Samsung Galaxy GS5: it has almost all good

After S4 Galaxy released in spring 2013, and a phalanx of derivative devices ( GS4 Zoom , Mini GS4 , S4 Active ...), place GS5. Marketed at the same time that the new standard bearers of Sony ( New Sony Xperia Z2 Coming Out ) and HTC ( One M8 ), the GS5 displays, too, the technical characteristics of the top flight.

As powered field, and narrow, high-end smartphone, the GS5, water resistant and dust proof (IP67 certified), displays appropriate technology features. Logic. On the menu: HD Super AMOLED 5.1 inch S801 Snapdragon processor clocked at 2.5 GHz with 2 GB RAM, internal memory of 16 GB expandable up to 128 GB via microSD, backlit camera sensor 16MP screen and removable battery of 2800 mAh. Hosted by Android 4.4.2 KitKat, dressed by the house reworked TouchWiz interface, the phone has a software "connected health" approach coupled with a heart rate sensor. A fingerprint reader is also its appearance, especially to unlock the phone.

Compatible 4G, the GS5 is sold from  679$, excluding operator subsidies.

He brings a real lot of new features compared to its predecessor? Where does he deal with its two main competitors at the moment? Responses throughout this test bench ...

GS5 Ergonomics and design: 4/5

Despite the recurrent criticisms reported here and there about its smartphones integrally cast in plastic, Samsung confirmed and signed. And while the Xperia Z2 and One (M8) parade with their dresses respectively made out of tempered glass and brushed aluminum, the GS5 is a little pale face with its hull and its circumference (rather crude) metal plastic imitation. Placed near his two opponents, the GS5 barely stand. However, the plastic has the advantage that it is light. The weight of the GS5 is therefore more restrained than its two main competitors at the time. Some prefer to opt for lighter weight while others will see a slightly higher weight a guarantee of quality.

 A pearly white version slightly more sensitive to dirt than the black version (less "young & girly"!)

Classical and similar to GS4 Front, the only "fantasy" of new GS5 is on the back cover (interchangeable) which has micro-asperities. As it is, difficult to attribute a special design prize at GS5, especially considering the effort for a while by Sony and HTC.

The finish is happily correct and nice grip - camera less slippery than the GS4. We would still have enjoyed screen borders narrower type - LG G2 - and a little less generous dimensions. While the GS5 is only 0.1 inches longer than the GS4 at the screen, the newcomer is heavier, wider, longer and slightly thicker. Or housed within the screen of the device could be a little bigger or the manufacturer could have a little more control measurements of its new flagship. It ends up with a GS5 to the report screen size / gauge less interesting than that of his predecessor.

IP67 certified, the Galaxy S5 is resistant to water and dust. It may be temporarily placed in water (30 min) at a depth of less than 1 m. What, for example, take a picture underwater. We love.

 USB 3, great! Yes, but the correct cable is not included with the phone ...

Samsung has chosen to retain the physical navigation button under the screen instead of integrating all orders within the same screen as touch keys. And deported under the screen, the controls (back, menu, access to multitasking) will not nibble place the bottom of the screen.

GS5 sensor It is at this physical key that is the proposed fingerprint sensor to unlock the home screen and pay for purchases via PayPal. But while similar proposal made ​​by Apple on its iPhone 5s works perfectly well and can record up to 5 prints (3 for GS5), the Samsung drive is a bit less convenient to use, a little more capricious. Blame it on how to activate the sensor. It is appropriate to ask how well his finger perpendicular to the telephone and slide up and down (from the bottom of the screen until the button) when the Apple stores several sensor positions for each enrolled fingerprint ; allowing a more natural and effective unlocking fail.

Samsung is invited to review its on this point, as it is particularly annoying to have to try several times to access the contents of GS5. Submit a digital fingerprint reader is good, go to the end of the proposal with a zero defect operation is better.

GS5 Screen: 4/5

Located between the One (M8) and Xperia Z2 the GS5 has a (5.1 inch) screen size slightly greater than that of GS4 (5 inches). With a resolution of 1920 x 1080 px, 432 dpi screen features, guaranteeing a beautiful display finesse. Its technology, the GS5 birth to an infinite contrast, but enjoys a maximum brightness of just over 307 cd / m². It's not fancy, but enough. Readability remains correct in full light, telephone enjoying infinite contrast and a colorful interface.

