Samsung Galaxy S5 Release Date, Price, Specs & Features: Samsung Galaxy S5 Prime Rumoured For May Launch
Samsung goes “back to basics” with the Samsung Galaxy S5, looks to connectivity, imaging, biometrics and sensors for the win
The Samsung Galaxy S5 is official and – not to dampen the mood too much – it looks quite a lot like its predecessor, the Galaxy S4. The handset itself is bigger and has a 5.1in Super AMOLED1920 x 1080 pixel display, placing it right between the S4 and Note 3, with regards to overall size and weight. Despite plenty of claims to contrary, the Galaxy S5 is – surprise, surprise – constructed almost entirely out of plastic. The only big change with regards to visuals is the dimple effect back panel, which we presume was added to aid grip.
Inside you have A LOT of new technology and sensors, tallying nicely with the myriad rumours we heard about biometrics playing a big part in the next Galaxy handset. True to the rumours, there’s a fingerprint scanner located inside the Home button, and a heart rate monitor on the back just under the camera port. The handset is also water and dust resistant with IP67 certification – which probably means there’ll be no Active version this time around.
“We’ve decided to go back to basics with the Galaxy S5 and focus on the features and things that matter the most to our customers – namely the camera, ability to view and download data and content quickly and their health and wellbeing,” said Simon Stanford, Vice President of IT & Mobile division, Samsung Electronics UK & Ireland. “People want a smartphone that enhances and enables their mobile life. The Galaxy S5 represents just that, and we’re excited to see the response to our latest flagship smartphone device.”
Samsung Galaxy S5 Design
“The Galaxy S5 blends iconic Samsung design with modern trends to appeal to a range of consumer tastes and interests” – That’s the official line via Samsung. Another way of looking at it is that the Galaxy S5, save for the dimpled back panel and slightly larger chassis, looks a lot like the Samsung Galaxy S4, which, in turn, looked quite a bit like the Galaxy S3. Expect to hear a lot of people moaning about this over the next couple of weeks.
Exact measurements are 142.0 x 72.5 x 8.1mm and the handset weighs in at 145g, making it heavier, thicker and larger than the Galaxy S4. The edges of the device feature the same familiar silver accents we saw aboard the Galaxy S4 and Note 3, but sadly no new build materials.
The Galaxy S5 will be available in a range of colours including Charcoal Black, Shimmery White, Electric Blue and Copper Gold. Samsung says the overall design of the new Galaxy S5 is “glam” in its press release, which, if we’re honest, just makes us think of this guy.
Samsung Galaxy S5 Specs & Hardware
With regards to overall spec and hardware, the Galaxy S5 is definitely one of those handsets, like the iPhone 5s, which will divide opinion. Samsung has bumped up the processing power, added in a slightly larger 5.1in display and kept the RAM at 2GB. Internal storage is the standard 16/32GB.
While Samsung was pretty coy about the exact processor details some sources have done a bit of digging and reports now indicate we're looking at a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core chip clocked at 2.5GHz with 2GB of RAM and an upgraded Adreno GPU.
Samsung Galaxy S5: Key Specs
- Display: 5.1” FHD Super AMOLED (1920 x 1080)
- Processor: 2.5GHz Quad core application processor
- RAM: 2GB
- Storage: 16/32GB
- SD: Up To 128GB
- OS: Android 4.4.2 KitKat
- Connectivity: WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac HT80, MIMO(2x2); Bluetooth®: 4.0 BLE / ANT+; USB: USB 3.0; NFC; IR Remote
- Camera: 16MP (rear), 2.0MP (front)
- Battery: 2800mAh
- Sensors: Accelerometer; gyro; proximity; compass; barometer; Hall; RGB ambient light; Gesture(IR); Finger Scanner; Heart rate sensor
How Does It Compare To The HTC One M8?
| HTC One M8 | Samsung Galaxy S5 | |
| Display | 5-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution (441ppi) | 5.1 inch 1820 x 1080 pixel resolution (432ppi) |
| Size | 146.36 x 70.6 x 9.35mm | 142 x 72.5 x 8.1 mm |
| Weight | 160g | 145g |
| Processor | 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor | 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor |
| Camera | 4MP UltraPixel sensor with f/2.0 aperture; 5MP f/2.0 setup on the front | 16 MP (5312 x 2988 pixels), phase detection autofocus, LED flash |
| Storage | 16GB/32GB | 16GB/32GB |
| Additional Storage | 128GB via SDcard | 128GB via SDcard |
| Memory | 2GB of RAM | 2GB of RAM |
| OS | Android KitKat (4.4.2) | Android KitKat (4.4.2) |
But Maybe Not So Bad After All?
Allegedly, Samsung’s Galaxy S5 will beat the S4 in storage meaning you can keep more on the newer handset, according to information fromGottaBeMobile.
When hands-on with the device at Mobile World Congress a number of publications, including KYM, noted there would only be 8.65GB of storage available to the consumer after the amount of bloatware on the device.
This annoyed a lot of people but it has now been revealed the demo units on show at the event had a number of files specifically for “Unpacked” taking up more room. Without those onboard it will give users an additional 2GB of storage on the internal memory meaning you can use about 10.7GB on the handset.
Bloatware takes up a lot of space on a number of handsets and you never get what the company lists the device as being able to hold. The S5 is available in 16GB and 32GB versions according to Samsung but of course files already on the device will shorten this quite a way.
To make up for it though the company has included a MicroSD card slot which will support up to 128GB MicroSD cards meaning you could actually have a device capable of holding 138GB or 154GB of music, videos and photos.
Display Mate: “Best Performing Smartphone Display We’ve Ever Tested”
Display Mate put every smartphone display through its paces. The site now claims the Samsung Galaxy S5 has “the best performing smartphone display that we have ever tested”.
