Last Updated on November 8, 2015 by Mathew Diekhake

As we head into Q2 of 2014 I still have not made my mind up on which flagship smartphone I like best so far between the Galaxy S5 and the newly launched HTC One M8, but without question, the Australian release of the Samsung Galaxy S5 is an occasion that has me excited.

Australia is getting the Galaxy S5 and the Galaxy Gear 2 at the same time. The Galaxy Gear 2 is a smart watch that can be used together with the flagship smartphone to link up notifications along with other cool features. ‘Wearables’ are going to take off later this year after we just saw the Android Now launch and Apple’s iWatch will be huge later on down the track. Until that time comes, the Gear 2 is still a viable option to go for if people are considering compatibility and it is working right now with the S5.

With the cost of living and product prices really high in Australia, it is unlikely to see a large part of the population being able to pay for both of these devices, so for that reason, we could still be seeing low smart watch numbers sold. It would be great to see them included in the planning price options that Australian carriers give when shopping for a new mobile phone. Buying the handset outright is very expensive, but if people go on a 2 year plan in Australia, devices can be thrown in for very little money on top of that, which makes it the preferred option for a lot of shoppers.

 

The Galaxy S5 will do well in Australia because of the built-in NFC function that that Westpack and Commonwealth banks have integrated to work with them. Those are two big names in Australian banking that will provide good support for a large amount of people from the land down under in Australia.
The Galaxy S5 phone will come to Telstra and its competitors like Optus and Vodafone. There’s every chance more will jump on board later.

Pricing options for the contracts available:

  • Telstra: $1,968.00 on a 24 month plan.
  • Optus: $1,464.00 with a 24 month plan.
  • Vodafone: $1,248.00 for the 12 month plan.

Looking at the prices Vodafone is the attractive option for me. That depends on what the service is like in the area, however. I’m currently in rural Victora, and Vodafone is overtaking Optus on my preferred carriers list in terms of service. That is the reason I like what they are offering here. This will change from location to location, though, and I’ve listed them in order of best to worst for phone service. Telstra is still offering the best coverage, but as usual, they are expensive. Until the phone carriers like Vodafone and Optus pick up their reception by adding in better mobile towers, Telstra will continue to charge people a lot of money because they know people simply need what they offer.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 has a 5.1-inch super AMOLED display and a screen resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels. It is running Android 4.4.2 KitKat out of the box which is the latest Android operating system. It has a 16 megapixel camera that is a standout feature Sammy focussed on with this years model. The processor is a quad core, 2500 MHz, Krait 400 and the chipset is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801.

This phone will go on sale for all carriers mentioned on the 11th of April.

Many people felt underwhelmed when viewing this flagship when it was unveiled, hoping for a little more. That reason we could be seeing the “less quality” variant than many had wanted, is that there is a more premium model releasing mid-year when the new Snapdragon 805 processor is launching. This can neither be confirmed nor denied right now by anybody because it remains behind closed doors until the official launch by the South Korean electronics company. That’s something to think about before buying.

New features that make this handset sought after are the new heart rate monitor and the waterproof casing that is built inside the rear shell. We’ve seen footage of this device being dropped in water as deep as 1 meter. It also has a fingerprint scanner putting it on par with the HTC One M8 and the iPhone 6.