It’s been 10 years since my love-hate relationship with the Galaxy S5

In my opinion, 2014 was definitely the best year for smartphones. Great phones like the HTC One M8, LG G3, and OnePlus One were all released that year. And this week marks his 10th anniversary of perhaps his best Android smartphone of 2014, the Samsung Galaxy S5.

I was lucky enough to spend a few weeks in the reviews department when I first started working in the technology journalism industry. At the time, I had a love-hate relationship with the Galaxy S5, but it was definitely more love than hate. Let’s rewind the time machine and be transported to another era.

Perhaps what was most notable when we first launched the Galaxy S5 was the way Samsung dialed back its bulky interface in a noticeable way. With the fifth generation of his S flagship, the company offered a more restrained approach to his TouchWiz, avoiding flashy extra features that are enabled by default. This was a big problem because Samsung really went overboard with the gimmicks and software bloat, especially on the Galaxy S4.

It’s not that I disliked TouchWiz from the beginning either. At the time of its release, I thought the Galaxy S3’s UX was pretty cool and unique, with its green and blue hues and nature-inspired touch sounds. However, after the release of S4, I started to despise this user’s experience. Especially because of the popularity of Samsung at the time and the fact that everyone kept turning on the default system sounds on their phones, so there was no escaping these system sounds. Even now, I get irritated when I hear the sound of ripples in the water.

There were also additional Galaxy S4 features out of the box, like tilting the phone and scrolling pages with air gestures (think a rudimentary version of Google’s Pixel 4 XL Motion Sense). Some of these were still available in S5, but most were disabled by default. good!

This bloated approach to Android skins also showed up in performance issues, especially in the months and years after S4’s release. Admittedly, long-term performance was a concern for all Android OEMs in 2013, and it felt strongly with Touchwiz compared to skins from LG and HTC. So we were happy to see the Galaxy S5 take things down a notch.

What do you like most about the S5? It had to be the camera. It was the first major mobile phone with real-time HDR technology, which quickly combined exposures for clear, sharp HDR shots. It sounds like a pedestrian feature on a modern camera phone, but back then HDR was still in its infancy. In fact, I remember some phones after the S5 still showing ghost images or taking a long time to process HDR images. The Galaxy S5 may have been the first phone I felt comfortable with HDR enabled by default.

However, that doesn’t mean the photos were perfect. The Galaxy S5’s camera still suffered from Samsung’s over-saturated colors. Also, highlights were frequently blown out, and noise was visible in shadows even without zooming in. However, this was one of the best camera phones of its time and shows how far the industry has come since then.

The Galaxy S5 also stood out thanks to its IP67 rating, making it the first mainline Galaxy S smartphone to be waterproof. At the time, he was pretty excited to learn about this feature, especially after using the Xperia Z and Motorola Defy series a year or two ago. However, this type of seal wears out over time, so I could do without a plug for the micro-USB port. The phone also offers microSD card support and a removable battery, making it an attractive proposition for enthusiasts.

One of the most divisive aspects of the Galaxy S5 was its dimpled plastic back. A lot of people hated it, but I was mostly indifferent. Fortunately, the back had a matte texture rather than the cheap glossy plastic found on the Galaxy S4, but I was somehow expecting something softer or more rubbery. This design also appeared when HTC boasted a metal back and LG debuted his LG G3 version made of leather. In any case, the Galaxy S5’s back cover is an improvement over the S4’s glossy, slippery plastic.

But the biggest issue I had with the Galaxy S5 was its awful fingerprint scanner. This is a swipe-based scanner and required you to swipe down on the home button. My unit arrived a few months after I reviewed the iPhone 5s, and I thought Samsung’s scanner was a significant downgrade in comparison. People forget that Apple was the leader in intuitive fingerprint unlocking and that Android OEMs haven’t done a good job responding for almost a year. In fact, his HUAWEI Mate 7, which I reviewed in early 2015, was the first Android smartphone I ever used that had a good fingerprint scanner.

This was also the first Galaxy flagship phone to feature a heart rate scanner just below the rear camera. The scanner requires you to stand completely still, which is less than ideal for runners and cyclists. At the time of release, this technology only worked in his S Health app. Even back then, we thought that if you really wanted to track your heart rate, a fitness tracker was the way to go.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is one of the best examples of Samsung listening to its audience, especially enthusiasts. Between the lighter, more performant TouchWiz skin with HDR photography as standard, and the triple threat of IP67/removable battery/microSD slot, this is definitely an upgrade over the Galaxy S4. In fact, we feel this was the second best Galaxy S series phone in our all-time Galaxy S series ranking.

But Samsung’s 2014 flagship phone had its fair share of weaknesses, including a terrible fingerprint scanner, a sketchy heart rate monitor, and a design that lagged behind rivals at the time. But overall, this was an impressive device that showed Samsung fearlessly embracing everything that makes Android unique.

The Galaxy maker took a much different path with the 2015 Galaxy S6, opting for a premium design and iPhone-like pricing. Unfortunately, this came at the expense of features like water resistance, microSD card support, wireless charging, and a removable battery. It really makes you wonder what Samsung’s phones would be like today if they had continued on the path that the Galaxy S5 took ten years ago.