Samsung Galaxy S5 : First Look

So, the Moment has finally arrived. Samsung has lifted the wraps of their flagship device - Galaxy S5. We bring you the first look and initial impression of the Galaxy S5 Device.

So what's New here? Despite its familiar design (read plastic), the Galaxy S5 has a few new features which include improved camera, finger print scanner, heart rate monitor and a toned down version of Touchwiz on top of Android 4.4 Kitkat. Yes, there are no more tons of S branded features which are cool in the first week but are later turned off. Let's see what has changed in S5 and what's remained same

Samsung Galaxy S5 : Design

This was one area which had numerous rumors. They ranged from a flexible screen to a Metal casing. But after the launch, all those turned to be just rumors. The actual device is very close to the devices which were leaked around last week.

The front looks almost as Galaxy S4. The back however has changed slightly. Instead of a slippery plastic, Samsung has launched the device with a perforated back which makes it easier to hold and provides a better grip. Samsung says the back of the GS5 is "leather-like," which basically means it's a fancy-looking poly carbonate, but it sure looks better than the back of Galaxy S4.

 This is again User removable as other Galaxy devices. The Sides seems metallic, but they too are a mixture of poly carbonate and plastic. Although Samsung has added four colors (white, black, blue and gold), the device has not been significantly altered in look and feel.

Samsung Galaxy S5: Water and Dust Resistance : 

Sony, you better watch out for this. Water damage is the cause of over 50% of smart phone deaths. Sony was the only manufacturer actively using this in their flagship and now Samsung has followed suit. Galaxy S5 is launched with IP67 rating. IP rating means Ingress Protection rating and is a two-digit indicator to standardize the rating of protection level against intrusion of solids and liquids.

First Digit – Protection from solid objects or materials
Second Digit – Protection from liquids and fluids (water)

The two numbers in the IP67 rating code rating refer to:
6 – Dust Protected  Totally protected against dust ingress.; complete protection against contact
7- Immersion Protected ; Protected against short periods of immersion in water.Ingress of water in harmful quantity shall not be possible when the phone is immersed in water under defined conditions of pressure and time (up to 1 m of submersion). Test duration: 30 minutes;  Immersion at depth of at least 1 m measured at bottom of device, and at least 15 cm measured at top of device.

Samsung Galaxy S5: Display

This is one Area where every year we see an improvement over previous years. There were lots of rumors about the display with many of them saying that the phone will be launched with a 2K Display. 

The new Galaxy retains the same 1080p Super AMOLED panel as the GS4; it's just slightly larger, at 5.1 inches.This means at least in theory, it is little less sharper - it's down from a 441ppi to 415ppi on the new version.It's not massive and most likely not noticeable, but it is a drop when consumers were expecting something higher-res.The color reproduction and brightness  does seem to be more impressive on the Samsung Galaxy S5. If LG launches G3 with 2K screen, Samsung might fall behind in specs battle.

Samsung Galaxy S5: Processing Power

There was a lot of buzz around S5 launching with a 64 bit CPU or a true 8 core processor. But all these were untrue. S5 has a faster, 2.5GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM. This is a minor bump from Note 3 and Galaxy S5 in terms of processing power but it is little sad to see the devive launched with just 2GB of RAM. Even the last year's Note 3 has 3 Gigs of RAM.

Samsung Galaxy S5: Camera

The Samsung Galaxy S5 comes equipped with a 16MP rear camera and 2MP front camera. It shoots 4K at 30 fps and there's a whole host of image functionality new in the Galaxy S5. For better low-light photography, Samsung has launched a new type of flash called Reflector- Integrated Flash. This is supposed to illuminate everyone in the image rather than the ones at centre with a wider field of view and will result in better nighttime photos.  With Galaxy S5, Samsung is also introducing a selective focus feature (remember Nokia's Refocus Lens!) in which you can change the depth of field on an image after it's taken. Samsung has also made a Shift towards Phase detection AF from the usual contract detection AF found on Smart phones. The Galaxy S5 has a hybird AF with both phase detection and contrast detection AF. This hybrid mode is usually a lot faster (upto 5X) in comparison to only Contrast AF cameras. This is a huge improvement in a mobile shooter whose primary purpose is to capture the pictures as they happen.

Samsung Galaxy S5: Bio metrics (Heart rate monitor and fingerprint scanner)

One of the biggest talking points for the GS5 is that new fingerprint scanner. This was one of the most highly anticipated features after Apple lauched it with there iPhone 5S. There is a slight difference with the Samsung's implementation of the Fingerprint scanner - you have to swipe your fingers on the middle rather rather than hold it over there. So, as long as you are doing it slow enough, it will pick your fingerprint, but chances on unsuccessful attempts would be more if you are swiping in a hurry! However, I donot see nay false positives though! The fingerprint has some useful other features too, it also lets you fingerprint-protect a private data locker on your phone, in case you have confidential information you don't want getting out there. Samsung also announced a partnership with PayPal which allows you to make online payments using the fingerprint method. Also, in case you are fearing about where your fingerprint Data will be stored, it will be encrypted and stored locally and never shared!

The other major new hardware feature is the heart rate sensor, which is built into the same rear module as the LED flash. It works in conjunction with S-Health 3.0, which acts as a personal life coach of sorts. To monitor your pulse, hold your finger up to the sensor and leave it there while the phone does the rest of the work. As you continue to do this more often, S-Health remembers your history and even goes through the effort of graphing it and offering up other relevant information. It also acts as a pedometer and food monitor

Samsung Galaxy S5: Battery

Whenever a new flagship handset is launched we expect battery life to increase. This is one area which most of the manufactures seem to ignore. Samsung has atleast paid some notice and launched thw phone with a bigger 2800 mAH battery

But more significant is that it provides 20% better battery life than Galaxy S4. This still pales in comparison with likes of G2, but is still impressive, though, with Samsung quoting: standby time: 390 hrs / talk time: 21 hrs. The more impressive is ultra power saving mode which doubles your talk time in case you feel your phone might not last through the day!

Samsung Galaxy S5: Android Kitkat

As expected, Samsung has launched the device with Android 4.4. This looks like a toned down version of touch wiz with an implementation closer to Google's version of Kit Kat. The interface looks clean and icons are nicely spaced. There is also support for OK Google commands from anywhere on the phone.

Samsung Galaxy S5: Price and Release Date

We expect this to be available globally around April. The expected price is to be around £550 / $650 / AU$700 / INR 40,000