Samsung Unpacked event revealed three new smartwatches and the new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S5. The new phone takes the shoes of the previous Galaxy S4, one of the best selling devices of 2013.
The Galaxy S5 obviously has some big shoes to fill, after people classed the GS4 as a half-step from the GS3, Samsung would need to pull together lots of resources to live up to the hype.
Internally, the Galaxy S5 is marginally better than the GS4, the new phone comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor and eight-core version for certain markets, alongside 3GB of RAM, 16 or 32GB of internal storage and a 2800mAh battery.
The screen on the Galaxy S5 will not be a 2K display like we were hoping, instead Samsung has added a 5.1-inch 1080p panel, almost identical to the GS4, apart from the 0.1-inch bump up in the size department.
Design wise, the Galaxy S5 has a changed back once again, it is soft-touch leather with dimples, coming in four colors: black, white, blue and gold. It feels better than slimy plastic but in the looks department, Samsung definitely still needs improvement.
Once again, Samsung are trying to wing the Galaxy S5 on its feature set, including a 16MP rear camera with auto-HDR and a magnitude of improvements from the Galaxy S4, making it a real contender for the best camera right now.
The home button on the Galaxy S5 has also been given a second purpose and now acts as a fingerprint sensor, users need to swipe up on the device to unlock the phone and can pay for PayPal goods through the sensor.
There is a heart-rate sensor on the back of the device, below the camera. Users can rest their finger on the heart-rate sensor while using the S Health app to track heart rate and pulse, a nice touch for any fitness fanatics.
TouchWiz UI has gotten a little redesign, icons are now more flat and rounded and the interface isn’t as “in your face” as last year, we are glad to report. Samsung has added Magazine UX and other new features on TouchWiz, which will be hit and miss like previous generations of TouchWiz features.
Samsung did not give any information on pricing or availability, we suspect it will be available in the UK, US and almost anywhere else within the next few months.
