First look: #Microsoft Surface Pro 3

To appreciate Microsoft's latest tablet computer, you need to accept the notion that one device can do it all. 

The Surface Pro 3 works as a tablet when you want to watch video or read e-books. It works as a laptop when you need to get serious work done. The Surface delivers on both, though it falls short of meeting Microsoft's claim to do so without compromising on either. 

The Pro 3 runs a full version of Microsoft's Windows 8 system, the same as you get on a traditional desktop or laptop computer. That means that, unlike other tablets, it can run just about any program designed for Windows: Microsoft Office, Photoshop and more. 

The Surface has a touch screen like other tablets, but it also has an optional cover that opens to reveal a physical keyboard and touchpad. It has a USB port and one for external displays, both of which are rare on tablets. 

It also matches laptops in price. Although the new Surface starts at $799, the keyboard cover is $130 extra. As a laptop replacement, you'll want a faster processor and more memory. Configurations run up to $1,949, or $2,079 with the keyboard. A comparable MacBook Air laptop costs $1,749 — though buying a separate tablet will run you a few hundred dollars more. 

The mid-range configuration comes out June 20, with the rest coming out later this summer. Microsoft began taking orders Wednesday. I've had about a day with the Surface since Tuesday's announcement. 

I wrote this story with my feet on my desk and the Surface on my lap. The previous model had a kickstand that rests in two positions - one for the desk and one for the lap. The new one gives you a range of angles, akin to adjusting a laptop screen on its hinge to any position. I was able to adjust the angle to reduce glare from overhead lights. 

Of course, the MacBook also does all that, while allowing me to hold it in one hand. When I try to do that with the Surface, the keyboard or screen moves back and forth like a swing. 

Then again, the MacBook isn't convenient to open on a crowded subway or bus, and it isn't comfortable for watching video in bed. The Surface, without the keyboard, is ideal for those situations. 

Apple's iPad is good for that, too, and it has a greater range of tablet-specific apps unavailable for Windows or even Android. 

The Surface and other Windows tablets have the benefit of being able to run multiple apps side by side, something I long for in the iPad when I want to check e-mail or Facebook while watching video. The Surface also has a bigger screen, at 12 inches diagonally, compared with the iPad's 9.7 inches. 

The Surface comes with a stylus that feels like a real pen. Clicking on it takes you to Microsoft's OneNote app, where you can start handwriting or doodling, just as you would on a pad of legal paper. The screen is sensitive enough to tell whether you're pressing lightly or hard, and what appears adjusts accordingly, just like real paper. 

One potential annoyance: The pen doesn't have a rechargeable battery. You need a AAAA battery (the first time I've heard of that size) plus two wristwatch-type coin-cell batteries. And you need a small screwdriver, not included, to replace the coin-cell batteries. 

The new Surface departs from most other tablets, including previous Surface models, in adopting a screen ratio of 3:2. Most tablets use 16:9 for widescreen television. The iPad uses 4:3, which is common for older TV shows and standard digital photographs. 

That means you'll get wasted space whether you watch 16:9 or 4:3 video. It tends to be one or the other on other tablets, though the amount of wasted space is larger when you do have it. Microsoft says the 3:2 ratio is the "sweet spot" that covers both types of content. It's also good for photos from single-lens reflex, or SLR, cameras. 

A bigger consideration than the screen ratio is whether you need a single device that does all things. 

There are plenty of professions that don't involve sitting at desks all day: health care, retail and teaching, to name a few. A hybrid might make sense in those cases. 

But I'm not one of those people. 

When I'm reading e-books on a train or a bus, I prefer a smaller tablet or dedicated e-reader. When I'm editing photos or writing, I prefer a laptop with a larger screen. When I'm watching video, I prefer a streaming device attached to a big-screen TV. 

The Surface is good for those who want just one device, but there are trade-offs, notwithstanding Microsoft's insistence otherwise.

Ref - TOI

#HTC One (M8) review: Will the king's reign continue?

It won't be an exaggeration to say that HTC set the benchmark among Android smartphones with its 2013 flagship model. HTC One is a stunning smartphone and the first one to challenge Apple's dominance in the sphere of design. The phone was very well received among critics, even though it did not break records in sales.

One year later, HTC has managed to improvise on One and come up with a more powerful version of the phone - One (M8). Is it just an iterative update, or has HTC done an even better job this time? We try to find out in our review.

