Samsung has just announced the Samsung Galaxy S5 at the MWC over in Barcelona and they didn’t give the design an overhaul as was expected. Instead Samsung went for minor tweaks once again and included two new sensors.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 does come ahead of rivals for specs and it seems to outsmart most of them too. Whether Samsung have done enough to make people want to pay out and update is another matter as there are not many differences between the flagship handset and the Samsung Galaxy S4.
The display of the Samsung Galaxy S5 has been improved to 5.1 inches, the display of the Samsung Galaxy S4 comes in at 5 inches.
When you first look at the handset it is hard to see any changes as they both have the same physical design and shape. They come with the curved frame and shiny metal edging along with oval home button at the bottom. The Samsung Galaxy S5 is light and comfortable in the hands, but it is neither lighter nor slimmer than its predecessor. It comes in at 145 gram and 8.1 mm in thickness, which means that it is 15 grams heavier and 0.2mm thicker than the Samsung Galaxy S4.
Samsung fans were hoping that they would go with the styling of HTC and offer metal, however Samsung have just made the plastic back of the phone perforated and it is still removable.
There was rumours going around that the Samsung Galaxy S5 would have a 2 k resolution display, just as with the Samsung Galaxy S4 it comes with a full HD Super AMLOED display offering a resolution of 1920 x 1080p. this means that the display offers images that are detailed, crisp and clear.
There is a new 2.5GHz quad core processor, which has been boosted from the 1.9GHz of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the camera on the back is 16MP. It is thought that the Samsung Galaxy S5 will support the 4G networks in Australia.
The chief marketing officer of Samsung Australia said “We did a global survey of consumers to really understand what they wanted from their phones.” “There are some dramatic improvements to the hardware, but it’s how people are using their phones and what’s important to them.”
He talked about the Samsung Galaxy S5 being water and dust resistant and this had been made possible as the earphone jack and internal components were covered in silicon, the power jack has been given a brand new cover.
The handset comes with a power saving mode that is cool, for when there is very limited chance to recharge. The battery has received a boost from 2600mAh to 2800mAh.
The power saving mode will dim the display and make it black and white, with limited access to apps, including phone, email and web browser. Samsung have said that the Samsung Galaxy S5 could last between three and eight days without having to be recharged.
Improvements have been made to the camera software. The Samsung Galaxy S5 now has auto focus that is lighting fast. Samsung said that focusing happens in 0.3 seconds.
There is also selective focus and this improves the photo quality as it takes two pictures, foreground and background and then lets you choose you want to focus.
There are two new sensors on the Samsung Galaxy S5, one to authorise payments and to act as a health monitor.
The fingerprint scanner is akin to the TouchID of Apple but instead of pressing the Home button, you can swipe down from the bottom of the display to the Home button. Three fingerprints have to be registered on the handset for this to work.
Samsung have also partnered up with PayPal for the fingerprint scanner and this is better than the system of Apple, which at the moment can only be used on iTunes and the App Store.
The fingerprint scanner of Samsung will allow owners to unlock any apps that have been Knox protected.
The other sensor is found near the camera at the back and is a heart rate monitor. This will fit in with the new Fear Fit Fitness band that we saw launched.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 will be made available in Australia in April with all the major carriers offering the handset.
