. When you activate the parameter, you are initially prompted to go through the fingerprint entry procedure, for which you need to swipe your finger several times Home button. You can register up to three fingers. Of course, it will not be possible to deceive the stray, since pre-setting very accurate.

There is no need to deliberately move your finger slowly and carefully over the button. This can be done quickly, the main thing is that the entire print falls within the “field of view” of the sensor. The sensor fools only when moisture gets on it, but the system immediately warns about this. In other cases, scanning always occurs correctly. The only thing is that entering the fingerprint of the hand with which you are holding the device is quite difficult. You need to have some skill or just do it with both hands.

By entering your fingerprint, you can unlock your smartphone, buy applications and make purchases in other stores. We don't have a chance yet.

Sound and video playback

The included headset has good quality sound. In addition, it is equipped with a playback control remote control. The cable of the included headphones is very rigid and flat, making it less tangled.

It’s gratifying that Samsung even includes headphones in the kit, which are also of good quality.

LG, for example, abandoned this approach in almost all of its devices, for which they get a minus.

The playback quality through third-party headphones is at an expectedly good level. In this parameter, the S5 is no different from competitors' products. In direct comparison with the iPhone 5, Apple's solution wins. The sound on the S5 differs for the worse only by a barely noticeable flatness and weaker low frequencies. The maximum volume threshold is almost comparable to that of the iPhone, which is generally a rare occurrence.

In the settings, of course, there is an equalizer with ready-made presets. In addition, it is possible to activate additional audio effects, such as studio sound, concert hall simulation, etc.

In the parameters, you can pass a special Adapt Sound test, after which playback is optimized for each channel. Some, perhaps even many, have ears that hear differently, and in order to level out this difference, engineers added this feature. This is what it looks like in theory. In practice, I personally did not notice any changes.

The sound through the external speaker is loud, lively and without extraneous squeaks and whistles, as could be observed in the tablet.

As always, Samsung's solutions handle most of the popular codecs right out of the box. Just look at the list of supported formats:

• audio: MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA
• video formats: MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM
• Available video codecs: H.263, H.264(AVC), MPEG4, VC-1, Sorenson Spark, MP43, WMV7, WMV8, VP8

Energy consumption

The device has a removable battery with a capacity of 2800 mAh.

The main thing, of course, is not the capacity and some numbers, but the optimization of energy consumption in the device. For the work done by engineers in this direction, we can safely give the highest rating.

Galaxy S5 can work on a single battery charge for up to two days with average use: brightness was adjusted automatically, Wi-Fi and others wireless interfaces did not disconnect, surfing the Internet took about 3 hours, 10 minutes of calls a day, 3 hours took the use of other functions, about 100 photos were taken. Very good result!

In the settings, it is possible to set a battery saving mode, in which the operation of some of the functions used will be limited. In this case, the screen goes into gray-only mode. Thanks to this feature of the Super AMOLED screen, in a monochrome state it consumes significantly less energy. There is access to all the capabilities of the device, but background data transfer is stopped and only works through the channel from Samsung. In other words, third-party network applications will not receive push notifications.

That's not all. If you need to stay connected for at least the next 24 hours with 10% battery charge, you can activate the extreme power consumption mode. In this state, the system completely eliminates the ability to use the basic functions of the smartphone. The device turns into a black and white dialer and nothing more.

Software features

As always, various special features are built into the system. Many have known each other for a long time, and we will dwell on some in more detail.

Of course available fine tuning various types input. And here appearance and the use of keys is ill-considered. The virtual buttons are very small and difficult to hit without making mistakes.

It’s strange that with such a large display, the manufacturer installed such an uncomfortable keyboard. It may be a matter of habit, but there is no point in tolerating this when you can install a third-party solution.

S Planner

This, friends, is a calendar. Samsung Galaxy S5 is a very mass product. Many will switch to this smartphone from another manufacturer, many will encounter such an advanced device for the first time. And most of these people will need a calendar. And the corresponding name is simply missing in the system. You can guess that the S Planner application replaces the same regular calendar only by the icon. In general, a strange approach, for which new users will definitely not welcome a fresh gadget.

Standard file manager- this is a necessary and important thing on any modern device. All necessary tools for working with files, of course, there are, but they are hidden in the drop-down menu. It’s convenient when everything is at hand, but that’s not the case here.