Build & design
There is no doubt that the original HTC One is a great looking phone with its all-metal construction giving it a premium, yet solid, feel. With HTC One (M8), HTC decided to improvise on the design, without making major alterations.

At first glance, you may not notice much difference between the One (M8) and its predecessor. On closer inspection, however, you'll notice that the new One (M8) is slightly larger and sports a bigger display.



Thanks to the use of on-screen navigation buttons, there are no hardware capacitive keys at the front. The full HD IPS LCD display of the phone is flanked by two speaker grills, a sensor and the 5MP front camera lens.

Unlike the original HTC One which features flat edges, the new One (M8) sports rounded edges. The all-aluminium chasis has chamfered edges at the front and white polycarbonate inserts at the back. It doesn't feature polycarbonate inserts at the side edges that were seen in the original One. The edges are rounded when they meet the back of the phone.

The left edge of the phone features the sim card tray while the right one is home to the volume rocker key and the microSD card tray. The volume rocker key is not flush with the edge like the original One but is a bit raised. The key offers good tactile feedback. Opening the sim card tray requires some effort.

The original HTC One did not feature an external storage slot (though the dual-sim version featured one), so it's a welcome move.

The back of One (M8) includes not one, but two camera lenses, part of the One (M8)'s Duo Camera set-up. The UltraPixel camera lens is accompanied by a dual-colour LED flash similar to iPhone 5S. Our grey coloured review unit sported a brushed metal finish that looked more polished compared to the original HTC One.



The power/ screen-lock button sits at the top edge of the phone, with the Infrared blaster (that covers the entire top edge) while the bottom edge features the micro-USB port and the 3.5mm headset jack.



The form factor of the phone makes it fit for one hand use even though it now offers a bigger display.

Display
HTC One (M8) sports a 5-inch, Full-HD display that looks bright, offers great viewing angles and vivid colours. Colour reproduction is among the best in class. Pictures and text look crisp and sharp. Although it is a bit reflective, we did not face issues while using the phone under sunlight. We'll have to say it's one of the best displays we've seen off late.

The display comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection to guard against minor scratches.

User Interface
HTC One (M8) comes with Android 4.4.2 KitKat, the latest version of the OS with Sense 6, the new version of HTC's custom UI, running on top. While it looks very different from stock Android, we quite like the Sense 6 interface. It doesn't look very different from that of the previous version of Sense.

It sports the on-screen navigation keys, which hide while playing games and using apps that make use of Android's new immersive mode.

HTC has not skinned the notifications tray and has sobered down the settings menu which is now devoid of coloured graphical icons. As with the previous version of Sense, the app launcher involves vertical scrolling.



The phone includes a new version of BlinkFeed, HTC's homescreen utility that brings personalized updates from the user's preferred news sources and social networks. BlinkFeed now offers automatic recommendations from the user's Google+ and Facebook networks. It also integrates information related to the user's fitness statistics from the built-in Fitbit app.

The native apps sport background colours depending on the theme applied by the user.

Transition effects are subtle and look beautiful.

HTC has also included new gestures for unlocking the screen and going directly to Blink Feed or other home screens. The phone can now be unlocked with a double tap or by swiping up. Similarly, voice dialling can be initiated by swiping down the screen when it's locked. All these gestures worked as promised.



The phone includes very few preloaded apps, including 7digital music store, Fitbit fitness tracking app, Polaris Office 5, Scribble (a note-taking app), Tasks and a Car mode app. The phone also has a placeholder for the upcoming Zoe app which will allow users to share montages created with their video and photo content.

Fitbit app is capable of recording steps, distance and calories burned. We found that it's not very accurate and often registers shakes as steps.

The new Sense UI also features an improved keyboard which is easier to use and more accurate in recording taps.

Camera
HTC One (M8) sports an UltraPixel Duo camera at the back. The primary camera has essentially the same 4MP lens as the original HTC One. HTC claims that it captures 300% more light compared to other phones. The second camera lens, part of the Duo camera setup, helps in detecting and separating backgrounds and foregrounds as it scans depth and adds that information to the picture. It doesn't capture images.



The feature allows users to refocus on an object after shooting a picture, similar to Nokia's Refocus app which is available on high-end Lumia phones. The Duo camera feature also allows users to create silhouettes, alter depth and add bokeh effect through the UFocus feature, in tandem with the phone's software. One can even cut and paste subjects across photos.

It also lets you shoot 3D-like pictures with the Dimension Plus effect though it will be visible only on the One (M8).



