Samsung Galaxy S5 Watch Thread

CHANG3D said:
right, cause screen accuracy differs from review to review...
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We weren't talking about reviews there. We were talking about us.. remember this posting this?

CHANG3D said:
Right... when we debate on which is a better screen, Nexus 5 vs One vs SGS4, we say Nexus 5 wins.
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This is what I was responding to. I know there's a lot there, but I even Ctrl+F'd it for the word "review" and didn't find it anywhere in that sentence. ;)

But if you want to talk reviews; as I said before, a lot of reviewers thought the Nexus 5 display looked somewhat washed out compared to other flagship phones. So is it really preferable (for most people) to have an "accurate" display? I would argue not. It seems that a lot of people like the colors to be tweaked a bit to make it more visually appealing.

So while the Nexus 5 (or now the S5) may have the most accurate display ever, I guarantee you that it doesn't equate to the most appealing screen for most people. Yes, it's damn nice still, but not quite as pleasing to see as most other AMOLED or even some other SLCD displays. Though this could easily be "fixed" with some display mode presets to appeal to people's specific preferences. The S5 may somehow look better while being more accurate because it's AMOLED though, if just for the crazy contrast ratio and pure blacks.
 
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So did these really good display reviews turn out to be true and consistent?
 
So based on some reviews its not quite as good as claimed but still a very good display. I noticed the subpixel arrangement was interesting. Previously Samsung was making different sized and shapped subpixels and now they appear to all be the same size though the arrangement is still not a stripe.
 
rudy said:
So based on some reviews its not quite as good as claimed but still a very good display. I noticed the subpixel arrangement was interesting. Previously Samsung was making different sized and shapped subpixels and now they appear to all be the same size though the arrangement is still not a stripe.
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It's still Pentile, but now it uses slightly different shapes and roughly the same size.

Anand does state that it does seem to be very accurate but also Has the benefit of extreme contrast.

I do like the addition of the ultra power saving mode.
 
Will be going tonight to place my "pre" order for the S5 at BB.
I had forgot that I registered for the $50 gift card deal they had in feb so I should be able to should be well under $200 with activation.
All in all, I will be very happy with the phone I am sure. I have not seen or held one so I will be a virgin when I open the box.
 
Trimlock said:
It's still Pentile, but now it uses slightly different shapes and roughly the same size.

Anand does state that it does seem to be very accurate but also Has the benefit of extreme contrast.

I do like the addition of the ultra power saving mode.
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AMOLEDs have infinite contrast. This is a characteristic of AMOLED technology which makes it superior over LCDs.

You have to understand AMOLED is a new technology and is still evolving whereas LCD quality has been plateauing (for example, the HTC One X back in 2011 had one of the best displays and it still does if you don't take into account pixel density). Whereas if you compare the SGS2 to the SGS5, the difference is HUGE even if you don't take into account pixel density. The SGS5 is at the stage where AMOLED has finally surpassed LCD in every aspect. This is according to DisplayMate.

In this new iteration of AMOLED Samsung vastly increased power efficiency and hence was able to increase the max brightness even exceeding some of the brightest LCD displays.

With white levels on par with LCD displays AND having infinite contrast, AMOLED easily surpasses LCD.

In the future, most tech experts predict that AMOLED will largely replace LCDs as they have a much higher power efficiency threshold, have a better ability to reproduce accurate colors (in contrast to comments saying AMOLED produce over-saturated colors... this can be fixed) and brighter white levels.
 
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Anand's review was somewhat comforting on the display front. I prefer accurate color over punchiness, so having an AMOLED screen that's reasonably on-target is a good thing. I'd like to see what the brightness is like outdoors, though. The GS3 and (to a lesser degree) GS4 were pretty dim in bright sunlight; I shouldn't have to shelter the screen just because it's a sunny day.
 
The ifixit repairability score was very bad for this device. Its still nice that a battery can be swapped out easily. When I first saw it I actually thought maybe the HTC one is better. But then the HTC one score was even worse. This was a huge change from past Samsung phones which typically had very high scores.
 
The low repairability score probably has to do with S5's IP67 water resistant rating and having to seal it tighter but making it more difficult to repair. Doesn't explain the non-IP67 M8 that has even lower score.
 