Gestures

Chip " instant overview"helps you flip through photos, music, or a page in your browser by waving your palm over the display. The gesture sensor responds clearly and with virtually no errors. Most likely, there is no point in taking it for permanent armament, but as a joke, to show off to friends, it will be very suitable. You can feel like a real Jedi.

Setting " smart pause"works extremely poorly. You can safely forget about this feature, at least until the next software version. Maybe the work of the chip will still be debugged.

" makes it possible to expand the preview picture without going to it, if you hold your finger directly above the image and do not touch the screen. The gesture only works correctly in the gallery. In the video player, instead of previewing, playback starts from the point where you hold your finger.

Samsung has not forgotten about users who have small children. For this purpose, the program “ Child mode", in which the smartphone loads the corresponding colorful skin. In this form, the device provides access only to a limited number of pre-selected programs. For example, the photo application is simplified as much as possible:

There is also the ability to make audio recordings, which can later be voiced by a specially trained crocodile. You can listen to music and watch pre-loaded cartoons. There is also a simple drawing tool.

Exit from the mode is carried out using a password.

Along with children's, there is also simple mode. Its essence lies in the fact that all additional and not particularly important settings are hidden, and instead of ordinary icons there are enlarged symbols.

Similar to the Guest mode in the G3, Samsung installed it on its smartphone. The number of applications that can use this scenario is limited. You just need to choose and set passwords in advance.

Remote Control

The Smart Remote utility is responsible for managing household appliances through an infrared transmitter at the end of the smartphone. The program is structured in a unique way. Instead of the standard procedure for setting up, for example, a TV, you first need to select the country, then the region, after the cable TV operator (and if there is none?) and only then, you can go to the remote control interface. The latter, by the way, did not catch my 50-inch panel from Panasonic. The LG G2 and Sony Z1 Compact did not have this problem. The TV was immediately filled with smartphones. In general, a strange and inconvenient application.

This is a trendy trend nowadays, in which all manufacturers are trying to come up with something of their own and teach the user to take care of their health. A beautiful aggregator application collects all the basic information about user activity. Everything as usual. It is possible to set goals, build graphs, count calories, steps, etc. Of course, it’s not as rich in functionality as Sony’s Lifelog, but it’s also a pretty powerful solution.

Can be installed and implemented into the program itself third party applications, which will work in conjunction with the parent application and smartphone sensors.

The main feature, of course, is the ability to measure your pulse. To do this, you need to place your finger on a special window under the rear camera module, freeze, do not shake your smartphone, and preferably do not breathe at all. Only in this case the heart rate is measured correctly.

You can independently evaluate other interface elements from the screenshots below.

Contents of delivery:

• Telephone
• Charger with USB cable
• Instructions
• Wired stereo headset

Positioning

A parity situation has arisen on the global market - the market is de facto divided by two players, Apple and Samsung. Each company has its own flagship, for Apple this is actually the only product - the iPhone, you don’t have to take into account older models or the iPhone 5c, which appeared in 2013. For Samsung, the range of products is much larger, but the main focus is on the Galaxy S, which is its best-selling phone and competes with the iPhone. In 2013, sales of the Galaxy S4 came close to the iPhone 5, in some countries they even exceeded the iPhone for several months, but then it came out new model, and everything returned to normal. Samsung quite rightly believes that the Galaxy S4 has become a successful product, although dreams that its sales will exceed those of the iPhone have not come true. Moreover, the potential of this device is very high; to this day, versions of it are being released that will live on the market for at least another year and a half. And here Samsung fell into exactly the same trap as Apple before them - the previous models began to look more attractive than the new ones. Let me remind you that with the release of iPhone 5 and new version iOS 7, many people suddenly began to buy the iPhone 4s, because the design of this device and its characteristics seemed better to them. There was no difference in the quality and size of the screen, there were no significant or big differences either. This happened for the first time for Apple, when the old model unexpectedly, after the release of the new one, did not become a niche, but took up up to half of sales.

For Samsung model from Apple is not quite suitable, it is difficult to draw direct parallels - after the release of S4, sales of S3 remained high and noticeable, but these were products of completely different price classes. Unlike Apple, Samsung's flagships are constantly falling in price throughout the year, with a total loss of initial cost of 33 percent. Therefore, it will not be possible to transfer the situation to Apple; the companies are in different positions. But we can say with confidence that the Galaxy S5 tried to preserve all the features of the previous device, and also not make it a competitor to the Note 3, plus maintain sales of all S4 variants. Despite all the public statements, sales plans and the like, we can safely say that the Galaxy S5, despite its flagship status, does not play such a role for Samsung. It is possible that this is due to the release of an older version of the device, the presence of which is denied by the company, or the release of Note 4 in September, to which the focus is gradually shifting. Of course, the sales volume of this model will be at least at the S4 level, perhaps 10-15 percent higher. But sales will be boosted by cheaper S4 variants, and the bet is on them, as well as the Note line. This happened for the first time and looks like a conscious decision from which all the characteristics of the flagship flow.

