 Samsung's always had weird ideas about what we should do with our cell phones. And it's been wrong a lot. I don't want to wave my hand over the phone to answer a call, thank you very much. But this time, Samsung says it's trying something different. To perfect the things that users really care about and leave the rest aside. And when it does weird things, to at least make them awesome. That's how you get this, the Galaxy S5. To look at it, the S5's not actually that different from last year's ultra-popular Galaxy S4. It has a slightly larger 5.1 inch screen and is thus a little bigger, but it's pretty much the same look, the same layout, the same everything. But that's okay. The 1080p screen is absolutely beautiful, the phone is thin and light, and it's as usable as any other big 5 inch phone. Which is to say, not very, but that's what you sacrifice for a screen like this. And the look may not have changed, but the phone feels really different. It's still made of plastic and it feels like it belongs in a toy aisle when you compare it to the HTC One or the iPhone 5S or even the Moto X. But it has this slightly dimpled soft touch back that feels a lot better than the gross slimy shell of the S4. Is it great? No. It's not even good, but it's better. The one remarkable improvement is that the S5 is waterproof. There's an awkward port flap covering up the charger, but other than that there's no indication that this phone has been ruggedized at all. But it has. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is. Since the S5 doesn't feel so precious, I wound up using it in places I never would otherwise. One thing Samsung's always paid attention to is battery life, and it holds true here too. The phone can last through a day, even a day and a half, without much trouble at all. If you do run into problems, there's a crazy ultra-power saving mode that instantly turns your phone into a super basic but super long-lasting device. So no matter what comes, you'll probably be okay. The last big thing manufacturers have to get right is the camera. And Samsung does, more or less. It has a 16 megapixel camera that is capable of taking really great sharp pictures. There's a neat real-time HDR mode, which does wonders for shots with bright backgrounds and dark subjects. There are also, of course, many of the same weird dual-camera modes and crazy filters as always. A second sensor in the camera makes autofocusing really fast, and it'll even shoot 4K video if, for some insane reason, you want your phone video in 4K. It has some real trouble in really low light, but for most things you'd want to shoot with your phone, the S5's camera is solid. Samsung got the big, mission-critical things right here. The display and battery, check and check. The camera, mostly check. And even though build quality is still pretty rough, having a waterproof phone is at least worth something. That's all great. But what do they always seem to, the little things kill Samsung? Little things like the fact that every time the phone vibrates, it sounds like an explosion and feels like something is rattling around inside the phone. Like the speaker, which points quiet, tinny audio away from your face. Like the fact that the fingerprint sensor, the supposedly great addition that makes it super secure and easy to unlock your phone and pay for stuff, is impossible to use unless you hold the phone in two hands and swipe oh-so-carefully right perfectly down the center of the home button. Like the multitasking and back buttons that bleed a circle of white light and just look bad. Samsung has always over-customized Android, and its TouchWiz skin here on top of Android 4.4.2 is only a very slight improvement. Samsung has cleaned up the TouchWiz look a lot, and it's now a lot more consistent and a lot less ugly. It still has just as many weird options and ideas, they're all just better hidden now. Samsung still preloads too many apps, recolors just about everything, and for some reason that is far beyond me still insists on making the phone bloop and ripple every time you touch it. The phone is really fast, thanks to a quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, but the software is so over-animated that it can still feel laggy in spots. Magazine UX, the flipboard-powered news reader that lives to the left of the home screen, isn't as good as HTC's BlinkFeed. TouchWiz just isn't as good as Sense in general, even if Samsung has made some steps in the right direction. When there are 20 options in the notification pull-down, 61 items in the settings menu, and 27 different camera settings, Samsung's still doing something wrong here. Again there are a few good ideas that Samsung had that it just hasn't executed very well. S Health is a shockingly full-featured app that can do everything from track your steps to tell you how to exercise or eat better, but it's really not well implemented. You have to explicitly tell it to start tracking your steps, and adding food or exercise gets really clunky. The S5 even has a heart rate monitor if you're really into tracking yourself, but it's really inconsistent and just doesn't make sense here the way it does on the Gear Fit. Luckily, most of its problems are easy enough to hide or avoid, except for the heart rate monitor which creates an ugly divot in the back of the phone. And that's the thing about the S5, which costs $199 on contract on just about every carrier out there. Samsung got virtually all of the important things right, and most of the things wrong are a nuisance, not a dealbreaker. But for all the boxes it ticks, the S5 just isn't an interesting phone, or one I want to use. It doesn't impress or inspire the way the HTC One or the iPhone does, and it doesn't offer something groundbreakingly cool like the notifications or voice control of the Moto X. The S5 is just good, good enough even, but I want it better.
 Samsung's always had weird ideas about what we should do with our cell phones.
 And it's been wrong a lot.
 I don't want to wave my hand over the phone to answer a call, thank you very much.
 But this time, Samsung says it's trying something different.
