My Samsung Galaxy S5 Active > Your cel phone

[Jims5543]

I am super impressed by this thing and had to share.

I love the Samsung Galaxy S line of phones, I had the Galaxy S3 up until a few months ago when I purchased a S5 Active. The transition from the one to the other was seemless it was mostly the same interface (even though 2 generations newer) and there were lots of neat improvements and additions.


But that is not even close to the best part.

Today I swapped old blue out for the Mini as it is a banner day here and I want to drive the Mini around this after when running errands. I stopped off at the house and pulled the mini out. I forgot I left Blues keys and my phone on the back tonneau cover of the Mini.

So I drive up the block and go around a corner at around 25-30 MPH and I hear my keys hit the road faintly behind me, I immediately knew I had made a big mistake.

I pull over and run back, find my keys on the ground and the phone scattered along. The back had popped off from impact (remember I do not have this phone in any kind of case, the phone is the case) and the battery fell out too. My phone was now in 3 pieces scattered on the road.

I look the screen over, not a crack or scratch. I look at the case, some pretty good scratches on the hard plastic / rubber parts where it bounced down the road.

I put the battery in, the back on, and power it up expecting it to be a brick.

It fired right up and works perfectly.

I have no yet tested its submersibility which is claimed to be up to 7' of water for a couple of minutes. Think dropped in pool and fished out right away. It has been splashed when out on the boat and at the beach. So I know it does not mind that.

Love this phone.

I highly suggest you pick one up if you have the means. - Ferris Bueller

[94touring]

I have the 4 and am eligible to renew this month.  I think they want me to pay $200 or something crazy though. 

[Mudhen]

My wife got me the S5 Active for my birthday last summer.  There are a few things I don't like about it versus the iPhone I had - the button to turn it on - having it on the side sucks - I'm constantly turning it on in my pocket or when putting it in my pocket.  The recessed button on the iPhone is much better.  The size is tough for my little hands, too - texting with one hand is pretty tough.

Plus the price!  HOLY FK!  My wife deals with all our phone plans and we get f'ing porked all the time.  'I had an upgrade so we got it for free'.  Free?  I just looked at our bill the other day because the 9yo constantly eats through our 10Gb plan in 2 weeks, what's this finance plan thing?  $30/month for my phone - until the $600 is paid off.  WTF?!?!?!?

Is that right?  Did you pay $600?

[MtyMous]

I don't understand why anyone would finance the phones... that is such a ridiculous ripoff. And they sell it to you in the store as if it was free. Haha. That's like going into the car dealership and going home with a FREE car.... that you only have to pay $600/mo until the $35k is paid off. haha. And anyone that believes it confuses me as well. My mother did the same thing. And the killer is that if she would have just price matched with Walmart or someone, she could have skipped the financing option and just walked out with it LITERALLY free. But what I did was call in to the provider (Sprint) and got them to give my mom a customer loyalty credit every month for the exact amount of the "upgrade". And they always waive the activation charge for me.

With that rant over, I think the side button for power makes sense with the size of the phones. Even if you upgrade to the new iPhone you will have the power button on the side. It's just impractical on anything larger than the tiny iPhone 4/5.

I have the Note3 and it's awesome. Love the large screen and I have large hands, so it works for me. I wouldn't go back to a smaller phone after having this. I'm eligible for an upgrade, but I'm waiting for the Note 5 to come out. The Note 4 wasn't a big enough upgrade for me.

[Jims5543]

I went from a S3 to an S5 I tend to keep my phones for 3+ years, I am not about the newest bestest gadgets nor do I need to be equipped with the latest greatest in order to appear cool. I actually upgraded to the S5 a while after it was released.

I do not remember how I am paying for it to be honest, I went with whichever plan worked out cheapest month to month for me.  Since I keep a phone for 3+ years I have no worries about the cost, even at $600 that is $200 a year and to be honest, I loke this phone so much I do not see upgrading for a long long while.

Some people like the compact iphone, I can understand that, I weighed the option of a Note 3 to the S5 and decided the S5 was perfect size for me. I had an iphone3 before I went to the S3 and will never go back to iphone. I like the ability to customize my phone, I am sure apple with catch up and do the same, remember back when you had to have an itunes account in order to update your phone? That is what sent me over to the S3. I know that is no longer needed but I refused to install itunes in my laptop or any computer so my iphone never got an upgrade.

I like that I can move icons where I want on my phone, so the more used icons are close to where my thumb is. Not sure if apple fixed that one either, they stack the icons on the page you put them on but you could not move one and leave a space.

All that is moot, my point was mine went for a 25 mph asphalt slide ride and came out pretty much unscathed.  Without a case on it.  It just made me like it more.

[94touring]

I've never been an iphone fan simply because you can't access the battery or have an option to add an external memory card.  Plus my galaxy's screen was far superior. 

[Jims5543]

I have not followed iphones in a long time so I have no idea what they can or cannot do.

I have 64GB memory card in my phone for picture and video storage, freeing up the 16GB on phone storage for operating widgets and apps.

Plus, if my battery ever gets worn out, I can swap in a new one in about 10 seconds, and I can carry a spare one if I needed to.

Good points Dan.