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Samsung Galaxy S5 Could Be Announced in January 2014

By - Source: Naver | B 32 comments

Might want to take the GS4 off your holiday wishlist, just in case the GS5 comes just after.

With mobile technology continuing to evolve at breakneck speed, it has become the norm for phone companies to update their flagship devices every year. But could Samsung update its famous Galaxy S phone before the GS4 is a year old?

The latest scuttlebutt says Samsung's Galaxy S5 could arrive as soon as January. Korean site Naver reports that Samsung is gearing up for a January launch of the Galaxy S5. Rumored specs include a 16-megapixel camera and Samsung's own Exynos chip. Though Naver doesn't provide a source for its report, Mashable reports that the site is run by former Samsung employees. 

Samsung's GS4 was announced last March and went on sale in April. The first model went on sale in June the year it was announced, while the Galaxy S II and Galaxy S III both had May launches. Looking at that track record, Samsung doesn't really have a clear pattern for launching new Galaxy S phones. With sales of the GS4 slowing, it seems the company is hoping that a whole new model will bring in more sales. Naver says Samsung will tease the device in mid-January and then launch in February.

Samsung, of course, has yet to comment on the rumors, but if they're true, we'll likely be hearing more about the new Galaxy S5 as the holidays approach.

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Top Comments
  • 12 Hide
    Grandmastersexsay , October 13, 2013 6:24 AM
    Considering the S4 is still the most advanced phone on the market except for the Note 3, there is absolutely no reason to release the S5 that early. If Samsung was to release the S5, why in the world they do it in January? That makes absolutely no sense. This article sounds more like Apple generated subterfuge to help increase Christmas sales than legetimate news.

    As the novelty of the iPhone 5S wears off, S4 sales will pick up again.
Other Comments
  • 12 Hide
    Grandmastersexsay , October 13, 2013 6:24 AM
    Considering the S4 is still the most advanced phone on the market except for the Note 3, there is absolutely no reason to release the S5 that early. If Samsung was to release the S5, why in the world they do it in January? That makes absolutely no sense. This article sounds more like Apple generated subterfuge to help increase Christmas sales than legetimate news.

    As the novelty of the iPhone 5S wears off, S4 sales will pick up again.
  • Display all 32 comments.
  • 4 Hide
    Kieran Warren , October 13, 2013 6:41 AM
    I'd hardly say the S4 is the most advanced phone on the market. It has nothing unique other than some samsung software. Camera is way behind the Nokia and Sony flagships. Specs are beaten by LG. Screen isn't the best available. Build materials are cheap. Batteries are hardly the biggest around. So overall it really doesn't have anything unique and that is probably why it isn't selling as well as they expected after the S3
  • 1 Hide
    Grandmastersexsay , October 13, 2013 7:43 AM
    Quote:
    I'd hardly say the S4 is the most advanced phone on the market. It has nothing unique other than some samsung software. Camera is way behind the Nokia and Sony flagships. Specs are beaten by LG. Screen isn't the best available. Build materials are cheap. Batteries are hardly the biggest around. So overall it really doesn't have anything unique and that is probably why it isn't selling as well as they expected after the S3


    First, the camera is not way behind, but slightly behind Nokia and Sony, and that is one of the last things someone should care about. Go buy a professional camera if that is what you want. I'll take screen quality and processing power over a camera any day.

    Next, what LG phone are you talking about that beats the specs of the S4? The S4 has a faster CPU and better GPU than the LG Optimus G Pro. The Optimus shouldn't even be compared to the S4, as it is more in the Phablet Note III class, but even against the S4 it falls short. It's only advantage is a 1/2" bigger screen. The screen itself isn't nicer.

    Which brings me to my next point. The S4 screens is one of the best on the market, with only the Note III having a better one. It might not be the best in sunlight, but the the blacks of an OLED screen are amazing for watching movies. The only way I would forgo the infinitely better contrast is if I used my phone outside a lot, which very few people do. Samsung makes most of the other phone manufactures screens. There is a reason they chose to go the route they did.

    Finally your cheap construction comment just reeks of your ignorance, Do you really think the aluminum used in soda cans is some exotic material? Plastic is lighter and more impact resistance. Not to mention no one gets to see their shiny aluminum finish under their phone case. Plastic allows for quick and easy battery and SD card changes.

  • 1 Hide
    JeanLuc , October 13, 2013 7:48 AM
    IMO Samsung risk overexposing the galaxy brand, right now Samsung has a galaxy model in everysize, each of which there's two generations off. S4, S3, S4 mini, S3 mini, Note 2, Note 3, Note watch, Galaxy Mega, Galaxy tablet.

