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Samsung Galaxy S5 vs. iPhone 5S vs. LG G Pro 2

We take a look at how the Samsung Galaxy S5 stacks up against the other top smartphones.

Sarah Mitroff Managing Editor
Sarah Mitroff is a Managing Editor for CNET, overseeing our health, fitness and wellness section. Throughout her career, she's written about mobile tech, consumer tech, business and startups for Wired, MacWorld, PCWorld, and VentureBeat.
Expertise Tech, Health, Lifestyle
Sarah Mitroff

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The Samsung Galaxy S5. Josh Miller/CNET

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is, without a doubt, one of the most popular phones of 2014. The follow up to the Galaxy S4 packs a refreshed design, tons of new sensors, and an updated operating system.

It's also chock-full of respectable specs, including a 1080p HD AMOLED 5.1-inch screen, a snappy 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, and a 16-megapixel camera. To top it all off, the S5 is also waterproof, inspired by the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active from 2013, and comes with a new fingerprint scanner similar to the iPhone 5S. It even has a heart-rate monitor, which is built into the camera flash.

Read CNET's in-depth review of the Samsung Galaxy S5

Just because the Galaxy S5 is one of the best phones you can buy, that doesn't mean it's the best phone for you. I compared Samsung's latest smartphone with two of its top competitors, LG's G Pro 2, and the wildly popular iPhone 5S. Take a look at the specs below and decide for yourself which phone fits your needs.

Also, if you want to see how the Galaxy S5's specs stack up against the HTC One M8, we've got you covered, too.

Samsung Galaxy S5LG G Pro 2Apple iPhone 5S
Size 5.5 x 2.9 x 0.31 inches; 5 oz.6.22 x 3.22 x 0.33 inches; 6 oz4.87 x 2.31 x 0.30 inches; 4 oz.
Screen 5.1 inches; 1,920x1,080 pixels; 431ppi5.9-inch; 1,920x1,080 pixels; 373ppi4-inch Retina Display; 1,136x640 pixels; 326ppi
Operating system Android 4.4Android 4.4iOS 7
4G LTE YesYesYes
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz and 5GHz)802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz and 5GHz)802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz and 5GHz)
NFC YesYesNo
Bluetooth 4.0 Low energy 4.0 Low energy 4.0 Low energy
IR Blaster NoYesNo
Fingerprint scanner YesNo Yes
Rear camera and recording 16-megapixel; 4K HD (1080p HD default)13-megapixel; 4K HD video8-megapixel; 1080p full HD video
Front-facing camera 2-megapixel; 1080p HD video2.1-megapixel1.2-megapixel; 720p HD video
Processor 2.5GHz quad-core; Snapdragon 8012.26GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processorProprietary A7 (64-bit) with M7 motion processor
Battery Removeable 2,800mAhRemoveable 3,200mAhEmbedded: Usage time online up to 10 hours on 4G LTE; standby time up to 10 days
Capacity 16GB, 32GB16GB and 32GB16GB, 32GB, and 64GB
Expandable storage YesYesNo
Carriers AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, MetroPCS, and U.S. CellularNot yet announced in USAT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and global
Color options Black, white, blue, and copperWhite, silver and titanGray, white, and gold