S5 Owners - Did you consider the M8 at all?

DrexelDragon said:

Whoa whoa, hold on a second. Are you saying the GS5 had better build quality than the M8? Cause that ain't true lol

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Yes, it is true. Polycarbonate is more durable and resilient than aluminum. Fact.

Drop a M8 and S5 straight on their back and let me know which one has more damage. Also, look on Swappa, eBay, Craigslist, etc and look at how almost every M7 being sold has damage. Dings in the aluminium, scratches, etc. Then search for S4's and tell me what you see.

In short, yes, the S5 has better build quality than the M8. If you want to talk about design or aesthetics, then that's a different story. But build quality isn't the same thing which is maybe where you are confused?

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Have both, likely selling the M8. It was all about pragmatic reasons for me.

• I have 3 kids, 2 play sports, and we're outside a LOT 3/4 of the year (thank you Texas). So water/dust resistance is a big feature for me.
• Speaking of being outside with 3 kids a lot... the camera. The M8's camera is solid, and super super SUPER fast. But it can't compete with the S5 outside. Inside it will be easier to get good shots than the S5, but the S5 is still very capable inside, so that "ease" trade-off isn't enough for me to stick with the M8's camera.
• Nicks & Cases... This might seem silly, but I'm always concerned about where I'm setting the M8 - the surface, what's around it, how easily it can slide off, etc. Not so at all with the S5. That aluminum on the M8 will nick and scratch too easily. Not so with the S5. The back of the M8 is so slippery. Not so with the S5. These phones are already on the edge of too big, so if I can avoid a case with minimal risk of "slight bump" nicks, I'll go with that option every. single. time.
• Battery life - both are good, but the S5 really seems to stretch out well... plus it has the ultra-saving power mode already, and we're still waiting for HTC's
• Form Factor - the M8 feels great in the hand because of the curves and more narrow body. But it's heavy, and so so slippery. The S5 is thinner, which feels nice, and not quite as tall... though a smidgen wider. For my hands, the S5 just works better. They both require a "shimmy" to get to the top or other side, but the S5's shimmy doesn't make me have a heart attack every time I do it thinking it's going to slip out.
• Along the same lines as the last point... Features & Gimmicks. I had a long drive the other day, and actually enabled the feature on the S5 where you can customize the size of the screen for easier one-handed use. That was a life-saver and made navigating it with one hand in the car a LOT easier. I also enjoy the little things on the S5 like text message popups (thank you LG G2), phone popups, etc. Sure, some of it is gimmicky, but I actually like some of those "gimmicks". However, I like the UI's feel on the M8 better overall. It's much faster and more responsive, but not quite as feature-"rich".
• I'd be lying if I didn't say the speakers on the M8 make me jealous. But I don't think the trade-off is worth it for me. I have blue-tooth speakers galore, Chromecast, Roku, etc. There is literally never a time in my house or office where I need the phone to have high-quality speakers. So while that's nice, the added size and bezel, and height trade-off, (again, for me) makes the speakers somewhat of a moot point. And the S5's speaker ain't bad at all - it's plenty loud with a bit of depth to it, and pretty clear as well.
• So this isn't really pragmatic, but oh that screen. Don't get me wrong, the M8's screen is absolutely incredible. But Samsung has set the bar (man I'm sounding like a fanboy now) with the S5. My biggest problem with AMOLED screens has been outdoor visibility and over-saturation... and Samsung actually managed to fix that - the S5's screen gets brighter than the M8's and is more color accurate / less over-saturated.
• Another picture feature... I loved this on the S4 and used it like crazy with my kids, and I love that it's on the S5.... being able to say "cheese", "capture" etc to take a pic. And they added "record a video" to start a video as well. Just a "me" thing, but I love that.
• Fingerprint scanner - #1 It's not as finicky as others say with a little muscle memory and by making sure you set it up in the same way you hold your phone all the time. It IS doable with one-handed holding. #2 It's great to have this security, and also be able to use it for things like Paypal.

