Samsung has kept up a pretty consistent release cycle for its flagship smartphones in recent years, debuting new Galaxy S hardware in the spring followed by a new Galaxy Note in the fall. It looks like 2014 won’t be any different; a Samsung executive has confirmed that the Galaxy S5 is slated to debut in the coming months.
Lee Young Hee has told Bloomberg that Samsung is planning to introduce its new Galaxy S5 around the same March or April timeframe. Lee, who is Samsung’s EVP for mobile, said that her company is also planning to introduce an updated version of its Galaxy Gear smartwatch at the same time as the Galaxy S5. The new Galaxy Gear will include a less bulky design, Lee said, as well as “more advanced functions” that include a calorie counter and heart rate monitor.
What about the Galaxy S5, you ask? Lee was a bit more tight-lipped about that device, but she did say that it will likely be different from its predecessors in terms of its screen size and design. The exec explained that consumers didn’t have as strong a reaction to the Galaxy S 4 as with previous models because they couldn’t feel much of a physical difference between it and the Galaxy S III. “For the S5, we will go back to the basics. Mostly, it’s about the display and the feel of the cover,” Lee said. She went on to say that Samsung is “studying the possibility” of iris recognition tech but wouldn’t say whether or not the feature will be included with the Galaxy S5.
Finally, Lee touched a bit on the next Samsung Galaxy Note. The new model in Samsung’s flagship phablet family will debut in the latter half of 2014 and will target the high-end market and consumers that want a “professional use” device. The rumor mill has suggested that the next Note could feature a three-sided wraparound display that will enable users to read content at an angle.
So that’s a broad picture of what Samsung’s 2014 is expected to look like. Overall there’s nothing terribly surprising in Lee’s statements, but it is interesting to hear that Samsung is planning an updated design for the Galaxy S5 to help it better stand out from its predecessors. Exactly what that design will be is still a mystery, but we’ve seen severalrecent high-end Samsung products adopt a squared-off design with faux leather backsides, so that’s certainly one look that the next Galaxy S could adopt.
If you were in charge of designing the look and feel of Galaxy S5, what features would you include?
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