The Galaxy S5 is the latest flagship smartphone from Samsung, a manufacturer who's at the top of their game, and a source of acid reflux for every Apple employee.
But just because the S5 is Samsung's latest and greatest doesn't mean you should line up to buy one.
I'm Donald Bell, and today's Top Five, I'm doing what I do best-- poking at the hornet's nest of fan boys and exploiting it for every penny.
So, here you go.
Here are
five reasons not to buy the Samsung Galaxy S5.
Starting up at number five, battery life.
The S5 promises 10 hours of web browsing or 12 ours of video playback.
And that's fine.
But there are already Android phones out there that blaze past that.
Our video playback test of the LG G Flex popped out at over 17 hours.
Plus, it's curved, which has got to be useful for something, probably.
At number four, the iPhone 6.
Oh, yes.
I can already hear you booing through your screen.
But seriously, aren't you at least a little bit curious to see what Apple will do with the iPhone 6 before making a big phone purchase?
By all accounts, this is Apple's year to make a dramatic design refresh to the iPhone, which means it will be months before Samsung can sell you a cheap knock-off.
Coming in at number three, Android 5.0.
We expect the new version of Android out of Google I/O this year, and maybe 5.0 or just 4.5.
Maybe it will be the rumored 64-bit version of Android.
Whatever it is, that will be the thing that Android fans are gonna be celebating for, and it remains to be seen if it will run on the S5 or when an update will be available.
Really, an updated version of TouchWiz is no substitute for the latest flavor of Android.
At number two, the Samsung Galaxy S4.
Seriously, if you can spot the difference between the S4 and the S5, you'll need to log off the XDA Developer's forum for a minute and admit you'll have a problem.
The S4 is a killer phone.
You know it's about to go on sale, and its screen is only smaller by a fraction of an inch.
Plus, the back of this phone doesn't look like an iridescent Band-Aid.
Now, before we get to the number one reason not to buy the Samsung Galaxy S5, let's take a minute to consider some of the positives.
Not only do you get the fingerprint sensor of the iPhone 5S, but you can actually use it to buy stuff.
You get a download feature that can harness both Wi-Fi and LTE simultaneously, it's dust- and water-resistant, and
it has a built-in heart rate monitor.
Okay.
I'm not sure if that last one is really gonna move phones off the shelf, but there's a certain poetry knowing that the gadget that's constantly blasting you with radiation can now tell when your heart stops beating.
All right.
And now, the number one reason not to buy a Samsung Galaxy S5, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Rumored to come out this fall, this could be the year you step up to a phablet.
I mean, now that normal phones are all gigantic, the
Note isn't the fashion statement it used to be.
You get a bigger screen, better battery life, and a post Google I/O release.
That means it will probably ship with a significantly updated version of Android.
Maybe even a 64-bit version running on a 64-bit processor.
Now, that's a possibility worth waiting for.
So, there you go.
Five reasons to hold off on the Samsung Galaxy S5, at least for now.
And for more S5 coverage and all the latest smartphone news, head over to phones.cnet.com.
And for more top fives for me, topfive.cnet.com.
I'm Donald Bell, thanks for watching.