For the first time in the Galaxy S5, the technical characteristics do not exceed those of the Note line model, in our case it is the Note 3. Formally, we can talk about an improved camera, but it does not offer striking differences in the quality of photos, the processor is about the same performance, the amount of memory, including RAM, less in S5. These are clearly products of different classes, and the Note 3 looks very advantageous compared to the S5; it has clearly been given a second life with this announcement.

For the buyer, this means that buying a Galaxy S5 is not at all as profitable as it might seem at first glance, since its alternatives look extremely attractive and interesting. First of all, this is the Galaxy S4, secondly – ​​the Note 3. It is curious that there is almost no reason to choose the S5 over these devices - all these reasons are insignificant, and their totality will not be an outweighing factor for the majority. While it's possible that many consumers will change their phones out of inertia, this group of buyers has remained the same for many years. The release date of the new iPhone remains an unclear factor; if it happens in the summer, it will influence the choice of many people. It is also obvious that by increasing the screen size, Apple will eliminate one of the most serious complaints about these smartphones. These factors will certainly influence S5 sales and choice.

Many software features from the Galaxy S5 may not come to previous models, not because of the possibility of their implementation, but for purely marketing reasons; it is necessary to show the difference in the devices and draw attention to the new product.

An interesting question is whether it is worth changing the Galaxy S4 to S5. Such a replacement will be pleasant (a faster device, a better camera, there are different features), but you won’t notice much of a difference. Although there is still a certain sense in this. But replacing Note 3 with Galaxy S5, in my opinion, definitely doesn’t make any sense; these are products of different classes. However, let's take a look at what S5 is.

Design, dimensions, control elements

Samsung tries not to experiment with the design of its devices; it remains unchanged from year to year. While testing the Galaxy S4 Black and S5 for operating time, I kept getting confused which phone was in front of me. It is almost impossible to distinguish them by the front panel at a quick glance. You will be able to do this much better from the pictures, but in life they are completely similar - even slightly different sizes are not noticeable.

Phone size – 142x72.5x8.1 mm, weight – 145 grams. Let me remind you that for S4 these parameters were 136.6x69.8x7.9 mm, 130 grams. Slightly taller, slightly wider. You can't feel the difference in your hand, the grip is exactly the same - it fits easily in any pocket.

Samsung Galaxy S5 and Samsung Galaxy S4

The designers have taken a shine to the back cover of the device – it has a leather-like structure, with uniform dots applied to the surface. Initially, 4 different colors are offered.

Two years ago I had an X-Drago Dash Dot case that had almost the same design as the back panel on the S5.

I can’t remember a case where a manufacturer would copy someone else’s case when creating their flagship. This is another indicator of the crisis of ideas that exists on the market - the same solutions are being chewed over by many companies.

The feeling of back cover strange, it is a little oily, as if soaked in some kind of solution. When you hold the device in your hands, your fingers begin to sweat on this cover (it is possible that this is an individual reaction of my body, but those around me also noted this after I asked a question about their feelings).

Another characteristic feature is warnings that you need to tightly close the lid of the charging connector; this appears after each charge. There are no sensors here, just common sense that tells you that to charge the device, you opened the connector. Also, after opening the case, you are asked to check its tightness.

On the left side surface there is a paired volume key, on the right - the on/off button. At the top end there is a 3.5 headphone jack, it is moved to the right (on the S4 on the left and next to the second microphone), this is done so that when the headphones are turned on it does not block the microphone. There is also an IR port window.

Samsung Galaxy S5 and Apple iPhone 5S

Samsung Galaxy S5 and Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Above the screen you can see a 2-megapixel front camera, as well as a proximity sensor. The physical key under the screen is adjacent to two touch buttons– everything is unchanged here, except that the assignment of the keys has changed in accordance with how it is done in KitKat.