Speaking of colors, now, let us focus on color management screen. Because if he sees a good quality, with angles of vision wide open, he sins in color not exactly true to life. We get at best a 7.1 dE Cinema mode; the mode that offers color management less showy, with a softer image. The GS4 was better (dE 4). Recall that the delta E quantifies the difference between perfect colors and those colors on a given screen, and the result should approach 0 Finally, we note that the Super AMOLED screen takes a moment to blue. It's not extreme, but it is noticeable enough in light colors and white, and that, regardless of the mode.

By activating the Gloves fashion in the options, which then increases the sensitivity of the touch pad, the responsiveness of the panel (the time it takes for the tablet to respond to tactile solicitation) is measured at 100 ms. It's okay, equal to that proposed by the GS4 and Xperia Z2. But opposite, the One (M8), has a tiny 46 ms. Overall, the latest HTC screen is better and the color management more than just being checked here.

For details on rendering GS5 screen, you can see the duel screens that opposes that of the Xperia Z2 .

GS5 Interface and Navigation: 5/5

Touchwiz dresses again Kitkat Android platform, in a modified version. Apple says Samsung has also yielded to the call of graphics "flat design". And as with all manufacturers overlays: one likes or does not like. But overall, we must recognize that this alteration made to the user interface is efficient, despite a somewhat childish design, and always colorful. But while the interface and navigation are eased, Samsung still offers a lot of widgets, applications and other home services, some of which overlap with those of Google. So, while some improvements are welcome (management panel more comprehensive and practical notifications, display preferred settings, quick access to favorite apps 5, reworked yet effective keyboard, etc.), we are faced with a significant list of features - that take up memory. There is a safe bet that most users will not use any, while others will never make a complete circuit of the mobile.

Bench applications proposed house include Kids Mode - less efficient than that of Windows Phone, it really caters to the little ones - the ability to display video in a small window while continuing to read a page Web, a multimedia player MyMagazine, S-Finder (sort of like Google Now). appeared. Like Flipboard or Blinkfeed at HTC, MyMagazine used to group within the same news page based on interests (choose from the proposed site) while integrating the activities of social networks. Well, almost everyone, because Facebook and Instagram are not offered. Also note that the FM tuner seems to have disappeared from circulation.

S Health, an application "connected health" rather comprehensive and easy to use to track their activity and try to improve physical activity, is back in the game. It is possible to record the number of steps taken in the day and set goals based on their profile.

Among the sensors added to GS5, there is a heart rate monitor on the back of the device, at the LED flash. As its name suggests, is used to assess the heart rate. Data that can be saved in the user profile of the application S Health, pending the arrival, one day perhaps, other apps based on this small sensor. While many users will not use this sensor once the novelty effect (gadget) past, it may eventually be useful for athletes who are not already equipped with an activity sensor or a chest heart rate monitor.

While it is easy to start measuring heart from the application, we found sometimes with surprising results, and from 61 beats / min to 100 b / min in the space of 30 seconds midway position. Therefore difficult to comment on the effectiveness of it. Finally, for the record, there for a while now applications that use the flash of the camera to give the heartbeats, too, sometimes random. All this to say that if the function is immediately within the GS5, we can not really talk about innovation.

 In terms of behavior, driven by the Snapdragon chipset 801, the GS5 enjoys a beautiful fluidity and an equally good response. It's all very well, despite the TouchWiz interface yet resource intensive and memory. The most demanding there find nothing wrong! Almost. Experts will probably notice that some video intensive games resources (Real Racing 3, Dead Trigger 2) are slightly skate terminal ... Nothing too serious, though.