 To perfect the things that users really care about and leave the rest aside.
 And when it does weird things, to at least make them awesome.
 That's how you get this, the Galaxy S5.
 To look at it, the S5's not actually that different from last year's ultra-popular Galaxy
 S4.
 It has a slightly larger 5.1 inch screen and is thus a little bigger, but it's pretty
 much the same look, the same layout, the same everything.
 But that's okay.
 The 1080p screen is absolutely beautiful, the phone is thin and light, and it's as usable
 as any other big 5 inch phone.
 Which is to say, not very, but that's what you sacrifice for a screen like this.
 And the look may not have changed, but the phone feels really different.
 It's still made of plastic and it feels like it belongs in a toy aisle when you compare
 it to the HTC One or the iPhone 5S or even the Moto X.
 But it has this slightly dimpled soft touch back that feels a lot better than the gross
 slimy shell of the S4.
 Is it great?
 No.
 It's not even good, but it's better.
 The one remarkable improvement is that the S5 is waterproof.
 There's an awkward port flap covering up the charger, but other than that there's no indication
 that this phone has been ruggedized at all.
 But it has.
 It doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is.
 Since the S5 doesn't feel so precious, I wound up using it in places I never would otherwise.
 One thing Samsung's always paid attention to is battery life, and it holds true here
 too.
 The phone can last through a day, even a day and a half, without much trouble at all.
 If you do run into problems, there's a crazy ultra-power saving mode that instantly turns
 your phone into a super basic but super long-lasting device.
 So no matter what comes, you'll probably be okay.
 The last big thing manufacturers have to get right is the camera.
 And Samsung does, more or less.
 It has a 16 megapixel camera that is capable of taking really great sharp pictures.
 There's a neat real-time HDR mode, which does wonders for shots with bright backgrounds
 and dark subjects.
 There are also, of course, many of the same weird dual-camera modes and crazy filters
 as always.
 A second sensor in the camera makes autofocusing really fast, and it'll even shoot 4K video
 if, for some insane reason, you want your phone video in 4K.
 It has some real trouble in really low light, but for most things you'd want to shoot with
 your phone, the S5's camera is solid.
 Samsung got the big, mission-critical things right here.
 The display and battery, check and check.
 The camera, mostly check.
 And even though build quality is still pretty rough, having a waterproof phone is at least
 worth something.
 That's all great.
 But what do they always seem to, the little things kill Samsung?
 Little things like the fact that every time the phone vibrates, it sounds like an explosion
 and feels like something is rattling around inside the phone.
 Like the speaker, which points quiet, tinny audio away from your face.
 Like the fact that the fingerprint sensor, the supposedly great addition that makes it
 super secure and easy to unlock your phone and pay for stuff, is impossible to use unless
 you hold the phone in two hands and swipe oh-so-carefully right perfectly down the center
 of the home button.
 Like the multitasking and back buttons that bleed a circle of white light and just look
 bad.
 Samsung has always over-customized Android, and its TouchWiz skin here on top of Android
 4.4.2 is only a very slight improvement.
 Samsung has cleaned up the TouchWiz look a lot, and it's now a lot more consistent and
 a lot less ugly.
 It still has just as many weird options and ideas, they're all just better hidden now.
 Samsung still preloads too many apps, recolors just about everything, and for some reason
 that is far beyond me still insists on making the phone bloop and ripple every time you
 touch it.
 The phone is really fast, thanks to a quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, but the software
 is so over-animated that it can still feel laggy in spots.
 Magazine UX, the flipboard-powered news reader that lives to the left of the home screen,
 isn't as good as HTC's BlinkFeed.
 TouchWiz just isn't as good as Sense in general, even if Samsung has made some steps in the
 right direction.
 When there are 20 options in the notification pull-down, 61 items in the settings menu,
 and 27 different camera settings, Samsung's still doing something wrong here.
 Again there are a few good ideas that Samsung had that it just hasn't executed very well.
 S Health is a shockingly full-featured app that can do everything from track your steps
 to tell you how to exercise or eat better, but it's really not well implemented.
 You have to explicitly tell it to start tracking your steps, and adding food or exercise gets
 really clunky.
 The S5 even has a heart rate monitor if you're really into tracking yourself, but it's really
 inconsistent and just doesn't make sense here the way it does on the Gear Fit.
 Luckily, most of its problems are easy enough to hide or avoid, except for the heart rate
 monitor which creates an ugly divot in the back of the phone.
 And that's the thing about the S5, which costs $199 on contract on just about every carrier
 out there.
 Samsung got virtually all of the important things right, and most of the things wrong
 are a nuisance, not a dealbreaker.
 But for all the boxes it ticks, the S5 just isn't an interesting phone, or one I want
 to use.
 It doesn't impress or inspire the way the HTC One or the iPhone does, and it doesn't
 offer something groundbreakingly cool like the notifications or voice control of the
 Moto X.
 The S5 is just good, good enough even, but I want it better.