Samsung Galaxy S4 or Samsung Galaxy S5?

The Samsung Galaxy S5 (see picture above) is almost here and we are here to help you make a choice of whether to upgrade from your Samsung Galaxy S4. If you’ve never used a Samsung handset before and want to make a switch, this article is also for you.

Let’s take a look on the outside and compare designs, The Samsung Galaxy S4 had a plastic back cover that had mini perforations but the Samsung Galaxy S5 has a glossier back and feels a little slippery. Get a phone cover if you want to have a firm grip on it.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is also slightly bigger than the S4 having dimensions of 142 x 72.5 x 8.1 mm and weighing 145g while the Galaxy S4 comes in with 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 mm and weighs 130g, making it heavier as well. These are just slight differences and you will get used to handling the S5 with time, even with one hand like the Samsung Galaxy S4.

Both the Samsung Galaxy S5 and S4 have a 1080p AMOLED screen though the S5’s is slightly bigger at 5.1 inches compared to the S4’s 4.9 inches. The resolution is slightly enhanced by better graphics processing power of the chip, the FHD upgrade to the AMOLED screen, and denser image production courtesy of the 432 pixelation.

It may have been just our models but the Samsung Galaxy S5 gave a relatively faster response time to touch options as compared to the S4. Just be careful to lock your screen to avoid pressing on options you did not intend to.

When it comes to storage space the Samsung Galaxy S5 will come in 16 and 32 GB variants which is sad seeing as the Samsung Galaxy S4 went up to 64GB. Anyway there’s a micro SD card provision in both phones so you can expand the phone’s memory up to 128 GB.

Yes the fingerprint scanner on the Samsung Galaxy S5 is a real thing. It allows you to register up to 3 fingerprints that act as a security feature to unlock your phone. You have to set up your security settings to enable this feature and you can then unlock your device by sliding any of your 3 registered fingerprints over the Home button at the bottom center of the phone.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 also has a rubber cover on its charging port at the bottom and backplate that seals it off to make it dust and water proof a real crush, water and dust test is required to verify these ‘big’ selling points.

As for the USB ports, the Samsung Galaxy S5 also has a microUSB connector right next to the regular size USB port to allow faster data transfer and also increases speed of charging if you connect it to your PC.

Now to the most important thing. How fast is the S5 compares to the S4? Well the S5 has a 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 CPU compared with the S4’s 1.9GHz Snapdragon 600 CPU  processor, and you thought the Samsung Galaxy S4 was fast! This means with a good internet connection (in Zambia, good luck) you get more things done faster with the S5 than the S4. Both phone  types have a 2GB RAM though.

Camera wise the Samsung Galaxy S5 has a 16-megapixel camera with an LED flash and hybrid AF system while the Galaxy S4 has a 13-megapixel camera, also with LED flash, but with a contrast detect AF system.  The picture quality difference between the two is not that drastic despite the increase in pixels. You should expect to take better pictures when outside in daylight rather than in low-lit areas.

When it comes to the software, both the S4 and S5 support the latest 4.4 Android KitKat OS. Is there much of difference between the two? Not really except for the faster processor fingerprint scanner and more pixelated camera, and other minor tweaks. 

The battery in the Samsung Galaxy S5 is also much larger at 2800 mAh compared with the S4’s 2300 mAh so yes you will probably last a little longer with it. We think battery life just really depends on what you are doing with the phone. You can extend it’s life by closing apps you’re not using.

Here is a specifications summary as compiled by Phandroid:

Airtel and Samsung Zambia have come together and are already offering a chance to pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S5 at K4945 before the launch date (11th April) and they will give you 1GB of free data every month for 4 months. Oh the things you can do with an extra Gig right? However, this is only limited to the first 100 handsets bought so order now on airtel-order.com.

MTN and Zamtel have given no word on what price they will sell the S5 at when launched, if they will stock them.

What smartphone you want to buy, whether to upgrade or not, is all up to you but you need to consider a few things before you do.

Picture credits: IBTimes, TrustedReviews, GSMArena,