[Discussion] First Impressions

amsguitarist said:

I think you conveniently left out the fact that the M8 blows the S5 out of the water in terms of fit and finish.

I wish we could combine the best things of all the phones. M8 build, S5 screen and camera, Moto X touchless controls and active display.

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I completely disagree for the most part. The M8 may be more appealing aesthetically to a lot of people over the S5, but that's about it. After all, it's a phone, not a fashion statement.

Also, I go to the gym regularly and am not a small guy....but the M8 was just too heavy for a phone. I don't mean heavy like I couldn't hold it for a while, but it just became cumbersome. Another negative of making it 90% metal. And everyone already knows about the propensity to dings, scratches, etc.

Put a case on and it eliminates pretty much all of the metal since the speaker grills on the front are made of plastic. Not only that, a case makes an already heavy and cumbersome phone even more heavy and cumbersome. It also takes away the looks. It just adds up to a non-ideal situation all around.

The biggest beef I personally have, is with your fit and finish statement. The reason why I say personally, is because I have had major bad luck with the M7 and M8 in the fit and finish department. I had 3 total M7's last year, and all 3 had fit and finish issues. The glass not flush with the speaker grills, the polycarbonate on the top and sides were uneven, etc. Tons of issues on every single one that I had. Was it just my bad luck? I don't think so since I saw lots of posts about similar issues.

Fast forward to the M8 and a similar issue. The polycarbonate fit issues were eliminated by removing it and putting metal around the sides and the bottom. But the M8 that I returned today had the same speaker grill not being flush with the screen issue. I was over it and it was just one of many reasons why I returned the M8 in favor of the S5.

And how about Samsung and their "cheap plastic phones"? Well, I will tell you what....I have owned TONS of phones over the past few years and I've never had a single fit or finish issue with a Samsung phone. I have owned the S3, Note 2, S4 (on two different occasions) and the Note 3 and I've never had a single issue. Their polycarbonate is excellent, and more durable and resilient than the soft metal that the M8 uses.

At the end of the day, yes, the M8 looks great! I won't deny that one bit. But in practice, it's just not very practical. It's just too heavy, too delicate and too cumbersome. I will gladly pass and wait for my plastic S5. :good:

Look what a little white truck just dropped off.....come to daddy!!!!

Heres a great video proving the fingerprint scanner can be used with one hand on the S5 plus a comparison to the 5S TouchID.

http://youtu.be/t1VPRvdkKJg

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Had a good 20 minute hands on session with the GS5. Unfortunately it was available only in the blue color, which i don't like.

Disclaimer: This is merely my opinion.

It's pretty good, I liked it much better than the GS4. However, unfortunely, I probably won't be getting it as it doesn't offer too much of an upgrade over my nexus 5.

Things I didn't ike

-It was consistently slower and and less smooth than my nexus 5 (running ART) - Side by side, launching mundane things such as the dialer, contacts etc, the nexus smoked it every time. It's UI also seems to run at a smoother frame rate.

-The fingerprint scanner is absolutely useless. I was wanting to use it one handed, with the same thumb that presses the home button, but that's not possible. Two hands and a perfectly vertical swipe are necessary.

-It creaks and squeaks when squeezed hard - it's a personal pet peeve of mine.


The things that I did like are as follows:

-The screen is nigh on perfect

-The camera is amazingly fast and a joy to use - the results looked great on the screen

-The phone actually looks great and feels good in the hand - i really like the grippy back.

-The speaker is loud and clear


To conclude, I feel that the GS5 would be a great upgrade for people running S600 and older phones, but perhaps not for S800 ones. As already advised on this forum, I'm probably going to wait for the Note 4.

Ok so I went to a local AT&T store and used the M8 and S5 one in each hand for about 20 minutes tonight, and this is what I noticed (in a pros-cons list of each). Note I am 6'3" with pretty large hands. I didn't test the cameras, as 1. I don't use smartphone cameras and 2. We all know the S5's is way better. This is more subjective stuff with build, feel, and UI.



S5 Advantages:



-SCREEN!! The AMOLED screen on the S5 was absolutely gorgeous. I put the setting on "professional photography" or something like that, and everything looked absolutely superb. The M8's screen was also nice, but I liked the color on the AMOLED display much better (especially the whites).

-The lock button on the right side was very natural and comfortable to press. Much more so than on the M8.

-White model felt nice in the hand (not an advantage, but notable)

-Haptic feedback. This is probably adjustable, but the S5's was shorter and not as "deep". The M8 shook a little much for me.



M8 Advantages:

-Length and on screen buttons. With the S5, I found myself having to reach my thumb down a little too far to reach the buttons. On the M8, the buttons were in a perfect spot and were very pleasant to use.

-Motion gestures. It was very nice and natural to unlock the phone by swiping up when the screen was off. (I put this in a couple threads because I felt it was relevant).



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