Galaxy S5 Will Feature A Metal Body
A few days ago we reported a rumor that claimed that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5 Will be released in March ? April 2014, possibly with a metal body. As we mentioned int hat article this was not the first rumor to suggest the Galaxy S5 will have a metal body, which would make it the first smartphone from Samsung to feature a metal body; this will offer it a premium look that will rival the designs of iPhone models and the HTC One. There are quite a few recent reports that support the rumor as a few component manufacturers have been suggested to be suppliers for the South Korean’s Galaxy S5 smartphone.
Three months ago, in September, rumors suggested that Samsung is choosing metal suppliers to manufacture the Galaxy S5 chassis and a Taiwanese company named Catcher was said to be Samsung’s first choice. Catcher has also manufactured metal cases for smartphones and tablets alike, some of its customers including HTC (for the HTC One) and Apple (for the iPad). EMSOnes, a Japanese publication, suggests that Catcher was chosen to be one of several suppliers for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5. The report says that Catcher will be Samsung’s main metal supplier and the contract will have the Taiwanese company ship between ten and thirty million metal chasses to Samsung in late December. The secondary suppliers that will manufacture metal components for the Samsung Galaxy S5 have been chosen to be Chinese company BYD and Taiwanese company Jo Teng.
This report does not represent any kind of confirmation that the Galaxy S5 will feature a metal body, but some people think it is pretty good evidence. There have been many rumors that said Samsung will make go form plastic to a metal body; both the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 as well as the recently released Galaxy Note 3 phablet were rumored before being released to feature a metal design and in the end they were all launched with the same plastic body? as every other Samsung device. However, rumors of a metal chassis have never been this frequent and they have never all pointed at the same evidence before a Samsung Galaxy S’ release.
Samsung claims that using plastic allows it to manufacture and release new devices on a consistent basis. You need to keep in mind that Samsung not only launches two new flagship devices on a yearly basis (one in the Galaxy S line and one in the Galaxy Note line of phablets), but the South Korean company also releases many mid range and low budget Galaxy smartphones in many markets worldwide. Last year alone the South Korean company manufactured large display devices, mid range devices (such as the Samsung Galaxy Mega), devices that were released in many color variants such as the Samsung Galaxy J and also devices with experimental display designs, such as the Samsung Galaxy Round.
Apple on the other hand only releases one flagship per year with a metal body – the iPhone. While this year Apple released two new iPhone models, the iPhone 5C is very different from the company’s usual design and represents Apple’s first attempt at a mid range, ?unapologetically plastic? smartphone. While HTC’s flagship, the HTC One, is not the first device to feature an aluminum body, the company also released devices such as the HTC One Mini and the HTC One Max that have a lot more plastic in their design than the HTC One. As it seems, more companies are adopting Samsung’s strategy to use plastic devices in order to penetrate a wide range of markets.
Additional Evidence For A Samsung Galaxy S5 Metal Chassis
Besides the aforementioned rumors, there have been reports about the South Korean company’s intentions to release the Samsung Galaxy S5 in two variants: one with a metal body and one with a plastic body. A metal device frame (that is speculated to be for the Samsung Galaxy S5) that leaked online recently seems to support this rumor; the leak was found by French tech web site No Where Else and comes as additional evidence supporting the rumors about Samsung finally releasing its first metal device. The French tech website claims the metal device frame belongs to the upcoming Galaxy S5, though it doesn’t have anything to support the claim and while some people suggested the metal frame may not be linked to the fifth generation Galaxy S, they all agree that it represents proof that Samsung will release a metal device in the near future.
After the metal device frame leaked online there wasn?t any other information about it. However, rumors about a metal body for upcoming Samsung devices (upcoming Galaxy S smarpthone) will surely continue to appear. There have also been several reports claiming that the South Korean company intends to develop a new line of Galaxy smartphones, named the Samsung Galaxy F. The rumored Galaxy F line will supposedly include a metal chassis that will give a premium look to the smartphones, while the Galaxy S line will continue to feature plastic. The Galaxy F line is also rumored to include features not present in the Galaxy S line.
Latest Samsung Galaxy S5 Rumors: Other Features
As we reported a few days ago, recent rumors suggest that Samsung could start mass producing the Galaxy S5 next month and release it sometime between March and April 2014. While earlier rumors suggested that the Samsung Galaxy S5 would be unveiled next month in January and released a month later in February, the latest rumors seem to suggest a later release. If Catcher would manage to ship metal to Samsung at the end of this month, as planned, the South Korean company could begin mass production of the next Galaxy S smartphone in January.
A recent document filed with KIPRIS (Korean Intellectual Property Rights Information Service) appeared online and it describes a multi party conference call feature that could be integrated in the Samsung Galaxy S5. As its name implies, the multi party conference call feature allows multiple parties to take part in a video call. From the document it is not clear whether the feature is connected to the upcoming Galaxy S5 or not (though the feature is displayed on an Android device render) but rumors have it that the multi party conference call will be an important feature of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5. The document thus the multi party conference call feature becoming a direct competitor to similar video messaging services like Google Hangouts and iMessage / FaceTime.
While nobody knows how the multi party conference call feature will work, from the render image it is rumored that the feateure will allow people to use either the rear or the front camera: one user could be captured by the rear camera while another user could be captured by the front camera. In any case, it seems that the multi party conference call feature will allow many users to participate in a conference at the same time.
Other rumors point to the Samsung Galaxy S5 featuring either an Exynos or a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, but that’s not something unexpected. Rumors also suggest a 5 inch flexible OLED display or a Super AMOLED display, 3 GB of RAM, a 4,000 mAh battery, a 2 MP front camera sensor and a 16 MP rear camera sensor that could include OIS (optical image stabilization, a feature that would largely improve the quality of pictures captured at a high zoom level). When it comes to the Operating System, the fifth Galaxy S is expected to run Android 4.4 KitKat. It could also be paired with the recently released smart watch from Samsung, the Samsung Galaxy Gear or with the next generation Galaxy Gear that may be released around the same time as the Samsung Galaxy S5.
Would you be interested in a Samsung Galaxy S5 with a metal body? And would you pay more for one? As always, leave a comment in the dedicated section below.
