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Samsung Galaxy S5 release date, news and rumors

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is old news. Sure, it's a great smartphone - as you'll see in our in-depth review - but now all eyes are firmly locked on the Samsung Galaxy S5.
We're constantly trawling the web for all the latest on Samsung's fifth iteration of its flagship phone, and we've pulled together everything we've found to give an overview of what you might be able to expect from the Galaxy S5.
In terms of the name we'd be very surprised if Samsung was to deviate from the highly lucrative Galaxy S prefix which has seen the Korean firm squeeze every last drop of money out of the brand with numerous handset spin offs of its top products.
Expect it to arrive as the Samsung Galaxy S5 - nothing else.
If you're one of those interneteers that likes to skim read things in the hope someone will go through all the rumors and create a video render with them all thrown in together, well, you're in luck.

Samsung Galaxy S5 release date and price

All the big smartphone manufacturers are relatively entrenched in annual product cycles now, which means we can usually predict when they will launch their headlining products.
There are rumors saying Samsung will bring the Galaxy S5 launch forward to February after the S4 failed to sell as many as predicted
One Samsung exec apparently spilled the beans that the Galaxy S5 will be launched at MWC 2014 and a serial Twitter leaker has also suggesting this - although we find that hard to believe.
The MWC launch has been given a massive boost though, with Samsung sending out a teasing invite for its "Unpacked 5" event on February 24 - and it's that "5" which has caught everyone's attention - that means the Galaxy S5, right? RIGHT?

Must be the Galaxy S5 - what else could it be?

We're still not totally convinced however, and there's still a slight chance that we'll see the Samsung Galaxy S5 take to the stage sometime in March 2014, with both London and New York touted as potential locations.
If the Galaxy S4 launch event is anything to go by expect it to be big, brash and rather confusing.
In terms of price there's no point hoping that Samsung might offer the Galaxy S5 at a more competitive rate than its predecessors. It will be crammed full of new tech and thus will carry a price tag which will see it sit right at the top of pricing tree - SamMobile has gone as far as to claim it'll set you back €800 (around £542, $888, AU$983).
If it does bring an aluminium chassis, curved display and more, then we can see the price sky-rocketing. Time to start saving? You betcha.

Samsung Galaxy S5 to finally go all metal?

A lot of the early rumors appear to be focussing on the chassis of the Samsung Galaxy S5, with various sources claiming the S5 will be the handset where the Korean firm finally breaks is polycarbonate relationship in favour of a full metal jacket - although there are conflicting reports here.
Smartphones such as the iPhone 5S and HTC One have shown up the Galaxy S4 since launch in terms of design, offering a far superior look and feel and it's an area Samsung needs to work on with the Galaxy S5.
An "inside source" apparently confirmed to Android Geeks that the Galaxy S5 will arrive with a fully aluminium chassis and a new look dubbed "Design 3.0".
The aluminium frame rumor was given another hat tip by Korean site ETNews which reported that the Galaxy S5 would have an all-metal chassis.
Further fuel was then added to the all-metal fire when analysts claimed that Catcher Technology Co had taken an order to make the metal chassis for Samsung's Galaxy series.
However, Digitimes is reporting that its checks into the suppliers have shown no orders have been given for a metallic phone, with a carbon-fibre chassis an option. Samsung may go for a new coating though, one that brings diamond-like protection to the mix and ensuring the safety of your precious device.
Apparently, here's our first snap! Expect a lot more in the build up to the Galaxy S5 launch, but a photo claiming to show the metal frame of Samsung's next flagship phone gives us more hope that it may pass on plastic at last - although this is only the internal frame, which can be covered with all manner of materials.

