Anyone switched from S4 to S5? What improvements have you seen?

[dlin95123]

I am thinking to upgrade to S5 from S4. My issues with S4 are:

1. Voice quality sometimes is not good.
2. The phone is slow at times.
3. Cellular reception is not good. In fact, it is worse than my wife'sS3.

Will I see improvements in the above 3 areas if I switch to S5?

If voice quality for phone calls is the most important factor for me, would you recommend S5 or something else?

Thanks!

 

[acraftylady]

I would think cellular reception is tied to your carrier no? I have only been on T-Mobile and Verizon and never had reception trouble with any phones I have had on their service. I am on Verizon with my S5 and get good reception inside and outside my house when traveling. Has your reception always been like this with any phone from the carrier you have? I find the voice quality good on my S5 but my LG phones smart and basic all had good call quality for me. I find the phone fast but I don't have it loaded down with a lot of apps on it. Mary

 

[dlin95123]

I have had this S4 since March 2014. It seems progressively getting worse. Our S3 and S4 are both on Verizon. The S3 typically has one more bar in the signal. Sometimes, the S3 shows 4G but the S4 shows 3G or even 1X!

I got up this morning and found my S4 had no signal. So I had to reboot the phone and then had the regular signal strength in the house, which is about 3 bars.

Before S4, I had a HTC Droid DNA, on Verizon as well, which had great reception everywhere I went.

 

[acraftylady]

Did you try updating the calling on the phone. I forget what it is on Verizon but you dial *228 or something and push 1 or 2. Sorry didn't pay attention good enough on the Verizon forums as I never had to do that. This is what I am talking about. Maybe ask over on the Verizon forums about your signal if it's weak and see if this is what to do. Mary

What does 228 do on a Verizon phone

 

[tarponbeach]

I've had my S5 for about a month. Prior to that I had the S4, both on Verizon.
Call quality is about the same for both, as well as signal strength. The biggest difference for me is the screen brightness on the S5, which is much better in daylight than my S4. Speed is also much improved for me on the S5, with no lag. I have Nova launcher on both, which I prefer to TouchWiz.

Except for an initial issue with the camera and updating to 4.4.4 on the S5, I've had no issues after getting the aforementioned sorted out by Best Buy. Overall, very happy with the upgrade.

 

[elcameano]

I came from a Motorola Droid Maxx and the biggest thing I have noticed is the signal is not as good. I'm a delivery driver and I'm in and out of buildings some metal all day long and I cant make calls from places I could have worth my maxx. The call quality is a little better then the Maxx, mostly cause the the easy piece volume is louder. I'm still in my 14 days and really thinking about taking it back and hold off and see what the Droid turbo brings.....I know I didn't have an s4 but just wanted to say I'm not impressed with the signal.

 

[pego99]

I am thinking to upgrade to S5 from S4. My issues with S4 are:

1. Voice quality sometimes is not good.
2. The phone is slow at times.
3. Cellular reception is not good. In fact, it is worse than my wife'sS3.

Will I see improvements in the above 3 areas if I switch to S5?

If voice quality for phone calls is the most important factor for me, would you recommend S5 or something else?

Thanks!

I was at a birthday party last sunday with a friend sitting next to me with a S4 and I had a S5 we are both on verizon. I had a decent 1 bar LTE and he could not get a signal. I got my phone just a few weeks ago going from a S4 I like the S5 better in all ways. Battery life, bigger .2" screen, brighter screen better signal. audio etc. I liked the S4 but love the S5.

 

[jejb]

I've had my S5 for about a month. Prior to that I had the S4, both on Verizon.
Call quality is about the same for both, as well as signal strength. The biggest difference for me is the screen brightness on the S5, which is much better in daylight than my S4. Speed is also much improved for me on the S5, with no lag. I have Nova launcher on both, which I prefer to TouchWiz.

Pretty much the same story here, except I'm still in my first 2 weeks on the S5. Wife had an S3 until a couple of months ago, and went to a Note 3.

Call quality has been good on all the Samsung's. We changed carriers to Verizon from Sprint in the latest go, and our signal is FAR superior at our house, but that's carrier related. S5 is faster and the display is easier to read. Overall, a very happy customer of the S5, just as I was with the S4.

 

[pkoutoul]

Battery life is MUCH better on the S5, in my experience. I'm a pretty heavy user and on the S4 I had to charge a couple of times during the day. After a few months with the S5, I have yet to get to the end of the day with less than about 25% left and no charging during the day. That's the only really life-changing difference for me.