|
Home > Sprint Phone Reviews > Samsung Galaxy S5 Sport
Samsung Galaxy S5 Sport
What's Hot: Same great specs as Samsung Galaxy S5, a bit more rugged, Activity Zone handy for outdoor adventures.
What's Not: Not so different in terms of durability from the GS5, lots of bloatware.
Reviewed August 22, 2014 by Lisa Gade, Editor
in Chief (twitter: @lisagade)
Yes, it's another Samsung Galaxy S5 variant. This time we look at the Samsung Galaxy S5 Sport, currently exclusive to Sprint in the US, it's the more sporty and slightly less Joe Outdoorsman version of the Samsung Galaxy S5 Active that's exclusive to AT&T in the US. Like the Active, the Galaxy S5 Sport retains the same excellent specs and 5.1" full HD Super AMOLED display as the standard GS5, so you're not compromising anything by going with this slightly more rugged version. The one thing you will give up is the fingerprint scanner, but I suspect that won't be a deal breaker for many of you.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 Sport is available in zingy red or electric blue, and it has a grippy outer casing that feels like a slim TPU or hard rubber case, though it's actually sturdy polycarbonate. Like the standard Galaxy S5, it's dust resistant and water resistant for immersion up to 1 meter deep for 30 minutes. The casing adds bump protection, though probably not much more than a good case. The upside is that the Sport isn't much larger or heavier than the Galaxy S5 regular edition, and it's less bulky than a regular GS5 with case. That said, it's not as ruggedized as the Galaxy S5 Active on AT&T. That phone has hard plastic end caps and a thicker casing that's geared towards those who go rough and tumble in the woods or use the phone in trades where rough handling is the norm. The GS5 Sport is... sporty, and it targets fitness buffs more than commandos in training (to be honest, even the Active isn't all that rugged).
Inside you'll find the exact same internals, battery and camera as the Galaxy S5 original flavor. We won't go over those features again here, and you can read our Samsung Galaxy S5 review if you need a refresher. Those specs include an excellent Super AMOLED 1920 x 1080 display, 2.5GHz quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 CPU with Adreno 330 graphics, 2 gigs of RAM and 16 gigs of storage. It has a microSD card slot, 4G LTE with world GSM roaming on 3G, a 2 megapixel front camera, an excellent 16 megapixel rear camera that can record 4k video, an IR blaster with AV remote control, dual band WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and a GPS with GLONASS.
|
Deals and Shopping:
Advertisement
|
The software story is a bit of a mess. We have Android 4.4 KitKat with Samsung's usual heavy TouchWiz skin on top of Android, and the enjoyable Activity Zone app that provides a compass, location in latitude and longitude, a flashlight, stopwatch and a barometer. Those are handy features for sporting and outdoors types and we only wish the Sport had the GS5 Active's convenience key on the side to quickly launch the app. Samsung's S Health and heart rate monitor are here as well as extras added by Sprint: Sprint Fit Live launches from a pop-out on the left side of the home screen. It's simply a shortcut to MapMyFitness, S Health, Spotify and health news articles that you'll view using the included webkit or Chrome web browsers. Somewhat redundant is the page peel from the upper left hand corner of the home screen that reveals a full screen launcher for the same three apps.
Sprint and Samsung have absolutely littered the phone with bloatware, from the dreaded Lumen Toolbar (web browser bloat), to a home screen so cluttered with icons it feels like there's not a millimeter free to swipe on. Though you can't remove all these apps permanently, you can at least remove them from the home screens.
Benchmarks
| |
Quadrant |
3DMark Ice Storm |
AnTuTu |
Sunspider JavaScript Test (lower is better) |
| Samsung Galaxy S5 Sport |
23,389 |
18,611 |
36,106 |
411 |
| Samsung Galaxy S5 Active |
24,385 |
18,708 |
36,525 |
425 |
| Samsung Galaxy S5 |
23,643 |
18,329 |
35,357 |
398 |
| HTC One M8 |
24,527 |
20,896 (unlimited) |
36,087 |
776 |
| Sony Xperia Z1S |
21589 |
16,135 (unlimited) |
35,008 |
837 |
| Nexus 5 |
8808 |
17,828 (unlimited) |
27,017 |
718 |
| Moto G |
8485 |
2778 (extreme) |
17,396 |
1311 |
| Samsung Galaxy Note 3 |
22,006 |
15,092 (unlimited) |
35,823 |
587 |
| LG G2 |
19,762 |
9803 (extreme) |
32,990 |
823 |
| Samsung Galaxy S4 |
12,276 |
11,601 (unlimited) |
24,776 |
826 |
| HTC One M7 |
12,252 |
11,324 (extreme) |
24,589 |
1155 |
| Sony Xperia Z |
7916 |
6353 (extreme) |
20,403 |
1306 |
| Moto X |
8357 |
6800 (extreme) |
21,377 |
1097 |
| Samsung Galaxy S III |
5102 |
N/A |
7011 |
1825 |
Conclusion
If your heart says Samsung Galaxy S5 but you want something a little more rugged, with outdoorsy and sports software pre-loaded, by all means get the Samsung Galaxy S5 Sport. You'll also enjoy two colors that set it apart from the sea of GS5 phones on the streets. It's every bit as good as the standard S5 (unless you really want the fingerprint scanner), and it can handle a bit more physical stress. Just remember, the glass screen, though it's Gorilla Glass 3, is still the weakest link.
Websites: www.sprint.com, www.samsung.com
Price: $199 with 2 year contract, $649 full retail
Related:
Samsung Galaxy S5 Review
Samsung Galaxy S5 Active Review
Samsung Galaxy S6 Active Review
HTC One M8 Review
HTC One E8 Review
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Review |
|
Specs:
|
Display: 5.1" Super AMOLED HD display with Gorilla Glass 3. Resolution:
1920 x 1080. Has ambient light sensor, accelerometer and proximity sensor.
Battery: 2800 mAh Lithium
Ion Polymer rechargeable. Battery is user replaceable. Supports latest version of Qualcomm quick charging.
Performance: 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad core CPU. 2 gigs DDR3 RAM. 16 gigs internal storage with ~11 gigs available.
Size: 5.7" x 2.9" x 0.40" inches. Weight: 5.6 ounces.
Phone: GSM quad band world phone with EDGE 2G, 3G and 4G LTE for AT&T.
Camera: 2MP front camera and 16MP rear camera with LED flash, BSI, HDR mode, 4K video recording. Supports simultaneous use of front and back camera.
Audio: Built
in speaker, mic and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone
jack.
Networking and GPS: Integrated dual band
WiFi 802.11b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and NFC.
Software: Android OS 4.4 KitKat with Samsung TouchWiz UI and software.
Expansion: 1
SDXC microSD card slot under back cover.
|
|
|
