Samsung announces Galaxy S5 with 5.1" display, fingerprint scanner & heart rate monitor
Samsung's next-generation flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S5, was officially announced by the company at the Mobile World Congress trade show on Monday, and the handset will compete head-to-head with Apple's iPhone 5s by sporting its own fingerprint sensor.
Samsung's response to Apple's Touch ID also sports a fingerprint scanner under the home button, allowing users to unlock their handset and access private data stored on the phone. Samsung has also partnered with PayPal to enable mobile payments with its fingerprint scanner.
Unlike Apple's Touch ID, which simply requires that users press their finger against the home button for it to be scanned, Samsung has employed technology that requires a "swiping" motion to read a print.
The redesigned handset also has a "perforated" polycarbonate exterior on the back, while the front of the device is a 5.1-inch display at a resolution of 1,920 by 1,080 pixels, powered by a 2.5-gigahertz quad-core processor and two gigabytes of RAM. The Galaxy S5 is also IP67 dust and water resistant. The device runs Android "KitKat" version 4.4.2.
Samsung's fifth-generation Galaxy S device is also focused on health and fitness, and includes a personal fitness tracker to help users monitor and manage their behavior, not unlike the step tracking M7 coprocessor found in Apple's iPhone 5s. However, Samsung has also included applications that can record diet and exercise records, and the device also has a built-in heart rate monitor that can be used to measure a user's pulse.
The new heart rate monitor is located on the rear of the device, next to the camera's flash. Users must place their finger on the sensor to have it measure their pulse.
To that end, Samsung has also announced a separate wearable device dubbed the Gear Fit, a smaller wrist-worn accessory that connects with the company's ecosystem of devices.
As for camera specifications, the Galaxy S5 has a 16-megapixel shooter that is accompanied by an enhanced menu and user interface. Samsun also claims that it has the world's fastest autofocus speed, getting a shot in focus in up to 0.3 seconds.
Another new feature introduced by Samsung is the Ultra Power Saving Mode, which turns the display to black and white, and shuts down all unnecessary features to minimize battery consumption. Samsung says battery life with the Galaxy S5 is improved by 20 percent over its predecessor.
Finally, for wireless connectivity, the Galaxy S5 sports high-speed LTE, as well as 802.11ac next-generation Wi-Fi. A new "Download Booster" is also said to improve download speeds by using LTE and Wi-Fi simultaneously.
"With the Galaxy S5, Samsung is going back to basics to focus on delivering the capabilities that matter most to our consumers," said JK Shin, President and Head of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung. "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."
The Samsung Galaxy S5 is set to launch around the world in April.
Samsung's response to Apple's Touch ID also sports a fingerprint scanner under the home button, allowing users to unlock their handset and access private data stored on the phone. Samsung has also partnered with PayPal to enable mobile payments with its fingerprint scanner.
Unlike Apple's Touch ID, which simply requires that users press their finger against the home button for it to be scanned, Samsung has employed technology that requires a "swiping" motion to read a print.
The redesigned handset also has a "perforated" polycarbonate exterior on the back, while the front of the device is a 5.1-inch display at a resolution of 1,920 by 1,080 pixels, powered by a 2.5-gigahertz quad-core processor and two gigabytes of RAM. The Galaxy S5 is also IP67 dust and water resistant. The device runs Android "KitKat" version 4.4.2.
Samsung's fifth-generation Galaxy S device is also focused on health and fitness, and includes a personal fitness tracker to help users monitor and manage their behavior, not unlike the step tracking M7 coprocessor found in Apple's iPhone 5s. However, Samsung has also included applications that can record diet and exercise records, and the device also has a built-in heart rate monitor that can be used to measure a user's pulse.
The new heart rate monitor is located on the rear of the device, next to the camera's flash. Users must place their finger on the sensor to have it measure their pulse.
To that end, Samsung has also announced a separate wearable device dubbed the Gear Fit, a smaller wrist-worn accessory that connects with the company's ecosystem of devices.
As for camera specifications, the Galaxy S5 has a 16-megapixel shooter that is accompanied by an enhanced menu and user interface. Samsun also claims that it has the world's fastest autofocus speed, getting a shot in focus in up to 0.3 seconds.
Another new feature introduced by Samsung is the Ultra Power Saving Mode, which turns the display to black and white, and shuts down all unnecessary features to minimize battery consumption. Samsung says battery life with the Galaxy S5 is improved by 20 percent over its predecessor.
Finally, for wireless connectivity, the Galaxy S5 sports high-speed LTE, as well as 802.11ac next-generation Wi-Fi. A new "Download Booster" is also said to improve download speeds by using LTE and Wi-Fi simultaneously.
"With the Galaxy S5, Samsung is going back to basics to focus on delivering the capabilities that matter most to our consumers," said JK Shin, President and Head of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung. "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."
The Samsung Galaxy S5 is set to launch around the world in April.
