Samsung Galaxy S4 and S5, What Has Been Changed So Much
Samsung has released the new Galaxy S5 at the MWC2014 and the expectations were high for the release over its performance and features adhering to the success comparable to its predecessor the Galaxy S4. Acceptably there have been some pretty new features that have been added to the Galaxy S5 and some quite impressive ones at that.
Though most hyped up about the new phone and its features, in my opinion, in some ways it is mostly an upgrade to the Galaxy S4 excluding some. Let me follow through this statement with a tabular comparison first.
| Galaxy S5 | Galaxy S4 | |
| Display | 5.1-inch, 1920×1080, 432 ppi | 5-inch, 1920×1080, 441 ppi |
| CPU | 2.5GHz Quad-Core | 1.9 GHz Quad-Core / 1.6 GHz Octa-Core |
| RAM | 2GB RAM | 2GB RAM |
| OS | Android 4.4 (KitKat) | Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) |
| Primary Camera | 16MP | 13MP |
| Front Camera | 2.1MP | 2MP |
| Battery | 2,800 mAh | 2,600 mAh |
| Storage | 16GB, 32GB | 16GB, 32GB, 64GB |
| Network | 4G LTE Cat.4 150/50Mbps | 4G LTE Cat3 100/50Mbps |
| Connectivity | USB 3.0, Fifth generation Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac HT80, MIMO (2×2)), Bluetooth v4.0 BLE/ANT+, NFC, IR Remote | USB 2.0, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi, NFC |
| Height | 5.59 inches (142.0 mm) | 5.38 inches (136.6 mm) |
| Width | 2.85 inches (72.5 mm) | 2.75 inches (69.8 mm) |
| Thickness | 0.32 inches (8.1 mm) | 0.31 inches (7.9 mm) |
| Weight | 5.11 ounces (145 g) | 4.59 ounces (130 g) |
| Colors | White/Black/Blue/Copper Gold | White/Black/Blue/Brown/Purple/Red/Pink |
Looks wise there has been not much of a difference, both the S4 and the S5 look not too different, though there are changes like the evenly dented back cover of the S5 giving more grip, Samsung has also still stayed with the plastic make and mould than venturing into the metal frame, though expectations were otherwise.
Display: The Galaxy S4 was equipped with a 5inch display while the S5 now has only upped it a bit with its new 5.1 inch display while both the phones have the same full HD display and offer a 1920×1080 resolution, while with the increase in screen size there is a fall in the ppi.
CPU/ Processor and RAM: Improvements in this area are an up, where the S4 was built around a Quad Core 1.9GHz smooth running processor the S5 has been upgraded with a Quad Core 2.5GHz processor to run through better, while the Memory has stayed at 2GB RAM for both the S4 and S5 with no change.
Operating System: The S5 runs on the latest version of the Android Kitkat 4.4.2 while the S4 runs on the Android Jelly bean 4.2, although there are speculations and announcements that there are software upgrades to be released soon for the S4 meaning the S4 is also going to be running on Kitkat 4.4 soon.
Camera: there have been some good changes in this area and we can see S4 has a 13MP primary camera while S5 has a 16MP primary camera with almost instantaneous 0.3 sec autofocus, but this is just a part of the package, there have also been some upgrades on the features of the camera functionality like the Selective Focus mode which allows to focus after the image has been captured , much like the Refocus app already available for Nokia Lumia 1020, another is the HDR live mode which allows balancing the Light and dark portions of the images, also the Phase Detection technology generally found on DSLR Cameras, then there is the notable 4K ultra HD video at 30fps on the Galaxy S5 along with the new HDR Video Stabilization for more crisp and distortion free videos. There has also been an upgrade on the Front Camera with a new 2MP added on S5 instead of the 1.3MP Front Camera on S4.
Battery: a 2800mAh battery supplied is with S5 as compared to the 2600mAh battery on the S4, this is only a slight upgrade on the battery, but there has been a new feature added to the Galaxy S5 with the Ultra Power Saving Mode which promises to run the smartphone for up to 24 hours after reaching the critical battery level of 10% , supposedly this mode turns the display to Black and White and pretty much closes most other apps and other connectivity options which would not necessarily be needed and as per Samsung this is quite arguably a very important feature to keep the phone alive and still letting the most basic needs be catered to without major drain on the battery.
Network and Connectivity: Some major upgrades in this section, S5 has LTE Category4 promising speeds upto 150mbps assisted with its Quad Core 2.5 GHz processor and 2 GB RAM, while S4 has LTE Category3 connectivity with 100 Mbps. Talking on its connectivity there are ups like USB 3.0, and the latest and only phone to have the fifth gen WiFi and 2×2 MIMO which delivers twice the speed in downloads and connectivity too, then there are Bluetooth 4.0 BLE and Ant+, and IR Remote most of which not in the S4.
Physique (pun intended): Over all S5 stands a little taller, wider and heavier than its predecessor S4 but the looks not much of a change, except a tact few, though the build has been modified and now has a IP67 rating which certifies it as dust and water resistant (10 Meters for 30 minutes) meaning a little dunking would’nt much harm the phone or even a rough terrain road trip. The available color options for S5 are Charcoal Black, Shimmery White, Electric Blue and Copper Gold.
Other new Features: The Galaxy S5 has been announced with a couple of new features embedded into it, the first one is the new improved TouchWiz UI which gives a more clutter free interface and has the new Google Now Search attached for the voice activated search options and refreshed widget themes. The other interesting feature upgrade is the Finger Print Scanner in the Home key, which registers the Finger Print with eight swipes quite accurately, with a facility to register up to three different finger prints, the Finger Print Scanner can be used to unlock the phone, while adding more functionality to the Finger Print Scanner Feature is the ability to link it to the PayPal account for payment authentication. The next feature most promptly attenuating Samsung’s interest and promise of the S5 being more user oriented of health and fitness factors with its S-Health 3.0, there is a built-in Pedometer and the new Heart Rate Monitor located beside the flash on the back panel would calculate the heart rate of the user when a finger is placed over it and would give the exertion of the user’s heart rate.
Concluding, I would like to point out that, the Galaxy S4 is one of the most successful phones in the market today while the Galaxy S5 sports some new features and upgrades in hardware compared to its older sibling, some of which might come in very handy at times and definitely the S5 is a powerful phone than the S4, pricing too is expected in the same bracket. But, after all its upgrades would it really tempt enough and qualify for most of the Galaxy S4 users to change to the new Galaxy S5 model in just a year’s of buying an S4.
