Samsung Galaxy S5 (AT&T) Review

While a top seller, the Samsung Galaxy S4 simply tried to do too much, from scrolling content with your eyes to language translation. The Galaxy S5 ($199 for 16GB on AT&T) has some gee-whiz features of its own, including a heart rate monitor, but it's less--shall we say--Samsung-y. This time the company streamlined the interface and focused on improvements that will resonate more with the masses, such as a water-resistant design, richer display and faster camera. The result is a slightly less ambitious, but ultimately more satisfying device.

Design

No, there's still no metal, but the S5 does look and feel better than its predecessor, especially from the back. Samsung wisely swapped the greasy, glossy backplate on the S4 for a softer finish with a dot pattern. It's still removable, allowing the user to swap batteries or put on a replacement panel. We tested the pearl white version, but you can also order it in black. The camera protrudes more in the back than before, but not annoyingly so. A (very) faux metal trim runs along the outside of the handset.

With the exception of its larger size--owing to the bigger 5.1-inch screen--the front of the S5 looks nearly the same as the S4. However, we appreciate that a subtle dot pattern carries over to the front of the phone. The design feels a bit more unified than before.

We immediately noticed that the capacitive keys flanking the home button changed from the Galaxy S4. Now you'll find the Recent Apps button on the left and Back on the right, instead of Menu and Back buttons, respectively, on the S4. This alteration means the Home button can now be used for accessing Google Now (long press) or S Voice (two clicks).

Like before, the IR blaster and headphone jack sit up top, and the power button and volume controls are on the right and left sides, respectively. One unwelcome change will bug you every time you charge the device: In order to make the S5 water resistant, Samsung decided to protect the microUSB port with a flap. We also worry that this flimsy flap will snap off over time.

While we wouldn't necessarily classify the Galaxy S5 as a phablet, having larger dimensions than the S4 (5.6 x 2.9 x 0.31 versus 5.3 x 2.9 x 0.25 inches) makes it more difficult to use with one hand. For example, we had to shift the device in our hand to swipe to unlock the phone using the home button's fingerprint sensor. In addition, the S5 weighs a heftier 5.1 ounces (up from 4.6 ounces on the S4).

Overall, the S5 feels solid but unsexy compared to the aluminum HTC One M8, but the latter device is a beefier 5.6 ounces and has a nonremovable backside.

Water Resistance

While Samsung needed to make a special active version of the Galaxy S4 to offer water resistance, the S5 has that goodness baked in. With its IP rating of 67, this device can withstand a depth of 1 meter for 30 minutes. While you can't go swimming with the S5 like the Sony Xperia Z1s, which lets you take pictures underwater, Samsung's handset can survive accidental splashes and dunkings.

We dropped the S5 in a shallow bowl of water for a few minutes and then picked it up and dried it off. The handset continued to work just fine. Just don't expect to operate the touch screen while submerged; our inputs didn't register.

Display

You won't find a more gorgeous display on a smartphone. The Galaxy S5's 5.1-inch 1080p Super AMOLED screen is not only brighter than its predecessor, but also offers richer colors and better contrast than the HTC One M8. In a side-by-side comparison watching the "X-Men: Days of Future Past" trailer, Wolverine's face looked warmer and more detailed on the S5. The Samsung also offered deeper blacks, while the M8's looked cloudier.

The S5 averaged 493 lux on our light meter (373 nits), higher than the S4 (446 lux) and the One M8 (460 lux, 368 nits). Even more impressive, the latest Galaxy offers very accurate colors, as it registered a Delta-E score of 0.9 (lower numbers are better). The HTC One M8 scored 4.1 and the older S4 5.7, but the iPhone 5s was an even better 0.05.

The S5 also produced more of the sRGB color gamut than the One M8 in our testing (158.4 percent versus 115). The iPhone 5s only reached 98.4 percent.

Outdoors, the S5's Adapt Display mode (enabled by default) is supposed to analyze incoming light and what you're viewing to optimize color and sharpness on the fly. The S5's picture did look a bit brighter and richer than the iPhone 5s and considerably more so than the One M8.

Audio

It's hard for any smartphone to compete against the HTC One M8's dual Boom Sound speakers, but the S5's single rear speaker got decently loud when we streamed Pharell William's "Happy." Ultimately, though, HTC's device wins hands-down. The M8 delivered deeper, richer audio, and the cymbals were much more pronounced.

Registering 73 decibels on the Laptop Mag audio test, the S5 is quieter than the One M8 (83 dB) and the LG G2 (80 dB).

