New s5. Coming from gs3

Not an improvement over the S3? I came from an S4 with MDK unlocked bootloader and haven't looked back, even without root. I do miss the hell out of root, don't get me wrong, but this phone is definitely an improvement. My stepson has my S4, so I could go back any time I want, but I'm not even entertaining that option. Not to mention the battery life on this thing... couldn't kill it with 17 hours off of charge and over 6 hours of screen on time (mostly gaming, too... my day off, don't judge lol.) My S4 with a custom ROM, and tweaked for battery life, couldn't even dream of that. To each their own, but I'm not quite sure how this wouldn't be a noticeable upgrade. Perhaps I should borrow your S3 to find out?

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raziel36 said:

Not an improvement over the S3? I came from an S4 with MDK unlocked bootloader and haven't looked back, even without root. I do miss the hell out of root, don't get me wrong, but this phone is definitely an improvement. My stepson has my S4, so I could go back any time I want, but I'm not even entertaining that option. Not to mention the battery life on this thing... couldn't kill it with 17 hours off of charge and over 6 hours of screen on time (mostly gaming, too... my day off, don't judge lol.) My S4 with a custom ROM, and tweaked for battery life, couldn't even dream of that. To each their own, but I'm not quite sure how this wouldn't be a noticeable upgrade. Perhaps I should borrow your S3 to find out?

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Agreed, even though I am dying for root, this things runs circles around my s iii running cm11 kitkat

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I got rid off my galaxy s4 with mdk build, I enjoyed most of available roms out there. I upgraded to s5 and I think it is very good phone, better camera, faster processor, and many more. However, if I were you, I wouldn't give up unlimited data, I'd just buy used s5 from Craigslist and keep unlimited data.

IMO, Your reasons for not liking is has more to do with what you gave up to obtain it and you're expecting it to be as good as what you gave up. I went from S3 to S5, and I think the S5 is great outside of the lack of root issues (like bloatedness, etc)

I went from the S3 (stock, unrooted) to the S5 also.

I do see some improvements, like the screen, for example, which is noticeably better. It's also a bit bigger, which is nice, as I'm getting old and can't see as well as I used to

I had the 3000mah extended battery on the S3, and it seems to me that the S5 has about the same battery life as the S3 with the extended battery.

Not sure I see much of a speed difference. The S5 is maybe a tad faster, but in day to day use, I don't really notice all that much of a difference.

In general, I do think the S5 is a better phone. But, I do agree that the S5 is not a revolutionary change. In fact, in a lot of ways, it seems just like my S3. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as the S3 was a great phone.

I made the move to the S5 mostly because I wanted the fingerprint sensor. It works pretty well, though I would argue not as well or as refined as the sensor in my daughters Iphone 5S. But it does the job, and overall I am happy with it.

I did buy an aftermarket Qi wireless charger, which is a neat trick also, but I believe they were available for the S3 also.

In summary, I'm happy with my purchase. Not revolutionary, but a decent evolution of the S3.