Other than the Nexus 5 smartphone release, no new flagship device will be more anticipated than Samsung’s new flagship, due in early 2014, the Galaxy S5. The Galaxy S4 is a great device, however, much to the disappointment of some, it was more evolutionary, rather than revolutionary – and this time Samsung is hoping to really, “blow-us-away” with the Galaxy S5. Below are a few things we would love to see in the next Galaxy S flagship phone. Some of the items may never be seen on the Galaxy S5, and not always by Samsung’s choosing, but by the availability of enough parts to keep up with sales and production. The first item is a case in point.
Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) in the Camera
Samsung was hoping to have this feature on the Galaxy Note 3, but had to pass – certainly, it will be included on the Galaxy S5…maybe not. Selling more devices than anybody else has its advantages on the sales side, but also disadvantages on the component end. Samsung has to figure out a way to have 50 million (at least) OIS Cameras ready to build into the Galaxy S5, and at this point, they simply do not have a supplier that can handle this. Samsung is also a manufacturer and may decide to build the cameras themselves – but the question remains if they can pump out enough, in time, to satisfy their demand.
16 Megapixel Camera
Just to add to the above wish of OIS, Sony is working towards getting a chance to supply a 16MP shooter for the new Galaxy S5, and they are capable of supplying the number of lenses that Samsung believes that they will need, and Sony has certainly shown they are more than capable of providing a quality lens.
Fingerprint Sensor
Samsung is working on this, but whether we will see it on the S5 remains to be seen. They really wanted to include it on the Galaxy Note 3, but were not able to get a reliable chip from a third party manufacturer. Crucialtec is currently the only Korean company that makes a fingerprint scanner and they are about a year away from perfecting it, so Samsung is considering the possibility of using an eye scanner – no matter what Samsung decides with the Galaxy S5, they will have one of these technologies on their future phones. It is not just a matter of using this technology to unlock your phone, but more importantly, it can be use to authorize Google Play purchases, bank transactions, etc.
64-Bit Processing with 4GB of RAM
It is no secret that Samsung is making the final changes on its 64-bit Exynos 5430 Octa-Core processor. Hopefully, they will have the kinks worked out so it will work with the 4G LTE networks – but regardless, it will find its way into some Galaxy S5’s even if the U.S. version may still have to go with the next generation Snapdragon. Whichever processor, the Galaxy S5 carry’s it should a 64-bitter. Adding to that 64-bit processor, we think Samsung will include 4GB of RAM to take full advantage of those 64-bits.
Design
For the sake of Samsung and sales of the Galaxy S5, we are looking for a change in the design to move away from the all shiny plastic, so the cries from the naysayers will finally be silenced. Rumors were they may go to a metal body, but Samsung claims they could not produce enough metal cases in the quantities that they would need…more than likely they will go with the faux leather back that they used on the Galaxy Note 3. It is true that it still makes the device all plastic, but the textured back made a huge difference on the Note 3 and could do the same thing for the Galaxy S5.
Wireless Charging
Samsung seems to have a love-hate relationship with wireless charging – they support it, but they never seem to included it completely on the device. You always seem to have to purchase a separate back cover to make it happen, but we think that Samsung will finally make wireless charging a standard item on their flagship Galaxy S5.
Galaxy S5 Active
This “Active” option has been a big hit when Samsung brings out a model carrying that designation with its dust and moisture resistance. Will Samsung, starting with the Galaxy S5, make “Active” a standard feature on their flagship phones…it is a possibility.
Let us know in the comments or on Google+ what you would like to see on the Samsung Galaxy S5 – we would love to hear your ideas.