SpecEagle
SpecEagle review · Samsung

Galaxy S5 review: The 2014 Galaxy — waterproofing, a heart-rate sensor, and dimpled plastic.

SpecEagle Editorial·Apr 2014·$660
Overall
40/100
Class rank
#5 of 7
Tier
Flagship
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

A 2014 flagship — practical features, polarising plastic.

The Galaxy S5 added IP67 and health sensors but is best remembered for its dimpled-plastic back. It is a vintage device today.

01Display

62/100

62/100 trails the 67-point cohort average for flagship phones of 2014.

TypeSuper AMOLED, 60 Hz
Size5.1 inches
Resolution1,920 × 1,080 px (432 ppi)
ProtectionGorilla Glass 3

02Camera

50/100

50/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2014.

Main16 MP, f/2.2, phase-detect AF
Selfie2 MP, f/2.4
Video4K @ 30 fps
FeaturesHeart-rate sensor on back

03Performance

32/100

32/100 trails the 34-point cohort average for flagship phones of 2014.

ChipsetSnapdragon 801 / Exynos 5422 (28 nm)
CPU4–8 cores
GPUAdreno 330 / Mali-T628
RAM2 GB
Storage16 GB / 32 GB · microSD

04Battery

50/100

50/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2014.

Capacity2,800 mAh (removable)
Wired~15 W
WirelessOptional (back cover)

05Build

56/100

56/100 trails the 62-point cohort average for flagship phones of 2014.

06Value

40/100

40/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2014.

What works
  • IP67 water resistance — early for a flagship.
  • Removable battery and microSD expansion.
  • Fingerprint and heart-rate sensors.
  • Bright FHD AMOLED.
What doesn't
  • Much-criticised dimpled-plastic back.
  • microUSB 3.0 flap was fiddly.
  • Software ended at Android 6.
  • Discontinued — a vintage device.

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 7-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .