New phone: Galaxy S5 or Nexus 5

[cmdrdredd]

I understand the differences in the OS and all of that. I'm just wondering if someone was going to be choosing between these now would there be anything that makes one standout over the other aside from the OS and SDcard slot. I don't use more than 6GB on my GS3 so I don't think the expandable storage will be a concern.

I guess I just need to know that if I get a Nexus 5 to get faster OS updates and/or root is it outclassed in any significant way by the S5? I've kind of settled on these two devices for myself and just need help making a decision. I don't expect that someone has significant time with both but maybe someone has enough to give an honest assessment? I've read the comparison reviews etc but there was not really a clear cut winner.


Note: So you have a little background on the situation. For those who remember from me mentioning in other threads I am on verizon unlimited with my S3 but I will be losing my unlimited if I upgrade the phone and I have called and argued and talked to people at the store etc. They basically don't care about me losing unlimited or that I told them I could get cheaper plans from AT&T with basically the same coverage in my area. They made it clear that they want people off the grandfathered unlimited. So I am just going to go to AT&T which means I need a new device anyway. Actually two devices, but we haven't yet decided whether my mom(who I also have on my plan) will be going with an iPhone or what. That's going to be left up to her.

 

[shabby]

So I am just going to go to AT&T which means I need a new device anyway. Actually two devices, but we haven't yet decided whether my mom(who I also have on my plan) will be going with an iPhone or what. That's going to be left up to her.

N5 is half the price of the s5, so get two of them. Give the other to your mom as a mothers day present, you'll be her favorite son.

 

[cmdrdredd]

N5 is half the price of the s5, so get two of them. Give the other to your mom as a mothers day present, you'll be her favorite son.

Price is not a concern here.

 

[JoeMcJoe]

I would only consider a n5, motoX, or a Sony model.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I would only consider a n5, motoX, or a Sony model.

Why?

Maybe I should have mentioned but I don't mind subsidizing the cost. I've always done that and no I don't really care to have you list out the savings over a year.

So keep that in mind.

 

[jhansman]

I'd go with the Nexus device, if only to avoid all the cruft Samsung jams into their phones and to stay off contract. Yeah, it's a chunk of money up front, but if you can find coverage from T-Mobile or some such, your overall experience is likely to be better. This from a guy who has an S4 on AT&T and a Nexus 7, wifi only. I like the phone, but he day it goes out of warranty (and maybe before), I'm rooting it and pulling off all the crap it came with. LOVE the Nexus 7 and much prefer the Google experience. Just my $.02.

FWIW, AT&T is now pushing its NEXT plan, which you should look at if you decide to go with S4.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I'd go with the Nexus device, if only to avoid all the cruft Samsung jams into their phones and to stay off contract. Yeah, it's a chunk of money up front, but if you can find coverage from T-Mobile or some such, your overall experience is likely to be better. This from a guy who has an S4 on AT&T and a Nexus 7, wifi only. I like the phone, but he day it goes out of warranty (and maybe before), I'm rooting it and pulling off all the crap it came with. LOVE the Nexus 7 and much prefer the Google experience. Just my $.02.

FWIW, AT&T is now pushing its NEXT plan, which you should look at if you decide to go with S4.

Next plan costs more per month, I've looked at it. They give you a $25 discount per line but charge $32.5/mo for a $199 subsidized device. So you actually aren't getting a discount. Plus I couldn't donate my phone afterwards or sell it afterwards. I don't mind keeping a device for 2 years. I've had my devices about that long. As for T-Mobile I know people on it and they absolutely hate it for data. It's consistently slow, but not as slow as Sprint here. I'd rather pay a bit more to get better data speeds and reliability.

I know samsung puts a lot of their own stuff in there but the reviews seem to indicate that their new UI and software isn't all that bad compared to before. I've always rooted my Android phones and ran custom OSes. Sometimes with Touchwiz and sometimes without (currently running without TW). Currently the S5 isn't able to be rooted, maybe in the future. I know the N5 can but it isn't a set requirement for me honestly.

So far the thing that really keeps me going back to the Nexus is the faster updates from Google vs Samsung (on an unrooted device).

 

[Radeon962]

If you make all your payments on the Next program the phone is yours.

You can setup payments for 20 or 26 months and if you pay to the end the phone is yours. It is not yours if you upgrade early under the plan. Upgrades are available at 12 months on the 20 month plan and 18 months on the 26 month plan.

With the $25 discount it is the same monthly cost as the old 2 year contract (subsidized) plan

 

[tsupersonic]

Both are great phones. It all comes down to what kind of experience you want. The Nexus 5 will have out of the box Android experience that Google created. The S5 has Touchwiz and it's the experience Samsung wants you to have with all their added features. Some may see Touchwiz as bloat, while others may like the features it adds. Of course it is Android, so you can root and install ROM's on the S5, if you like doing that sort of thing. You could also just install a new launcher (no rooting necessary) just to hide some Touchwiz elements.

Choose the S5 if you want the hardware improvements over the Nexus 5, along with more battery capacity. You'll also get Touchwiz out of the box (although you can change this with ROMs).

Choose the Nexus if you want the pure Google experience and the latest Android releases delivered first. It's also a hell of a value considering what you're getting.

 

[IeraseU]

If price is not a consideration, I would take the S5. It has nearly double the battery life of the Nexus 5 and it also has SD card support, is waterproof, has a better screen and some other miscellaneous features such as an IR transmitter and a heartrate monitor.

The main advantage of the Nexus 5 is the price, and more timely updates. Take price out of the equation and it's hard to make an argument for it over the S5.