GS5 Multimedia: 4/5

Once the unit is turned into video game mobile, it is tempting to push the beefy graphics card (Adreno 330) into a corner. The GS5 is generally run without stumbling all games. If the flow is most notable time, the terminal shows its limits with resource intensive games. Indeed, we have noticed some slowdowns even within a party or even just turning in the menus of the game. Terminal starts to heat (bad heat dissipation) a little at the sensor, and this after a few minutes play only. Opposite to equivalent chipset, HTC One (M8) and Sony Xperia Z2 display fluidity foolproof. 

 With a comfortable screen size and responsiveness flawless duo Android / TouchWiz, Internet browsing is a treat. Pages, even loaded content, appear promptly; zoom / un-zoom shows precise and swift; scrolling is done with real fluidity.

Nothing to say about the video playback, but simply effective. Proposed by Samsung offers full featured, as usual, a large format compatibility and a good management of subtitles. 

 In the field of audio, the Galaxy S5 brings neither good nor bad surprise, which ultimately is a disappointing hair for a device of its kind. At the headphone jack, the output level is quite high, but did not reach that of a HTC One M8 or iPhone 5s. The other measured values ​​(distortion, dynamic range, crosstalk) are in the high average of smartphones tested in our lab, without making anything special.

Listening to the sound of the built in back of the speaker cabinet is quite clear and intelligible, but also a bit skinny. Sound power is correct, but again, it is far from rendering issued by the two speakers One (M8) and that, to a lesser extent, the Xperia Z2. Samsung has chosen to place the opening speaker at the back of the unit. Fortunately, it is not completely blocked when the device is placed on a table. It's a little trickier when seated in the palm of your hand ...

GS5 Photo: 4/5

While the sensor GS4 (13 MP) is still, a year after its release, quite convincing, that of GS5 jumps to 16 megapixels and further improves image rendering, with a level of detail captured increased. Noise management is effective and sharpness setting. And, on both sides of the picture - not just the center. From the point of view of color management, white balance makes the job for a rather neutral view.

In contrast, the sensor loses efficiency when the brightness is lacking, with very few details still displayed a tendency to capture blurry images and a fairly high level of noise. If it's a tad better than the GS4, the Sony Xperia Z2, One (M8) and Lumia 1020 remain far more gifted in the dark. Too bad.

Viewpoint use, GS5 displayed exemplary behavior. Its autofocus is very fast, as is that of the HTC One (M8). The sensor of the GS5 is indeed able to perform several developed with remarkable responsiveness, even in low light. If the camera interface does not bring much change, it always proves as rich and easy to use.

Full HD video capture (authorized HDR mode) is very effective. By capturing 4K UHD, the experience is quite satisfactory - attention to weight Files! - Made for a generally correct, though not without persistence. By activating the recording mode, the HDR mode and stabilization disappear.

For more details on photo / video sensor GS5, you can consult the duel that opposes the sensor of the Sony Xperia Z2 .

GS5 Autonomy: 5/5

Samsung has provided the latest in a battery of 2800 mAh, against a battery of 2600 mAh on the Galaxy S4. In practice, the GS5 offers outstanding battery life. Crude test our witness application, the phone and reached more than 23h of operation, equivalent to basic use two days of normal activity and a good day and more intensive mode. The excellent battery GS5 this is far superior to those of GS4 (13 hours on average) and the LG G2, yet already very independent (19h). It is slightly more than that of the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact. In comparison always, Xperia Z2 (accumulator 3200 mAh) is approaching 17 hours, when the One (M8) (2600 mAh) held out a little more than 20 hours.

Note the presence of an Ultra Energy saving which, once activated (which takes time), has a limited access to some basic applications (SMS, phone) in a sober environment, since the way screen becomes black and white. Near the Sony Stamina mode, power saver Samsung is just as effective.

In use, good endurance of this smartphone is of course more than respectable. A fortiori when it is a major consumer of data and multimedia. Please note, parts of games (and heating, so) are quite dramatically - more than usual - drop the battery level. 

Conclusion

Nice evolution of GS4, the new flagship of Samsung offers what is expected of high-end smartphone without revolutionize the genre, beginning with his somewhat peculiar allure. Equipped with excellent battery life and satisfactory overall performance, the GS5 has several arguments to deal with its main rivals. However, we regret the behavior of mobile and knock the heater, when it comes to turning greedy video games.