Gadgetory

Michael may have already reviewed the 18 t version of the galaxy s5 but now we're taking a look at the Verizon version of Samsung's 2014 flight ship is it worth to buy a table Martin this is PocketNow and this is our video review of the Samsung Galaxy s5 from Verizon Wireless Samsung is currently the undisputed king of Android and has been for a while but that title comes with a lot of responsibilities it's expected to drive the market forward with innovative features compelling hardware fantastic software and second to none user experience as such many have been looking to Samsung in anticipation of yet another killer smartphone does the galaxy s5 live up to expectations over the changes to minor to capture the market once again Michael has already reviewed the AT&T model of the galaxy s5 and we suggest you check out that video if you haven't already but we've been putting the Verizon Galaxy s5 to the test for four days and here are our thoughts the design of the galaxy s5 is no more awe-inspiring than the two prior Galaxy S smartphones save for a few minor tweaks to its appearance like the physical science of the radius of the corners the galaxy s5 looks almost identical to the galaxy s4 it's a hodgepodge of shiny and textured plastics trying to act the part of much more expensive higher-quality materials the trim along the edges is a shiny faux metal plastic and the back side mimics the perforated leather of a fine golf club or leather shoe that's not to say the galaxy s5 is poorly made it feels solid in the hand there's no squeaking or creaking the hardware with a firm grip the same time it feels in substantial ways just 145 grams which may be heavier than the Galaxy s4 but it's still comparatively lightweight for such a large handset however that isn't all bad the phone feels surprisingly resilient where we felt the One m8 needed a case to preserve its brushed finish the galaxy s5 feels like it can take some tiny bumps without much issue as if it can be carried without a case and be just fine it's also resistant to the elements with an ip67 certification for ingress protection against dirt and water this is evidenced by the water resistant cover over the USB 3.0 port and the rubber seals inside the battery door we tested it in the shower challo submersion and under running water without issue the other major additions to the hardware are the heart rate sensor around back which integrates with s health and the fingerprint sensor on the front of the device it integrates with third-party apps like PayPal and LastPass and operates primarily as a screen lock but our friend tested it they had no problem with the scanner recognizing their fingerprint on each slide but we had far more trouble with the sensor which only accepted roughly one out of ten finger swipes unless we paid close attention to how we were holding the device your mileage will most likely vary the guts of the s5 are marginally improved and at the very least on par with all the other top-tier phones on the market it's powered by the impressive Snapdragon 801 SOC and a twenty eight hundred million power battery it has a 16 megapixel camera with phase detection autofocus a 2 megapixel front shooter 2 gigabytes of RAM and 16 gigabytes of storage a microSD expansion slot comes with support for up to 128 gigabytes the display in typical Super AMOLED fashion is super saturated at 5.1 inches with 1080p resolution the display bears an impressive density of 432 pixels per inch it's incredibly sharp with exceptional side visibility high contrast extra inky black levels and an extra low brightness setting if you're ok with extra vibrant colors the galaxy s5 display will be a pleasure to look at for the next two years or so in all the galaxy s5 is a balanced piece of hardware even if we'd like to see the company get creative and challenge its design team for once all the aesthetics of the hardware hasn't changed all that much the software has the galaxy s5 comes running the latest version of Android version 4.4 per usual the phone is running Samsung's custom TouchWiz software fortunately Samsung has cleaned up the look of its software by going with a more minimal appearance the notification shade for one has a much cleaner less cluttered look Settings has also been simplified no longer is there a tab to interface but rather a single stream of settings options more like stock Android the home screens are also slightly cleaner while the leftmost page is now dedicated to Samsung's my magazine feature a social newsreader powered by Flipboard unlike blinkfeed it feels more like a shortcut to the Flipboard app than a fully functional standalone reader we found ourselves looking elsewhere to browse news and our social feeds as expected the galaxy s5 comes with no show your features s help for instance it's even more helpful with the heart rate sensor though we're still not sure we want to dive headfirst into Samsung's proprietary fitness ecosystem you can see more about how Michael Fisher loves to exercise in his glimpse into a day with s health and the gear fit one of our favourite features multi-window has returned alongside another handy software feature toolbox a free-floating chat head like bubble with quick shortcuts to some helpful apps camera voice recorder notes and calculator these are user definable and Samsung's usual software additions are also still present smart stay smart pause power saving blocky mode car mode and private mode Verizon has also included its own swath of float accessories color name ID cloud emergency alerts Amazon Amazon Kindle Amazon mp3 Amazon App Store audible Isis wallet message plus my Verizon mobile NFL mobile you get the picture despite the slightly altered appearance little is different in this incarnation of TouchWiz we're happy to see a small visual refresh but the newest version of software doesn't fix the one outstanding issue of TouchWiz how bloated the software is still any improvement is welcomed with a Snapdragon 801 over the hood the Galaxy s5 is a high-performance machine it zips through menus with ease scrolling pinch zooming in the browser and opening applications all happen quickly and smoothly however there was often a bit of hesitation when pressing the home or recent app buttons more often than not the phone would pause for a split second before loading the recent apps list or jumping home no less its performance and standard benchmark tests is quite impressive as is the gaming performance graphically intensive games like asphalt 8 Need for Speed Most Wanted and dead trigger - all run buttery smooth without noticeable framerate drops stamina on the galaxy s5 isn't particularly noteworthy unlight or moderate use the twenty eight hundred million power battery will manage to last through most days without a midday charge through heavy testing gaming benchmarks and taking pictures and video we managed to squeeze out just over nine hours of usage and four hours of screen on time before the phone powered down the power saver mode should help prolong the stamina for just a bit an extreme power saver will sacrifice nearly all smartphone functionality in favour of far more stamina data speeds have been spectacular on Verizon in the Charlotte metro area we hit peak speeds around 50 four megabits per second down and 14 point eight megabits per second up with average speeds of around fourteen point six megabits per second down and seven point three megabits up however call quality was below average colors notably sounded muffled though audio on our en was loud and crisp the output of the 16 megapixel camera is quite stunning in daylight and well-lit scenes colors were extra vibrant contrast was high and close-up photos had a notably shallow depth of field that said we did have trouble with some shots turning out blurry and we missed focus more than we anticipated not to mention low-light performance leaves much to be desired still we fill the outdoor and well-lit performance far outweighs the camera shortcomings in low-light and area few phones have mastered in all we walk away from the short stint with the galaxy s5 filling somewhat unmoved as if we've been using a galaxy s4 all along only after installing a new backplate and software update sure new features abound but few of them feel useful or compelling enough to invoke a filling of all or wonder with this new Galaxy S foam still we can tell you this buying the fifth-generation handset to one of the world's most popular smartphone lineups is one of the safest choices you can make if you want to be more daring there a half-dozen alternatives which are just as great calling your name if instead you're okay with carrying a smartphone that's a little bit dull but will still get the job done exceedingly well you can't go wrong with the Galaxy s5 for more in-depth information on the verizon galaxy s5 be sure to check out the written component of this review on a pocket now site folks thanks for watching if you enjoyed this video want to help us out be sure to click the thumbs up button below and of course the subscribe button to see more videos like this one in the future all those in all the usual places twitter facebook and google+ at pocket now ante the martin you can find me on twitter at for tech and i will see you next time