Samsung officially unveiled the most-awaited smartphone, the Galaxy S5, along with a new smartwatch and a fitness band at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Monday.
Samsung, the world's biggest smartphone maker, unveiled its new flagship device, the Galaxy S5, along with two other wearables at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Monday. The event hosted several other introductions from various tech companies, but Samsung's revelations were eye-catching. The Samsung Galaxy S5 attracted onlookers, media and developers during the event mainly for its impressive new features such as fingerprint scanning, advanced camera, improved battery, larger display and water resistance.
Samsung's latest introduction comes after a series of leaked images, specifications and teases from the tech giant with its "Unpacked 5" themed invitation. With the Galaxy S5 finally out of the box, followers can check out the improvements compared to its predecessor and what challenges it brings to the table for its rivals.
"With the Galaxy S5, Samsung is going back to basics to focus on delivering the capabilities that matter most to our consumers," JK Shin, President and Head of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung, said in a press release. "Consumers are looking for mobile tools that inspire and support them as they improve their everyday lives. The Galaxy S5 represents an iconic design with essential and useful features to focus on delivering the ultimate smartphone on the market today through people inspired innovation."
Finger Scanner
The Samsung Galaxy S5 brings a slew of unseen features and modified high-end specifications. The anticipated fingerprint scanner secured its place in the Galaxy S5's home button for advanced security of some personal files and photos. The technology, which was first seen in the Apple iPhone 5S, also lets users scan their digits to unlock the phone and in some cases validate mobile payments.
Camera
The Galaxy S5 sports an upgraded 16-megapixel camera, up from Galaxy S4's 13-megapixel, with easy access to shoot, edit and share images seamlessly. The front camera shoots at two megapixels. Samsung made several improvements for its camera so every moment is captured just at the right time. According to the phone maker, the autofocus speed is the world's fastest, it takes 0.3 seconds to bring an image in focus before a shot.
The Galaxy S5 camera also features advanced High Dynamic Range (HDR) for vibrant and true to color images. Another value addition to the camera is the all-new Selective Focus feature that lets users focus on a specific area while taking an image and the background is blurred automatically. This feature is familiar to Windows Phone smartphone users, where an additional app called Refocus offers a similar function.
Design
Samsung continues the signature look of its Galaxy lineup with minimal alterations on the exterior front. The new flagship offers a premium feel with its new perforated texture on the rear. The screen size is bigger than its predecessor, 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display with 1920 x 1080 screen resolution. The smartphone build is designed to withstand 30 minutes at the bottom of a 3-foot deep pond and resistant to sweat, sand, rain and dust, the company said.
The device weighs 145 grams and measures 142mm in height, 72.5mm in width and 8.1 mm in thickness. Compared to Galaxy S4, the S5 is taller, wider and thicker.
Network Connections
Samsung Galaxy S5 features advanced LTE and Wi-Fi experience and adds more juice with Download Booster. This offers blazing fast data speeds by bonding Wi-Fi and LTE simultaneously. This will give Galaxy S5 owners the fastest available network.
Under the hood:
The Galaxy S5 sports matching processing power to run these services. It is powered by 2.5GHz Quad core application processor, 2GB RAM and offers optional 16 or 32 GB built-in storage with support for microSD card. The smartphone uses Google's latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat.
Battery
The Galaxy S5 gets treated with 2800mAh battery for a better life. The device features a special Ultra Power Saving Mode making the phone last longer than usual. When activated, the device switches to black and white mode and shuts down all unnecessary apps to minimize battery consumption. This is a great feature for smartphone users as battery drainage issues have surfaced more than a few times.
Health and Fitness
The Galaxy S4 tracks and records heart rate without any additional accessory, courtesy of integrated Heart Rate Sensor. The S5 comes with the function built within the phone. The tech giant also offers improved S Health, which manages user's diet, exercise records and also includes a pedometer to track the number of steps taken.
Availability
The Samsung Galaxy S5 will be available in all retail outlets, through carriers and online sellers, starting April 11. The handset offers four new colors, charcoal Black, shimmery White, electric Blue and copper Gold. Samsung did not discuss the pricing details of the phone, which are likely to arrive soon before the device hits the market.