What's fail and more fail? Is this something to tout? If you disassemble the GS5, you won't be able to put it back together, just like both the HTC One's. Good luck with gluing things back in place.
 
Speaking of OLED, you can soon get tail lights on your BMW to complement your phone:

http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=969902

THE FUTURE - OLED

Organic LED (OLED): This is the new cutting edge in lighting. OLEDs are made from organic semiconductor material and allow the designers much more freedom in their designs. Compared to the inorganic material already used in LEDs in standard production vehicles, the application of OLEDS in BMW Organic Light promises a range of benefits. Because of the design as a thin-layered element, for example, it is possible to produce very thin, flexible displays for smartphones or even lighting units for motor vehicles.

BMW Organic Light permits a lamp unit to be created whose luminous intensity is almost constant across the entire radiant angle (does not suffer from the LED effect where LED lamps seem less bright to the eye the more it is seen from the side).

BMW says this technology is only three years away from being used in a production car. It's clearly not far from production as they had working OLED tail light units on hand (see pics below). Not only do OLED look great but it uses very little power/energy. They can also serve as active tail lights - the intensity can change as well as the light pattern. Even different colors are possible (the mock up models that were shown to us were only in red OLEDs). We did get to see a BMW touring bike with yellow turn signals and red brake light. This OLED technology is not so close to production for motorcycles - yet. We will first see it on a BMW car before the bikes get them.

BMW is still working on improving the luminous density of the OLEDs. While it's currently adequate for tail lights, lighting elements like the brake light or indicator need reinforcing.
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http://youtu.be/yOFkJyJgYgA

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I'd agree with the Ars review - it's a decent incremental upgrade, but Samsung never put much effort into their biggest weakness (design).
 
Someone else will test the GS5. I just can't stand TouchWiz. I'm gonna give it to someone used to it (current device is out of box GS3), as this TouchWiz will most likely be a huge improvement over that one. It doesn't feel "collected" or intuitive at all, maybe not using the right words, at least not when compared with Google or sense experience.
 
Verizon will be selling GS5 developer edition without subsidy for those who want unlocked bootloader and/or want to keep your grandfathered unlimited data and/or want absolutely want Samsung.
 
CHANG3D said:
Someone else will test the GS5. I just can't stand TouchWiz. I'm gonna give it to someone used to it (current device is out of box GS3), as this TouchWiz will most likely be a huge improvement over that one. It doesn't feel "collected" or intuitive at all, maybe not using the right words, at least not when compared with Google or sense experience.
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When I bought my GS3, TW seemed better than Sense. I still think its not nearly as bad as people make it out to be, some parts are good (music and video player, snoozing alarms by voice - best feature ever). But Sense 6 is clearly much better.

The thing is, for most people, its not that big a deal, I doubt people actually are aware of skin differences or care, let alone make their purchasing decision based on them.
 
MrCrispy said:
When I bought my GS3, TW seemed better than Sense. I still think its not nearly as bad as people make it out to be, some parts are good (music and video player, snoozing alarms by voice - best feature ever). But Sense 6 is clearly much better.

The thing is, for most people, its not that big a deal, I doubt people actually are aware of skin differences or care, let alone make their purchasing decision based on them.
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HTC totally screwed up Sense 4. Although I would argue it's still better than any TouchWiz... but HTC Sense 5 and 6 are extremely well done. It's like HTC listened to complaints or something... wish they listened more... But at least they do listen. Samsung, on the other hand...
 
CHANG3D said:
HTC totally screwed up Sense 4. Although I would argue it's still better than any TouchWiz... but HTC Sense 5 and 6 are extremely well done. It's like HTC listened to complaints or something... wish they listened more... But at least they do listen. Samsung, on the other hand...
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HTC listened because they have no choice, they're in deep trouble. Samsung.... not so much. And its not like TW is universally hated, outside geek forums people generally seem to like it.
 
Well, picked up my S5 today. Haven't had the chance to play with it much but feels solid.
What can you say right, it is a samsung device. Feels like I got a mini-note 3.Which is cool because I love the note 3.

Yeah, so I got mine at Bestbuy and man what a flipping nightmare. Rude, useless, could care less about the customer(s) I complained about my HOUR AND A HALF wait and there were only a couple customers. Anyway, the store manager gave me $50. Which honestly, barely made up for how awful it was.

