Samsung Officially Unveils Galaxy S5, Coming on April 11
At today’s Unpacked 5 event in New York City, electronics giant Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy S5 smartphone, along with the new Galaxy Gear Fit. The announcement has come via press release and the now-finished Unpacked 5 event.
Here are the details we’ve learned from the press release and the presentation at Unpacked 5:
- Available this Spring from the major US wireless carriers.
- A 5.1-inch screen, a tenth-of-an-inch smaller than we’d heard.
- Fingerprint sensor linked to mobile payments and Google Wallet, also unlocks “Private Mode,” locking up secure files and data. Can’t be unlocked without fingerprint scan.
- Built-in heart rate monitor underneath rear-facing camera.
- It’s got a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera, featuring 0.3 high speed auto-focus and HDR for video.
- Features Wi-Fi MIMO (802.11 ac).
- Download boost that combines Wi-Fi and LTE for downloads of files over 30 MB.
- IP67 level of water and dust resistance.
- Ultra power saving mode turns display to black and white, turns off all features except phone and SMS. On ten percent of battery, can last 24 hours in stand-by.
- Being released on April 11 in nearly 150 countries.
The Galaxy S5 also boasts features for “health and wellness monitoring.” That clearly refers back to the smartphone’s built-in heart-rate monitor, and would seem to dovetail nicely with the just-announced Samsung Galaxy Gear Fit, which offers a “1.84 inch curved Super AMOLED display and interchangeable band.”
The Gear Fit is a sportier version of the Galaxy Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo, in that it’ll monitor your biometric data, but will also give you notifications for incoming calls, texts, and emails. It’s also got a curved AMOLED touch-screen and weighs only 27-grams. It may not offer the same level of control as the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo, but giving customers options as to what level of detail they’ll want is always a good move.
The Gear 2 is compatible with 17 Samsung Galaxy devices, while the Gear Fit is compatible with 20 different devices. And considering how many Galaxy phones there are out there, the new generation of Gear smartwatches could be pretty great additions to your life.
From what we can tell, the Galaxy Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, and Gear Fit will also launch around the world on April 11, so hopefully we’ll know more about those devices in the coming days and weeks. For me, I can honestly say I’m jealous I don’t have a Galaxy device. That Gear Fit looks pretty slick, indeed.
Here are some more screen grabs from the live-cast of the event. What has you the most interested?
