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Samsung Galaxy S5: What the rumours say

Samsung Galaxy S5: What the rumours say

The Samsung Galaxy S5 has been the subject of the rumour mills for a couple of months now, with numerous claims surrounding what to expect from the next flagship handset.

We have rounded up all the speculation here to give you an idea of what kind of specs the Samsung Galaxy S5 could come with and when it might be arriving.

Display

There have been a couple of rumours surrounding the display but all point to a resolution increase.

At its Analyst Day, Samsung presented a road map of where it plans to take screen resolutions, with a 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution appearing in the "gap" year, which works out to be 2014.

SamMobile suggests the screen size will be 5.25-inches and it will be a Super AMOLED display, while ET News claims the size will be 5-inches.

There have also been reports to suggest Samsung will ditch the Super AMOLED display in favour of a Sharp Low Temperature PolySilicon LED display, said to be 100 times faster than amorphous silicon screens, so whichever the company opt for, it's not likely to disappoint.

Build

Rumours from ET News suggest the Galaxy S5 will come with an aluminium and magnesium alloy casing, rather than the polycarbonate shell of the current Galaxy S4.

There is also speculation from ET News and SamMobile to suggest we will see two versions of the flagship handset, with both publications claiming there will be a plastic and metal option.

An iris sensor to scan and recognise your eyes for another layer of security has also been doing the rounds on the rumour mill, most recently from a tipster to Phone Arena who said the Galaxy S5 will have a "state of the art iris sensor and a wide range of health accessories".

Camera

A report from Korea in August 2013 claimed Samsung was working on a 16-megapixel sensor with optical image stabilisation, said to be designed specifically for the company's flagship Android phones.

Samsung describes it as "the world's highest-performance camera module" and it will mean shots and full HD video recordings will be eight times brighter than other competing sensors, according to the company.

There has also been a rumour from the same tipster who spoke to Phone Arena about the iris sensor, claiming there will be a 20-megapixel sensor with new optical image stablisation and the ability to record 4K video, whilst taking shots.

Internal specs

Digitimes claims Samsung will be introducing a 64-bit CPU to the Galaxy S5, and supporting this, Samsung's president of System LSI Stephen Woo said the company would be following in Apple's footsteps with a 64-bit chip.

There is also the suggestion of 4GB RAM after Samsung recently announced it has developed the first LPDDR4 RAM, which would mean faster applications, longer battery life and more advanced features.

Other rumours have included a 4000mAh battery and 3GB of RAM, as well as reports of a 2900mAh battery.

Software

It's probably safe to assume the Galaxy S5 will come with Android 4.4 KitKat, but according to @evleaks, Samsung will also be updating the user interface.

The images were published on @evleaks' Twitter and suggest there will be narrower fonts and a design similar to BlinkFeed, offering an at-a-glance feed of everything happening in the user's life with real world information, such as your team's result.

Release date

As with many flagships, the rumours will continue to appear until the device sees an official launch. In the Galaxy S5's case, it seems a lot of speculation points towards this being end of March, beginning of April.

Lee Young Hee, executive vice president of Samsung's mobile business said: "We've been announcing our first flagship model in the first half of each year, around March and April, and we are still targeting for release around that time."




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