Yes, I shoot handheld very often. Auto-ND is a dream for filming docs, especially when moving in and out of places with diffierent lighting while having to film continuously. For example I filmed the street protests in Korea, with tight spaces and people always touching you and and your gear. Super happy to just have the FS5 with a wireless microphone on the correspondent, and not having to worry about all that fiddly stuff. The handgrip is great. I film with the Sony BUP60 batteries and they hold forever. XLR jacks are great and strong. When the camera is in my bag, I pull it out, switch it on, and film.
When I work with a tripod I do most of the things manually, and then you're right, the difference to a GH4 is not that big. I the end it depends on what you're filming, but for my case, the FS5 is the perfect package, and I'd never ever switch back to something mirrorless/DSLR as my main camera.