We found the Dual Camera feature a bit gimmicky with the only good use case being the UFocus feature that lets you refocus. It worked most of the times and results were good. However, we don't like how HTC has hidden the feature. It's only visible when you edit a photo. Also, the Duo Camera features don't work if the LED flash is used, or if zoom is not at the minimum level.

The phone's camera app now includes controls for granular settings, including contrast, saturation, sharpness, ISO, and White Balance for users who like to take full control of their photos. It also offers pre-shoot filters for adding effects before clicking the photo, Panorama, Burst and HDR mode in addition to a Zoe mode that lets you capture a full-HD video and convert the footage into stills, or take a sequence of pictures with brief video for use with other effects such as object removal.



The camera boasts of 1 second launch time, focus time of 0.3 seconds and 11fps burst shot mode and is one of the fastest smartphone snappers. One disappointing bit is that unlike the original One, the One(M8) doesn't feature Optical Image Stabilization that offsets distortions due to camera shake. However, the digital stabilization offered by the phone manages to mitigate the flaw to some extent.

In terms of quality, pictures taken during daylight appeared good, especially when you're not zooming in to 100%. However, at full resolution you'll notice that it misses out on detail. Also, we observed that some daytime shots looked overexposed. While the UltraPixel camera captures more light, it lags when it comes to detail. With the competition offering higher resolution sensors, we feel that HTC should have upgraded the camera.

Pictures taken indoors looked good with accurate colour reproduction and low noise. The ones shot in low-light also looked great without the use of flash.

HTC One (M8) features an iPhone 5S-like dual-colour LED flash to balance light. However, we still found that the pictures taken in low light with the flash on, did not look natural.



The phone takes good quality videos and even offers a slow motion recording mode.

HTC One (M8)'s front-camera features a 5MP sensor with f2.0 wide angle lens for taking selfies. It also includes a timer switch and touchup feature for enhanced selfies. The phone clicks good quality selfies and offers a number of options to eliminate blemishes, fix red eye and whiten skin tone.

Overall, we like the Duo Camera's UFocus effect, but other than that, the camera lens could have been upgraded for capturing more detail.

Performance
HTC One (M8) is one of the most powerful smartphones available right now. The variant available in India comes with a 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor and 2GB RAM.

Thanks to all the power under the hood, we did not notice any lag while launching and switching between apps, editing photos, browsing the web, clicking pictures, watching high definition videos or playing graphics-heavy games .

There's no doubt that HTC One (M8) offers one of the best smartphone experiences.

We were able to play videos of popular file formats barring MOV, without any hiccups. Additional file formats can be played through third party video player apps. We'll have to say that the sound delivered by the phone's front-stereo speakers is unparalleled in terms of both quality as well as loudness.

Call quality was excellent and the phone works well even in weak signal areas. We also observed that the phone catches even weak Wi-Fi signals.

The phone comes with GPS and A-GPS for navigation and maps and was easily able to lock a signal.

It comes with FM radio and NFC connectivity options. The phone also offers LTE 4G connectivity and HTC has promised that after a software update, the phone will support Indian 4G networks.



HTC One(M8) is backed by a 2600mAh battery with a claimed standby time of up to 496 hours and talk time of up to 20 hours.

We were satisfied with the battery backup delivered by the phone. With moderate to high usage, including about one to two hours of making calls, playing games, clicking some pictures, listening to music and browsing the web, the phone will last you a full working day, even if you put the screen brightness at the maximum level and keep 3G turned on.

The phone also comes with an Extreme power-saving mode, activating which will make the phone's battery last for 2 weeks, as per HTC. It also claims that the phone can offer 30 hours of talk time in the mode even when the battery's charge level is 10%. The mode restricts background data and offers access to Phone, Messages, Mail, Calendar, and Calculator apps.

Gaming
We were able to play games like Temple Run 2, Riptide GP2 and Asphalt 8(with Visual Quality set to High and Engine at 100%) without encountering any frame drops or freezes, on HTC One (M8). The phone tends to get a little warm after long gaming sessions.

Verdict
HTC One (M8) is among the best Android smartphones available in the market in terms of performance, build quality as well as software. The camera is not exactly the strong point of the phone and the Dual Camera feature is gimmicky, but it still does a fairly decent job.

Having said that, One (M8) doesn't bring something new to the table, which is a bit disappointing. Unlike the competition, it's not water and dust resistant, doesn't feature a heart rate sensor, 4K recording or a fingerprint scanner. The different sensors and 4K recording are more of futuristic features which will take some time to become mainstream and not everyone will find these useful.

