Samsung (SSNLF) is having a big week. The reveals started with a bang on the weekend, with two new smartwatches to replace the Galaxy Gear and continued with today’s Galaxy Unpacked event, where the new Galaxy S5 was revealed along with a new Gear Fit wristband.
SSNLF has a lot riding on its Galaxy smartphones. Mobile phone sales make up the majority of the company’s profit and its Galaxy S4 flagship was both the top-selling Android smartphone of 2013 and the fastest selling Android smartphone in history. The Galaxy S4 is also the primary competitor to the Apple (AAPL) iPhone 5s — it has been the only device to keep the Apple flagship from completely running away with the popularity crown.
So, when a new Samsung smartphone is announced, the industry and consumers take notice.
There were complaints about the Galaxy S4, primarily its sometimes gimmicky software and the plastic case that comes off as a bit cheap compared to the competition. And speaking of competition, the market is heating up, Apple seems likely to be adopting a bigger display for the iPhone 6 — eliminating a key advantage for the Galaxy S4 — while Lenovo (LNVGY) is intensifying its smartphone efforts with the acquisition of Motorola Mobility from Google (GOOG).
In short, SSNLF has a lot riding on the Galaxy S5. Here’s what the company revealed when it announced the highly anticipated new Samsung smartphone along with the surprise fitness monitor at yesterday’s Galaxy Unpacked event.
Samsung Galaxy S5: Bigger, Faster and Better Looking Than Ever
Samsung was remarkably restrained with the Galaxy S5. There was speculation the company would go all out with a Quad HD display, but it kept things reasonable. The new Samsung smartphone flagship has a 5.1-inch display at 1920 x 1080 resolution.
It’s also avoided straying too far from previous design cues, keeping the plastic cover instead of switching to aluminium, but it’s a more attractive and premium-looking perforated pattern instead of smooth plastic. And — in answer to the unexpected popularity of the Gold iPhone 5s — Samsung is offering a “Copper Gold” option.
Restraint was also shown under the hood. Maybe Samsung has decided to back off the practice of trying to overwhelm with specs, or maybe it’s trying to preserve profit margins. Whatever the reason, the Galaxy S5 gets a decent CPU bump but keeps RAM at 2GB (even though many competitors are going with 3GB).
Samsung Galaxy S5: New Features
You can’t introduce a new smartphone without upping the ante on features, and the new Samsung smartphone incorporates a trick, while borrowing from other leading smartphones.
After Apple introduced the Touch ID sensor, it seemed likely Samsung would try to follow suit. As expected, the Galaxy S5 sports a finger scanner integrated in the home button. Like Sony’s (SNE) Xperia line, the Galaxy S5 gains dust and water resistance — it will survive a three-foot dunking in water.
And to make things interesting, SSNLF incorporated a new heart rate sensor. This should make its S Health functions (first introduced with last year’s Galaxy S4) a little more compelling.
Samsung Galaxy S5: Specifications
Quad-core Qualcomm (QCOM) Snapdragon 801 processor at 2.5 GHz
- 2 GB RAM
- 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display at 1920 x 1080 (Full HD)
- 16GB or 32GB of storage, expandable with microSD cards
- Biometric fingerprint scanner on home button
- Built-in heart beat sensor
- 16 MP camera with 4K video recording capability and selective focus
- LTE, 802.11 a/c Wi-Fi with MIMO and Download Booster feature
- NFC
- IR blaster for TV control
- USB 3.0, Bluetooth 4.0
- 2800 mAh replaceable battery rated for 21 hours talk time or 12 hours of video playback
- IP67 rating for dust and water
- 5.11 ounces
- Runs Samsung TouchWiz UI over Google (GOOG) Android 4.2.2 KitKat
Samsung Galaxy S5: Gear Fit Surprise Announcement
It turns out that Samsung can keep a secret pretty well — and has a bit of a flair for showmanship.
Despite announcing the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo smartwatches yesterday, the company dropped a bit of a bombshell at the Unpacked event with the surprise reveal of the Gear Fit, a wristband fitness tracker with a curved Super AMOLED display.
Besides the expected fitness tracking capabilities, the Gear Fit will display call, text and e-mail notifications, and it also includes a heart rate sensor. This device could spell trouble for existing fitness trackers, and the timing couldn’t be worse for market leader FitBit, which has had to recall its new FitBit Force.
Samsung Galaxy S5: Availability and Pricing
Samsung says expect global availability of the Galaxy S5 starting in March. Pricing hasn’t been released, but $199 on contract is the sweet spot for flagship smartphones.
Gear Fit pricing hasn’t been announced, either, but it should be available in April.
The Galaxy S5 looks to be a very compelling mobile device, and it may well cement SSNLF’s hold on the Android smartphone market for another year.
Sony, HTC and Google have been making waves with new releases, but just as in 2013, they’re likely to remain part of the large pack of manufacturers competing for the scraps left behind by the new Samsung smartphone. However, the door has been left open for someone to make a run at the ultra-high-end hardware angle, since Samsung hasn’t gone to town on the Galaxy S5 display or CPU.
Apple, meanwhile, has been served notice that Samsung is not going to stand still. At least some of those Apple iPhone 6 rumors had better be true if AAPL wants to keep the Galaxy S5 from further eroding its smartphone market share.
As of this writing, Brad Moon did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.