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Motorola Moto X (2014) Review

The original Motorola Moto X delivered a fun design you could customize online, solid performance and innovative voice commands. So how do you follow up on what was essentially a whole lot of win? Simple: You go bigger and more powerful and up the innovation factor. The second-generation Moto X offers a sleek, premium design with even more customization options. There's a bigger 5.2-inch display paired with a powerful Snapdragon processor and improved voice commands. And, at $99 ($124 as tested), the new X is less expensive than all other flagship smartphones. Break out the champagne ladies and gents; we've got a winner on our hands.

Design

What a difference a year makes. When the Moto X first debuted, it was made of a plastic composite material. This time around, it has a more grown-up, sophisticated look, coupling metal and leather.

The rear panel of my review unit was swathed in alluring black leather (the starting model has a black resin back). It's definitely a step up from the plastic with faux weave pattern of the original Moto X. Motorola wisely kept the rounded back, which let me keep a nice comfortable grip on the device.

Lined by a clear plastic ring featuring a pair of LED flashes, the 13-megapixel camera at the top of the panel is hard to miss. The panel also has a stainless-steel Motorola logo directly below the camera as well as the AT&T logo etched into the leather. It's simple touches like this that help raise a phone to flagship status.

The Moto X's sides are lined in dark-gray aluminum with a slightly raised, ridged volume rocker and power button on the right. The SIM card slot and 3.5mm audio jack sit along the top, and the micro USB port occupies the bottom.

The front of the phone features an inky-black plastic bezel that ensconces the 5.2-inch display and gently wraps around the sides. The 2-MP camera resides on the top-right corner of the phone, with a single front-firing speaker at the bottom of the display.

To accommodate the larger screen, the Moto X's chassis has gotten taller, wider and heavier, weighing 5.07 ounces and measuring 5.5 x 2.9 x 0.15~0.39 inches, which compares to the original's 4.8 ounces and 5.1 x 2.6 x 0.22~0.4 inches.

Still, the new Moto X is lighter than most of its competition, including the HTC One M8 (5.6 ounces, 5.8 x 2.8 x 0.37 inches) and the Samsung Galaxy S5 (5.1 ounces, 5.6 x 2.9 x 0.32 inches). However, the new X is not as thin or as light as the Apple iPhone 6 (4.6 ounces, 5.4 x 2.6 x 0.27 inches).

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iPhone 6 Hands-on: The Plus Steals the Show

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus share a lot of the same features, from the rounded aluminum design to the fast new A8 processor, Focus Pixel camera and Apple Pay functionality for replacing your wallet. But now that I’ve spent hands-on time with both phones, I’m gravitating toward theiPhone 6 Plus.

Don’t get me wrong, the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 is gorgeous, sporting a dazzling Retina HD display (1334 x 750 pixels) that looks bright and crisp. But I kept wanting to pick up the Plus, which offers a sharper 1920 x 1080-pixel screen, as well as unique benefits like a dual pane mode in various apps. Plus, only the Plus offers optical image stabilization in the 8-MP camera.

The biggest surprise is how thin and light both iPhone 6 devices feel. The iPhone 6 measures 0.27 inches thin and the Plus 0.28 inches. The iPhone 6 Plus is lighter than the Galaxy Note 4 (6.07 vs 6.2 ounces), and I like how the power button is easy to reach on the right side. If you prefer a more one-hand friendly device, the 4.7-ounce iPhone 6 is the way to go.

To test the new 8-MP camera on the iPhone 6, I fired off a quick shot in the hands-on area following the press event. The room was dark, and yet the iPhone 6 was still able to capture a detailed shot. No fuzziness here.

I didn’t have a chance to check out the A8 processor, but based on a quick demo it seems as though the iPhone 6 will be able to offer much better graphics performance than its predecessor. I also look forward to testing out Apple Pay in the real world to see how seamless it really is.

Overall, both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus look like a very strong one-two punch for Apple. For my money, I’d rather pick the bigger and more capable iPhone 6 Plus, but I wish Apple included more than 16GB of memory for $299. (You’ll need to step up to $399 for 64GB). Happier with something more compact? Pick up the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, but I’d spend $299 for 64GB.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Review

Samsung started the trend toward larger smartphones with the original Galaxy Note and perfected the concept of pen-enabled handsets with last year's Note 3. With competitors like Apple, whose iPhone 6 Plus measures 5.5 inches, entering the phablet space, Samsung has responded with its most versatile phone yet. The 5.7-inch Galaxy Note 4 adds a 16-MP camera with optical image stabilization, a metal frame, a sharp 2560 x 1440 display and a stylus that feels more like a real ballpoint pen on paper. At $299 with a two-year contract, this high-end handset doesn't come cheap, but if you want a productivity powerhouse in your pocket, it's worth every penny.

