So all the reviews are bashing the S5's looks & materials?

[jack58]

Almost all the reviews comparing the top 3 phones main complaint about Samsung S5 looking and feeling cheap with the plastic. HTC M8 & iPhone 5S are praised for their fine looking metal finishes.
I like the looks & feel of the S5 just fine, maybe not as fancy as HTC or iPhone, but almost everyone puts a case on their phones and then you can't tell if it is metal or plastic anymore.... so all of that is MOOT!!!

It is just a selling point and that is all. Here is a good example... my wife's iPhone S5 & my S5 & S3. That S3 is the best looking phone out there still in my opinion, plastic or not.

 

[AZgl1500]

I prefer the plastic, it is much more resistant to drops and accidents.

My 3 year old Galaxy S Fascinate (Verizon) phone still looks like new and it has not been in a case for most of its' life. I keep it on a neckstrap, but even so, sometimes it would get dropped onto concrete or the oak plank flooring in our house.

No cracks, no frazzles, no dents, just keeps on ticking like a good phone should.

My new GS5 though resides inside a Speck CandyShell Grip military grade drop resistant case.

 

[jack58]

I prefer the plastic, it is much more resistant to drops and accidents.

My 3 year old Galaxy S Fascinate (Verizon) phone still looks like new and it has not been in a case for most of its' life. I keep it on a neckstrap, but even so, sometimes it would get dropped onto concrete or the oak plank flooring in our house.

No cracks, no frazzles, no dents, just keeps on ticking like a good phone should.

My new GS5 though resides inside a Speck CandyShell Grip military grade drop resistant case.

Your right AZ, my S3 that I still love never saw a case... way too nice looking for that. Your also right about the plastic being more durable. Those metal phones get dinged much easier. My S3 went in a case ASP as it is too expensive to take a chance of breaking it.

 

[jack58]

Almost all the reviews comparing the top 3 phones main complaint about Samsung S5 looking and feeling cheap with the plastic. HTC M8 & iPhone 5S are praised for their fine looking metal finishes.
I like the looks & feel of the S5 just fine, maybe not as fancy as HTC or iPhone, but almost everyone puts a case on their phones and then you can't tell if it is metal or plastic anymore.... so all of that is MOOT!!!

It is just a selling point and that is all. Here is a good example... my wife's iPhone S5 & my S5 & S3. That S3 is the best looking phone out there still in my opinion, plastic or not.

Here is a variation of the "looks" complaints digs that all the reviews have:

Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy S5 fits happily into the role of Galaxy S4 successor. It's a phone with some significant improvements over that model. It lacks the style of its nearest rivals, but it more than delivers on every other point and has a truly oustanding screen.

This was from one of the better reviews too.
Like I said in my first post, it is kind of stupid as most folks put a case of some kind on to protect it or to make a fashion statement ie bling. But apparently people do look at first impressions not thinking about how that will change when they put a case on it.

 

[NibX]

I buy a phone to use. I don't care about how "cool" it looks. I only care about how well it does the things I want it to do.

And I agree with the above comment. I have a case on mine. It wouldn't make a bit of difference if my phone was made out of solid gold.

 

[jimmydee]

I don't mind the plastics what so ever because it is much lighter then metal. Also metal will scratch so you need a cover on it to protect it so that defeats the purpose. I had the HTC One M7 and it was heavy and as far as I'm concerned the camera is no where near as good as the samsung's so that is why I bought the S5. Plastic is much more scratch resistant then metal.

 

[AZgl1500]

Oh lordy, I looked at today's highlights on the news and caught this piece of ill informed garbage from an Apple Lover's site.

It do seem that a lot of folks have obviously missed the good points on the S5.

New Samsung Galaxy S5 ad forced to cherry pick lines from lackluster reviews


and here is one from an Apple convert to the S5...
http://bgr.com/2014/05/07/iphone-vs-android-comparison-switch/


pick and choose your literature... :rofl:

 

[txrxio]

I don't need a review to tell me how good something looks. Apart from it being subjective, I can see it with my own eyes! Just show me a picture and I can judge for myself. Funny to read an article complaining about cherry-picking review comments, when it does exactly the same thing.

 

[bhageman]

The phone I put in a case 30 seconds after I took it off the box?

No, I don't care about superficial aspects of my phone's appearance.

If there is a legitimate gripe about my S5, it is the 2nd rate TouchWiz software and the other garbage Samsung bloatware (ie: ChatOn).

 

[harvickchick]

I love the textured back, I think it's classy looking. It's been in a case from day one however lol

 

[jack58]

...and the other garbage Samsung bloatware (ie: ChatOn).

All phones & computers come with bloatware!

 

[mikedt]

The phone I put in a case 30 seconds after I took it off the box?

No, I don't care about superficial aspects of my phone's appearance.

If there is a legitimate gripe about my S5, it is the 2nd rate TouchWiz software and the other garbage Samsung bloatware (ie: ChatOn).

It's what Samsung does, have a load of their own stuff on top of Android. Makes the phones identifiably theirs. Things like ChatOn I just disabled them.

 

[AZgl1500]

Yup, at least Samsung gave us the option to Disable all of the junk we don't want.

 

[jack58]

Yup, at least Samsung gave us the option to Disable all of the junk we don't want.

So why are so many people complaining about it then?

 

[mikedt]

So why are so many people complaining about it then?