Display

Perhaps this is the biggest disappointment - for the first time, Samsung decided not to increase the screen resolution for its flagship, but only to slightly increase the diagonal - now it is 5.1 inches with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels (432 ppi, in S4 - 441 ppi). It is impossible to see individual pixels on the screen; the resolution of the human eye does not allow this. There are no barriers for superhumans, and they see pixelation even on this device. SuperAMOLED screen type, displays up to 16 million colors.

One of the user misconceptions is that Super AMOLED screens are too bright, the colors are saturated and unnatural. In the screen settings, you can choose any display option, including those typical for screens from other manufacturers (dimmer, natural colors). It’s interesting that other manufacturers’ screens produce the maximum possible, and it’s impossible to make them brighter, more contrast, or more saturated colors. Samsung offers maximum flexibility in settings.

Just like the S4, there is an “Optimize display” option. This is the most interesting setting, since the device analyzes the level of lighting around and, depending on the conditions, sets the contrast, brightness, and also adjusts the colors on the screen. It turns out that White color appears white in almost all conditions. Another setting is “Professional Photography” (previously called Adobe RGB), but it has almost no effect on the quality of the image display, the latter does not noticeably change compared to other settings (I was not able to notice this).

In the sun, the screen looks great, there are no problems, readability has increased slightly, this is due to changes in the screen itself, which I would like to mention separately. So, for the first time testing the video playback time on this device and the S4 Black Edition at maximum screen backlight, I noticed the white light on the S5; the picture looked much worse. This was a clear step back.

After playing with the settings, I discovered a rather funny thing - the picture quality is excellent and completely comparable to the S4 with automatic backlighting (the default setting), but trying to turn the brightness up instantly leads to negative consequences. Also, the quality of the Adaptive Display is such that it is focused on energy saving mode, the colors are muted. To get a picture like on the S4, you should choose one of the other display modes.

Everything became clear with brightness in the sun, with automatic adjustment, it turns up precisely in these conditions, readability in direct sunlight increases sharply. Although I couldn’t notice much difference in Moscow with the same Note 3 (Samsung Galaxy S5 in the photos above).

I have a strong feeling that the default settings are made in favor of a certain scenario in which people want not very bright, muted colors and average backlighting - plus, it saves battery. You should choose these parameters for yourself.

And here are some screen comparison photos with the S4. Let me remind you that the screen in the S4 was and remains the best on the market, in the S4 review there was a large comparison of displays, the situation has not changed in any way over the year.

Comparison with Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy S5 from below:

Comparison with Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy S5 from above:

Fingerprint scanner

The function is quite interesting and appeared in response to the fingerprint scanner in the iPhone 5s, where you need to put your finger on the button. Unlike Apple's implementation, in the S5 you just need to swipe in the center of the screen and hit the center key. In the settings you can register up to 3 fingerprints, swiping with one hand while holding the phone is very inconvenient. Someone might be clever and it will work out, but it doesn’t work out that way for me - so only with two hands. Apple only needs one hand - and the device itself is smaller.

Almost always the scanner works perfectly, detects the fingerprint quickly and unlocks the phone. During operation, several times I saw a message that the surface of the device was wet, I was asked to wipe it. Apparently, this uses a sensor that is already present in the S4 and measures the ambient temperature and humidity.

It’s difficult to say anything special about the scanner; everything works and does not cause any complaints.

Battery and power saving modes

It's on the phone Li-Ion battery with a capacity of 2800 mAh (the S4 has 2600 mAh), the manufacturer specifies for the device up to 390 hours of standby time, up to 21 hours of talk time, as well as up to 10 hours of watching videos and about 45 hours of listening to music. Separated from reality, these results are impressive, but you and I know very well that in practice, most Android smartphones do not last that long and show completely different results.

Before discussing the operating time of the device, let me remind you that initially only the S5 version, built on the Qualcomm chipset, appears on the market; the Exynos version will come later - so we are talking only about this version of the phone. But there shouldn't be any significant differences.

Samsung Galaxy S4 and Samsung Galaxy S5

So, most in a simple way was to take the same FullHD video in X.264 and see how long the Galaxy S4 could play it (I took the Black Edition version from Qualcomm). The program for playing video is MX Player, without hardware decoding. The result with maximum screen brightness, sound off and in offline mode was typical - about 9.5 hours.

For most modern smartphones, this is an unattainable result; for example, MTK devices play a similar video for about 4-5 hours (with comparable battery capacity). The S5 test revealed an interesting point - the device worked for about 12 hours and 40 minutes. Unfortunately, during playback, he went to the main menu once, so I had to start playback again - but the impact of this incident is minimal, it can be ignored, since the screen time shows how long the video was playing.

Many people are impressed by the raw numbers, but how often do we watch videos non-stop and not use other features? Of course, not often, because the phone is a universal harvester in which we use literally all the possibilities. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate collectively how the battery works and how long it allows the phone to last. Here we can say that the S5 is not much different from the S4, the operating time is comparable - with heavy use of the device, it will run out around lunchtime (3-4 hours of screen operation and a couple of GB of data). With not very heavy use it can survive until the evening. Unfortunately, I was not able to notice any particular difference from the S4; the device is definitely inferior to the same Note 3, which currently remains the record holder in terms of energy consumption and easily survives until the evening with any usage profile.

However, in the phone settings, two more energy saving modes were added to the already existing ones, and a quick power button was created for them. There is a regular power saving mode in which you can limit background work applications, turn on gray colors for the screen (for AMOLED this is a trick - gray color consumes almost no energy). Moreover, in gray tones you can work almost anywhere, even watch videos - but it will be gray, which is not very pleasant and convenient.

I was interested to see if it was possible to live a whole day in this energy consumption mode. I managed to do this easily, you can say that the device will last for two days, but it won’t give you any pleasure. It is unlikely that there will be people who will use a screen in this color scheme. There is also one more limitation - Whatsapp and other programs that use a background connection stop working and you stop receiving messages. For social networks, which Samsung and the SNS program know, as well as access permissions obtained on the phone (Facebook, Instagram, 4square, Twitter), you receive push messages from Samsung service. That is, the energy saving mode also has a software feature - instead of push messages from different services/programs, they arrive at a certain interval from only one. This interval cannot be configured; all settings are hidden from the user. Look at the phone usage graphs in this mode.

This saving mode is good when your battery is running low, but you need all the phone's functions. Then, on 10 percent charge, you can easily live for about two hours, without denying yourself almost anything. Two hours is an active use of the device; it just can last much longer in your pocket.

In early firmware of the device, the widget for starting the energy saving mode showed the approximate operating time in two modes - normal and maximum. TO commercial version The first mode has been removed; it can be activated from the menu, but you cannot see the estimated operating time.

The maximum power limit mode cuts down almost everything; at 35 percent of the battery charge, the phone can work in standby mode for at least 4 days. But, of course, it all depends on how you use it. The gray scale is also turned on, but all communications are cut off, list running applications is limited only to those that you have allowed, all background processes are turned off. This is a very deeply redesigned procedure, since many system functions are disabled, you will not be able to take a screenshot in this mode, many built-in options will be unavailable (but you don’t need them).

I liked this mode because when the battery runs out, by activating this mode with one touch, you can calmly live until the evening - SMS and voice will be available to you.

The bottom line is that we have a fairly typical and power-hungry Android, which, however, performs quite comparable to the iPhone 5s on the same tasks. To avoid unnecessary disputes and battles, I want to emphasize that each of us has our own set of applications, work profile, backlight brightness, and so on. A phone that works for one person for two days may be dead for another by lunchtime. Therefore, you should not give operating graphs of your devices, they say absolutely nothing, you need to compare devices at the same time, with the same load. For the S5, you should focus on a full day of work, taking into account the fact that you will use certain energy saving features without, however, denying all the pleasures of this device.

Camera

There is a separate material dedicated to the camera, in which you can learn everything possible about it.

Hardware platform, memory, performance

The phone uses Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8974AC chipset, also called Snapdragon 801. This is the fastest chipset from Qualcomm at the moment, its previous version MSM8974AB was used in such a device as LG G2. Quad-core processor, maximum frequency 2.45 GHz, graphics coprocessor has a frequency of 578 MHz (previously 450 MHz). The LPDDR3 memory bus frequency has also been overclocked - from 800 to 933 MHz. In many ways, this is what gives the increase in productivity.

The amount of RAM is 2 GB (half is free after loading), internal memory is 16 GB (there is a 32 GB version, but it is unlikely to be widely available on the market). The amount of memory occupied by programs is about 4 GB. Memory card – up to 64 GB.

In synthetic tests, the device shows excellent results, outperforming the Note 3, despite the smaller amount of RAM.

Before the advent of commercial firmware, performance was lower, the device was inferior to Note 3. Now it is slightly higher in performance. But these are synthetic tests that are of interest to fans of virtual parrots. There are a few more tests for them.

In normal, everyday life, the speed of the device is excellent. The interface is extremely responsive and fast. Those who can see lag will see it everywhere - but this is one of the fastest devices at the moment. There is no difference from the iPhone 5s in terms of speed.

USB, Bluetooth, communication capabilities

Bluetooth. Bluetooth version 4.0 (LE). When transferring files to other devices that support this technology, Wi-Fi 802.11 n is used, and the theoretical transfer speed is about 24 Mbit/s. Testing the transfer of a 1 GB file showed a maximum speed of about 12 Mbit/s within three meters between devices.

The model supports various profiles, in particular Headset, Handsfree, Serial Port, Dial Up Networking, File Transfer, Object Push, Basic Printing, SIM Access, A2DP. Working with headsets does not raise any questions, everything is ordinary.

USB connection. In Android 4, for some reason, they abandoned USB mode Mass Storage, left only MTP (there is also a PTP mode).

USB version – 3, data transfer speed – about 50 Mb/s.

When connected via USB, the device is recharged.

The microUSB connector also supports the MHL standard, which means that using a special cable (available at electronics stores), you can connect the phone to the TV (to the HDMI output). In fact, the standard describes the ability to connect via microUSB to HDMI. This solution looks preferable to a separate miniHDMI connector on the case.

Maximum speed data transfer in LTE is 150 Mbit/s.

WiFi. The 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac standard is supported, the operation wizard is similar to that for Bluetooth. You can remember selected networks and automatically connect to them. It is possible to set up a connection to the router in one touch; to do this, you need to press a key on the router, and also activate a similar button in the device menu (WPA SecureEasySetup). Among the additional options, it is worth noting the setup wizard; it appears when the signal is weak or disappearing. You can also set up Wi-Fi on a schedule.

Also for the 802.11 n standard, HT40 operating mode is supported, which allows you to double throughput Wi-Fi (requires support from another device).

Wi-Fi Direct. A protocol that is intended to replace Bluetooth or begin to compete with its third version (which also uses Wi-Fi version n for transmission large files). On the menu Wi-Fi settings select the Wi-Fi Direct section, the phone starts searching for devices around. We select the desired device, activate the connection on it, and voila. Now in file manager You can view files on another device and also transfer them. Another option is to simply find the devices connected to your router and transfer to them necessary files, this can be done from the gallery or other sections of the phone. The main thing is that the device supports Wi-Fi Direct.

NFC. The device has NFC technology, it can be used with various additional applications.

S Beam. A technology that allows you to transfer a file of several gigabytes in size to another phone in a few minutes. In fact, we see in S Beam a combination of two technologies - NFC and Wi-Fi Direct. The first technology is used to bring up and authorize phones, but the second is already used to transfer the files themselves. The creatively redesigned way to use Wi-Fi Direct is much simpler than using a connection on two devices, selecting files and so on.

IR port. Necessary for using the phone as a remote control for various household appliances. Automatically configures for almost any model of equipment.

Software features - some features and children's mode, S Health

I described all the features of the new version of TouchWiz, pre-installed programs and all the new features in a separate and voluminous material. This is done with intent so as not to be repeated here.

The Galaxy S5 pays a lot of attention to new operating modes for people with impaired motor coordination, hearing or vision impairments. In terms of the set of built-in capabilities, this is one of the most powerful models, along with technology from Apple. But usually during the test you skip this menu (it appears during the first boot), and then you don’t go there. However, it has another non-trivial function: a baby monitor. You can place the phone next to the child, and then it will detect his cry, and then the camera flashes will notify you about it. Since my children have already grown up, I could not test this function in practice. The phone does not respond to the recorded cry of a baby, and if you want to see how Murtazin howls, then watch the video below - this device also did not respond to my howl. This does not mean that the baby monitor does not work, but most likely it is useless.

It's highly unlikely that the 2014 flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S5, has received an official update to Android 7.0 Nougat. If you want to install anything newer than Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow on your phone, then you'll have to take matters into your own hands. We will naturally help you by creating step by step instructions installing custom firmware based on the seventh version of Android on the Galaxy S5.

