BARCELONA, Spain -- Metal body design? Nope. Eye-wateringly crisp 2K+ display? Nuh-uh. Overhauled Android interface? Only a little. After all the rumors and hype, the Samsung Galaxy S5 revealed with much fanfare at Mobile World Congress is more an iteration on the Galaxy S line than the fresh, whiz-bang package we'd all come to hope for and even expect.
Yes, it has a fingerprint scanner, and a heart rate sensor, too, not to mention Android 4.4 KitKat and a roster of muscular specs. From what I've seen, the Galaxy S5 shapes up to be an excellent device that will keep Samsung at or near the top of the smartphone heap. Yet the been-there, done-that design isn't novel enough to trample rivals the way Samsung might hope.
Samsung still has a ways to go to reinspire jaded followers and fans, and those who value luxury materials and crafted designs over Samsung's stamped-out phones should keep the door open for Apple's iPhone 6 and HTC's forthcoming sequel to the beautiful HTC One
Design: More of the same
In designing the Galaxy S5, Samsung didn't go very far for inspiration. In fact, the Galaxy S5's body looks even more like the Galaxy S4 than the GS4 did the Galaxy S3. It has rounded edges, the same steep sides with shiny and ridged silvery trim, and a slightly more rounded central home button shape to the S4's more rectangular outline.
In designing the Galaxy S5, Samsung didn't go very far for inspiration. In fact, the Galaxy S5's body looks even more like the Galaxy S4 than the GS4 did the Galaxy S3. It has rounded edges, the same steep sides with shiny and ridged silvery trim, and a slightly more rounded central home button shape to the S4's more rectangular outline.
The back panel motif is different, I'll give Samsung that. Tiny dimples cover the rear, and in addition to white and black (oh excuse me, Charcoal Black and Shimmery White), the GS4 will also launch in enticing copper and bright blue. Not every market or carrier will sell each shade, but at least Samsung has decided to expand its color palette to some more lively hues.
At the end of the day, the phone still feels like it always has: like plastic. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but if Samsung is at all striving for loftier ambitions, it hasn't reached those heights.
Samsung has also slightly redesigned the Micro-USB housing on the bottom of the phone; it now has a cover. Up top the IR blaster makes it triumphant return, and on the back, the heart rate monitor cleverly integrates with the camera's LED flash..
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