A Reader's perspective on the Galaxy S5

[GlenBarrington]

I just got an S5 2 days ago.

I got the S5 because I was tired of carrying around my Kindle Fire. It just wasn't portable enough for me. Right now, in the USA, Verizon is offering it or the HTC M8 for just $99 with a 2 year commitment. (That M8 is pretty sweet as well, it was a much tougher decision between the two than I thought it would be. But the S5 has a user replaceable battery, and since I might go 3 or 4 years before an upgrade to a new phone, I like to know I can cheaply buy a replacement battery. (I hate learning new phones.)

People are making a big deal out of the fingerprint scanner, but it isn't all that great. It's fingerprint scanner is significantly different from Apple's in that it is an active scanner that requires a physical swipe of the finger across the sensor which surrounds the Home button, while Apple's is passive in that you merely place the finger on the screen in area that functions as the fingerprint scanner.

What this means is the Apple version is easier to use; and its simplicity is the reason why that system can be so easily fooled. The Galaxy fp scanner requires that you learn to repeat the specific speed and angle with which you swiped the sensor at registration time. It is MUCH harder to fool, but it is also MUCH harder to use. If you remember the Motorola Atrix from a few years back, it is much like THAT fingerprint sensor and about as reliable.

Neither system will stop a dedicated thief, but both will stop a casual thief cold I should think. After a day of use though, I quit using it. About 2/3s of the time, I had to use the manual over-ride password anyway. I didn't worry about the security so much as I decided the security wasn't worth the hassle.

The Kindle app works great on the S5, as does the Moon+ Reader Pro. The screen is sharp and big ('ish' for a smartphone). Very easy to read with my 64 year old eyes. Probably the best smartphone I've encountered for ebook reading. Page turns and scrolls 'up' are quick and responsive.

Samsung has its own news aggregator built around the Flipbook infrastructure. BUT your current Flipbook account settings won't apply and you will have to create new settings that don't perfectly match what Flipbook itself offers. If you LIKE how you've got Flipbook set up, too bad. You can't uninstall it, but you can turn it off and hide it. Which I did, and then downloaded Flipbook from the app store and I am now happily using that.

As a pretty serious photographer, I can tell you that the 16 mb smartphone camera while nicer than most phone cameras, isn't that big a deal in absolute photographic terms.

Like most smartphones, the highlights tend to wash out and the shadows tend to block up and the digital noise over ISO 800 is pretty awful. BUT for the social network snapshooter, it's a pretty nice camera, I think.

Image quality is about as good as a typical $50 snapshot camera, I think, but with better controls and the ability to quickly upload photos to the internet site of your choice. You can use the volume button as the shutter button for the camera. (Hooray! no more causing blurriness by trying to tap the screen)

On the whole, it's a pretty good smartphone. The best I've had so far.

[exaltedwombat]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

Neither system will stop a dedicated thief, but both will stop a casual thief cold I should think. After a day of use though, I quit using it. About 2/3s of the time, I had to use the manual over-ride password anyway. I didn't worry about the security so much as I decided the security wasn't worth the hassle.

Neither will deter any thief at all. They might cause him to dump it as useless AFTER stealing it...

[GlenBarrington]

Well, I was thinking in terms of an intellectual property thief.

[exaltedwombat]

Goodness! What do you carry on your mobile phone?

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

People are making a big deal out of the fingerprint scanner, but it isn't all that great. It's fingerprint scanner is significantly different from Apple's in that it is an active scanner that requires a physical swipe of the finger across the sensor which surrounds the Home button, while Apple's is passive in that you merely place the finger on the screen in area that functions as the fingerprint scanner.

What this means is the Apple version is easier to use; and its simplicity is the reason why that system can be so easily fooled. The Galaxy fp scanner requires that you learn to repeat the specific speed and angle with which you swiped the sensor at registration time. It is MUCH harder to fool, but it is also MUCH harder to use. If you remember the Motorola Atrix from a few years back, it is much like THAT fingerprint sensor and about as reliable.

Neither system will stop a dedicated thief, but both will stop a casual thief cold I should think. After a day of use though, I quit using it. About 2/3s of the time, I had to use the manual over-ride password anyway. I didn't worry about the security so much as I decided the security wasn't worth the hassle.

Biometric security is a farce. All you are doing is trading away security for the sake of convenience.

And I don't remember one is easier to hack, but if it is the iPhone it is definitely not because the S5 requires swiping.

EDIT: And it's the S5, see linked article in second quote below.

Some observations I made in a previous post:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Granted, that will still protect your phone from being casually accessed, but only to the extent at which you are already protected by using a basic password. So it's kind of pointless, although it does make a good media claim.

Originally Posted by eschwartz

... and there is no lockout after failing the scan.

They reiterate how unlikely a successful hack is. Of course, whether password or biometrics a hack will most likely come from someone close by who sees your password or has access to your sleeping finger... that is the most likely source of a password hack as well. And now they can get into your PayPal too! Yay!

Helpfully, they also point out that biometric security is about swapping security for convenience. This is very true and I implore you all to remember it. This can only lessen your security, by whatever extent.

[GlenBarrington]

That is why I determined that the extra security wasn't worth the extra hassle!

[GlenBarrington]

To me it's all marketing hype, no more obnoxious than the silly megapixel 'one upmanship' that the camera manufacturers indulge in. (trust me, 8 mp is PLENTY for wall sized enlargements and 3mp is PLENTY for posting to Facebook)

I think we ALL understand there is an element of flim-flam involved in cell phone marketing. The only value in these 'security' features is preventing your significant 'other' from snooping on things you don't want her or him to find out about. (casual snooping effective I'd say)

Now if your friends/lovers/spouses are so smart that this won't stop them, then maybe you shouldn't get involved in the sort of behavior they dislike, or you should consider getting dumber friends/lovers/spouses.

[eschwartz]

Indeed!

I don't really care either, especially since I have always been perfectly fine with the idea of passwords.

[Moe The Cat]

Nice review, Glen. Glad to see you still like soup ...

[sirmaru]

I don't use the fingerprint scanner on my s5; I use a 4 digit PIN number. If the phone is stolen or lost, google Android Device Manager. From there you can wipe the phone clean or locate it within 15 meters and have it ring until the police or you find it by just using your google password.

If you forget your PIN, you can reset it also from Android Device Manager.

Its really a pocket size version of my Kindle Fire HDX with phone and message capabilities. Its 5.1" in diameter versus 4.7" for the iPhone 6s, 6" for the Paperwhite and 7" for the HDX. For the most part apps on the HDX will also run on the s5 but you may have to buy them a second time from the Google Play Store since the screen requirements are different.

I find the Kindle for Samsung app almost as good as the HDX and PW built in apps for reading Kindle eBooks. All three devices sync with each other.