The Galaxy S5 has a Google-inspired Nexus-like Flat UI. trust me, it is very different from the one used in the S4. the S5's icons are completely flat, and most of the Samsung apps (messaging, gallery, etc) have been replaced with Google's versions (Play Music, Photos, Hangouts) completely. the wallpapers are no longer Nature UX. the notification pulldown power control is iOS7 inspired. almost a direct rip-off if it weren't for the lack of frosted glass transparency. every icon in the notification tray is white, no color at all. the lock screen is Google-like. only S-Voice (although a very iOS 7 inspired version) remains along with a limited version of Samsung Hub.
http://www.slashgear.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-software-ui-hands-on-get-flat-28319008/
If you need me to get pictures next time i am in-store i will. perhaps some S5's came shipped with Jelly Bean?
I am unsure what the Galaxy S5 shipped with myself, but all the displays here run KitKat.
So many Android lovers are indeed addicted to updates, almost enough to complain if their favorite app hasn't had one in a long time (despite there being nothing wrong with it, and it does exactly what it should, so an update would not be necessary) and are all fanatical about Android being on the latest version.
I however am pretty set in my ways, in the beginning, Android had issues. i used very cheap phones and tried to do the impossible--load them up with heavy apps and games like my iPhone expecting similar performance. i failed. in the end i had to only install what was necessary. but i had the 'update bug' then. had to update. every. single. one. fail again. Android often crashed, lagged, or rebooted in my pocket when i was in the middle of listenin to music. given my error-free use of my old iPhone, i did complain and badmouth Android often as they felt inferior.
I temporarily went back to the familiar iPhone and bought myself an iPad 3. worked perfectly fine, and then kinda experimented with Android on cheap tablets and some cheap smartphones with disposable numbers. my job destroys phones (get dropped, dirty, smushed, wet, exposed to sweat in summer, etc) and one is lucky to live 5 or 6 months. if they out live that, they are often very banged up. the only phone i had that could live a decade or so was my Nokia from 2009 (last i used it, it came out in 1996). so i was not about to chance a expensive unsubsidized iPhone 4 to the harsh environment of work. so i used a cheap $50 Android phone and rooted it to make it perform better.
Today, however, i am using Android 4.3 at the newest, and 4.1.2 at the oldest. there is a vast improvement from Gingerbread to Jelly Bean. Android 4.3 is probably the best one i have used (i ran KitKat through custom ROMs but was not really that satisfied and didn't like how much was removed from the Nexus 10 and 7 versions either) and the Galaxy S4, despite looking exactly like the Galaxy S3 (to me) outperforms every inch of that phone. it works well, never lags, never reboots itself, and has excellent battery life and signal strength. the UI is a halfway point between flat as well as skeuomorphic design, with never too much of either one. i really do adore the Nature UX part of it. the sounds, the feel. it's organic. the green icons up top are easier on my eyes than electric Holo Blue. buttons still look like buttons. the new weather widget might lack the nature scene (the Galaxy S5's version has the scene back though) but it does have depth and looks wonderful with a certain wallpaper included on the device. i use mainly stock widgets and enough are included that work wonderfuly for me.
Basically i'm set in my ways. when i finally get a device, be it phone, car, truck, RV, tablet, laptop, operating system that works well, i of course continue to use it. and eventually the UI and every shortcut, gesture, button, etc become second nature and familiar to me. to have it suddenly change, like the change between iOS 6 to iOS 7 that killed Apple to me, or the more subtle but noticeable changes to Android 4.4 on the Galaxy S5, or going from a perfectly functioning device to one that is now laggy, crash happy, or generally unstable with no recourse (iirc, the KitKat upgrade is one-way, can't go back to Jelly Bean if it has issues) is just not an option. i'm not addicted to upgrading anymore. a lot of my problems were a mix between bad Google Apps and bad updates due to a previous addiction to that. from now on, i only update if i desire a feature that only comes with an update, or if it fixes things that actually are broken. if the phone, its preloaded apps, and so on work perfectly fine, i don't see the need. i certainly wouldn't like someone over at Google, Verizon or Samsung telling me that i need the update when i disagree. let the user update at his/her own recognizance. not on the terms of a company.
People really don't like being forced. imagine, if you had a car you liked, that was reliable, easy to work on, cheap insurance, etc, and suddenly a warning comes up on your odometer display saying 'hey! a new Mercedes has come out! would you like to update? it has improvements to speed, performance and stability [install now] [install later]. of course, you might hit 'later' but you'd get pestered just because some car company thought their brand new flagship was better than your old reliable car. i doubt highly you'd be so quick to update because some company says so. and you would likely not be happy to be continually pestered until you do. and opening the hood and pulling the fuse that powers that display module (rooting) might cause other issues. that's how it was to me. but i managed to fix all that, disabled the update tool, despite needing to root to do so, and removed the app stores (i don't use Google Play, but i do use Amazon and Samsung apps) ability to update or notify me about it. so my problem has been resolved, and i'm happy again. just want to let it out for those who think upgrading is the best thing since sliced bread. or approve of the new policy of forced upgrades or continual nags until two weeks later when the upgrade would be installed either way and needing to root to disable that. to me that's a policy that killed Apple for me. i'm just lucky i caught it on my Galaxy S4 before it turned into an S5; albeit a laggy, half-usable S5 with some features removed.
My S4 is the USA version, so it has the quad-core Snapdragon. i never get lag. but then i never use Google Play or its associated apps (which do cause stutter and lag as they are always running and syncing, heck, Google Play Music just being installed and tied to my Google Sync decided it would eat my entire data plan one time pre-caching all the songs in my library for 'faster access') i mostly use what came on my phone, with very little installed apps. i think i might have installed Facebook, and of course SuperSU came with rooting, and i have a weather app with no permissions installed from Samsung Apps, and downloaded music from Amazon MP3. that's it. everything else was included. my Galaxy Note 10.1 is my gaming device on the go, so all my hundred or so games went on it. so perhaps you're doing stuff with your S4 that caused lag?