According to the site it “raises the bar for top display performance up by another notch”. Display Mate said it deserved the accolade for its brightness, colour accuracy, contrast ratio and much more. According to the figures it’s 22% brighter than the S4 screen and 13% brighter than the Note 3’s.
Battery performance has also been worked on, it now takes 18% less power to match the same brightness level as the S4 managed. If Samsung has managed to improve the display by that much and managed to save on battery life, it may have achieved what most believed to be impossible.
Connectivity and Battery
Other notable additions include super-fast connectivity with global LTE support and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac HT80, MIMO (2x2). Samsung has also included something called “download booster” which leverages both LTE and Wi-Fi connections to speed up sizeable downloads of over 30MB.
The battery is still removable, which is sure to produce an audiable sigh of relief from many Samsung fans. It's been upgraded from the Galaxy S4's 2,600mAh to 2,800mAh. And Samsung's new Ultra Power Saving mode, where the display reverts to black and white when your battery gets below 10%, is likely to ensure you get even more juice from the S5.
The big changes, or the one’s Samsung wants you to take notice of, are under the hood or hidden in plain sight. Things like the fingerprint scanner, heart rate monitor and improved imaging and super fast network connectivity are the “Big Talking Points” according to Samsung. Whether consumers feel that way, however, is another thing entirely.
Samsung Galaxy S5: Exynos vs. Snapdragon
As predicted there’s going to be more than one version of the Galaxy S5 at launch. We know that the UK, as well as most of Europe, will be getting the Snapdragon 801 version, and the reason for this is LTE. At launch Samsung confirmed the Galaxy S5 as carrying the Snapdragon 801. In a quieter launch some 24-hours later, Samsung told Engadget that certain markets around the globe – those with little to no LTE – would be getting a different version of the handset; one with a 2.1GHz octa-core Exynos processor.
Samsung did exactly the same thing with the Galaxy S4; different chips for different regions and markets. We never saw the Exynos version in the UK, and that will almost certainly be the case this time around as well.
Samsung Galaxy S5 Camera
The camera aboard the Galaxy Note 3 was a very capable shooter, as was the setup on the Galaxy S4. The Galaxy S5 looks to takes thing a step further with the introduction of a 16MP sensor and Selective Focus, a feature which allows you to adjust the focus of a shot after the image has been taken just like you can do aboard Nokia’s new Lumia handsets and the famed Lytro camera. Samsung has also improved the auto-focus speed, too – you now only have to wait 0.3 seconds – meaning rapid capture is on the cards.
There’s also HDR Live mode – a means of previewing an image with full HDR processing applied to it before you’ve actually captured the image. All the usual Galaxy camera app settings we know and love are present and accounted for too, as well as few added extras like Virtual Tour Shot and Shot & More. The Galaxy S5 can also shoot video in 4K – 3840 x 2160 pixels – resolution, although if you’re going to be doing a lot of this it’s probably worth investing in a 64GB or even 128GB microSD card.
Samsung Galaxy K Zoom Unearthed
We knew Sammy would be releasing a Samsung Galaxy S5 Zoom handset, we didn’t know it’d be coming with a new name though. Originally we heard from a leak it’d be called the Samsung Galaxy K and it seems Samsung has now confirmed the news.
Samsung sent out invitations to a number of news organisations inviting them to “Samsung Media Day” on April 29. The event takes place at the Red Dot Design Museum in Singapore and the invites come plastered with a big K, which has what looks like a phone inside. That’s accompanied with the caption “Kapture The Moment”.
We don’t think it’s a typo, it seems pretty certain Samsung is confirming there will be a Samsung Galaxy K handset announced at the event. The original leak itself gave us some tasty details of what there’s to expect on the handset. Here’s the first photo of the handset.
From the photo it gives us some information on the camera strengths. There’s a Xenon flash, it’s got 10x zoom covering the 24-240mm range in 35mm equivalent. The same source also provided details on the megapixels: it’s a 20MP sensor.
If you look closely at the photo you may be able to work out the fact the camera sits flush to the rest of the handset. That makes it a lot easier to use as a mobile phone as you don’t have the camera lens poking into your leg when it’s in your pocket.
Another set of photos has now emerged showing the Galaxy K Zoom with its optical zoom lens fully extended. The images leaked via Chinese social networking forum Baidu.
As well as giving an impression of the extended lens hardware, the shots show the phone from a side-facing angle, meaning we get a better idea of the phone's proportions. As per earlier analysis, it is much thinner than its predecessor. Of course, it is bulkier than the regular Galaxy S5, but to have slimmed down from the original Galaxy S4 Zoom's substantial scale is impressive to say the least.
Reports say the Galaxy K Zoom has a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display with an HD resolution, and a Samsung Exynos 5 Hexa six-core processor with 2GB of RAM. The front-facing secondary camera is rated at 2-megapixels and Android 4.4.2 KitKat is pre-installed on the device.
ISOCELL Camera Demoed On Video
Samsung ISOCELL technology for the Galaxy S5 camera has been in the works for quite a while now, but so far we've had little indication about what makes it so special. There’s now a full introduction video to the technology which has come officially from Samsung. So what’s ISOCELL? Well there is a clue in the name as the individual pixels are all isolated cells.
According to Samsung the barriers between these cells limit the crosstalk between each pixel by 30%, which reduces noise on images, especially in low-light. The cells are thinner than traditional BSI sensors meaning they’re better for a thinner smartphone too.
It also improves back illumination as the light-collecting capacity grows by an extra 30%. This video will describe exactly what ISOCELL technology will bring to photography on Samsung’s next flagship.