    I hope Samsung tries something a different with the S5 kinda of like what HTC done with the latest offering (HTC one, with it's unibody and high quality speakers), with greater battery life or high quality finish like you get with a iPhone of One.
  • 4 Hide
    bboysil , October 13, 2013 7:57 AM
    to Grandmastersexsay, take a look at LG G2
  • 2 Hide
    016ive , October 13, 2013 8:02 AM
    There is not much reason for Samsung to release a new Flagship unless the Exyons chip that will power it is 64bit.Though 64bit is going to be just a marketing ploy :) 
  • 2 Hide
    mdbrotha03 , October 13, 2013 8:04 AM
    Its as if he has never heard of the Snapdragon 800
  • -5 Hide
    sean1357 , October 13, 2013 8:21 AM
    mdbrotha03,

    It's still beat the shit out of Snapdragon 800

    http://gigaom.com/2013/09/19/tests-show-iphone-5s-a7-chip-is-dual-core-still-beats-quad-core-android-competitors/
  • 0 Hide
    digiex , October 13, 2013 9:57 AM
    Galaxy S5, iPHONE 5S, oh come on Samsung, you just reversed 5 and S
  • 2 Hide
    makaveli316 , October 13, 2013 10:10 AM
    Hahahha can you imagine if Samsung puts out the next galaxy as Galaxy S5 hahhahaha that would be the biggest troll attempt at Apple ever.
  • 6 Hide
    Grandmastersexsay , October 13, 2013 10:34 AM
    Quote:
    Quote:
    Quote:
    I'd hardly say the S4 is the most advanced phone on the market. It has nothing unique other than some samsung software. Camera is way behind the Nokia and Sony flagships. Specs are beaten by LG. Screen isn't the best available. Build materials are cheap. Batteries are hardly the biggest around. So overall it really doesn't have anything unique and that is probably why it isn't selling as well as they expected after the S3


    First, the camera is not way behind, but slightly behind Nokia and Sony, and that is one of the last things someone should care about. Go buy a professional camera if that is what you want. I'll take screen quality and processing power over a camera any day.

    Next, what LG phone are you talking about that beats the specs of the S4? The S4 has a faster CPU and better GPU than the LG Optimus G Pro. The Optimus shouldn't even be compared to the S4, as it is more in the Phablet Note III class, but even against the S4 it falls short. It's only advantage is a 1/2" bigger screen. The screen itself isn't nicer.

    Which brings me to my next point. The S4 screens is one of the best on the market, with only the Note III having a better one. It might not be the best in sunlight, but the the blacks of an OLED screen are amazing for watching movies. The only way I would forgo the infinitely better contrast is if I used my phone outside a lot, which very few people do. Samsung makes most of the other phone manufactures screens. There is a reason they chose to go the route they did.

    Finally your cheap construction comment just reeks of your ignorance, Do you really think the aluminum used in soda cans is some exotic material? Plastic is lighter and more impact resistance. Not to mention no one gets to see their shiny aluminum finish under their phone case. Plastic allows for quick and easy battery and SD card changes.



    There is so much mis-information in your post, it is unbelievable. The anodized aluminum is significantly stronger than the plastic on S4. The blogs on the net say it is, multiple drop tests prove it, why is it so hard to understand through your fanboyism that aluminum is better??

    Also, I gotta say that the screen on the S4 is great, but not the best. So what if it has great blacks. Many tests that compare it to the iPhone 5 say that the iphone 5 is less over-saturated and has better natural colors. But I will still say the S4 screen has many other improvements over the iPhone 5's screen to say the IP5 screen is better.



    For every drop test you could find showing the S4 loosing to some other aluminum phone, I could find one showing the S4 beating that same phone. Even the best of these drop tests fail under the slightest bit of scientific scrutiny. The results are so inherently random and the price of these phones so high that a large enough sample population is never used. The results are meaningless, even the ones showing the S4 winning.

    One thing can be proven though. The impact resistance of plastic is a far greater than aluminum. When was the last time you saw an aluminum football or motorcycle helmet? Jabroni.
  • 1 Hide
    Solandri , October 13, 2013 11:49 AM
    Quote:
    For every drop test you could find showing the S4 loosing to some other aluminum phone, I could find one showing the S4 beating that same phone. Even the best of these drop tests fail under the slightest bit of scientific scrutiny. The results are so inherently random and the price of these phones so high that a large enough sample population is never used. The results are meaningless, even the ones showing the S4 winning.