Samsung Galaxy S5 - LEAK
Is this really the S5's frame? (credit: Nowhereelse.fr)

If this image is the real deal it rules out a flexible Galaxy S5 though, and the frame could still be covered in polycarbonate - but ETNews also cites sources "confirming" the S5 will be metal.
We may even get the best of both worlds as another report suggests that Samsung is prepping two versions of the Galaxy S5 - one metal, one polycarbonate, which could also be carbon fibre. We reckon that's pretty unlikely, but could suggest the Korean firm is toying with both materials.
It's worth remembering that similar rumors surrounded the Galaxy S4 which still launched with a polycarbonate body, so we're not getting too excited.

Samsung Galaxy S5 64-bit CPU

There was a lot of buzz around the 64-bit A7 processor which Apple stuffed inside the iPhone 5S and it's been blowing up benchmark tests left right and centre, and it looks like Samsung wants a bit of the action.
There's no question that the Galaxy S5 will be a powerhouse of a phone, but it may struggle to match the likes of the iPhone 5S and even the Note 3 after a benchmark result showed an unnamed Samsung device coming in behind both.
The rumors have been thoroughly shoving back and forth over whether Samsung will be launching the S5 with a 64-bit processor, as an ARM executive spilled the beans on the South Korean brand picking up its fancy new chip for 2014.
The S5 looks like it could have a whacking 4GB of RAM as well to power all the new technology inside, taking better advantage of that 64-bit chip - although more recently there has been confusion over just how much RAM the Galaxy S5 will pack, with other reports suggesting 3GB or a crazy 8GB RAM chip will reside in the phone.
64-bit is certainly not set in stone and another leak has pointed towards Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 quad-core chip clocked at 2.5GHz alongside an Adreno 330 CPU.
Considering the Galaxy Note 3 has launched with a mighty 2.3GHz quad-core processor and 3GB of RAM we'd expect the Galaxy S5 to at least match it, if not beat it.

Samsung Galaxy S5 screen

This is a tricky one - Samsung already has a display that's sharper than the human eye can detect, so why would it go any sharper?
The electronics brand seems to have ignored that question and will bepossibly bringing the S5 with a 2K QHD display - that's a dizzying 560ppi for screens as small as five inches.
It's not all about sharpness, as it could also lead to improved colour performance and refresh rate for slicker video and animations.
Given Samsung wants to go 4K for its 2015 smartphones, the halfway resolution makes sense for next year's devices.
In fact the resolution of 2560 x 1440 (that's QHD, or Quad-HD) briefly popped up alongside the SM-G900S model number on a benchmark test, before the details were pulled, fuelling the Galaxy S5 fire further, beforepopping up on SamMobile too.
Twitter leaker @evleaks has also waded into the Galaxy S5 screen rumor mill, posting an image of a .apk file which sports "WQHD" in its name - hinting at a 2560 x 1440 display.
In terms of the screen tech for the Galaxy S5, Samsung has always stuck AMOLED panels on its flagship handsets, but there appears to be a little bit of confusion for the fifth generation device.
Rumors suggest that Samsung may move away from the AMOLED technology in favor of LCD panels in the Galaxy S5, with a view to save money on producing the handset.

Samsung Galaxy S5 operating system

All previous headlining Galaxy S handsets have sported the Android operating system and we don't expect that to change with the Galaxy S5.
Google's latest version of its mobile platform, Android 4.4 KitKat, is launched in October 2013, so it's highly likely this will be the version of choice for the Galaxy S5 come March, and multiple sources point to this being the case.
Of course it won't be the pure Android experience you get on the Galaxy S5, Samsung will slap its TouchWiz interface over the top and screenshots claiming to show the new version destined for the handset have appeared online.
That new overlay may ring in big changes in terms of design, with screenshots popping up apparently showing a stylised version of Google Now on the homescreen.

Is this TouchWiz on the Galaxy S5? (credit: @evleaks)

As part of the new TouchWiz overlay Samsung is tipped to improve its Air Gestures, allowing you to hover multiple fingers above the screen to perform certain actions, instead of just one digit. We weren't overly impressed with Air Gestures on the Galaxy S4, so we're not getting excited about this particular rumor.
There's a rumor that is throwing a spanner in the works though, suggesting that Samsung will offer the Galaxy S5 in both Android and its own-brand Tizen variants.
Now this sounds pretty unlikely so we're taking this with a large pinch of salt, but it's certainly worth keeping an eye on.

