Samsung has launched the Galaxy S5 in India today and it will be priced between Rs 51,000 and Rs 53,000. The flagship Android smartphone features top notch specifications and touts an iPhone 5S like fingerprint scanner on its homescreen and a heartbeat sensor on the back. Though announced today, the company will be selling it from April 11, when it will launch the phone globally. Samsung will start pre-booking for the Galaxy S5 from March 29.
Samsung’s flagship smartphone for the year looks similar to the Galaxy Note 3 but features a new perforated plastic back panel. It comes with a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display with 1080p resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 shielding it on top. The Galaxy S5 runs on the Exynos 5 Octa processor with a set of 1.9GHz A15 quad-core and 1.3GHz A7 quad-core processors. Memory-wise, it has 2GB of internal storage and 16GB of internal memory with external memory support for up to 64GB.
The rear of the phone features a 16-megapixel camera with some additional software features like selective focus feature to readjust focus on a photo taken by the camera, which is also seen on Nokia’s Refocus app. Samsung claims it has the fastest auto-focus of 0.3 seconds. Beneath the 16-megapixel camera, there is a secondary camera and flash module, which is essentially the heart rate monitor. The Galaxy S5 comes with a front-facing 2-megapixel camera.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat out-of-the-box, and is topped by the company’s TouchWiz UI. This time however, Samsung has not only flattened the UI but also brought Google services to the forefront. So it is no longer S-Voice that is the default voice search/voice assistant but Google’s voice search service.
The USP of the fifth generation Galaxy S model is its fingerprint scanner on the home button and a heart rate sensor given near the primary camera. Here’s a demo video of the heart rate monitor.
Moreover, like Sony’s Xperia premium smartphones, this one too comes with IP67 certification which makes it dust and water-resistant. Other features in the phone include a 2,800mAh battery, connectivity options like 3G support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, and Infrared remote functionality.
The phone will be up against the recently announced HTC One (M8) and the Sony Xperia Z2 smartphones, both of which are yet to be launched in the Indian market. You can check out our hands-on and first impressions of the Samsung Galaxy S5 here.
Samsung Galaxy S5 Product Specifications:
Display
5.1” FHD Super AMOLED (1920 x 1080)
AP
Exynos 5 Octa processor
OS
Android 4.4.2 (Kitkat)
Camera
16MP (rear), 2.0MP (front)
Video
UHD@30fps, HDR, video stabilizationVideo Codec : H.263, H.264(AVC), MPEG4, VC-1, Sorenson Spark, MP43, WMV7, WMV8, VP8Video Format: MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM
Audio
Audio Codec : MP3, AMR-NB/WB, AAC/ AAC+/ eAAC+, WMA, Vorbis, FLACAudio Format: MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA
Camera
Features
HDR (Rich tone), Selective Focus, Virtual Tour Shot, Shot&More
Additional
Features
IP67 Dust and water Resistant
Ultra Power Saving Mode
Download Booster
S Health 3.0
Quick Connect
Private Mode
Kids Mode
Google Mobile Services
Chrome, Drive, Photos, Gmail, Google, Google+, Google Settings, Hangouts, Maps, Play Books, Play Games, Play Newsstand, Play Movie & TV, Play Music, Play Store, Voice Search, YouTube
Connectivity
WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac HT80, MIMO(2×2)
Bluetooth®: 4.0 BLE / ANT+
USB: USB 3.0
NFC
IR Remote
Sensor
Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, Hall, RGB ambient light, Gesture(IR), Finger Scanner, Heart rate sensor
Memory
RAM: 2GB
Internal Memory: 16/32GB
microSD slot upto 128GB
Dimension
142.0 x 72.5 x 8.1mm, 145g
Battery
2800mAh
Standby time: 390 hrs / Talk time: 21 hrs