Design 

Samsung has taken a lot of flak for using plastic in its phones instead of the aluminum that Apple and HTC employ. However, this has allowed the company to equip its devices with a removable back panel that allows users to replace the battery, a critical feature its competitors lack.

On the Note 4, Samsung has found a good balance between form and function, building the phablet with an attractive aluminum frame that rims the sides, but employing plastic for the front and back. The back has a new soft-touch surface that looks and feels even more like real leather than the Note 3's rear panel.

The front bezel is made of glossy plastic with the same physical home button as its predecessor, with capacitive back and task menu buttons to its right and left. Having a dedicated task menu button is a notable improvement over the Note 3, which used its left button to launch in-app menus and forced users to hold down the home button to see a list of open programs.

As with previous Galaxy Note phones, the Note 4 is available only in white or black, with the darker version looking much more refined and polished. Unfortunately, unlike the Galaxy S5, the new Note is not IP67 rated for dust or water resistance so don't even think about dropping it in a bucket of water or using it outside in the rain.

Size and Weight: Easy to Hold

At 6.0 x 3.1 x 0.33 inches and 6.21 ounces, the Galaxy Note 4 is about the same size as the Note 3 but weighs 0.3 ounces more due to the metal frame. It's a subtle difference but one that I immediately noticed when I held both models in my hand. The iPhone 6 Plus, which has a smaller, 5.5-inch display is about the same size but thinner and lighter at 6.22 x 3.06 x 0.28 inches and  6.07 ounces.

Despite its relatively large size, the Note 4 was easy to grip and fit comfortably in a front pants pocket. As long as you're using one hand to hold the device and another to tap or write on the screen, Samsung's phablet is an extremely comfortable device to use. For those who want to grip and interact with the Note 4 using the same hand, Samsung has a "One-handed operation" menu in settings that moves certain objects such as the keyboard and dialing pad to the left or right side of the screen. However, I found typing with my thumb while gripping with my middle fingers to be an exercise in frustration.

Display

Where most high-end handsets, including the iPhone 6 Plus, offer 1920 x 1080 resolution displays, the Galaxy Note 4 kicks it up a notch with a 5.7-inch, 2560 x 1440 Super AMOLED panel that's one of the sharpest and most colorful I've seen. The Note 4 has a pixel density of 518 ppi, compared with 400 ppi for the iPhone 6 plus. When I played a 1080p trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy, fine details like the creases in Star Lord's leather jacket or the scales on Drax's chest were much more prominent on the Note 4 than the iPhone 6 Plus.

When I fired up a high-quality 4K video of a locomotive rolling down some tracks, fine details like the droplets of water dripping off the steam stack were sharp and clear.

Colors like the green in Gamora's skin and the blue in Drax's back were much more vibrant on Samsung's display and black objects like the shadows on Chris Pratt's face were much blacker than on Apple's screen, where they had a white tinge. However, in many cases, the colors on the Note 4 are richer than in real life, with a tendency to skew toward blue.

According to our color meter, the Note 4 can display 163 percent of the sRGB gamut, which means that it can display a really wide array of different shades. That compares favorably to the iPhone 6 Plus' 95 percent and HTC One M8's 116 percent, but is about on par with the Galaxy S5's 158 percent. Its hyper-saturated colors lead the Note 4 to a Delta-E accuracy rating of 4.2 (0 is perfect), which is about on par with the 4.6 smartphone average. By comparison, the Galaxy S5 has nearly flawless rate of 0.9, while the iPhone 6 Plus registered 1.9.

The Note 4 may be one of the most colorful phones on the market, but it's nowhere near the brightest. The phablet registered as 318 nits on our light meter, less than the 373 nits returned by the Galaxy S5 and way short of the iPhone 6 Plus' 537 nits. The difference was particularly stark when I took the Note 4 outside and compared it to the iPhone 6, which was a lot more legible.

Audio

The Galaxy Note 4's rear-facing speaker is loud enough to fill a medium-size room and clear enough for watching videos, listening to speeches or making calls. But listening to music on it is only slightly more pleasant than using a wrought iron Q-tip.  When I played Sister Sin's heavy metal song "One Out of Ten," the guitar and drums sounded like a chainsaw mowing down a tree. The percussion in Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda Song" sounded more like someone dropping coins on a wood table.

- See more at: http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-note-4#sthash.c6R78ysi.dpuf

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