Samsung Galaxy S5 announced
Samsung officially “unpacked” the latest iteration in its Galaxy S range of smartphones at a press event held during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on 24 February 2014.
Calling its event Unpacked5, and ending the trailer for the event with the words “The Next Galaxy”, Samsung all but confirmed that the Galaxy S5 was the agenda for the evening.
Debunking many of the rumours about the device leading up to the launch, Samsung said that the Galaxy S5 will feature a 5.1-inch 1080p (1080 x 1920) display, and will be powered by a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor.
Blue Samsung Galaxy S5 showing camera lens
The Galaxy S5 boasts a 16 megapixel (MP) rear camera and 2.0MP front camera, and it will comply with IP67 water and dust resistance specifications. The device will launch on the Android 4.4 “KitKat” mobile operating system.
One rumour that did end up being true is the addition of a fingerprint scanner below the display, in the middle of the device. The Galaxy S5 also includes a built-in heart rate monitor, on the rear of the device below the camera lens.
Recent rumours suggested that Samsung would first launch a version of the Samsung Galaxy S5 with a 1080p display. The Korean smartphone maker would then follow-up with the launch of a metal model that features a 1440×2560 display. At the time of writing, Samsung has not commented on these rumours.
| Specifications | Samsung Galaxy S5 |
| Dimensions | 142.0 x 72.5 x 8.1mm |
| Weight | 145g |
| Operating system | Android 4.4.2 |
| Display | 5.1″ 1080p (1080×1920) |
| Rear camera | 16MP |
| Front camera | 2.1MP |
| Storage, internal | 16/32GB |
| Storage, expandable | microSD |
| RAM | 2GB |
| Processor | 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 |
| Graphics | Adreno 330 |
| Battery | 2,800mAh |
| Cellular data | LTE, HSPA+ |
TouchWiz update
The much-rumoured update to Samsung’s venerable TouchWiz “skin” for Android also appears to have been exaggerated.
Based on Samsung’s announcement, the extent of the changes to the user interface appear to be a different set of icons in the settings menu.
South African availability
The Galaxy S5 is set to launch in 150 countries around the world from 11 April 2014. Though no surprise, the Samsung Galaxy S5 has already been confirmed for South Africa.
Vodacom has confirmed that it plans to offer the device when it launches locally.
MTN previously said that it expected to launch the Samsung Galaxy S5 in mid–2014.
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