So how has another 24 hours faired with the S5. Rather well actually. Above is a screenshot of my current setup using the default Touchwiz launcher.

I know many of you will rush when getting a new phone to put your favourite third party launcher eg Nova, Google Launcher and even replace the default keyboard with your favourite. We all do this to quickly get back to a comfort level and create a familiar arrangement on our phone. If you get the S5, one word, don’t change anything. Allocated a week, and breakdown over each day some time to play and learn each part of the phone. I tried to tackle everything in one day and it overwhelmed me with me cursing the bloatware and even cursing the camera. Nothing felt as easy as the HTC One M8, and it isn’t. And that is because it has the kitchen sink, which is not a bad thing if you take some time to explore what is available. My opinion of the S5 has changed enormously. I am beginning to like it a lot.

So lets talk about Touchwiz. It really has moved on since its last version. Now the icons are flatter, the settings have round icons and much more. If you look at the screenshot, you will see you can now colour the folders. This makes it faster to recognise the different folders. Also looks good too. Swiping from the main home screen on the left side edge to the right will reveal the My Magazine page. If you don’t like this you can switch it off in settings. The settings are HUGE. You will need a few hours to plough through them to start to appreciate what this S5 can do. I tried installing a different launcher but I removed it as I lost some of the Samsung widgets which are excellent like the monthly S Calendar widget. Also Touchwizz supports the hot word “ok google” to launch the Google Voice search hands free. The diversity of what the S5 can achieve is enough to give you a heart attack, but it is also incredible on the flip side.

Anyway, it was a hot sunny day last night. So I took a few more photos. Shot and More mode was used on the last two. Click on photos to enlarge.

So here I am on day 3 of the S5. It will be last post reviewing the S5. Overall, I just don’t like it enough. Sometimes, you can forgive a few things, but my S5 journey is over. Or is it. (Spoiler. See end of article).

Let’s start with the positives –

– Grip and feel in the hand, finish. It’s not metal but it does not matter. It feels solid and durable, and fantastic to hold. It is IP67 so feels durable outdoors in the elements. The flap for charging was well designed. It pulls open with ease and rests along the charging cable to prevent damage. Also, you get the pop up message when you pull the micro usb cable out to warn you to shut the flap properly.

– audio quality via headphones. Very powerful and high quality. Really good actually. I tested it with a number of decent Sony and Sennheiser headphones.

– Loudspeaker – better than you think at a sound output of 83-84db. Also clear for podcasts. But with music it lacks bass and vibrates at full blast so you will need to lower volume a tad.

– software – you get offers for Businessweek, Wall Street Journal, loads of health and fitness apps, in app purchases for free with Cut the Rope 2 and lots more.

The problem is they are only limited time durations offers or apps of the same kind. I mean how many health and fitness apps do we need that do the same functions, and why do we need them at all when Samsung have their own on board offering? But for some this will be ideal and the choice welcomed

– screen – brilliant, and good in all conditions.

– hardware extras – fingerprint scanner (with ability to pay via paypal, samsung app store and unlock phone), infra red blaster, usb3 connector, pedometer, gyro, barometer and heart rate monitor.

To be honest there is not much missing. So what don’t I like –

1) Laggy sometimes and some memory redraws

2) Camera is nowhere need how Samsung have promoted it. I struggled to get decent shots in good light. Pixels were smudged. Pets were a nightmare to capture. Lower light was hit and miss. Auto focus did not always work. Camera app was confusing.

3) Touchwiz felt cluttered, as did all the apps and repetition of apps that did the same task.

4) To have screen at a reasonable brightness hammered the battery. Also, I had times where I had the official Samsung charger plugged in but the battery was dropping faster than the phone could be charged. And Samsung did not include a USB3 lead for the connector. How to piss people off in one easy move! Using a USB2 lead now takes a lot more skill to make sure you have lined it up properly on the right hand side of the USB3 connector.

5) Polish – the overall package just felt lacking consistency and finesse.

6) Fingerprint scanner – what a complicated mess. Great for secure payments. But not natural for unlocking the phone, like the Apple Touch ID implementation.

So there you have it. Many will crave this phone and its new improvements over their S3 or S4’s. Others won’t. I shall be going back to the HTC One M8.

I wrote the above yesterday over lunch. And then I thought I would give the camera one last chance. It was a beautiful sunny day and I took several shots including these below.

And so I spent the rest of the day until nearly 11pm giving the S5 a second chance….. to be continued….