It's probably not just the Samsung stuff they're complaining about, there's likely carrier bloat as well, especially if they got a phone from say Verizon. If people are complaining about what Samsung puts into their flavour of Android, why are they buying a Samsung phone and not something else? If they want Android as Google truly intended, perhaps they should be looking at Nexus phones instead.

 

[AZgl1500]

I'm on Verizon and not having issues with the bloatware.

I just finished up my final tweaking and got rid of Verizon's McAfee Security app because I want to use Master Clean instead which is eons ahead of that McAfee app.

I have turned off all but 3 of the Verizon apps. I need the Cloud because it backs up my Contacts list... fergit what the other 2 are.

 

[mikedt]

I'm on Verizon and not having issues with the bloatware.

I just finished up my final tweaking and got rid of Verizon's McAfee Security app because I want to use Master Clean instead which is eons ahead of that McAfee app.

I have turned off all but 3 of the Verizon apps. I need the Cloud because it backs up my Contacts list... fergit what the other 2 are.

PCs often come with McAfee as well, because the manufacturers get a cut if you take out a McAfee subscription, as well as McAfee paying them to put it there. Did the Verizon phone come with any NFL bloat? I know we've had posts about that. Same thing for Sprint phones coming with NASCAR stuff. Because of their sponsoring partnerships and kickbacks. Isn't it "Verizon NFL Superbowl" and "Sprint Cup"?

 

[AZgl1500]

I had forgotten all about that NFL bloatware and some other sports crapola also.

They got 'turned off' before I even tried to configure the phone.

I have DirecTV and every sports channel on that thing is blocked, I turned them all off.
Talk shows, blab blab crap, I just can't stand it.

I watch the History channel, the military channels, Smithsonian, cops and robbers stuff like NCIA with Mark Harmon.... Miami Vice is no longer on anything,

I'm getting off track.... but yeah, Verizon pushed a lot of bloatware onto the phone. Wish I could get it out of the ROM.... but I'm not one to root the phone.... I should probably take the Galaxy 'S' phone and practice rooting with that one.

 

[liqrisquicker]

My SGS5 is ny first android phone. Having owned every iphone since the very first one, my biggest concern was apps I had paid for. I have a few that I really enjoy the paid versions such as VLCremote. Biggest reason for the switch, the iphones tiny screen. Having switched at launch day, it took me maybe a week to get comfortable with the platform. Being on sprint I am able to root which I did right away. Having jailbroken every iphone when available, rooting was a walk in the park for me. I get that the metal looks nicer, but the plastic of the GS5 absorbs shock from drops much better then metal. Before I got my kraken case, or my otterbox, the phone took a few small drops (2-3') no scratches. My iphone 4 took a drop 2' hit a corner and the screen shattered. So the plastic has its advantage. Disabling the bloat is nice, but being able to root and remove it and get that space back is better. Unfortunately the ATT and Verizon versions are bootloader locked so you cant root just yet, but give it time someone will come up with a way to do it.

I also dont ever see myself going back to iphone or iOS l, it would take alot to get me back, bigger screen better camera to start.

Really only thing I hate about this phone is the keyboard. Having the phone for over a month and Im still not use to it.

 

[AZgl1500]

There is a possibility that Samsung "might be" steering away from the plastic cases if this news story has any truth to it.

Samsung shuffles executives after Galaxy S5 design gets slammed | PCWorld

Personally I appreciate that my 3 year old Galaxy S model still looks brand new, no scratches, no dings, dropped countless times on concrete, tile, and hardwood floors and it is till ticking along just fine. Never cracked a screen and rarely did it ever have a case on it.

It did have a neckstrap tether tie point which I used religiously as I keep my phone in my shirt pocket. And bending over for something would allow it to slide out.

My GS5 is now in a Speck CandyShell Grip case and I tied a neckstrap around the lip at the headset jack.

 

[jack58]

There is a possibility that Samsung "might be" steering away from the plastic cases if this news story has any truth to it.

Samsung shuffles executives after Galaxy S5 design gets slammed | PCWorld

Personally I appreciate that my 3 year old Galaxy S model still looks brand new, no scratches, no dings, dropped countless times on concrete, tile, and hardwood floors and it is till ticking along just fine. Never cracked a screen and rarely did it ever have a case on it.

It did have a neckstrap tether tie point which I used religiously as I keep my phone in my shirt pocket. And bending over for something would allow it to slide out.

My GS5 is now in a Speck CandyShell Grip case and I tied a neckstrap around the lip at the headset jack.

Be careful with that lip at the headset jack... that might slip off? Got a pic of what you did?

Hey! I saw that Speck CandyShell two tone purple one and I think I might get it... was is your take on that so far?

I too was happy with my red S3. One of the nicest looking phone I've have and like you 1.5 years without a scratch.

It sounds like the new iPhone 6 is gonna bite the bullet and join the big screen fray at 5" or bigger. That was their weak link... so what is Samsung gonna do with the S6 next year to counter that. My wife and her sister are big iPhone / iPad fans so it is gonna be interesting.

 

[AZgl1500]

I am very happy with the Speck CandyShell Grip case.
It is very strong, and the grip hangs snug in my shirt pocket.

I am not using the neckstrap as a hand hold to swing the phone like a yo-yo, it most likely would not survive that treatment.

It is however plenty strong enough to be used to keep the phone from getting away from me in the event it does slip out of my pocket.

I work around heavy equipment and it would get lost immediately if it gets away from me.

I used this strap for the time being. It seems to be strong enough... but the china folks can't seem to convert CM to inches worth a damn. They say it has a 30" inch loop length. I make it out to 22"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HZY46ZO/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1