Samsung Galaxy S5 G900F - How to Keep it safe & maitenance tips

[Kiriakos GR]

Samsung S5 G900F this is smartphone which I truly love and respect because this was made to survive also at outdoor use.
I did put together few tips for you whom care to keep this phone alive and kicking for several years ahead. 


Samsung S5 User manual does not say much about tips that any user he is obligated to do as maintenance in favor to proper waterproofing.

1) It does not say … DO NOT remove the back cover with out a good reason. (plastic hooks over the cover goes bad after 50 removals)
2) It does not say … Add baseline over the back cover O-ring every six months.
3) It does not say … Use microfiber cloth to clean from dust and dirt entire surface at the back of the phone before you attach the back cover.
4) It does not say… Get a wireless S-view cover so to remove stress from the charging port.
5) It does not say … Keep your own charging cable in to a dust free environment and away from your food.
S5 charging port this is protected from dust and pollution by it own protection cover, but power cables plugs get dirty if you are not careful enough, due such a cable you do transfer dirt at the charging port.


S5 G900 this is safe from water if you do all above, and never replace it screen at unauthorized service center (Original screen shields intact).
Practically, if you do all above and add also one Nillkin H+ tempered class over the screen, the phone becomes strong as fortress and water proof as submarine.
Original S5 back cover it is a poor choice but Samsung did it to keep this phone slim.

Original S-View cover this deliver lots of protection but the wireless charging version it is by far most wise selection.
With all above in mind phone electronics will stay healthy for decades, except if you are using S5 for navigation and this is exposed to enormously high temperatures under the sun in your car.

Historical facts: 
Samsung Galaxy S5 G900 this is considered today by Samsung as EOL  (end of life) product.
Security updates for Android 6.0.1 these now are available only once per year.

Latest version of Samsung firmware for Europe , now aloud you to disable several build in apps.
Most Google related apps can be now disabled.
Several Samsung apps can be now disabled too.
In simple English, finally after several years you may have full control over your phone by this running stock operating system.   

[Kiriakos GR]

When you use your smartphone mostly for business, increased security of your phone content it should bother you.

Unfortunately Android operating system this was full of security holes by design.
Google, Samsung, advertisers, software developers, all wanted to have access at your personal data = Your phone list, your Geo-location data (GPS recorded travels), your habits, your friends, products that you use, social media engagement, WiFi spots which you get internet access ( another way for  Geo-location data collection).

For me which I have awareness that Android operating system this is 100 times more insecure than my Windows XP Pro desktop computer, I did the wise thing to not use my smartphone as portable computer, but exclusively as phone which has few apps which they offer something productive or basic entertainment.

First App which I will recommend so any one to understand which apps transfer data with out your awareness this is:
NoRoot Data Firewall      https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jianjia.firewall

My second recommendation would be:
Permissions Manager https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hr.permissionsmanager
(discover which apps they have access at the hardware of your phone)

Third and last important recommendation this is navigation software unrelated with Google engines (Off-line use):
MapFactor GPS Navigation Maps  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mapfactor.navigator
 

[Kiriakos GR]

I am now owning my Galaxy S5 for 2.4 years,  I do not feel comfortable of me acting as beta tester at hundreds of small apps created every day.
But I have few small free apps to suggest because they use on-board sensors of S5 for delivery of productive features.

Build in sensors at  Galaxy S5 it makes it work as reliable compass (Magnetometer) and also as Clino-meter + bubble level.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.plaincode.magnetmeter
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.plaincode.clinometer

My latest discovery helping me for Chinese to English (Off-line) translation due camera recognition, Chinese text over machinery this is not a problem any more.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.youdao.translator
(do not forget to download entire number of off-line data packages found at settings menu).   

[Kiriakos GR]

My second hand  Galaxy S5 G900F  it succeed surviving as undamaged for 10 years in my hands.
And approximately 14 years in total.

No matter of how cautious I was with this phone,  it came a day (two months ago), and sound chip hardware failure occur.
Ringer speaker this become silent.
Technical verdict = motherboard failure.

While entire phone this is working, Ringer circuit this quit working, while all waterproof shields are intact.
Technical inspection from an expert this shown, clean from any sort of contamination motherboard.
While actual motherboard repair, this is beyond the skills of the local technician.

Quite soon I did realize, that there is no skilled people at mobile phone repairs.
Replacing an broken screen and a charging port, this is no technical work, this does not require skills.
But the problem was and is, that these morons, they are unaware of how to repair an IP67 phone, so this retain it IP67 waterproofing properties, after the repair.

This is the sad secret behind Samsung Galaxy S5 G900F.
Only Samsung authorized centers, they could restore IP67, but this small miracle did not last long.
End of support date, this arrived very fast, and genuine spares they disappear.
     
Replacing your Galaxy S5 G900F, with another used Galaxy S5 G900F, this is not easy.
You must stand lucky, finding a used device this never be repaired.

This is equal challenge, at finding a used car, this never be involved it to a crash accident.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I did few visits at Samsung consumers website, and I did get filled with disappointment.
Web design this is poor.
Samsung branded accessories, they do missing product photographs, and product descriptions.

My personal memories about Samsung they become alive again, there is no long term support at consumer level products.
Galaxy S5 G900F, this marketed as top choice for CEO and people at business management.
Luxury pack in hardware with features, special hardware sensors, and hard to die, due IP68 protections.
Along with finger scanner sensor for ultimate security.


Currently all my thoughts are at finding another used and never crashed car (G900F).
So to win some time, European market of mobile phones, this is now changing.
Throwaway design of mobile phones, this is not an option anymore.
And about Samsung, they should add lots of corrections at their company policies if they wish to be paired with Europe.     

[Kiriakos GR]

A bit of fresh education ... SM-G900F Firmware G900FXXU1CTK2   11/2020

This includes satellite tracking fix, not just a standard security patch.

By having Samsung shutting down OTA updates even prior 2018, you only chance finding this information today this is by asking AI.   
I am currently getting prepared for adding G900FXXU1CTK2.

[Kiriakos GR]

Not my first time at using Odin engine.  (Odin3)

While latest  system.img.ext4 this gets uploaded at the phone,  there is a software glitch, when hidden.img.ext4 (very small file) this is to be uploaded.
Odin3 stops with error.
The phone boot again at firmware upload screen. 

Thanks to AI :  I stayed in panic for less than two minutes.
The fix ..  Extract hidden.img.ext4 ... rename it to hidden.img.tar
Then use Odin3 to upload this single file ... as this to be the master ROM

After upload and in five seconds,  the phone when to reboot, and G900FXXU1CTK2 (Year 2020) this started to boot. 
Today my Galaxy S5 G900F this minimized it age gap, year 2020 this is much closer to year 2026.

Original Firmware Change list, this is not visible online.
1) satellite tracking fix  (improved algorithm ).
2) Large applications fix (so to stop them from crashing) better memory management

I can almost confirm both,  the App of my network operator (WhatsUp), this was hang and crashing in the past two years.
I did reported the problem three times with facts.

Today I did install the App for a last time,  for one last test, the damn App were installed and run in a perfect manner. 


In the negative side of things, the hardware issue of no sound output at the ringer speaker, this stays.
By loading the latest ROM / Firmware,  this acted as a proof to me, that my issue this is now an 100% hardware problem.