Sorry, got a little carried away once I got goin' there...

I purchased both.
S5 only for the screen and camera, there is nothing else that stands out on the S5, take that away and it is a laggy phone with horrible Software and poor build quality and poor microphone and speaker. Everything so annoyingly bad. Samsung is really playing us for suckers by selling us that overpriced crap. Take any Chinese brand today (Oppo, Lenovo, One+, Xiaomi), and almost all of them have better design and build quality and smallerhorizontal bezels.
I mean who do they think they can fool? Look at this and tell me that samsung isn't playing us for dumb idiots:
http://www.gizchina.com/2013/02/25/top-15-1080hd-android-phones-from-china/

Just because the best phones are sold in China only doesn't mean that Samsung should not move their ass to improve the crappy software, build quality or design of their phones. This is totally unacceptable.

The HTC One M8 is a great all round device for every day use, has great microphone and speakers, the version in amber gold is pure wow for anyone that looks at it, the Software is snappy and the display has the best touch latency of any phone in the market. It also has edge bezels smaller than on the s5 relative to screen size. Top and Bottom bezel accomodate the great speakers like on the Z2.
My only complaint: the screen has a lower contrast and it a bit too cool compared to the S5. It is not as legible outside. And the screen could be a bit larger. The M8 may not be perfect but there is no gross negligence like in Samsung's case. HTC paid attention to details and everythig their deliver is near flawless and well designed, The phone races through everyhing even in Power Saving mode.

At first I though the s5 was fine, the screen looked attractive, but usage is not so good because of the large edge bezels (even the Z2 and S4 has thinner ones!) and poor Software experience. Apps taking up to one second to open and the exxagerated power saving mode throttle makes this no joy.

Samsung is the only brand that manages to regress every year. S3 had dimmer display than S2. S4 has more lags than S3. S5 has larger bezels, and worse speakers, and microphone than S4! they were supposed to match HTC's metal design and speakers and instead they went the opposite direction! This is not what I expected from the S5. Even today rumors spread that Samsung will bring a premium metal phone to counter Apple's iPhone 6 - and Samsung denied.

I am really pissed off by Samsung complete disdain for their customers as apparently it is ok for them. Apparently companies with big marketing budgets can sell anything, even phones with crappy software or huge bezels and minuscule displays like the iPhones! There was a time when I was pissed at Apple for selling inferior phones at higher prices but now I feel Samsung has become fat and complacent too. They have stopped trying to improve.

Thats why i support One+ and their "never settle" mantra. it is the only way to make the fat brands evolve...competition from smaller cheaper brands that do everything better.

And in all that, I feel dumb for purchasing this phone in the first place. It was the first time I purchased a phone in an actual shop and in a different city, so returning it is not an option.

I am now going to get rid of that crap Wizz mess and install CM + Blinkfeed on it. But I sill won't be able to shoot videos on it because of the bad microphone. And I will still have to look at those huge edge bezels (go figure why the Note 3 has smaller bezels - it is a conscious choice to piss on the S5 purchasers wo are not in for huge phones!!).

Now I am probably going to purchase a One+. I think startup manufacturers without marketing budgets like One+ deserve a shot. I'd rather give my money to a brand that listens to customer wishes (better audio, smaller bezels, more premium design) than to a company that so blantantly doesn't care and is just watching their profitablity margin!

Sorry for what may seem like a long rant, but when i see the great designs that the Chinese brands have to offer, I am sorry but Samsung is clearly playing the world for fools with their ad campaigns and the way they approach product design purely from a profitability standpoint.

Why people listen to music/watch movies on speakers on a PHONE goes beyond common sense to me. It's just lame.

skivnit said:

So just to be clear about the boomsound thing unless you're a teenager I don't see why u need stereo sound on a phone, it has to sound clear and loud when you get a call and that's that, watching movies on a phone is not a comfy experience in my opinion

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Stereo speakers are a great feature to have teenager or not. That's kinda reaching.

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