Top 5 News: Galaxy S5, Black Phone, WhatsApp, Xperia Z2, MWC 2014
This week was one of our busiest at AndroidPIT with the biggest event in mobility taking place, the Mobile World Congress 2014. The event brought a few surprises and quite a few let-downs in terms of our Galaxy S5 shine. But the main uproar was caused by expecting fans undeniable disappointment with the new Samsung flagship. Without further ado, here is the top news for the last week in February.
Galaxy S5 hands-on review: Samsung gets flat
We were able to get our hands on the new Samsung flagship pre-event and take a closer look at its new design including the rubberized (Band-Aid) matte back piece which differs from the usual glossy finish bestowed upon past flagships. The Galaxy S5 includes some new features, like a fingerprint sensor and heart-rate monitor, but mostly failed to wow critics. According to our hands-on review, there’s a reason for this: the Galaxy S5 is the Volkswagen Golf of smartphones and is merely there to set the standards.
Black Phone: the privacy smartphone is available for pre-order
Though the phone needs more work in our opinion, the Black Phone is a superb idea that places security and privacy in the forefront of its features. With the recent NSA scandals, we can see this new smartphone catching wind. It’s now available for pre-order in the USA and next week, we’ll publish our hands-on review. Full tech specs and details on the privacy phone in the article.
WhatsApp rolls out with new features to Android phones
The dreaded timestamps can now be disabled! Finally this settings option has been brought over to the Android version of WhatsApp seeing as it had been available on iOS for quite some time now. There are other new features such as the ability to limit the visibility of your status and profile pic.
Xperia Z2 vs Galaxy S5: it’s a close call for Samsung
Though the S5 got a lot of attention this week, we can’t forget that another flagship was also unveiled, the Sony Xperia Z2. In fact, this smartphone is considered now by many as the better smartphone to be presented at the MWC 2014, perhaps causing Samsung to rethink their strategy. We compared the two new arrivals in regards to design, software, battery, tech specs and hardware choices to see which device came out on top.
Why everyone hates the Galaxy S5 (and why they probably shouldn’t)
Again, the S5 wasn’t welcomed with open arms. Sounds of crickets filled the room of the Unpacked event when the smartphone was finally unveiled, after months and months of waiting, tons of leaks and rumors galore. We explain the entire disappointment as well as refute this feeling, because the S5 isn’t all as bad as many might think.