But Bestbuy did have the best price for VZW. 199 with a $10 gift card and $50 more if you registered in feb.
But MAN, BBY sucks so bad. I think I have figured out why too. They hire chuckleheads. yep, that is why.
Which is a shame because there are good people there too, thank god or I would still be there waiting.
 
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From what I've seen the new TW UI seems a lot simpler than previous TW versions.

The Galaxy S5's AMOLED display seems much brighter than the Galaxy S4's. Also the colors seem less saturated (i.e. more accurate colors). The overall size difference is not huge, I can still fit it in my pockets fine.

I've compared the camera to the Galaxy S4 and the Galaxy S5 has a much better camera, hands down. Not just in resolution but the settings are much more complex, has better color processing and it can shoot 4K video.
 
I think it's point of reference. If you've always used TouchWiz, then of course this one is great for you. If you've tried anything else, you wouldn't want TouchWiz at all.
 
CHANG3D said:
I think it's point of reference. If you've always used TouchWiz, then of course this one is great for you. If you've tried anything else, you wouldn't want TouchWiz at all.
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I have and I don't mind it all. Sure it has quirks but it's nothing that will make you throw your phone at the wall.
 
Arizonian7 said:
From what I've seen the new TW UI seems a lot simpler than previous TW versions.

The Galaxy S5's AMOLED display seems much brighter than the Galaxy S4's. Also the colors seem less saturated (i.e. more accurate colors). The overall size difference is not huge, I can still fit it in my pockets fine.

I've compared the camera to the Galaxy S4 and the Galaxy S5 has a much better camera, hands down. Not just in resolution but the settings are much more complex, has better color processing and it can shoot 4K video.
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I agree about the screen and camera. The pictures are much clearer and sharper.
The screen is much better than the S4,
 
I'll keep my Note 3 and wait for the Note 4.

Nice phone though for those that want it.
 
Trimlock said:
I have and I don't mind it all. Sure it has quirks but it's nothing that will make you throw your phone at the wall.
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Pure Android and Cyanogenmod used to be preferred over Sense and TouchWiz since the horsepower in phones wasn't optimal around 2011 and earlier. Since then phones have gotten more powerful and TouchWiz is lighter while having more useful features such as Smart Stay (so the screen doesn't time out when in use), automatic WIFI <-> cellular switching, multi-window multi-tasking, WIFI Direct file sharing, etc. and stability is on par with Nexus Android easily logging 1000+ hours of uptime.

TouchWiz > Nexus Android/Cyanogenmod > Sense
 
mi7chy said:
Pure Android and Cyanogenmod used to be preferred over Sense and TouchWiz since the horsepower in phones wasn't optimal around 2011 and earlier. Since then phones have gotten more powerful and TouchWiz is lighter while having more useful features such as Smart Stay (so the screen doesn't time out when in use), automatic WIFI <-> cellular switching, multi-window multi-tasking, WIFI Direct file sharing, etc. and stability is on par with Nexus Android easily logging 1000+ hours of uptime.

TouchWiz > Nexus Android/Cyanogenmod > Sense
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I can't possibly be the only one who think this is some kind of marketing promotional material.
 
CHANG3D said:
I can't possibly be the only one who think this is some kind of marketing promotional material.
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Agree.

"automatic WIFI <-> cellular switching" ? Stock android has the option to switch between poor wifi networks and cellular.
Smart stay? Have of those sensor marketing things didn't work right. Never used them after the initial cool phase.
WiFi file sharing... there are many apps in the market for that.

Multi-window support is maybe the only useful thing.

If anything I would rather have Sense vs touchwiz and I own an s4.
 
CHANG3D said:
I can't possibly be the only one who think this is some kind of marketing promotional material.
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Proclaiming that you're proudly on Sprint pretty much sums up your your low expectations. Are you on a budget plan or do you like paying for no service? Glad I dropped them a few years ago. :p


ImDonly1 said:
If anything I would rather have Sense vs touchwiz and I own an s4.
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You spent a lot of time on why you don't like TouchWiz but do you have a clue why you would prefer Sense? Plus, I'm speaking from Note 3 and 2 experience which is clearly better and closer to S5 than S4. Even the UI on S4 is different than Note such as the settings menu layout.
 
