Samsung unveils its superphone AKA the Galaxy S5.
The flagship model was unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona along with Gear Fit – a wearable fitness device. Read all about them here:
In a world almost bursting at the seams with fitness bands, smartphones, wearables and cameras it takes something special to stand out – and Samsung hopes its new Galaxy S5 will do just that.
The Galaxy S5, dubbed the ‘superphone’ has handpicked features from its competitors and put them all into a single handset.
Samsung claims it crams in a professional camera and a powerful fitness tracker while being water and dust proof – and comes with fingerprint sensor technology, just like arch rival the iPhone 5S.
The new flagship device includes a built-in heart monitor, pedometer, fitness apps and fingerprint recognition. Prices have not yet been announced but it will be available to purchase as of April.
The Galaxy S5 is at the head of a move by tech giants to turn the ever more sophisticated mobile phone into a substitute doctor and
personal trainer.
Samsung’s S5 has its own health functions, but it will also connect to the company’s second generation smartwatch, the Gear 2, as well as a new wearable band device, the Gear Fit, which will play a role in
measuring fitness.
The watch and fitness band can pick up the pulse through the skin on the wrist and display it on the small screen throughout a normal day, or during a workout.
All of the information gathered by the devices can be used to calculate the number of steps taken, calories burned and general fitness.
The firm’s ‘S Health 3.0’ software creates graphs or tables of the results to track changes in activity and health over time.
Samsung’s apps can then develop a fitness regime, including a range of activities from jogging to climbing the stairs rather than using the lift, to help people improve their health.
‘Exercise, food, sleep, stress, and weight. You can monitor and track each of these areas with Samsung’s Lifestyle Coach app. Part of the S Health suite,’ the company said.
‘We’ve decided to go back to basics with the Galaxy S5 and focus on the features and things that matter the most to our customers – namely the camera, ability to view and download data and content quickly and their health and wellbeing,’ said Simon Stanford, Vice President of IT & Mobile division, Samsung Electronics UK & Ireland.
‘People want a smartphone that enhances and enables their mobile life.
‘The Galaxy S5 represents just that and we’re excited to see the response to our latest flagship smartphone device.’
The S5 has a 16MP camera – an improvement on the 13MP camera seen on the S4 – and features a number of advanced editing and focus tools similar to those on the 5S. The new camera has twice as many megapixels as Apple’s iPhone 5S. The camera has phrase-detect as well as contrast-detect autofocus, which Samsung claims is the fastest autofocus in any smartphone.
Samsung’s Galaxy S5 has also got an improved battery life than its predecessor. Even when the battery is on 10 per cent, it has 24 hours of time left before it dies.
The smartphone is also the first with Wi-Fi MIMO, which Samsung claims nearly doubles Wi-Fi connection speeds.
In terms of design, it’s sleek and smart. The Galaxy S5 features a perforated pattern on the back cover creating a ‘modern glam look’. Its new contoured shape comes in an array of colours, including: Charcoal Black, Shimmery White, Electric Blue and Copper Gold, and all are dust and water resistant.
Like Apple’s iPhone 5S, Samsung’s latest handset has a Fingerprint Scanner, providing a secure, biometric screen
locking feature.
VP of electronic communications at Samsung, Jean-Daniel Amye, said: ‘The finger scanner uses your fingerprint as the ultimate password to your identity.
‘All it takes is a simple swipe of your finger to make secure payments.
‘Also finger scanner unlocks Private mode where secure files can be stored. I can now keep my passport in a secure way’.
The experts have their say:
On paper, the Galaxy S5 is packed with more features than any other smartphone currently available, thanks to a combination of its fingerprint sensor, heart rate sensor, clever camera tricks and waterproof design. It’s taken the most innovative features from other phones – the Xperia Z1’s waterproof design, the iPhone 5s’ fingerprint sensor – and combined them all into one true superphone.
Esat Dedezade, Stuff
There’s no question the S5 is an iteration on the S4, rather than a complete overhaul. But they’re all iterations in strong areas. At our briefing for the Galaxy S4 we were told the then-new phone would let you scroll text up and down by tilting the phone. This time we’re told we can shoot HD videos with high-dynamic ranges applied in real-time, underwater. We’ll let the reader decide which of those two announcements is more exciting.
Nate Laxon Wired
The heart rate monitor might be a bit of a gimmick and even the fingerprint sensor could be considered that – but they’re good to have as extras and to add greater potential future software development options. Combined with the Gear 2 or Gear Fit the Samsung Galaxy S5 is a complete life tracker and complete life managment device – we can’t wait to get our review sample to really push its apparently near-boundless limits.
Luke Edwards Pocket Lint
Like the new Gear wearables, the Galaxy S5 looks and feels familiar, but offers a number of improvements over last year’s edition. Samsung had a successful formula with the Galaxy S4, and for the most part, it looks like it has retained that with the S5. Things are faster, nicer feeling, and easier to use, but it’s still a Samsung smartphone through and through, and will likely be just as successful if not more so than its predecessor.
Dan Seifert The Verge
All told, it’s very much a run-of-the-mill Galaxy S flagship, but there are enough new hardware features and software tweaks to make it feel fresh.
Brad Molen, Engadget
Mr JK Shin, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics also unveiled a companion device to the new phone – Gear Fit. The wearable device gives users notifications about SMS, missed calls, while also serving as a way to monitor their heart rate while exercising.
It has a 5.1inch Full HD Super AMOLED display that can be dimmed – ‘it is equipped with a screen that fits perfectly on your wrist,’ he said.
The Samsung Gear Fit is designed to ‘comfortably contour to the wrist while offering a vivid Super AMOLED display,’ Samsung said.
The company claims it provides ‘much more’ than other fitness bands as it keeps users up to date with incoming calls, emails, SMS, alarm, S-planner and third party apps while they are on the move so they can stay connected.
For style-conscious wearers there are changeable straps in black, orange and grey and it’s water resistant.
Weighing just 27 grams, the Gear Fit will offer real-time fitness coaching and personalised workout advice when it goes on sale in April.
The Gear Fit is compatible with 20 Galaxy devices. Meanwhile, the Gear 2 smartwatch, unveiled at the weekend, lasts three times longer than the first watch, which was criticised for being chunky and expensive at £300. Read about the Gear here.
