First impressions of the Samsung Galaxy 5

Samsung Galaxy 5 reviews, The Samsung Galaxy S5 probably isn't the reinvention of the smartphone. But unlike last year's Galaxy S4, there's a good chance some of the new features announced could be of actual use to normal human beings.

Of course, a few minutes with the Galaxy S5 wasn't enough time to reach a full verdict on the phone, but it was enough to get a basic feel for what Samsung's (SSNLF) latest offering can and can't do.

Display

The 5.1 inch display has the same 1080p resolution as last year's 5-inch screen, but due to some new technology, it's definitely brighter, which at the very least, makes everything look nicer. And according to Samsung, the special technology which makes that screen brighter also improves performance in direct sunlight. At the expense of your battery, of course.

Fingerprint Scanner

Like the iPhone 5S, the fingerprint scanner is probably the most eye-catching of the new features, which adds an extra level of security and/or convenience to the device. While it does require you to swipe your whole finger pad over the sensor (unlike the iPhone, which simply lets you place it on the sensor), it worked smoothly the few times I was able to use it.

Power Saver

Battery life matters! Samsung put a slightly bigger battery in the Galaxy S5, but the more important thing was to offer up a useful power saver feature which lets you know what parts of the phone to turn off, and how much battery life that will gain you. It's most extreme mode will actually shut down LTE, cut you off from the vast majority of your apps, and turn the screen grey scale, apparently allowing it to last for days without a charge

Camera

Samsung's new phase detection auto-focus means that the camera is now capable of a nice blur effect in the background when you photograph an object up close. The shutter was reasonably fast with bright indoor light, though it did seem to have trouble handling a couple of weird lighting situations and slowed down considerably. How much the image quality has or hasn't improved over the S4 is still to be determined, however.

Weatherproofing

There was no way to really test how worthy the water and dust-resistant features were (save for dumping a bottle of water on it?), but if the weatherproofing is half as good as Samsung claims it is, everyone wins.

Hardware Design

The hardware design of the phone isn't much better, or even different, than it has been in years' past. If you like it, you like it. (I don't.) The texture and material used on the back is much improved and makes the phone feel less cheap when you're holding it, but the colors to choose from are mildly depressing. And when it comes to size and pocketability, at this point, everyone should already know what they're getting into when they buy a 5-inch phone. The Galaxy S5 is big, but it's not completely unwieldy.

Software Design

Samsung's TouchWiz UI is back in its same fundamental form, but it does look better, visually speaking. Fonts and icons generally look cleaner, but everything is still organized in the same manner as past TouchWiz iterations. That said, it doesn't seem like a huge improvement over anything offered up by the likes of Google (GOOG, Fortune 500), Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), Nokia (NOK), or even HTC. And Samsung still hasn't done much to improve the experience running two apps side-by-side.

Heart Rate Monitor

I mean, I guess it's cool Samsung put this on the phone? It doesn't detract from anything at all, but this sensor definitely seems more useful in its new Gear Fit wearable.

At the very least, many of the features included in the Galaxy S5 have more potential than the new features included in last year's model. To what extent that potential is realized will take a little more hands-on time however.

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Samsung launches Galaxy S5 smartphone

Samsung launches Galaxy S5 smartphone, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S5 smartphone -- an improved, but not radically different, successor to last year's Galaxy S4.

Still, Samsung had a few tricks up its sleeve for its top-of-the-line Android phone. Samsung claims that the Galaxy S5 is weatherproof and resistant to water and dust. The phone's display can adapt to extreme bright and dim settings. The Galaxy S5 also has an on-board heart rate sensor and a fingerprint scanner on the home button.

Compared to last year's model, the Samsung Galaxy S5 has a bigger screen (5.1 inches), a faster processor (2 GHz) and a bigger battery. But none of those represent dramatic improvements. Its screen is 2% bigger, the processor is 5% faster and the battery is 8% larger than on the Galaxy S4.

One potentially big improvement is the camera, now with 16 megapixels, up from 13 a year ago. It can capture ultra-high defiition video and has an incredibly fast shutter -- capable of snapping photos in 1/3 of a second.

                                                                 Samsung S5

But there are a few tradeoffs. The Galaxy S5 is ever so slightly heavier (a half ounce), fatter and larger than its predecessor.

Last year's Galaxy S4 never lived up to its incredible hype, and sales were a disappointment. It's still the best-selling Android smartphone, but Samsung's reputation has taken a big hit after essentially tweaking the previous year's Galaxy S3 and calling it the next best thing. Samsung also drew criticism for adding numerous quirky but largely useless features to the Galaxy S4, including eye scrolling, finger hovering to preview items and video pausing when you take your eyes off the screen

This year, Samsung tried to dial down excitement about the newest edition. Forgoing the kind of splashy Radio City Music Hall launch event that it threw last year, it instead introduced the S5 at a much more subdued press conference at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain.

"With the Galaxy S5, Samsung is going back to basics to focus on delivering the capabilities that matter most to our consumers," said JK Shin, head of Samsung's mobile divison. "Consumers are looking for mobile tools that inspire and support them as they improve their everyday lives."

 As part of that "back to basics" approach, Samsung's new additions to the Galaxy S5 were mostly practical features.

Mimicking a feature that debuted on the Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone 5S, Samsung's Galaxy S5 home button doubles as a fingerprint sensor. Unlike the iPhone, which allows its owner to simply touch the home button to unlock the screen, a Galaxy S5's owner has to swipe down on the reader. But it can be used for other applications as well, including authenticating payments made with eBay's (EBAY, Fortune 500) PayPal.

The pulse monitor sits at the back of the phone, next to the flash. Rest your finger on it, and the screen displays your heart rate. It also works in conjunction with Samsung's new Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch and its corresponding fitness apps.

The battery got a nice improvement, but Samsung added some power-saving features as well. When the battery is about to die, Samsung will turn screen to black and white and shut down all unnecessary features, including most wireless communications.

Samsung says the Galaxy S5 is completely protected against dust, and can resist water up to 1 meter for up to 30 minutes. Those kind of features had previously been reserved for special, ruggedized phones, including Caterpillar's (CAT, Fortune 500) B15 smartphone and Samsung's Galaxy S4 "Active."

Perhaps the most useful feature is the Galaxy S5's display, which automatically adjusts its settings when indoors and outdoors -- not just the screen's brightness, as most phones do. The Galaxy S5 will change the color saturation and contrast too, so that it provides a legible picture when in direct sunlight.

Samsung said the Galaxy S5 would be available in April. 

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