Here's our breakdown of how the Galaxy S5 stacks up against the Galaxy S3.

Pros and Cons of the Galaxy S5:

The Galaxy S5 has a slightly larger display with more pixel density. It has a more powerful CPU, camera, and a larger storage expansion capacity.

The S5 beats the Galaxy S3 in almost all departments. But the S3 has a 64GB model and it weighs lesser than the S5.

Pros and Cons of the Galaxy S3:

The Galaxy S3 is an earlier version in the Galaxy series and doesn't have any major feature that could beat the newer Galaxy S5. It is however lighter and features a 64GB model which is absent in the latter.

The S3 has many points that make the S5 a superior phone. The Galaxy S3 has a smaller display with lower resolution. Its primary camera lens is only half as powerful as in the S5. It has 1GB RAM compared to the S5's 2GB memory, and it cannot be upgraded to Lollipop like the latter.

Specs:

The Samsung Galaxy S5 has a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED, 1080x1920-pixel display with pixel density of 432ppi. It has a 2.5-GHz quad core Krait 400 CPU. It is powered by Android KitKat which is upgradeable to Lollipop. Other features of the smart phone include 16MP and 2MP cameras, 16GB and 32GB storage with 128GB expansion slot, and 2GB of RAM.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels at 306ppi. The phone has a 1.4-GHz quad-core Cortex A9 CPU. It comes with Android Ice Cream Sandwich, upgradable to Jelly Bean. An 8MP primary and 1.9MP secondary camera, 1GB RAM, and 16GB, 32GB and 64GB internal storage are some of the main features. The storage can be upgraded up to 64GB with its microSD slot.

Talking Points:

The Samsung Galaxy S5 was launched in April 2014 before being unveiled in February at the MWC in Barcelona. Like most major phone releases, the S5 entry into the market was marred by a bug in the Verizon Wireless models. The bug stopped the camera from working, displaying a "camera failed" message on the screen. The Korean major replaced the defective phones. The dual SIM version of the phone was later released in June 2014.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 was released in May 2012. It was Samsung's first major success in a market otherwise dominated by Apple's iPhone series. The company sold over 20 million Galaxy S3's in the first hundred days. Since then the company has sold a staggering 50 million SIII's.

Prices:

The Galaxy S3 is currently available on Amazon at a price starting $259.99. On the other hand, the Galaxy S5 starts with a price tag of $649.99.

Conclusion:

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is easily the better phone among the two. If budget is not a constraint, you would prefer a larger phone with a more powerful CPU, camera, and an expansion slot up to 128GB. The price difference is however quite vast, but the S5 being the bearer of the current generation in the Galaxy series is expected to be costlier.