Samsung Galaxy S5 Hands on and First Look: Interesting Yes, Killer Smartphone - Not Really

| Updated: Saturday, March 29, 2014, 13:40 [IST]

Rating:

3.5/5

Has Samsung already predicted sales numbers of its flagship Galaxy S5 in advance? The logic behind asking these type of questions in the beginning may not always make sense to some but it is essential for us not to keep our readers in the dark.

Anyways, Samsung officially launched the Galaxy S5, its current flagship handset into the Indian market without creating much hype. Originally, Samsung launched the successor to the Galaxy S4 last month at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Hands on and First Look

After all kinds of crazy hype and rumors, Samsung Galaxy S5 will land in India on April 11, as per the company. To begin with, Samsung is yet to formally announce the exact retail price of the Galaxy S5. Samsung says it will announce the pricing on April 11, but at the same time do not forget to carry a Rs. 51,000 tag either in your pocket or your head, if you are seriously planning to own the device.

Yes, the Samsung Galaxy S5 will cost you upwards of Rs. 51,000, and that's lot of money. Forget about the retail price for a minute-do you think the Samsung Galaxy S5 is worth the money? At Rs. 51,000, the Samsung Galaxy S5 will directly compete against the Apple iPhone 5S, which is selling for a less than Rs. 50,000 price mark.

If even the Galaxy S5 will cost you upwards of Rs. 50,000, the phone might not experience more users.

Besides wrong pricing, the Samsung Galaxy S5 is still made out of polycarbonate plastic and retains the same boring design.

Yes, it comes with a heart-rate monitor and a fingerprint sensor, so as to differentiate it from crowd. And the most annoying thing about the Samsung Galaxy S5 (limited to Indian version) is that it runs on a true Octa-Core processor, instead of a regular quad-core processor powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 SoC. Additionally, the phone doesn't support 4G LTE network, which is again a bad move on Samsung's part.

Samsung Galaxy S5- Design and Display

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is less inspirational in terms of design. The phone looks absolutely same when compared to its predecessor, the Galaxy S4. The Galaxy S5 has slightly more rounded home button and more shiny sides (remember Note 3?).

The rear-back panel is rather different from all previous generation Samsung S series phone. It has tiny dimples cover over the rear, and we genuinely loved it.

However, the handset is still made out of plastic instead of metal body. Samsung has also redesigned the micro-USB slot found on the bottom; it now has a cover. On the back, you will get to see the heart-rate monitor integrated with an LED Flash.

Now talking about its display, the Galaxy S5 features a slightly large screen-5.1-inches (Super AMOLED, 1920 x 1080) when compared to Galaxy S4's 5-inch FHD panel.

The devices measures 142.0 x 72.5 x 8.1mm and weighs 145g. Yes, it's slightly taller and a bit heavier than its predecessor.

Let's not forget that the Samsung Galaxy S5 is a rugged device. It is completely waterproof and dust-resistant in nature (IP67), which simply means the device can resist dust, while also being waterproof to a depth of 1m for 30 minute.