At a price of Rs 49,900, the phone competes with the Samsung Galaxy S5. The Galaxy S5 features a plastic body, doesn't look as good as HTC One (M8) and is more expensive. Also, the Indian variant of the phone doesn't feature a Qualcomm processor and comes with Samsung's Exynos processor which does not offer the same level of performance as its Qualcomm variant sold in US and other markets.



If you're fine with a non-Android phone with a smaller display, then Apple's iPhone 5S is still a good option. The Sony Xperia Z2, which is a powerful smartphone, is also expected to debut soon.

However, if you want the most good looking smartphone and price is not a consideration, we'd highly recommend buying HTC One (M8).

Ref - TOI

#Apple, #Samsung cite and rebut internal memos in patent trial

Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone in January 2007, he said the device's new touchscreen technology worked like magic. He also said, "And boy, have we patented it!" 

Apple's lawyer, Harold J McElhinny, on Tuesday said that Apple's rivals should have taken Jobs's proclamation as a warning not to copy the iPhone. But Samsung did not get the message, he said. 

In closing arguments in the latest patent trial between Apple and Samsung, McElhinny argued that Samsung quickly became a world leader in the mobile market by copying features of Apple's iPhones and iPads, violating multiple patents along the way. 

But Samsung offered jurors a different story: Samsung's phones have been successful not because of copying but because the company came up with its own inventions and built its brand and reputation through a huge marketing budget. 

In the month-long trial, Apple has accused Samsung of selling phones and tablets that violate five of its mobile-software patents. Samsung has accused Apple of violating two of its patents. 

The eight-person jury, which includes a retired IBM engineer, a police officer, a store clerk and a retired teacher, started deliberations on Tuesday afternoon. 

If they conclude that patents were infringed, they will determine damages. Apple wants $2 billion from Samsung. Samsung wants about $6 million from Apple and has argued that it should owe only about $38 million if it is found to have infringed all five patents. 

William C Price, Samsung's lawyer, said that at the trial, Apple had used the word "copy" so many times to incense jurors. "They have to get you a little angry to justify this number," he said. 

McElhinny said that Samsung did not have anything similar to an iPhone when Apple's smartphone was introduced. But Samsung, he said, eventually released many phones that copied "feature after feature of the iPhone." 

"Samsung knew about the patents, it knew it was facing a crisis of design, and it intentionally copied the iPhone," McElhinny told the jury. 

McElhinny said Samsung was trying to play down the importance of some features covered by Apple's patents. But, he said, internal Samsung documents contradicted those claims. 

For instance, an internal Samsung presentation revealed that Samsung's designers viewed Apple's "slide to unlock" feature, which allows access to an iPhone, as a creative way to solve user interface complexity. 

"They didn't say it was obvious," McElhinny said, suggesting the idea would not have come to Samsung if Apple had not had it first. 

An internal document brought up repeatedly throughout the trial was a 2010 staff memo from JK Shin, the chief executive of Samsung's mobile business. In it, he said that the company was suffering a "crisis of design" and that the difference between iPhones and Samsung phones was the "difference between heaven and earth." 

McElhinny added that Apple had met with Samsung a year before suing to ask the South Korean manufacturer to stop copying but that Samsung never considered that. 

"Apple cannot walk away from its inventions," McElhinny told jurors. "We're counting on you for justice." 

Price said that Google was the bigger target in this case and that Apple was using patents to limit consumer choice and gain an unfair advantage against its main competitor, Google's Android operating system. Apple's complaint targets some features that Google put in Android, like the ability to tap on a phone number inside a text message to dial the number. 

Apple has repeatedly stressed that Google was not a defendant in this case and that Samsung, not Google, chose to sell devices with infringing features. 

But Google's role in the trial turned out to be more formal than expected. Last week, a Google lawyer testified that the company had agreed to cover some of Samsung's legal costs for claims in the trial and to indemnify Samsung if it lost on those claims. 

Samsung also had internal Apple documents to show as evidence that Apple was concerned about falling behind competitors. In a 2010 email, Jobs acknowledged that Apple faced tough competition and was trailing Google in internet services like email and calendars. He declared that Apple was in a "holy war with Google." 

And in reaction to an article in The Wall Street Journal questioning whether Apple had lost its edge to Samsung, Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president for worldwide marketing, wrote in an email to colleagues, "We have a lot of work to do to turn this around." 

