Samsung Galaxy S5 Rumor Roundup

If release date rumors reported by Bloomberg earlier this month are to be believed, we might not have long to wait before Samsung unveils the Galaxy S5. In the meantime, speculation continues to ramp up regarding the phone’s spec sheet and feature set and we’ve rounded up some of the most compelling rumors.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Rumors: Release Date

According to Bloomberg, Samsung will release the Galaxy S5 by April. This seems pretty likely since the info comes straight from Lee Young Hee, executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile division.

“We’ve been announcing our first flagship model in the first half of each year, around March and April, and we are still targeting for release around that time,” Lee said in a January interview with Bloomberg.

So it would be a safe bet to expect the Galaxy S5 in the next couple months.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Rumors: Fingerprint Scanner

The inclusion of a fingerprint scanner on the Galaxy S5 has been one of the more pervasive S5 rumors, particularly following the release of Apple’s iPhone 5S. While Samsung hasn’t commented publically on the matter, it would be pretty surprising for the S5 not to have at least some kind of biometric security function given the heated rivalry between Samsung and Apple.  

The possibility of an iris scanner has also been floated and though it sounds pretty Samsung-y given the Galaxy S4’s eye-tracking features, we suspect we won’t see it on the S5—maybe the S6.   

Samsung Galaxy S5 Rumors: Tizen OS

One of the more interesting rumors regarding the Galaxy S5 has been the possibility that it would run Samsung’s home-cooked Tizen OS rather than Android KitKat. Some have even speculated that Samsung will debut Tizen and Firefox OS-based smartphones at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on February 24.

While Tizen phones are definitely coming eventually, we’d be rather surprised to see Samsung so abruptly cut ties with Android and entrust its flagship smartphone to an unproven platform.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Rumors: Metal Casing

Early speculation suggested the Galaxy S5 would finally eschew the plastic casing of its predecessors and sport something more in line with industry standards for a high-end smartphone, like anodized aluminum. Unfortunately, this rumor got more or less quashed last week when AppleInsider obtained a research note from KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that suggested Samsung would retain plastic casing for the Galaxy S5. Kuo notes, however, that Samsung is indeed planning metal phones for the future.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Rumors: Accessories

Chances are good that whenever Samsung decides to roll out the Galaxy S5, it’ll do so alongside a redesigned version of the Galaxy Gear smartwatch—call it Galaxy Gear 2. This bit of info also comes straight from the horse’s mouth:

“When we release our S5 device, you can also expect a Gear successor with more advanced functions, and the bulky design will also be improved,” Lee told Bloomberg.

As far as what you can expect from the Galaxy Gear 2, we’d say slimmer dimensions along with longer battery life are among the most likely changes.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Rumors: 64-bit Architecture

Along with a fingerprint scanner and iOS 7, the iPhone 5S also marked the roll out of 64-bit mobile processing. Speculation of 64-bit architecture on the Galaxy S5 followed almost immediately, but KGI Research says Samsung will almost certainly stick to 32-bit processing.