Samsung Galaxy S5 Roundup: What We Know So Far

For last few days, Internet hs been buzzing with new details leaking out Samsung's closed vault and revealing key features and possible launch date of the upcoming 2014 flagship smartphone Galaxy S5.

To help give a better perspective of what might feature in Galaxy S5, we have sifted through pile of reports and pieced together the most probable specifications which are likely to be featured in the Galaxy S5.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Design and Display:

Despite being a top notch smartphone maker, Samsung always been belittled by rivals for using plastic in its flagship phones. Last year, the South Korean company experimented with faux leather stitches on Galaxy Note 3, but failed to impress critics and fans alike. However, if recent rumours are to be believed, Samsung for the first time is making a paradigm shift by using metal case for the forthcoming Galaxy S5.

To add weight to the claims, Vice President and Head of Design Strategy, Dong-hoon Chang in an informal chat with Korean media house, inews24 has reportedly confirmed that the company will in fact be using a new material for the new Galaxy phone, implying that the device may come with a metal case.

Apart from hard bumper, he also revealed that that the new Samsung phone might also sport a flexible display. According to reports, it is said that Galaxy S5 would sport a 5.25-inch QHD (aka 2K) display with 2560x1440p resolutions and 560 ppi (pixels per inch) pixel density. The company has already begun the mass production of the screens.

Rumors are also rife that Samsung may launch a cheaper Galaxy S5 variant with plastic case for emerging markets like India and China as well.

Processor, RAM and Storage:

Samsung has already confirmed that the company is certain to implant the 64-bit architecture based chipsets in its 2014 flagship models, so one can certainly expect the Galaxy S5 to boast of new generation processor as well.

Many expect Galaxy S5 to boast of new generation Exynos 6 series based Octa-core processor which is capable of performing all (8) processing units to perform simultaneously unlike, previous generation Exynos 5, which used only four-cores to perform a task, while other four units sat in idle.

Just a few days ago, Samsung's Electronics announced the next generation 8GB LPDDR4 (Low Power Double Data Rate series 4) RAM for mobile devices. Company has planned to integrate four of the new 8Gb chips into a single 4GB LPDDR4 package that can provide the highest level of performance (50-percent more), density, efficiency, and still be able to consume 40-percent less compared to the current crop of physical memory chips found in the high-end smartphones.

The new memory chip will enable smartphones to support high resolutions display, resource hungry 3D games and maximum data transfer rate per pin of 3,200 megabits per second (Mbps).

In terms of storage capacity, UK based publication, Phones Review says that Samsung Galaxy S5 may pack huge memory of 364GB, a new generation 3D vertical NAND logic design based chip, a technique which the company has mastered the art to stack 24 x 16GB chips in layers in the small confines of the smartphone mother board.

As of now, it's too early to assume 2014 smartphones to house astronomical memory like 364GB memory, but we can certainly expect the handsets to pack a minimum 32GB/64GB inbuilt storage with options of microSD card for expansion.

Camera:                        

In 2013, we saw Samsung's high-end smartphones come up with 13.0-megapixel cameras with value-added smart-camera applications and tools. This year, the new generation Galaxy S device is expected to feature a much improved 16.0-megapixel main camera,  probably with ISOCELL technology, OIS (Optical image stabilization) and loss-less zoom feature, similar to the one we see in the rival Nokia's flagship 41.0-megapixel camera phone Lumia 1020.

On the front side, it is expected to house a 2.0-megapixel (or more) snapper with full HD video recording ability along with smart-camera gesture control features.

Operating System:

Since the Galaxy S5 is expected to get launched this year, the phone is certain to run on the Android v4.4 KitKat OS.

Key features of the new Android OS include smarter caller ID, more organized message grouping Hangouts (now all SMSs, audio and video MMS will now found under one roof), quick access to settings, Quickoffice word document app, wireless printing (select HP printers), Bluetooth MAP (Message Access Profile) and many more.

Special Features:

Another interesting rumour that is doing the rounds on the internet is that, Samsung might install an eye-scanning sensor (Iris Recognition) in the Galaxy S5 as additional security measure to safe guard smartphone data. Last year, Samsung's arch rival Apple became industry's first electronics firm to introduce finger-print sensor based bio-metric technology in a smartphone (iPhone 5S), but was soon Touch ID feature was cracked by hackers.

However, the rumoured feature 'Iris Recognition' is more advanced and tough to fool the system as it involves camera technology with subtle infrared illuminations to capture detailed nerve pattern on the iris. Using this information, digital impressions are created by mathematical and statistical algorithm so that accurate profile is created. This biometric technology is nearly impossible to crack by an imposter, unlike finger print scanner which can be forged with a fake thumb print.

If this speculation does become a reality, Samsung will certainly raise the benchmark set by Apple.

Launch Date:

Reports originating from South Korea suggest that the Samsung Galaxy S5 mass production is already underway. Samsung executive has reportedly revealed that the new Galaxy phone is likely make its debut at the upcoming international electronics trade fair MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2014 which is scheduled to kick-start on 24 February.

Rumoured specifications of Samsung Galaxy S5: