Samsung Galaxy S5 review- feature creep?

Design

+++ dust and water proofing is an excellent addition and certainly shows Sony was successful in starting this whole new category. Only time will tell whether if the sealing materials will hold up though.

+ the USB port is protected by a flap with a design that’s consistent with the rest of the faux-metal rim. It has rubber on the underside, and acts as a seal to keep water out of the phone. This means also, if you forget to secure it or somehow it’s not secured properly, you’re in trouble. Fortunately, Samsung reminds you every time you unplug a usb cable from the phone.

—– same old speaker hole and grill combo, same old minus points for Samsung. p.s. Samsung, have you checked how far ahead HTC’s Boomsound front-facing stereo speakers were last year?

— build quality sucks. Just look at that camera module and its glue or whatever it is that’s happening there- it’s pathetic.

– capacitive touch buttons that flank the Home button are: Multitask and Back. Menu is now an on-screen / virtual overflow button.
It would seem this is inherited from their Tab Pro series where the touch buttons are also Multitask and Back.

Tip: long-press the multitask button and you’ll activate the Menu instead. long-pressing the Home button obviously will no longer multitask, but instead does actually fall in line with Google’s design guidelines- it’ll allow you to launch Google now.
But I’ve stated this before so a question for our readers: do you use Multitask more than you do Menu?



– the “Modern Glam, perforated pattern” battery cover design doesn’t do it for me. It’s still ploycarbonate- which again I have no problems with but not only does it not lend anything positive visually… Why not stick with the half-decent faux leather design?? The dotted design goes all the way around to the front of the phone as well on the white version so if you’re not a fan of it, you’re going to hate using it.
The only salvation perhaps, is that the “Charcoal Black” version has a fairly grippy rubber-like surface (yes, the other colours do not have this). And of course, the fact that its easily replaceable (except for the wireless charging cover).

– USB port flap is not particularly flexible in that it would not bend further than it is just about possible for you to insert a usb cable into the port.