News & Reviews:   Samsung Galaxy S5

While Samsung did initially announce that their Galaxy S5 smartphone would come in black, electric blue, gold and white, both electric blue and gold were not officially available in Malaysia initially. Samsung Malaysia has since then revealed that the Galaxy S5 is now available in both gold and electric blue. Tech specs and features for the two colours hasn't changed though as you'll still get an IP67 certified water and dust resistant casing, 16MP ISOCELL camera and 4G LTE connectivity. The retail pricing for either colour will also remain the same at RM2399. Here's what Samsung had to say about it:

"The introduction of the two colour variants continues to emphasise the iconic design of the GALAXY S5. We hope to create opportunities for our consumers to improve their everyday lives, be it through a fashion trend, a favourite feature or simply, a holistic smartphone experience. This fuels our desire to deliver people-inspired innovation with essential features for day-to-day use." Lee Dong Yong, President of Samsung Malaysia Electronics

Previously, U Mobile had bundle deals going on for the Samsung Galaxy S5 with no upfront payment at just RM555 for new Standard Chartered JustOne Platinum card subscribers. However, with the recent RM200 trade-in discount from Samsung Malaysia, U Mobile are now lowering the price to RM355. All of the old conditions remain in place though, so if you want the RM355 No Upfront deal, you will have to successfully get a Standard Chartered JustOne Platinum Card, sign up for a U Plus plan and trade-in your old smartphone. Do note that the trade-in smartphone does add any discount value to the deal like the Samsung Malaysia promo, but according to U Mobile, you can bring in any phone with an IMEI number for the trade-in. In line with the Samsung promo, the extra RM200 trade-in discount is only available until 31 May 2014, so if you fulfill all the conditions and want the Samsung Galaxy S5 at a rock bottom price, then do check out this deal. The existing RM555 discount remains valid until 30 June 2014. For more details check out the table and links in this article.

Understanding that the Samsung Galaxy S5 is rather expensive at a retail price of RM2399, Samsung Malaysia are offering an RM200 discount when you trade-in your smartphone to buy the Galaxy S5 smartphone. This RM200 discount will be added on to the value of the smartphone you trade-in, so if your trade-in smartphone is valued at RM300, the total discount will be RM500. This promo is from 23 May 2014 to 31 May 2014 so if you're considering the Galaxy S5 and you have a good value smartphone you don't want anymore then this is a very good offer. Check out the full details of this trad-in discount promo at the Samsung Malaysia site.

Samsung Malaysia recently announced that new Samsung Galaxy S5 owners could get the chance to win flight tickets to catch the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil or win a 55-inch Samsung Curved UHD TV or even limited edition Galaxy 11 footballs. To win, new Samsung Galaxy S5 owners may submit entries at www.galaxy11.my. The grand prize of two tickets to Brazil are worth up to RM20000 while another five units of Samsung Curved UHD TVs up for grabs are worth RM15999 each. The first 10000 to submit their entries will get a limited edition GALAXY 11 football. The Samsung Galaxy S5 is currently priced at RM2399 while the Galaxy Gear smartwatch goes for RM799. The Gear Fit smartband on the other hand will go for RM599 with all three devices readily available at Samsung Experience Stores and authorized dealers. In line with the Galaxy 11 campaign, Samsung Malaysia will be doing various activities with the details listed in this article.

Rumours indicate that we could soon get to see a new line of premium Galaxy Tab tablets from Samsung called the Samsung Galaxy Tab S. Coming courtesy of SamMobile, the rumours seem to be credible but do take it with a good pinch of salt as they have missed sometimes as well. According to them, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S will come out first with two models, one with an 8.4-inch display and another with a 10.5-inch display. Both displays will be AMOLED and offer 2K or 2560 x 1600 pixel resolutions. Other notable tech specs and features include fingerprint sensors embedded in the home button like the Samsung Galaxy S5 complete with Fingerprint unlock and other related features.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 mini or the slightly smaller version of the Samsung Galaxy S5 has popped up on Zauba. For those who don't know, Zauba is a registry listing tracking imports and exports to and from India, rather like our own SIRIM database. The listing in question shows the SM-G800F which popped up as the Samsung Galaxy Mini recently. The listing shows that the screen size will be 4.47-inches resulting in a 4.5-inch display. Other leaked tech specs indicate that the Samsung Galaxy S5 mini will also pack in a quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, 1.5GB RAM, 16GB storage, 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera and come with IP67 water and dust resistance along with a 2000 mAh battery and Android 4.4. No news yet on Malaysia pricing or release dates but the listing does indicate a value of 21493 INR (RM1160) for each unit.

