Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930)’s Galaxy S5 was unveiled in Barcelona last month, with the latest flagship smartphone from the Korean manufacturer eagerly anticipated by the public. But for existing Galaxy owners the usual conundrum applies…is upgrading worthwhile? So here is a comparison of the specs of both devices.
Galaxy S5 Design
The Galaxy S5 is slightly heavier and slightly larger than the Galaxy S4. This might seem a strange move, but it is of course to accommodate the slightly larger display. However, the Galaxy S5 does have an improved casing meaning that it sits more comfortably in the hand.
Operating System
The Galaxy S5 has been armed with the latest Android 4.4 Kitkat, which promises to make the device run more slickly than the S4. It is hard to fully judge this element of the S5 until it is released, but more power and a better operating system ought to deliver a slicker user experience.
Galaxy S5 Display
In the lead-up to the unveiling of the Galaxy S5, it was persistently rumored that the device would feature a so-called 2K display. As it turns out, this was not the case, and the Galaxy S5 is fitted with a 1920×1080 resolution Super AMOLED display. This makes it virtually indistinguishable from the S4, except to say that the display in the Galaxy S5 is 2 percent larger.
Processor
You would expect the Galaxy S5 to have a significantly more powerful processor; after all, this is the core of delivering a more powerful device, and Samsung hasn’t disappointed in this department. The Galaxy S5 will feature a quad-core 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, and will be armed with 2GB of RAM. The Galaxy S4 is still comparable to this in performance terms, but this will nevertheless ensure that tasks such as gaming and browsing run somewhat more smoothly on the Galaxy S5 than its predecessor.
Cameras
During the unveiling event that Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930 ran in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress, the company was keen to emphasize the quality of the camera which it has installed in the S5. As it turns out, the Galaxy S5 is fitted with a 16MP rear-facing camera with autofocus, with the snapper featuring LED flash and 4K video recording. There is also a 2.2MP front-facing camera involved in the security features of the device. If you’re serious about mobile photography then it could be viewed as a no-brainer to upgrade.
Battery
The Galaxy S5 also represents something of an upgrade in battery life, with 21 hours of quoted talk time possible, compared to 17 hours from the S4. This could be more than useful for regular mobile users.
Storage
There isn’t a huge amount of difference between the two devices in terms of internal storage, although the microSD card in the Galaxy S5 can be boosted up to 128 Gb; double the figure of the Galaxy S4.
So there are compelling reasons to upgrade, depending on what you want from a smartphone. With news breaking today that the South Korean communications watchdogs has instituted a bizarre 45-day ban on the Galaxy S5, the company will be looking for as many overseas upgraders as possible.
