Inspector Gadget watch

Inspect our gadgets // Samsung Galaxy S5 review

Hi five: Did Samsung’s best selling phone just get better, with the release of the Galaxy S5? We find out…

The gadget:
Samsung Galaxy S5 (plus Gear Fit & Gear 2 Neo wearables).

The damage:
A whopping £579 directly from Samsung (if you don’t want to be tied to a contract) or shop around for cheaper deals; for example, for £59 upfront, EE will sell you a Galaxy S5 on a two year, £39.99 a month contract.

Samsung Galaxy S5The colour:
Ooh, the Galaxy S5 is a fancy looking thing, with its sleek, contoured shape perforated on the back (cuter than Cheryl Cole’s dimples!) and coming in four snazzy matte colours: Charcoal Black, Shimmery White, Electric Blue and the blingin’ Copper Gold. You can also customise the screen to suit your style. Sha-ting!

The launch:
With the Galaxy S5’s  focus on fitness and wellbeing, the London launch was held in super swish spa, ESPA at the Corinthia (which I cannot hype up heartily enough; BEST facial of my life. And I’ve had a few. So to speak). There, we were introduced to to the new handset, plus two pimped-up watch-like devices, the Gear Fit and Gear 2 Neo. While munching on pastry-based delights. Yes; we had a very nice time, indeed.

Handbag test:
Longer and wider than an iPhone but super light and slim, the Galaxy S5 measures up at: 142.0 x 72.5 x 8.1mm and weighs in at 145g. With its own killer colour-popping looks, you should safely be able to squeeze this smartphone into the confines of the delectable Gucci Disco Bag. And definitely your gym bag. Maybe even a *snigger* bum-bag for festival season.

gucci disco handbag

Bits to brag to your friends about

  • A 16MP camera that’s faster than Usain Bolt. With the seriously speedy Auto Focus (<0.3s, meaning you’ll never miss your mate dancing like a douche again); selectable advanced High Dynamic Range (HDR) so your photos will always be artfully lit, even when you’re in a dingy dive in Dagenham; and Selective Focus, allowing you to focus on what’s important and blur the boring/ugly shit out. Essentially, your mobile photography just got amazing.
  • It will help you get fit. Like having a little PT in your pocket, with the built-in smartphone heart-rate monitor, a pedometer and fitness coaching in real time to make sure you reach your targets. Naturally, our most-used function so far is the sleep monitor…

Inspector Gadget watch

  • YOU CAN MAKE PHONE CALLS ON YOUR WATCH. Just like Penny off Inspector Gadget. Buy the accompanying Gear 2 Neo ‘wearable’ (cos you wear it on your wrist, duh) and you can stay connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth, without the need to fish about for your phone in your huge handbag. Or, y’know if you were out running. In fact, if your lifestyle is more active than busy, try the Gear Fit option.
  • Or pretend to be a spy. You can unlock your smartphone’s screen with your FINGERPRINT (and access your payPal account) or change TV channels from your wrist. A bit like Bond.

Samsung Galaxy S5

  • You can get the handset wet. Like, drop-in-the-bath-tub wet, for up to 30 minutes. Aside from that as an impressive party trick, on a more practical note, this means you can also answer a call while you’re in the middle of washing up (or birthing a cow); take photos in the pissing rain at a festival, or text with well sweaty mitts while out running (for the bus) without damaging it or needing to  reach for the rice.
  • The power-saving mode actually works. This clever feature changes your screen to black and
    white and shuts down all unnecessary crap to dramatically minimize battery consumption, meaning you needn’t do the ‘holy-shit-I’m-on-3%-panic-dance’ ever again.

Samsung Galaxy S5

The verdict:
As you know, here at Le Blow we’re fitness phobes, despite our love for a souped-up sneaker. But we imagine that if running was your thang, the whizzy wearables and other gizmos would be very handy indeed. In fact, we’ve had fun dicking about with the pedometer while pounding the pavement en route to press days. What?

We LOVE all the James Bond bits, from the finger print scanner through to being able to make phonecalls through your wrist, or submerging the smartphone in water. Because we’re massive show-offs like that.

While the device is a little larger than we’d ideally like, it’s super thin and light so that more than makes up for it. The sound quality isn’t spectacular, with just a single speaker at the back, BUT THE CAMERA IS AMAZING. It’s nigh on impossible to take a bad shot and the screen is beautifully crisp and bright.

The design is a little plastic for 2014 but the rest of the phone is fantastic, so we can safely say the Samsung Galaxy S5 is a seriously superior superphone; we slaute you, Samsung!

For further information about the Galaxy S5, visit: samsung.com/uk

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