Samsung’s new Galaxy S5 is most impressive when wet

How do you get consumers excited about yet another expensive high-end smartphone, in a U.S. market that seems to be maturing? Maybe the answer is to simplify the thing, and stress just a few interesting new features, like the ability to survive being submerged in water, or to act as a heart-rate monitor.

That's the strategy that Samsung, the global smartphone leader, hopes will work for its latest top-of-the-line model, the Android-based Galaxy S5, which goes on sale in the U.S. on Friday at all major carriers.

Re/code's Walt Mossberg has a full review at Re/code.

—By Walt Mossberg, Re/code.net.

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