Lawyers on both sides argued that each party had misinterpreted the other's internal documents. McElhinny, Apple's lawyer, said "holy war" referred to a broad competitive strategy that Apple was going to execute to make better products. 

Responding to the "crisis of design" memo, Price, Samsung's lawyer, said that the company's chief was restating that carriers, not Samsung, wanted a copy of the iPhone.

Ref - TOI

#HTC Desire 310 dual sim review: Not the perfect budget smartphone

HTC decided last year to refocus on emerging markets with the launch of budget smartphones.But the company wasn't able to register its presence much. Its flawed marketing effort and pricing of the handsets prevented it from taking on rivals like Samsung, and even the local players.

It seems the Taiwanese giant is not ready to give up and has launched new budget smartphones, expanding its Desire lineup.

Desire 310 dual sim is one of them. The phone doesn't boast of bells and whistles seen in the company's mid-range and premium phones, but promises users an opportunity to own an HTC device at a low price. Does HTC Desire 310 dual sim deliver a good smartphone experience? Read our review to find out.



Build & Design
Being a budget smartphone, HTC Desire 310 dual sim has a very utilitarian design and is built from plastic materials. Barring a metallic earpiece that differentiates the phone from others, the phone looks rather plain. At 140gram, the phone is not very bulky. Although it includes a removable cover, we did not experience any squeaks or wobbles, and the phone feels solid.



The front panel of the phone features glossy plastic that surrounds its 4.5-inch display. There are no capacitive keys for navigation as the phone offers on-screen soft keys. There's a metallic earpiece grill located above the display that reminds us of the HTC One's front speaker grill. The VGA camera lens sits next to the grill.

The right edge of the phone features a volume rocker key and a power/screen lock key, while the left edge is barren. The keys offer average tactile feedback and we found them to be a bit soft. The micro-USB port and the 3.5mm headset jack are located at the top edge of the phone.


The back of the phone features a plastic, removable cover that sports matte finish. It features the 5MP camera lens and the HTC logo, along with a speaker outlet. Removing the panel reveals two sim card slots and a microSD card slot located just above the battery compartment. Overall, the Desire 310 dual sim does not stand out, but is nonetheless decent to lug around and use.

Display

HTC Desire 310 dual sim sports a 4.5-inch FWVGA( 480x854p) display and clearly, it's one of the weak points of the phone. While we can make peace with the low resolution given the low price of the phone, the display also suffers from other problems. It has poor viewing angles and lacks brightness.



Low brightness levels also lead to poor sunlight legibility and makes clicking pictures in the sun a cumbersome task. Colours do not look vivid and text does not appear sharp.

User Interface

HTC Desire 310 dual sim runs Android 4.2.2 and is the first budget HTC phone to come with on-screen navigation buttons, instead of the capacitive touch buttons. HTC has skinned the interface of the phone with a minimalist version of Sense 5.1. Interestingly, the phone features the BlinkFeed that aggregates news and social updates on the home screen.

The app launcher arranges app icons vertically similar to other HTC phones that offer Sense integration but app icons for all apps are the ones seen in stock Android. Even native apps such as the Phone app, Messaging, Gallery and Music app are stock Android ones and there's no customization from HTC's end.

Same is the case with the settings screen and the Notifications tray. HTC offers its Video Highlights interface for browsing videos as a separate app, instead of integrating it with the Gallery app. Even the app switcher UI is the stock Android one.

It looks like the company has removed its own apps and additional effects to prevent the phone from slowing down and to reduce the size of the system files as the phone offers only 4GB internal storage. We feel it's a sensible move.

The phone comes pre-loaded with Polaris office 5 office suite, WeChat and Facebook apps. While the phone doesn't include the latest version of Android, the software has been optimized for the phone, keeping in consideration the limited hardware resources.

Camera

Desire 310's camera has nothing much to talk about. In fact, it's functional at best. The 5MP rear camera is fixed focus and does not come with an LED flash.



Pictures taken indoors appeared grainy and dull, while the ones taken outdoors in daylight were average.



Colour reproduction and white balance were a bit off. The VGA front-facing camera can be used for video chats, but doesn't capture good quality selfies. The quality of videos recorded with the phone was also not that great.



Performance

HTC Desire 310 dual sim is powered by a 1.3GHz MediaTek MT6582M processor coupled with Mali-400MP graphics and 512MB RAM. Barring minor instances, we did not notice any lag while navigating through the phone's menu, launching apps and switching between them.

