There are lots of things I love about the Galaxy S5, but one thing that lets it down is its TouchWiz software. Samsung bakes in so many tweaks and modifications that it’s noticeably slower than stock Android, and filled to the brim with stuff (crap) no one ever wants or needs.

Fortunately, that won’t be the case with the Google Play Edition device, which will run pure Android 4.4 KitKat exactly as Google intended. And after picking up its Bluetooth SIG certificate today, it should be too long before this device hits the Play Store.

The OnePlus One’s Camera and Gallery apps have been (unofficially) made available to download for other Android-powered smartphones. They’re based on the stock CyanogenMod 11 apps, which are based on the stock Android 4.4 KitKat apps — but they offer some nifty features that you don’t get direct from Google.

When you buy a Samsung smartphone, you quickly discover that most of its internal storage is taken up by the TouchWiz operating system. That’s because it’s jam-packed with pre-installed apps and features that Samsung believes we all want — but how many of those apps actually get used?

Not many of them. According to data from Strategy Analytics, the average Galaxy smartphone user spends little time with Samsung’s own offerings, with the company’s most popular app getting just 3.9 minutes of use per month.

On paper, the Galaxy S5 and the new HTC One (M8) sport relatively the same specs. The S5 does sport a slightly faster Snapdragon 801 chipset — 2.5GHz vs. 2.3GHz on the One — but that difference is barely noticeable in real life.

Well, as it turns out, Samsung did not really pay much attention to optimising its TouchWiz skin for the hardware on the Galaxy S5 and the device is actually slower than the One (M8) in certain day-to-day tasks. 

Samsung has teamed up with Amazon to bring its smartphone and tablet owners a custom “Kindle for Samsung” app. Available worldwide to those with a Galaxy device running Android 4.0 and above, the app will offer 12 free books every year through an exclusive Samsung Book Deals promotion.