We always say throughout the course of any given calendar year that nothing is ever confirmed until made official by either the OEM or the carrier. The reason we say this is because in this industry, pundits love having the inside scoop, and with that, we usually see unconfirmed device specs and other info well before it is ever 100% official.
As we have seen with the Galaxy S5, one of the more anticipated devices of 2014, the rumors and speculation have been off the charts. We have heard about retina scanners, Quad-HD displays with insane resolutions, fingerprint scanners, and a whole ton of other info. Since Samsung has finally announced an unveiling date for the device, we should start to be able to cut back on a lot of the hypebeastin’ and get down to what exactly the Galaxy S5 will be.
According to the latest reports, Samsung is looking to take a different angle with the GS5, as the company will attempt to cut back on all of the theatrics that they have now become known for. From sources of the New York Times, Samsung will take a focus on business men and women, with an updated KNOX security app, while also toning back on bloatware. Samsung’s cutbacks on bloatware could be in direct connection with its recent agreement with Google to start focusing more on pushing Google Play services and not its own third party ecosystem.
In what could be considered somewhat depressing news, the NYT source states that the device won’t come equipped with two features that were its most attention grabbing – according to the report, the phone will not come equipped with either a QHD display or a retina scanner. With that being said, SamMobile has posted pictures of an reported hardshell case for the GS5 that also lacks any slot for a fingerprint scanner; a feature that most industry insiders were almost certain of. We have previously posted reported benchmarks of the Galaxy S5, which pointed to a QHD display, and multiple sources have stated for months that the device would feature a display with a higher resolution than 1080p. Could Samsung have pulled a last minute change for an unknown reason? Anything is possible at this point.
On a brighter note, the source that was briefed on the specs of the device confirms that it will come with a upgraded camera, presumably 16MP in sensor size. On top of that, the phone will also see a bump in processors, most likely from the Exynos 5 Octa to an updated Octa version for overseas markets, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 up from the current Snapdragon 800 which we see today.
To top it all off, the source states that we will most definitely see an updated Galaxy Gear smartwatch, which could be the reason Samsung has begun dropping the price of its original smartwatch in India.
It only seems fitting that we end this post with a simple “nothing is confirmed,” because essentially, none of this is still confirmed.
Via: New York Times | SamMobile | BGR