In synthetic benchmarks, the phone scored 16,757 in Antutu, 6064 in Quadrant and 69.5 in Nenamark 2 benchmark tests. It trumps the recently-launched Micromax Canvas Turbo Mini, although the latter has 1GB RAM. But we'd not recommend a phone based solely on benchmarks as real world performance is different, at times.

In terms of multimedia, the phone comes with FM radio with recording capability and the phone's built-in speaker offers decent sound output. The default video player supports a large number of multimedia file formats.



We did not encounter issues while making calls and while using two sim cards. We were satisfied with the phone's network reception. Voice clarity and loudness levels were also up to the mark. The phone comes with GPS and A-GPS for navigation and maps and was easily able to lock a signal.
HTC Desire 310 dual sim is backed by a 2000mAh battery with a claimed standby time of up to 852 hours and talk time of up to 11 hours. We were satisfied with the battery backup delivered by the phone. With moderate to high usage, including about one to two hours of making calls, playing games, clicking some pictures, listening to music and browsing the web, the phone will last you more than a day, if you put the screen brightness at the highest level and keep 3G turned on.

Gaming
We were able to play games like Temple Run 2 and Subway Surfers without any hiccups. While playing graphics intensive games like Riptide GP2 and Asphalt 8(with Visual Quality set to high and Engine at 100%) we encountered some lag with minor frame drops.

Although the phone has just 512MB of RAM, the graphics performance is better than a number of phones in the same segment. One downer is the low internal storage space (just 2.02GB) which prevents installation of games with bigger files.

Verdict

HTC Desire 310 dual sim had the potential to be a major rival to Motorola's much-acclaimed budget smartphone, Moto G. Unfortunately, HTC has cut corners when it comes to the display of the phone. The poor camera and less RAM worsen things further. Although the storage capacity of the phone can be expanded via microSD card, not all apps can be installed on it. At a price of Rs 11,700, we feel the phone is a bit overpriced and doesn't deliver value for your hard-earned money. By spending Rs 1,000 more, you can get the 8GB version of Moto G, or the Micromax Canvas Turbo Mini.

Ref - TOI

#SamsungGalaxy #S5 review: Good but no wow factor

Fast, functional and pricey - This is Galaxy S5 in one line. Samsung's top Android phone, which went on sale in the Indian market a few days ago, is the best phone the company has made so far. We have been using one since last week and we can tell you that it is an impressive device.

Galaxy S5 has (almost) everything you can ask for in a smartphone. Yet, there is something missing. It lacks a feature that truly stands out. It lacks appeal that can make it irresistible to consumers. It lacks the wow factor that can make anyone pick it up and pay the big bucks Samsung is asking for it.

So, should you buy Galaxy S5 or not? May be you should. Or may be not. It all depends on what you want your phone to do.

We will deal with this all-important question in a while (or you can skip to the verdict if you are running short on time). But before that, let's take a look at the device and what it can do.

Build and design
Samsung phones and tablets have similar designs. If you have seen a Galaxy S4, or Galaxy Grand 2, you will recognize Galaxy S5 as a Samsung phone in the first glance. The only major change is the back cover. It is made of plastic - hardly a surprise - but unlike the shiny and slippery finish found on the earlier Galaxy devices, the back cover in Galaxy S5 has a soft matte finish with a perforated pattern.

One key feature of Galaxy S5 is that it is a waterproof phone. It can survive rain. You can use it in shower. You can carry it in a swimming pool if you are not going to dive deep. As part of the waterproof design, the charging port, which supports both USB 2 and USB 3, is covered with a flap.



While there is no doubt that iPhone 5S or Xperia Z1 are better looking phones, Galaxy S5 gets the job done. The finishing and build quality of the device is top class. The design, though boring, is excellent in terms of functionality. We have seen phones that have exotic designs but don't feel comfortable to hold. Galaxy S5 fits well, at least as well as a big phone can, in hand.

Display
The top Galaxy phones always come with spectacular displays. Galaxy S5 carries on with the tradition. The 5.1-inch SuperAMOLED screen in S5 is gorgeous! It shows vibrant and rich colours and has excellent viewing angles.
The display is sharp due to the FullHD resolution of 1080 X 1920 pixels. On this device the text doesn't show pixelated edges in ebooks or on a web page. It is also very bright. Unlike Galaxy S4, which has some trouble in sunlit areas, Galaxy S5 screen remains bright enough to display text during outdoor use.



