News & Reviews:   Samsung Galaxy S5

Most of us are thinking that we could see the next Samsung Galaxy S5 in February 2014 when the Mobile World Congress or MWC is expected to happen. However, news reports from an official insider in Samsung has said that the Samsung Galaxy S5 would be unveiled at New York in March. The report seems even more credible as the Samsung Galaxy S4 was also introduced last March in New York as well, but do take this rumour with a pinch of salt. No Malaysia release dates or pricing just yet but we wouldn't be surprised if HTC is planning to camp outside with the HTC One+ like they did with the HTC One.

While it was originally sent in back in July 2013, a patent published from Samsung reveals that new head gestures could come to the next Samsung Galaxy device in line, which would be the Samsung Galaxy S5. We've already got the Smart Stay and vertical scrolling feature, but the new patent will allow users to turn pages with certain head movements, followed by a wink or nod to confirm the action. While we think this could make your head look like a typewriter the patent reveals that the Samsung Galaxy S5 could be watching your head a lot more than you think, making it even more likely that an iris scanner could also be coming for the smartphone. No exact Malaysia release dates or pricing were available for the Samsung Galaxy S5 but it should be coming soon, perhaps in February 2014 when the next Mobile World Congress happens.

Samsung's Lee Young Hee, Executive VP of the Mobile Division certainly likes to drop plenty of teasers for Samsung products in his quotes with this one concerning the next Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch. Confirming that the still unnamed smartwatch which could turn be named the Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 would be unveiled with the Samsung Galaxy S5 by April, he said:

“When we release our S5 device, you can also expect a Gear successor with more advanced functions, and the bulky design will also be improved. Health-care related functions will be the most inherently tied functions to future wearables. We see a very big potential from there.”

We're all fairly curious about the Samsung Galaxy S5, so much so that there are quite a lot of concept renders, especially as Samsung have recently patented a smartphone which could be the Samsung Galaxy S5. Check out these renders below:

This is the leaked image from the US Patents Office, rumoured to be the Samsung Galaxy S5 or the Samsung Galaxy Note 4

As the rumour mill continues to churn for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5, we now have some confirmed details of sorts from an inside source. Coming courtesy of Lee Young Hee, Executive VP of Samsung's Mobile Division, the confirmation is about several things including that the Galaxy S5 would be released by April 2014. The company also said that it knew that the design of the Galaxy S4 was too similar with the Galaxy S3 which is why we can also expect a new design for the S5. While they haven't said if this could mean a metal chassis, kevlar backside or just plain polka dots, a different design would make the S5 stand out more. The other notable rumour is that instead of a fingerprint scanner, the Samsung Galaxy S5 could include an iris scanner or eye scanner for bypassing password screens and certifying purchases. This feature we feel wouldn't be all that difficult to implement as you don't really need a dedicated eyeball scanner to do this. Other rumours include a three-sided curved display and more. In any case, April is still a few months off, so do take this rumour with a pinch of salt.

We've seen quite a few Samsung Galaxy S5 concept renders, including one with a curved screen, but there are of course many designers in the world with variously different opinions. One of the latest to surface is a concept render for the Samsung Galaxy S5 that not only features a metal unibody design but looks like a combination of a Samsung Galaxy S4 with a HTC One. This concept render comes courtesy of Hasan Kaymak who has created other concept renders before. In addition to the smartphone render, he has also added on how he'd see TouchWiz 5 looking like, which to us looks like it's borrowing the flat look from iOS 7. While it does look nice, we find it rather unlikely that Samsung would go in that direction, but do enjoy the pictures in the article.

While rumoured to appear in 2014, the Samsung Galaxy S5 seems to be making the rounds as a mystery device going by the model name SM-G900F. Recently spotted on AnTuTu, this device was found to have a 2K display with 1440 x 2560 pixel resolution screen. Other tech specs and features included the 2.5GHz Snapdragon 800 MSM8974AC processor and chipset, 3GB od RAM and 32GB storage. Additional tech specs rumoured to come with the smartphone include a 16MP rear camera with Samsung's ISOCELL technology. Many are saying we'll probably see the Samsung Galaxy S5 in February 2014 during the MWC Expo. We're also a bit skeptical that this SM-G900F device really is the Samsung Galaxy S5 as it only manages an AnTuTu score of 29223, whereas other less highly clocked Snapdragon 800 powered smartphones tend to hit the 32000+ mark more often than not so do take this rumour with a big pinch of salt.

We've already seen a curved Samsung Galaxy S5 concept so now it is Apple's turn with a curved glass concept render of the Apple iPhone 6C. Coming courtesy of SET Solution who have dreamed up a number of other concept renders  it also comes with a concept render for the Apple iPhone Air. Taking the same super thin and narrow design as the Apple iPad mini, this concept looks simply awesome on the iPhone with a proposed 1.5mm to 3mm thinness and 70g weight. While this sounds very breakable, it could probably be achieved with a flexible plastic substrate and a wireless, no port design. Obviously, neither of these two concept renders are officially endorsed by Apple but it is nice to dream so check out the videos in this article.

Samsung may be considering switching the current AMOLED displays in their smartphones to PLS-LCD displays. The move is supposedly because the price war is getting more cut-throat as lower cost Chinese smartphones are expanding into the market. The PLS-LCD displays offer more or less the same level of quality as AMOLED displays but offer a 20% cut in cost for a smartphone. On top of that, PLS-LCD technology is also owned by Samsung and could offer better yield compared to AMOLED displays. This doesn't mean that Samsung would stop using AMOLED displays completely though as they could be used in the rumoured premium Galaxy F Series of smartphones instead. However, such a move would result in the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4 having PLS-LCD displays and not the current AMOLED displays.  

The Samsung Galaxy J was officially launched in Taiwan recently, bearing top tech specs with a metal casing. While it was initially thought to be the Samsung Galaxy S5 thanks to a rather vague teaser video, it does offer a number of tech specs which include those from the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. This includes a 5-inch Full HD 1080p Super AMOLED screen, Snapdragon 800 processor, 3GB of RAM and 13MP camera in a casing with a brushed metal backside. Sources indicate that it will be sold from TWD21900 (RM2370) unlocked and can be bought in Red and White. While there is still no news yet about specific Malaysia release dates or pricing, the official Taiwan announcement indicates that we could soon see a more global roll out for this smartphone which was formerly only sold in Japan.