[Galaxy S 5 General] puremind:
I have read a lot. I think the M8 does provide a truly great software and overall user experience. Currently I own the Asus Padfone Infinity, which delivered what the One didn't deliver for me: 5inches screen in an aluminium body and with good battery performance.

But I am missing Boomsound and Blinkfeed (as I had the One for a couple of months), so the M8 is just what I wanted and it has thinner horizontal bezel than any device except the LG G2 (overall 2.5mm less than the Asus Padfone).

I currently also own the S4 as my secondary device, and battery life is also not great (similar to the One) but I kept it over the one because of the larger screen (Asus Padfone has no infrared sensor). I had the LG G2 for a time but sound was not good and I didn't really feel the huge battery gains.

From what I can tell, last year the One was at a disadvantage because of smaller battery and screen size, but this year it is much more even for me. I am one in the minority of users who really liked the camera on the One M7 because it focused fast and blur free whereas on the S4 I needed to be steady and take multiple snapshots to get exposure and focus right.

I feel 2% bigger screen on the S5 vs. M8 is not a factor anymore, and battery life on the M8 is supposed to be great. I am receiving my unit on Monday. When I travel I sometimes watch series on my smartphone, so I would enjoy having a great sound and a great display, so I feel the one has all I need (I am not a headphone guy).

I really liked the display on the S5 but I didn't feel the software experience was particularly fast, the home screen transitions were bit laggy but then I come from the S800 Asus, so S4 feel slow to me and TW on the S5 is still somewhat laggy. I am still not sure why Samsung devices have suddenly become laggy with the S4, maybe because they clock their processors higher than other manufacturers or just the new sensor management. I have to say I didn't play with the settings on the S5, I looked at the factory default. Mind you, the settings didn't change the lags on the S4.

I do not know the Sony devices well as previously I felt their displays lacked contrast but the Z2 looks like a contender.

Overall, if you are not bugged by the camera and are not into the whole sensor richness thing like me, I would definitely go with the M8 as I feel it gives the most satisfyingly well-rounded experience. If you need the megapixels and are too damn attracted to AMOLED, go for the S5. All the reviews I read were amazed at the Software improvements on the M8, calling Sense 6 the best and most intelligent non stock android skin and the camera app the best on any phone. I am looking forward to that and will be testing on Monday (if delivered before I have to catch my flight).

If you want larger displays and battery, then go Z2 or G3....

---------- Post added at 11:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:13 PM ----------

What do you mean by fatty? Do you mean a power casting? I looked for larger batteries on the S4 but most did bring in improvement for a month until it degraded to levels worse than stock battery.

I think battery on the S5 will be worse for web browsing (unless Samsung use the same trick as last year and bridle brightness in the browser to fool testers) because the +25% brightness boost will really hurt and equivalent for video. Standby should be better because of battery capacity.

Used outdoor battery life will really suffer on the big bright AMOLED but who cares no one is testing that in any review, Samsung only care about benchmarks.