Yep, you heard me. I’m reviewing a Samsung Galaxy S5, courtesy of Three. I’ve been extremely excited about it, and indeed walking around with two phones has been quite interesting. It has been a week now and I’d normally leave it longer before writing about something, but there are a few reasons why a short-term review is needed.

1. I am planning on leaving my network and switching to Three as soon as my contract allows (I thought it was December, it seems to be January).
2. I am a Samsung Galaxy Mini S3 user, so I’m already familiar with the phone and like it.
3. I take a LOT of photos on my phone, the S5 has a much better camera on it, so the chance to try it out was a no-brainer.
4. I am an Apple user – so does the phone remain compatible with my MacBook Pro and so on?

From Samsung Galaxy G5 test

I’m not normally one for filters – I’ll try them out but often find they’ve a novelty value. Not so for the Galaxy S5 – they have a fabulous one, Selective Focus which will blur out the background of your picture and focus on something (which has to be 50cm from you) towards the front. There’s also a Dual Camera option which uses both cameras at once – my head on a postage stamp, the only time that will ever happen.

I like my Macro photography and couldn’t find where to switch for good close-ups, so zoomed in instead to see what the quality would be like – and I was staggered – it’s brilliant and up there with photos I’ve taken on my good camera, possibly even better.

From Samsung Galaxy G5 test

Writing this up and then not showing you what I’ve taken which is share-worthy so far would be daft, wouldn’t it? With the Galaxy S5 being an Android phone I’ve uploaded it to Picasa, and you can find a selection here.

So far a week in and I’m really impressed. I’m finding Three as a network much more reliable than my current one, and having a chance to try a phone I’d go for on a network I want to use is proving to be a really positive experience. I haven’t tried connecting via Kies yet.

Oh, and if you want to see my pictures on Instagram, I’m the only fool who has tagged them #samsunggalaxyg5 because I didn’t spot what my fat fingers were doing. Well done me – this is why Swype would be a good thing on the phone – I can spot my mistakes better. @mumfriendlyjo is my username on Instagram anyway.

The biggest downside? It’s only on loan. I may become too attached to it. Read more about the S5 handset here.