Special features
With the days of massive performance jumps or big updates over, Samsung is trying to woo consumers with some unique features. We have already talked about the waterproof design (high-end Xperia phones are also waterproof) but Galaxy S5 has a few more tricks up its sleeve. Are these special features useful?

Fingerprint scanner: Apple introduced it on iPhone 5S. But now Samsung too allows users to unlock their phone through a fingerprint scanner. This feature is a novelty. It looks cool when you unlock the phone using the fingerprint scanner. It works best when you swipe the fingerprint slowly and firmly on the scanner. This means 50% to 40% time when you swipe your finger, it will probably fail. It is not frustrating. But it is pointless.


Also, finger has to be swiped in a vertical motion, something that is impossible when you are using the phone with one hand. Summary: Cool feature but unlocking a phone through PIN or pattern is faster and more convenient.
S Health: We loved this feature in Galaxy S4 and we love it in Galaxy S5. With S health you can record your walking or jogging sessions. You can see how many steps you have taken each day or how many stairs you climbed. It is useful.

IR Sensor: This allows a user to control TV or set-top box with Galaxy S5. Useful and easy to set up.
Heart rate monitor: Under the primary camera in Galaxy S5, there is a heart rate monitor. You can put your finger on top of the sensor, open S Health app and check your heart beat. The device takes around 5 seconds to display heart rate and is mostly accurate but we won't pop a pill on the basis of Galaxy S5 readings.



If you think your heart rate is not normal, see a doctor. Again, this is a cool feature but not very useful for two reasons. One, any phone with a flash and camera can check your heart rate through an app like Instant Heart Rate. And two, you can't use it in gym or while jogging because keeping an eye on "heart rate zones" require real-time heart rate monitoring that can be performed only by a device that you can strap on your chest or wear on your wrist.

Kids mode: On Galaxy S5 you can enable kids mode before you pass on the device to a kid who wants to play game on it or wants to draw something. With kids mode enabled, the phone displays colourful and cartoonish theme. You can choose the app you want the kids to access. This feature works well and is useful. Bonus: There is an animated crocodile (swipe left from the home screen) in this mode. Kids can dress this crocodile in various attires, including different hats.



Ultra power saving mode: Enabling this feature puts a greyscale theme on the phone. All non-essential services, including push notifications, are stopped to conserve the battery. We tested this mode with only 5% battery left in the phone. We used Twitter in greyscale, opened a website and read a few articles, and made a few several calls. The phone lasted for little over an hour with just 5% battery in this mode. Useful, we say.

Software
Galaxy S5 runs Android 4.4.2, which is the latest version of Android, modified with TouchWiz, Samsung's proprietary user interface. Depending on your aesthetic sense, TouchWiz, with its emphasis on rich and bright colours, will either look garish to you or playful.

We prefer the stock version of Android available in a phone like Nexus 5, even though this time Samsung has toned down some of in-your-face design elements found in TouchWiz.

The big changes in terms of usability and aesthetics are three. One, the icons in settings panel and in the quick action bar in notification shade are round and flat. It is not a big deal but these new icons do look better. Second, My Magazine now takes the full left screen adjacent to the homescreen. This is similar to how Blinkfeed is presented on HTC One devices. Unfortunately, My Magazine, which is based on Flipboard and shows news stories as well as updates from social media, is not very useful. In its place Samsung could have put Google Now, just the way it is available on Nexus 5. Third, Samsung finally has the multi-tasking button on its Galaxy phone. The button on the left of the home button now opens the task-switcher. This is a welcome change. Though, users can still access menu by a long-press on this button.

The other Touchwiz features are part of Galaxy S5. The device has multi-window feature, which allows users to open and work on two apps simultaneously. It has S Voice, which we don't find too useful (Android voice search is supported too through "OK Google" phrase). It also contains a new feature called "toolbox" which puts a floating and translucent round icon on the screen. Tapping on this icon allows a user quick access to a few apps like notepad and browser. For example, if you are in Facebook app and then you have to quickly open the notepad app, you can do it through "toolbox" if you have enabled it.

Smart gestures like "air view" and "direct call" are still part of the phone and can be enabled or disabled from the settings. They are not very useful though.

Camera
The primary camera in Galaxy S5 can capture images in 16MP. Samsung is using ISOCELL technology in the phone. According to Samsung, this technology should help users click better images in low light.

We found that Galaxy S5 is capable of shooting some fantastic pictures. Images that we shot with it in proper light had good amount of detail and pleasant colours. However, in scenes where the source of light was too prominent (a difficult scene for any camera) we found the images had off-the-mark contrast. Fortunately, in most of the cases this was fixed by using HDR mode, which was just a toggle away.