 

[bearxor]

How much data do you use per month on Verizon? Is it less than 6GB? If so, do to forget that Verizon has the 6GB Max plan specifically for people losing unlimited. It's 6GB for $30 or 8GB for $50. That could be an option.

Secondly, don't forget that Verizon has a device payment plan, again, specifically meant for unlimited data users. This is not the same as Verizon EDGE plan and you have to go to a Verizon store (not a third party retailer) to get it. This will spread a device out over 12 months with a $2/mo interest charge.

Now let's say none of that matters to you, you want to switch to AT&T. I think the choice is easy. You buy the Nexus 5 outright, since AT&T doesn't actually offer it, and you take the discount on the monthly rate plan at $15 or $25 per month. Over the course of two years, the Galaxy S5 would cost you $1159 (device cost + monthly device cost) and the Nexus 5 will only cost you $1000 with a plan under 10GB and $760 for a plan over 10GB.

If you go with a plan under 10GB, it's not that much of a price difference. But over 10GB is pretty significant. The Galaxy S5 isn't that much nicer than a Nexus 5 to justify the cost difference.

 

[zerocool84]

Yes if price is of no concern then get the S5 since it's newer, me personally I'd never pay that much for a phone.

 

[JoeMcJoe]

Why?

Maybe I should have mentioned but I don't mind subsidizing the cost. I've always done that and no I don't really care to have you list out the savings over a year.

So keep that in mind.

I have had an s3/s4/tab7 from Samsung and never again, their bloated software uses up the flash storage makes the phones slower.

The Nexus5 32GB I use now is nice and fast, nice user interface.
The latest Sony and MotoX phones have a similar UI. The Sony has the SD memory option.

The s5 is not worth as much as the cost of a Nexus5, I have no idea why it costs almost twice as much, plus has half the flash storage.

With the Samsung devices, I noticed that they were installing applications in the background, brand new applications....What is the deal with that?!? No thanks.

 

[VVV]

+1 for Nexus 5. Great phone, good built quality, update from Google. Most supported in dev community if you want custom ROM. Half of the S5 price. You cannot beat it.

For the difference in price you can use that money to purchase a wireless charger + external battery pack and still have some money left.

 

[dguy6789]

S5 has significantly better battery life and a significantly better camera. It's not worth double the price of the Nexus 5 but it's unquestionably much better.

 

[Muadib]

The S5 is better than the Nexus 5 in just about every way. The only factor that should concern you is not being able to root the S5 yet. I have an S4 on at&t, and they pushed the kitkat update two weeks after Samsung released it. Not as fast as the Nexus 5, but not bad.

 

[Dari]

People still pay $600 for a phone?

 

[tvdang7]

Oneplus one phone looks promising . $300 bucks just have to wait.

 

[southkrn]

I have a GS5 and despite the ugly looks, its very very fast. There is something about the Galaxy flagships that always put it on the top priority for updates. You can also record 4K videos however its like 100 megs for 8-10 sec of footage.

The only problem I have with the GS5 is if you put the display settings on 'auto' meaning it automatically adjusts the screen brightness based on the device's remaining power, it makes it very hard to see the screen outside when its bright. This can of course be fixed if you put the settings on max brightness instead of auto ,but it can be a battery drainer.

I'm not sure if the Nexus 5 will have an amoled screen or IPS.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Nexus 5 uses IPS LCD I believe. Higher max brightness than Samsung's AMOLED but lower contrast ratio and the colors are slightly less bright, but more accurate as a result. Both screens are great, I have seen them both but haven't used either enough to decide.

I appreciate all the feedback, either way.

 

[cmdrdredd]

S5 is this years latest one of Samsung, while Nexus5 is not too early than S5. But compare to the price and configuration, Nexus5 is more cost-effective. What's more, Nexus' os is the
original Android.

One more question, why there is no consideration of Apple Iphone 5.

There are some apps that cannot work on iOS at all because of the developer agreement that states something about no direct access to the wifi for security or something. Wifi analyzer for example. Plus having seen them side by side I like the larger screen.


I wish Sony would hurry up with the xperia z2 so I have another option to look at.

 

[Megatomic]

Oneplus one phone looks promising . $300 bucks just have to wait.

I was going to suggest this option as well. Intriguing phone. Or the Xperia Z2. They both are really solid hardware.

 

[poofyhairguy]

The only factor that should concern you is not being able to root the S5 yet.

That is huge though.

 

[cronos]

Next plan costs more per month, I've looked at it. They give you a $25 discount per line but charge $32.5/mo for a $199 subsidized device. So you actually aren't getting a discount. Plus I couldn't donate my phone afterwards or sell it afterwards. I don't mind keeping a device for 2 years. I've had my devices about that long.

Huh? If you used your device for two years (and paid for the Next fee every month) then it is yours. You could definitely give it away or sell it afterwards. Plus, the monthly Next fee is different depending on what phones you're getting.

You only have to turn the device in to get the next phone *if* you replaced the phone in 12/18 months depending on what Next plan you're on.

Edit: to answer your question, I would get the Nexus 5, because I don't have to worry about unlocking it, etc. for international traveling. Not to mention all the perks of a Nexus device (guaranteed up to date, etc.). Looks-wise, I'm not too crazy about either. Personally, I would choose an Xperia Z2.

 

[s44]

That is huge though.

For some users yes, and only on AT&T/Verizon models.

Anyway, if price is no issue then the S5 is a no-brainer -- double the battery life and much better camera/screen/storage.