Samsung has finally confirmed the existance of a successor to the previous smartphone and camera combo, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom with the official announcement of the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom. Utilizing the Samsung Galaxy S5 perforated casing design and a dedicated camera shutter button, the new Galaxy K Zoom incorporates a 10x optical zoom with a huge 20.7MP camera sensor. Thankfully, this time around the Galaxy K Zoom looks more like an ultra-compact point-and-shoot camera making it alot easier to carry around than the previous Galaxy S4 Zoom. Confirming many of the earlier rumoured features, tech specs for the Samsung Galaxy K zoom include:

• 1.7GHz hexa-core Samsung Exynos 5 processor (1.7GHz dual-core Cortex A15 + 1.3GHz quad-core Cortex A7)
• 2GB RAM
• 8GB storage + up to 64GB microSD (SDSC, SDHC, SDXC)
• 4.8-inch display (720 x 1280, 306ppi)
• 20.7MP rear camera (BSI CMOS, 1/2.3", F3.1 at 1x zoom ~ F6.3 at 10x zoom, 10x Optical zoom, OIS, Xenon flash + AF Assist LED light) 
• Supports 4G LTE, 3G HSPA+, Wifi, Bluetooth 4.0 BLE, NFC, A-GPS + GLONASS
• 137.5 X 70.8 X 16.6(20.2)mm | 200g
• 2430mAh
• Android 4.4 KitKat

We've been hearing rumours about the Samsung Galaxy S5 Prime or Project KQ for a while now with one of the most recent rumours being a release date sometime in June 2014. This comes from a report in Korean media who didn't name any names per say. As usual for a claimed premium smartphone from Samsung, the usual wishlist of a metal body and 2K display have cropped up but the expected detailed tech specs include a 5.2-inch screen with 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution (yep, 2K) along with a version packing a 2.1GHz octa-core Samsung Exynos 5430 processor and a 600MHz ARM Mali graphics processor. Other versions are expected as well, perhaps sporting a Qualcomm Snapdragon or offering LTE-A connectivity. No details on a Malaysia release date or pricing yet, but we'll find out more in June 2014.

With the release of the Samsung Galaxy S5, practically everyone is wondering about what type of variants Samsung's latest smartphone might take. The Samsung Galaxy S5 mini has more or less been confirmed but some were also wondering what features a smaller version of the Galaxy S5 would retain. Apart from looks and possibly the same perforated band-aid like backside, it appears that the Galaxy S5 mini will also retain the same IP67 water resistant certification. This confirmation comes courtesy of warranty information regarding the Samsung Galaxy S5 mini from the Samsung New Zealand site (which has since been taken down). While this feature has been confirmed, other tech specs which have yet to be confirmed include a Snapdragon 400 processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a 4.5-inch screen with 720 x 1280 pixel resolution, 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera and Android 4.4 KitKat. Unfortunately, there are still no images or details on Malaysia release dates and pricing yet, but we expect to find out these details soon.

Samsung Malaysia recently made it official, that their flagship smartphone the Samsung Galaxy S5, Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch and Samsung Gear Fit smartband are now currently available in Malaysia. While retail pricing for the three devices have been set at RM2399 for the Samsung Galaxy S5, RM899 for the Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 and RM599 for the Samsung Gear Fit, they can be bought at discounted prices through local telco deals and at all Samsung Experience stores, authorized sellers and distributors. For a complete breakdown of the available Samsung Galaxy S5 local telco deals from Celcom, Maxis, DiGi and U Mobile feel free to check out our Samsung Galaxy S5 plan comparison tool. Check out the videos of the Samsung Galaxy S5, Galaxy Gear 2 and Gear Fit in this article for a refresher.