Samsung Galaxy S5 design

As we've briefly mentioned already there's talk of a whole new design language for the Galaxy S5 which will hopefully see Samsung break away from the similar styling of the Galaxy S3 and S4.
Obviously a metal chassis would help in changing the design, but we want to know what the Galaxy S5 will actually look like.
A patent application unearthed by Patent Bolt might shed some light on this, with a couple of images cropping up showing a squarer Galaxy S5 design.
If the patents are real then Samsung may be about to finally ditch the physical home button which currently adorns all its handsets, and another patent design has also hinted at a lack of a home button for the Galaxy S5.

Samsung Galaxy S5 - LEAK
Bye bye physical home key (credit: Patent Bolt)

Anyone hoping for a curved or flexible Galaxy S5 - along the lines of theGalaxy Round and LG G Flex - will be disappointed to hear that Samsung is planning on keeping things flat for its fifth flagship iteration.

Samsung Galaxy 5S camera

The Galaxy S4 rocked up with a pretty decent 13MP camera on its rear, but rumors surrounding Galaxy S5 suggest it will take things a little furtherwith a 16MP snapper.
This claim has been backed up by a rather blurry photo which claims to have been taken on the Galaxy S5, sporting a resolution of 5312 x 2988 - aka 16MP.
That's still not as impressive as the 20.7MP Sony Xperia Z1 or 41MP Nokia Lumia 1020 - but do we really need cameras that powerful on our phones? You tell us!
The same report from the Electronic Times News also mentioned that the Galaxy S5 would sport the same optical image stabilisation (OIS) tech as theLG G2.
Samsung has announced a new CMOS image sensor dubbed ISOCELL which will almost certainly debut in the Galaxy S5, after the company told analysts the tech would be appearing in phones during 2014 and 2015.
The new sensor isolates individual pixels which minimises electrical crosstalk between them, which in turn leads to higher colour fidelity, for sharper, richer images.

Samsung Galaxy S5 fingerprint/retina scanner

Anyone hoping that Samsung will follow in the footsteps of Apple and bring a fingerprint scanner to the Galaxy S5 could well be disappointed if certain rumors are to be believed.
That's after a Samsung official apparently told the Korean Times that the company is "not yet developing the technology" for its handsets. Boo.
All hope is not lost however, as the fingerprint rumor has reared its ugly head again, contradicting earlier reports with a fingerprint scanning firm claiming Samsung will be going big on the tech after all in 2014.
Samsung is apparently building the fingerprint scanner itself, and reports suggest it will be housed under the screen - allowing you to keep your digits on screen at all times.

I'm looking at you

There were rumors of both Samsung buying a biometrics firm, which were instantly denied, and more recently it was mooted that the S5 would use retinal scanning to unlock the phone.
The eye scanning tech has been given more backing after a Samsung exec spoke to Bloomberg and said "Many people are fanatical about iris recognition technology. We are studying the possibility."
The retina tech has since been dismissed by a couple of different sources, adding that it wasn't ready to go into phones such as the Samsung S5 yet.
Unless someone comes out with a pretty nifty explanation of how this might work, we can't see it appearing next year. We're not holding our phone up to the eye just to open it up. We'd look insane.

Samsung Galaxy S5 battery

Whenever a new flagship handset is launched you can almost guarantee that the manufacturer will spend a least a couple of minutes explaining how they've improved battery life to ensure your phone just keeps on going and going.
In truth though handsets never seem to live up to the billing, but perhaps the Galaxy S5 will buck the trend with news of a supercharged battery destined for the phone.
Apparently the Galaxy S5 will get a 2900mAh juice pack - up from 2600mAh in the S4 - which will be able to go from empty to fully charged in just two hours. We'll believe it when we see it.

Via Techradar

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