    One thing can be proven though. The impact resistance of plastic is a far greater than aluminum. When was the last time you saw an aluminum football or motorcycle helmet? Jabroni.

    Yeah, I studied as a structural engineer in college. Plastic and metal are just different. Whether or not one is better depends on your application. I do get a sense that the iPhone fares better than the S4 in drop tests, but I mostly attribute that to the lower mass (112g vs 130g) and smaller size (shorter lever arm when dropped on an edge or corner, resulting in smaller torques - the rotational analogue to forces). If you could enlarge an iPhone to S4 size, or shrink an S4 to iPhone size, I suspect they'd perform pretty similarly in drop tests.

    The problem with metal in crashes is that it's very rigid. Rigid structures transmit all the acceleration forces directly to the internal components. A flexible material helps spread those forces out over time, reducing the acceleration forces. If you want a crash-friendly metal body, you need to design in collapsing tubes which absorb energy by crumpling in a pre-designed way. The downside being once it's crumpled, you need to replace it with a new one. With plastic, the parts which bent simply unbend once the force is removed. (Electronics can easily survive several hundred g's, so by "components" we're mostly talking about the screen here. And Samsung/LG are well on the way to solving that problem with flexible screens.)

    Also, the iPhone's colors are more accurate because it's pretty obvious Apple is color calibrating them. The iPhone screens are not magical - most of them are made by Samsung or Sharp so it's not like they have better hardware. Android simply does not yet support color calibration. Samsung lets you pick different color schemes, and as Anandtech's reviews have shown, the Movie profile is very close to spot on accurate. The oversaturation in OLEDs is also a desirable trait (if you can calibrate it). It means the screen has a very large color gamut (can display purer colors). So if Android would just add support for color profiles, the OLED screens would completely blow away LCDs in terms of color. (LCDs still win out in max brightness.)
  • -1 Hide
    John Bauer , October 13, 2013 12:00 PM
    Samsung is becoming the new Apple.
  • 1 Hide
    thdarkshadow , October 13, 2013 12:01 PM
    Not to jump in the fan boy war but let me just put this out here: the S4 camera is behind Nokia (920) a whole lot I did side by side tests in common indoor situations. Out door I didn't test much but I think they were close. The phone creaked and crackled just holding it. The plastic was slimey and collected dirt quickly. The CPU is good but the screen is oversaturated by a lot. Performance was good but I'm just not crazy about touchwiz. Is it the best phone hands down? No way but it does compete very well. Because of personal tastes I would pick a different phone but I'd also recommend it to many people.

    Now about the s5... Not happening. April at the soonest
  • 0 Hide
    Aaron Briggs , October 13, 2013 1:26 PM
    really sad there are so many idiots out there that will buy this crap when the current isnt a year old. God i hate Smart Phones turning everything into throw away trash. I have a GS4 for a work phone and i hate it, terrible battery life, runs slow after a couple days, so many services i cant remove its like what Laptops were back in the day, companies load there blaotware onto it and slow everything down.
  • 0 Hide
    JD88 , October 13, 2013 1:28 PM
    The big problem with the Smartphone market in the US especially is the same one the PC market has. Smartphones are getting to the point where there is no real reason to upgrade them every year or two. If you're someone like me who has a Galaxy S3 or better, you can already run 99% of the apps, get the latest version of Android from Cyanogenmod, and have a phone with a nice screen that is perfectly smooth.

    I'll admit I'm considering picking up a Nexus 5, but that's just because I'm an enthusiast and like the Nexus line. A normal user would have absolutely no reason to upgrade unless they want to play the absolute latest games or just have to have the latest and greatest thing.

  • 0 Hide
    jimmysmitty , October 13, 2013 1:45 PM
    Quote:
    I'd hardly say the S4 is the most advanced phone on the market. It has nothing unique other than some samsung software. Camera is way behind the Nokia and Sony flagships. Specs are beaten by LG. Screen isn't the best available. Build materials are cheap. Batteries are hardly the biggest around. So overall it really doesn't have anything unique and that is probably why it isn't selling as well as they expected after the S3


    If you compare the LG G2 to the launch S4, yea its better in one way which is the processor which is a Snapdragon 600 vs 800. But the S4 LTE-A has a Snapdragon 800.

    Honestly phones are not very unique. Short of software and maybe some design queues like screen or button placement/materials they all use the same processors for the most part.

    Its all about the feel. The S4 is a great phone. The HTC one, LG G2 are also great phones.

    Until there is another CPU design it wont be anything more than one company releases, the next releases a few months later with a bit better CPU/camera etc.
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