You can see a ton of these reviews online but I dont think they sum up what I consider for a phone and my thoughts on them.
TL;DR version: What phone do you have and what do you like of the new phones?My current phone is a Galaxy S3 and it has served me well but has quirks that I don't like about it. Now the phone is getting slower the more I use it, and the battery life is getting worse, so its about time to upgrade.Ok, HERES THE THING about galaxy phones. They are from samsung, and they have terrible software. All of it is bloatware. And to top that off, they have problems with using an SD card, and I've read comments online saying that the S5 is no different.The Galaxy S5 typically only has 16GB of space. Half of which is used up already when buying the phone. So you get 8GB of storage for all of the apps, downloads, and cache you need. 8!!! Awful. I love the sd card idea, but it has so many problems trying to connect and read it and transfer, that im fed up with even trying. I figure going with another phone is a good idea to compare this problem.I think that many people want to use their phones for their music. If you use an online service, it should be fine because it doesnt take much space on the phone. However, it will still skip once in a while and need to load. I also like to have a lot of mixes and "unreleased" music on my library (which is in itunes), so while I use Google Music app, it has issues organizing the playlists.So here lies the problem. You cant easily sync your library of music with android phones. I don't understand it. It seems like its just not a big deal for these companies for some reason. I guess if you like music enough, you might as well go with iphone. They even have a 64gb option if you like to carry your songs with you!Galaxy S5 i think has a really cool feature of being water resistant. Really nice. But with all the little glitches it has, I think I want to switch to the HTC one, which has a lot of cool features with the camera (including taking better pictures in the dark).What I'll probably end up doing is getting an iPad for productivity and music for my car ride, and an HTC one for my phone. Because google has a lot of nice features that I like with android. I actually considered an iPhone, but I just think I can be more productive with andoid phone. But I have to say, the iPad will be quite a handy device and more worth it with their upgraded iOS.So does anyone also feel this way, or do you just not care? lol
I have an HTC One (M7) and I absolutely love it. Fast, feels good (dat metal body), great screen, and has great speakers.
I have a Galaxy S3, and I love it. Only thing is, with the latest update I got for it, Android 4.3 (T-mobile in the UK), the battery life has gone to pot. It's sometimes OK (has about a day of charge in it, with a fair bit of usage) but occasionally it will suddenly start draining ridiculously fast, and sometimes even lose battery while on charge. Taking the battery and sim card out for a while and then putting them back in seems to fix the issue until it happens again. This was quite a widespread problem when Android 4.3 dropped for the S3, and I think Google did issue an update but my network provider just never released it.
The model I have should be getting the Android 4.4 update but probably not until around Christmas time. Which sucks. I might invest in a bigger battery.I must say, I have a 16gb SD card in my phone and I've never had any problems with it.I am tempted on my next upgrade to go for an iPhone. I really like the latest iOS 7 release, but I have enough time that iOS 8 will probably be out by the time I get to upgrade, so if that's terrible I may stick with an Android phone.My girlfriend recently got a Windows Phone 8 Nokia Lumia 630, which is actually really nice. I quite like the Windows Phone interface, but I have noticed there are some quite mainstream apps missing for it. I think it will get more support soon, though. The Windows Phone software for PC seems quite neat, too, and offers to sync your iTunes library to the phone.I don't know what the summary of my comment is really. I like all of the phones I guess. :DI wouldn't rule out the S5 completely without trying it out or reading up on it a bit more though.You know, I've been thinking of bypassing this current gen android smartphone war completely. You know, buying one of them chinese phones and installing a custom ROM.
The specs on those seem pretty sweet. You know they have octa core phones? They're freaking cheap too!Someone I know went to China recently and bought a knock off Galaxy S4. Apparently the hardware in it is awful, though, and the Android OS runs horribly slowly.
@Alert: Hmm, that is odd. Have you tried with different SD cards? I've really never had an issue like that with mine. :(Well, I wouldn't go with a knockoff of anything. I'd go with something with hardware a bit more impressive.
Like this: Clicky, Clicky, Clicky@cps: but they usually only come with 16gb if I get it with a plan (which is cheaper than buying the phone seperate), and my library is bigger than 16gb :( I try not to root or customize the phone that way, but I might have to again.
@Ferret: I mean, I have T-mobile right now so that could be the problem. But samsung does have some things that very few people need that they force on your system. Either way, the limited memory is what Im having a problem with.http://www.amazon.com/64GB-microSDXC-Class-UHS-I-SanDisk/dp/B00JGII4V4/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1407657750&sr=1-8&keywords=64gb+micro+sd#customerReviews