The Sasmsung Galaxy S5 is a reality and confirms most of the rumors that surfaced online during tha last few months, as it comes with a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display, fingerprint and heart rate sensors and new hardware under the hood. "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 Galaxy S5 combines an advanced camera, the fast network connectivity, dedicated fitness tools and enhanced device protection features

Samsung's new flagship smartphone retains the same 1080p Super AMOLED panel as the GS4 although it is larger at 5.1 inches, it is brighter and adapts according to the environment to offer the best viewing experience. It comes with a swappable "leather-like" back cover, microSD slot and a removable 2,800mAh battery. The device is also IP67-certified, meaning it is water and dust resistant.

The GS5 is powered by a 2.5GHz Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB of RAM, an IR remote, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 BLE/ANT+, Cat 4 LTE (up to 150Mbps down/50Mbps up), Wi-Fi MIMO (802.11ac) and a "Download Booster" feature, which incorporates WiFi connection with LTE, promising downloading of 1GB in just 30 seconds. The device also comes with a choice of 16GB or 32GB of internal storage. In addition, an "Ultra Power Saving Mode" turns the display to black and white, and shuts down all unnecessary features so if, for example, my smartphone gets down to 10%, it can last another 24 hours in standby.

Othe basic features include a fingerprint scanner, a heart rate sensor, and a TouchWiz UI on top of Android 4.4 KitKat.



The fingerprint scanner is Samsung's response to Apple's Touch ID implementation in the iPhone 5s. It works by swiping your finger down over the home button and allows you to unlock the phone, fingerprint-protect a private data locker on your phone and also make online payments using the fingerprint method powered by Paypal. PayPal provides a wallet in the cloud and doesn?t store personal information on the device. Galaxy S5 owners can use their finger to pay with PayPal from their smartphone because the FIDO Ready software on the device securely communicates between the fingerprint sensor on their device and PayPal?s service in the cloud. The only information the device shares with PayPal is a unique encrypted key that allows PayPal to verify the identity of the customer without having to store any biometric information on PayPal?s servers.

The heart rate sensor is built into the same rear module as the LED flash. It works in conjunction with S-Health 3.0, which acts as a personal life coach of sorts. To monitor your pulse, you should hold your finger up to the sensor. S-Health provides a fitness tracker to help you monitor and manage your behavior, along with additional tools including a pedometer, diet and exercise records. Galaxy S5 users can further customize their experience with third party app ecosystem and the ability to pair with next generation Gear products for real-time fitness coaching.

The smartphone is equipped with a 16-megapixel sensor and an enhanced menu and user interface that allow users to easily take, edit and share photo. The sensor features UHD recording capability, fast auto focus (0.3 sec) and real-time HDR (Rich Tone) for both photos and video. Samsung is introducing a "Selective focus" feature which allows users to focus on a specific area of an object while simultaneously blurring out the background. Additionally, it also has "Shot & More," which is essentially your standard suite of best photo, eraser and drama. The phone has also a 2.1-megapixel camera on the front.

During the MWC event, Samsung also announced its new Gear smartwatches based on the Tizen open-sourced OS. We have already seen the the Gear 2, the functional Gear Neo and now Samsung announced the fitness-focused Gear Fit, which comes with a curved, Super-AMOLED touchscreen display that fits on your wrist. It weighs in at 27 grams and provides much more than an everyday fitness band, keeping you up to date instant notifications from Galaxy smartphones such as incoming calls, emails, SMS, alarm, S-planner, 3rd party apps while you are on the move. It also comes with changeable straps in Black, Orange and Mocha Grey. It is compatible with 20 Galaxy devices.



All the new devices will be released on April 11 around the world. In the US, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, MetroPCS and U.S. Cellular have all officially agreed to offer the GS5 smartphone. Ma Bell will serve up the Gear 2 and the Gear Fit smartwatches as well.

Following today's Barcelona event, it is clear that Samsung Galaxy S5 will also ship in a new version with a QHD screen sometime in 2014.

Samsung Galaxy S5 specifications

Network	LTE Cat.4 (150/50Mbps)
Display	5.1? FHD Super AMOLED (1920 x 1080)
AP	2.5GHz Quad core application processor
OS	Android 4.4.2 (Kitkat)
Camera	16MP (rear), 2.1MP (front)
Video	UHD@30fps, HDR, video stabilization Video Codec : H.263, H.264(AVC), MPEG4, VC-1, Sorenson Spark, MP43, WMV7, WMV8, VP8 Video Format: MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM
Audio	Audio Codec : MP3, AMR-NB/WB, AAC/ AAC+/ eAAC+, WMA, Vorbis, FLAC Audio 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 64GB
Dimension	142.0 x 72.5 x 8.1mm, 145g
Battery	2800mAh  Standby time: 390 hrs / Talk time: 21 hrs

Samsung Gear Fit specifications

Display	1.84? Curved Super AMOLED (432?128)
Additional Features	Pedometer, Exercise, Heart Rate, Sleep, Stopwatch, Timer
	Notifications (SNS, Call, E-mail, Apps)  Schedule, Smart Relay, Media Controller
	Changeable Strap
	IP67 Dust and Water Resistant,
Connectivity	Bluetooth? v4.0 LE
Sensor	Accelerometer, Gyro, Heart Rate
Dimension	23.4 x 57.4 x 11.95 mm, 27g
Battery	Standard Battery 210mAh  Typical Usage 3~4 days, Low Usage up to 5 days