Note: The firmware in question will only work on Snapdragon variants of the Galaxy S5 (klte), including models SM-G900F, SM-G900T, SM-G900M, SM-G900P, SM-G900V, SM-G900FD, SM-G900MD, SM-G900K, SM-G900L, SM-G900S and some others. If you have an Exynos version (SM-G900H), then you should be disappointed that Android Nougat is quite unstable for it at the moment. However, using these instructions you can install it on your device and test it (the download link can be found on the forum on this site).

Is it even necessary to change the official firmware to custom one?

Without regular platform security updates, you expose yourself to a huge risk of hacking, which could lead to data or even money theft. If you are still receiving what you were promised by Samsung Android security patches and the software you use are satisfactory to you, then I don’t think it’s worth upgrading.

Installing Nougat on Galaxy S5: first steps

The first thing you need to do is create data backup. In most cases, the contacts on your phone are already synced with your Google account. Do backup You can retrieve all the data on your phone using our instructions, which will allow you to do this quickly and correctly.

Keep in mind that after flashing the data of many programs and games will be lost. You can upload photos and videos to Google Photos. One way or another, during the installation of custom firmware, you can choose to clear the phone’s memory or not.

Also make sure that your smartphone is charged to at least 60-70%, but it is best to charge it fully before installing the firmware.

Connecting the Galaxy S5 to the computer

Unfortunately, to prepare for the firmware we will need a utility that only works under Windows. If you have not yet installed the drivers, you can download them from the official Samsung website. Also download the ODIN utility itself from this link. Install the drivers and unpack the ODIN archive to any location convenient for you, such as “Documents”.

Download mode on Galaxy S5

Reboot your phone into download mode. To do this, turn off the Galaxy S5 completely, and then press the following buttons simultaneously and hold for a few seconds: “Volume Down”, “Home” and “Power”. A warning should appear on the screen, which you must ignore by pressing the “Volume Up” key.

Launch ODIN, which you downloaded and unzipped earlier, and connect your phone via USB cable. This program should detect the device and if this happens, the message will appear at the top left, as you can see in the screenshot below. And at the bottom in the block with logs the message “Added” will appear, which means that everything is in order, the S5 is ready for work.

If the phone is in download mode but does not show up in ODIN, then you need to install other drivers - ADB Driver Installer. Then we move on to the next step.

Install custom recovery (TWRP Recovery)

To install custom Android firmware 7.1.1 Nougat for Galaxy S5, first you need to replace the stock recovery, which is available in all Android devices, with a custom one. As you might have already guessed, stock recovery only works with official software, and custom recovery only works with modified software.

Download version TWRP Recovery for your smartphone model via this link. Don't make a mistake with the model number, go to the Primary (Recommended) section and download the file latest version exactly in .tar format to your computer.

After this, in the ODIN program you need to select the newly downloaded recovery. Click the “AP” button, find this file and click the “Select” button. Make sure that the phone is connected to the computer as described above, and then click on the “Start” button. Within a few seconds, the process should complete and the Galaxy S5 should reboot.

Download and install Android 7.1.1 Nougat on Galaxy S5

After installing custom recovery, go directly to Android installation 7.1.1 Nougat on Samsung Galaxy S5. First, download the firmware from the official website of Lineage OS (formerly known as CyanogenMod). Click on the latest build (always located at the very top) and the ZIP archive will begin to download automatically. For now, only so-called “nightly” builds are available, which are updated every day, but after some time of software improvements, stable versions will appear.

Now it's hard to do without Google services, such as, Play Store, so we also download the ZIP archive from Google apps. The easiest way to do this is using the Opengapps.org resource. We go to the website, select the platform (in this case ARM), the version of Android and also the set of applications that you are going to use. I recommend choosing the minimum set of “pico” or “nano”, but by clicking on the icon next to the name, you can see full list all applications that are included in the package.

Then click on the red download button below to download.

Setting up the device for the first time

Once you start your phone, you will have to go through the process of setting up your phone for the first time as if it were brand new. Connect to Wi-Fi, sign in Google account and install all the necessary applications and application stores. Samsung Galaxy S5 will regularly receive new Android updates, including the latest security patches.

Pros and cons of LineageOS 14.1 on Galaxy S5

The firmware works very well; no problems have arisen over the months of use. Everything works, including NFC and a fingerprint scanner. The only drawback is the lack of an HDR function in the phone's camera, but even without it the photos turn out to be of very high quality.

With this software this device seems completely new and faster than ever. If you still buy new battery, then he will be able to please you for several more years. Samsung Galaxy S5 can get Android O, the next expected update from Google, in the same way.