Comments
http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/24/5441668/samsung-galaxy-s5-announcement-launch
[QUOTE]Less successful is Samsung’s take on the fingerprint-unlock system made popular by Apple with the iPhone 5S. Like the 5S, the S5’s home key features an integrated fingerprint scanner, which can be used to unlock the phone or authenticate purchases online (Samsung is partnering with PayPal to enable this feature, though it doesn’t validate purchases from the Google Play Store). Samsung’s version requires a vertical swipe over the home button to activate the scanner, and we found it to be quite unreliable and virtually impossible to activate when holding the phone in one hand. It can store up to three different digits, but it was very particular about the speed and orientation of the swiping motion used — if we weren’t doing a perfectly straight swipe down, it would refuse to unlock the phone.[/QUOTE]
And mock of gold phone
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[Img]http://i.imgur.com/hqBMiJK.jpg[/IMG]
It's very nice to see Samsung avoiding new software gimmicks. Everything they added this year appears to be useful.
I, for one, will be giving this phone the finger.
I like the Verge's take on the fact that the S5 seems a lot like the S4 with better plastic--it "doesn't mess with a winning formula." I do like the water resistance feature, though. I hope that's something Apple will be doing soon too. A friend of mine did drop her iPhone 4 in the toilet and it still worked afterwards, but I know you can't count on that.
On second thought, maybe I wouldn't want to use my phone if that happened to it, anyway.
It's very nice to see Samsung avoiding new software gimmicks. Everything they added this year appears to be useful. /s
Fixed that for you.
The flaw in your logic is that you assume the stuff they added actually works.
I knew from day one that Samsung would add a fingerprint sensor on the home button just like Apple would, and that it would be the same crappy and unreliable swipe sensor, along with the sh!tty software to make it work. They did not disappoint. If I could have bet money somewhere on this, I would so have jumped in.
I won't even start with the "Pleather" case design, or better yet... the band-aid design from a prior post, because the S5 is exactly that, an open wound for Samsung.
This just goes to show that Samsung on its own (Without Apple as it's R&D shop) can't do squat. Samsung is about as innovative as a pile of dirt.
Well I dunno. It displays it somewhere.
One thing it's easy to miss amongst this MWC's crop of phones is the new trend towards water resistance / waterproofing. S5 is water resistant, and the Sony Z2 is waterproof. It's something I'm really glad to see, and I hope Apple incorporates waterproofing into future iPhones.
That said, this is an incredibly disappointing update from Samsung. After all the criticism they received for the S4 being almost identical to the S3 (leading to poor sales), they've gone and produced another incremental update with no 'big' features. I don't understand why they've done this.
OMG WOW!! I'M SHAKING WITH AMAZEMENT AND SHOCK!! Lol It's really not a big deal, and it'll rarely be used.
Assuming they work. The Verge didn't have great things to say about the fingerprint scanner. And they said its near impossible to do one handed. That would be a deal breaker for me. What I love about the 5S is I can easily unlock my phone with one hand. Placing my thumb on the home button feels totally natural.
Yeah, the problem with companies doing poor implementation just to be able to claim they have the feature is that then some people looking to switch to iPhone will think, "my old phone had fingerprint recognition too, but I never really used it."
It's very nice to see Samsung avoiding new software gimmicks. Everything they added this year appears to be useful.
I don't care too much for features like the finger print scanner or heart rate monitor. They seem pretty gimmicky to me.
The improved camera, ability to use LTE+WiFi, microUSB 3.0, and the durable design are the highlights for me. Their new power saving mode might be interesting, but I'll remain skeptical on its real world performance.
As well, the phone looks quite ugly. The fake leather back they used on their Note 3, in my opinion, would have looked better.
Assuming they work. The Verge didn't have great things to say about the fingerprint scanner. And they said its near impossible to do one handed. That would be a deal breaker for me. What I love about the 5S is I can easily unlock my phone with one hand. Placing my thumb on the home button feels totally natural.
Yeah the fingerprint scanner doesn't sound very good. When I made my comment I hadn't read the Verge's report yet because your comment didn't appear on the page before I posted mine.
I was thinking more along the lines of the fast autofocus, real time HDR, download booster, and "ultra power saving mode." Those all sound like features users can take advantage of relatively seamlessly.
...What I love about the 5S is I can easily unlock my phone with one hand. Placing my thumb on the home button feels totally natural.
That's where clowns like Samsung will always fail. They add everything plus the kitchen sink, and nothing works well. Apple takes its time to get it right, and make sure the tech is completely hidden from the user. TouchID is elegant, simple, and best yet... it just works.
Samsung's fingerprint scanner is using old fingerprint scanning from the early 2000's, using hardware that is buggy, unreliable, and crappy system software to top it off. They should be ashamed of themselves for coming out with such garbage. This is what Samsung calls "innovation" when they can't copy off of Apple anymore.
When all the haters were criticizing Apple's TouchID, what they should (and better) be doing is directing that hate toward Samsung.