It's that time of year again. In the weeks and months after the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona each year, we begin to see the bulk of this year's top-tier mobile phones hitting the shelves.
Over the years, some handset series have become more hyped than others. Naturally, the most hyped thus far has been the year-on-year updates to Apple's iPhone, but a very close second has become Samsung's Galaxy S series and this year's installment, the Galaxy S5, is no exception. The Samsung Galaxy S series is Samsung's top-of-the-range offering and considered by most to be the biggest rival to the iPhone.
So what is the Galaxy S5? And how does it differ both from the previous edition, the Galaxy S4, and from other flagship handsets hitting consumers this spring?
Many were hoping there would be some big changes from the S4. The S4 was, as with its predecessors, a phenomenal success for Samsung. It offered the best you could get in mobile technology; a superb 13 megapixel camera, HD video capture, a stunning 1080p resolution screen, a sleek look and a treasure chest of performance and speed boosting silicon wizardry. The problem is, what do you add to a piece of tech that already has everything you can slap into a slim, pocket-dwelling shell? Well, in truth, you don't add much. You simply improve what you've already got. The Galaxy S5 follows this trend to the book.
The Galaxy S5, in comparison to last year's S4, has the following; a slightly bigger screen; a slightly better battery; slightly improved speed and slightly better camera.It brings to the table a heart rate monitor (I do wonder how many of us will ever use that more than once), a fingerprint sensor for security (I've seen that somewhere else) and an IP67 durability rating (that's dust-proof and water-resistant to you and I - something Sony covered a while back). So to put it simply, the Galaxy S5 is a super-charged S4.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, some people just hoped for a little more, as they do with most major updates to their favourite tech. Truth be told though: if you compare the flagship of any manufacturer to their previous year's edition, there's rarely a giant leap anywhere. The one thing I always hope for in a major new mobile phone is something revolutionary. Unfortunately this doesn't happen very often with any manufacturer. I could almost copy and paste this article each year and simply change a couple of numbers.
The design of the device is very similar to its predecessor; large, flat and sleek. In my opinion, the design isn't actually quite as nice as the S4. They've stuck a pin-pricked leather-esque back on it which makes it look a little too toyish, but overall, very little change. It does, however, feel very nice in the hand, despite its slight increase in screen size to 5.1 inches.
If you're a proud Galaxy S4 owner hoping for a major upgrade, you may be a little disappointed. But if you're in the market for a top-end mobile device, you won't.
The Galaxy S5 will, undoubtedly, sell in the millions and become one of this year's biggest mobile phones, along with whatever iPhone Apple release to us later in the year. It hits shelves on April 11 and pre-orders are already hitting the roof with carriers around the world.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article