Samsung unveiled, Monday, its latest flagship handset, the Galaxy S5, at the ongoing Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain.
While many were expecting impressive specifications for the new top-of-the-line smartphone, Samsung went back to basics but packed the Galaxy S5 with features that can go toe-to-toe with Apple's iPhone 5s. The newest member of the Galaxy line of gadgets will be available starting April 11.
"With the Galaxy S5, Samsung is going back to basics to focus on delivering the capabilities that matter most to our consumers. 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," said Samsung's president and head of IT and mobile communications division JK Shin.
The most attention-grabbing feature of the Samsung Galaxy S5 is its fingerprint sensor, undeniably an if-you-have-it-we-also-have-it statement aimed at Apple. The sensor can be used to control the biometric screen lock and also has the potential to be used for secure mobile payment systems.
With technology giants paying more attention to the integration of health applications and hardware, Samsung has done its part for the new flagship smartphone.
"With the enhanced S Health 3.0, the new Galaxy S5 offers more tools to help people stay fit and well. It provides a comprehensive personal fitness tracker to help users monitor and manage their behavior, along with additional tools including a pedometer, diet and exercise records, and a new, built-in heart rate monitor. Galaxy S5 users can further customize their experience with an enriched third party app ecosystem and the ability to pair with next generation Gear products for real-time fitness coaching," Samsung described the health features of the device in a news release.
Aside from fingerprint sensor and the health-centric feature of the Galaxy S5, the rest can be treated as standard specifications of premium handsets.
The design of the smartphone was just slightly tweaked compared to Galaxy S4. The Galaxy S5 still makes use of a polycarbonate body, disproving pre-launch rumors that it will have a metal body. The back was revised to sport a soft-touch cover, dropping the predecessor's glossy surface and somehow makes the device look and feel more premium.
The newest Samsung handset has a 5.1-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display that can be hardly distinguished from the offering of the Galaxy S4. Under the hood is a quad-core 2.5GHz chip working with a 2GB RAM. The manufacturer also made sure that the phone has enough juice for energy-demanding web browsing and gaming by giving it a bigger battery that is allegedly 20 percent more than that of the GS4.
A 16-megapixel camera that is capable of shooting 4K video and features high-dynamic range imaging to make sure the user can take better images in whatever lighting condition. However, this can be dwarfed by the camera of the top of the line Lumia handset.
The handset comes out of the box running on Android KitKat and naturally some bloatware from the manufacturer.