Samsung's Galaxy S5 fingerprint reader can be easily spoofed by a lifted print.

It's the same basic vulnerability as on the iPhone 5s, only Samsung's approach is inherently less secure; you're not forced to enter the passcode after a reboot or a set interval of inactivity, so you can take as much time as you need (and reboot as often as necessary) to crack the GS5's security without having to know additional credentials.

This isn't to say that the GS5 is a bad phone -- it's just dandy. The point is that creating a boogeyman out of fake finger exploits is a fool's errand. This isn't a unique problem for any one company, and that the issue itself is overblown. If intruders are so bent on getting into your phone that they create a replica of your digits based on lifted print info, you have much larger problems than someone sifting through your phone email. Fingerprint readers are good replacements for passcodes in day-to-day security. However, current technology will not make your phone completely hack-proof.
 
There's no such thing as perfect security. It took them only 2 days to break the iPhone 5S while it took them 5 days for the Galaxy S5. Sounds about right.
 
mi7chy said:
There's no such thing as perfect security. It took them only 2 days to break the iPhone 5S while it took them 5 days for the Galaxy S5. Sounds about right.
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Huh? The SR Labs folks show that they could use the same, months-old replica of a fingerprint from the iPhone 5s to get past the GS5. That's not two days or five days, that's zero days. It's amazing how you can be presented with direct, incontrovertible proof that you're wrong and still bend over backward trying to defend Samsung.

Besides, don't backpeddle -- you said that the iPhone 5s' vulnerability was a massive, unforgivable flaw, but now you're saying that there's "no such thing as perfect security." Well, which is it? Either you see GS5 is just as problematic, or you accept the truth: that the issue isn't nearly as grave as you initially made it out to be, and that fingerprint readers are still useful as an improvement on the old-fashioned PIN code.
 
Aurelius said:
Huh? The SR Labs folks show that they could use the same, months-old replica of a fingerprint from the iPhone 5s to get past the GS5. That's not two days or five days, that's zero days. It's amazing how you can be presented with direct, incontrovertible proof that you're wrong and still bend over backward trying to defend Samsung.

Besides, don't backpeddle -- you said that the iPhone 5s' vulnerability was a massive, unforgivable flaw, but now you're saying that there's "no such thing as perfect security." Well, which is it? Either you see GS5 is just as problematic, or you accept the truth: that the issue isn't nearly as grave as you initially made it out to be, and that fingerprint readers are still useful as an improvement on the old-fashioned PIN code.
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To be fair if they are using the same work that took two days for the 5s, calling it 0 days for the GS5 is a bit disingenuous on your part as well....
 
Aurelius said:
Huh? The SR Labs folks show that they could use the same, months-old replica of a fingerprint from the iPhone 5s to get past the GS5. That's not two days or five days, that's zero days. It's amazing how you can be presented with direct, incontrovertible proof that you're wrong and still bend over backward trying to defend Samsung.

Besides, don't backpeddle -- you said that the iPhone 5s' vulnerability was a massive, unforgivable flaw, but now you're saying that there's "no such thing as perfect security." Well, which is it? Either you see GS5 is just as problematic, or you accept the truth: that the issue isn't nearly as grave as you initially made it out to be, and that fingerprint readers are still useful as an improvement on the old-fashioned PIN code.
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I think it's obvious why he hates all non-Samsung products so much. He's gone after Apple, HTC, LG, and even Sandisk... Pretty obvious.
 
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/german-hacker-group-ccc-compromises-iphone-fingerprint-sensor-a-923910.html

German hacker organization has thrown a wrench in the works by bypassing the smartphone's much-heralded fingerprint scanner just two days after launch
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Not too difficult to comprehend. It took two days after iPhone 5S launch. So, based on that it took them five days after Galaxy S5 launch using the same technique they already refined.

I never said "perfect" but "more secure" so go back and reread my post. In one of my other posts I wanted someone to give them a S5 to see how long it would take them because I knew it would be longer.

Requiring a passcode can easily be added via software.

Anyone who deals with security knows there's no such thing as perfect unbreakable security. You can only increase the time and/or resources required to break something but anyone with more resources and/or time like the government can break it.
 
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