Galaxy S5 is one of the rare smartphones where HDR mode in the camera works well enough and is fast enough to be of use.

Talking of speed, the camera in Galaxy is very fast in getting focus. You point it at something and zap, the subject is in sharp focus.



In low light, the performance is good, though a lot depends on how well you shoot. If you hold the hand steady while taking images, Galaxy S5 can take some nice photos in low light. The HDR mode also helps here. But the way camera processes images, aggressively trying to reduce noise, robs them of fine details.

Shooting videos is fun with Galaxy S5, mostly because it captures footage that is clear, sharp and has good contrast. Galaxy S5 can shoot videos in 720P, 1080P and 4K resolution. Of the three, 720P and 1080P are better. In 4K, the quality takes some hit. In 720P and 1080P modes, the phone also offers "slow" recording or "fast" recording. Slow mode, as the name suggests slows down the video to a crawl. You can shoot a car moving at 60 km/h and you will see it crawling on the road. The fast mode speeds up the video. Both are fun mode to use though in "slow" mode, quality of video takes a noticeable hit.

The 2MP front camera does a decent job while video chats.

Performance
Galaxy S5 is powered by Exynos 5422 processor, which has 8 cores. There is 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. This is a fast phone. The kind of mysterious lag often visible in Touchwiz user interface is not there in Galaxy S5. It feels as fast as Nexus 5, which is the fastest Android phone. On Galaxy S5, you can scroll through lists, switch tasks or open apps without seeing any lag.

We had a very positive overall experience while using Galaxy S5. It handles web browsing well and can play movies in most of the common formats and resolutions, including FullHD resolution, without requiring you to convert them into smaller files. The GPS in the phone is very fast and performance while using navigation or map apps is reliable.

The phone offers good call quality though it wasn't as crisp as what we have found in devices like Nexus 5. Similarly, the mono speaker is loud and will satisfy you if you want to play a song or two but we have heard better sound from devices like HTC One that have stereo speakers.

Battery life is where Galaxy S4 really excels. Once charged fully, its 2800 mAh battery can keep the device going for around 15 to 16 hours when used with a 3G connection. This battery life of around 15 hours is with around 4 hours of screen up time, which means we were using the device a lot. If you are not always connected to social media or don't open a website on your phone every 15 minutes, you will get even better battery life.

Gaming We played casual games like Angry Birds Go as well as some more demanding games like Asphalt 8 on the device. In both types of games, the performance of Galaxy S5 was fantastic. We could play Asphalt 8 at its high graphics settings with ease. The device gets little hot after 15 to 20 minutes of gaming but then this an issue that affects all high-end phones, including iPhone.

Verdict
Galaxy S5 is available in the market at a price of Rs 51,500. This means it is an expensive phone. In fact, it is a very expensive phone in a world where Moto G, Moto X and Nexus 5 exist.

As we noted earlier, we had a positive experience with Galaxy S5. It is a very capable phone and even though it lacks a killer feature, every little thing in the device, every new feature - such as waterproof design - adds to the user experience in a positive way.

But you may not need everything that Galaxy S5 offers. If you require a fast, functional and powerful smartphone, you can buy Nexus 5 without any second thoughts. You will pay Rs 20,000 less than what you will pay for a Galaxy S5.

But Nexus 5 lacks something. It doesn't have a slot for microSD card. It doesn't have a heart rate monitor. It is not waterproof. It doesn't have the camera or screen that Galaxy S5 has, although on both counts Nexus 5 is not too shabby.

There are three reasons to buy Galaxy S5. No matter what, you want to spend Rs 51,500 on a phone. If this is the case, go ahead and get Galaxy S5. It won't disappoint you. It is a fantastic phone.

The second reason is that you are already using a Galaxy S3 or something similar. You want to upgrade, you are comfortable with a Galaxy phone and have no problems shelling out Rs 51,500. Galaxy S5 works for you.

The third reason is that you want something that only Galaxy S5 offers. May be you want an Android phone with fingerprint scanner. Or you want the S Health feature. Or maybe you want a high-end phone with a battery that can be removed. Or you want use an external storage card in it.

Go through the special features listed above and decide whether they are going to be useful to you or not. Are they worth spending Rs 20,000 extra? If your answer is yes (our answer is no, in case you are curious), go ahead and get Galaxy S5. You will enjoy using it.