By 
Pictured Above: Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
With the Samsung Galaxy S4 out in full force and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 looming, it’s natural to already be hearing rumors about the Samsung Galaxy S5. The latest comes from ETNews, who suggests Samsung will look to use metal for the next iteration of their flagship Samsung Galaxy S lineup. The source states Samsung is even gearing up to create their own production lines for the new chassis.
With that, we’re still not entirely sold that Samsung is ready to move on from plastic. We’ve heard the same rumor about the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, Samsung Galaxy S4, and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 before they launched, yet we always learn that Samsung decides to shy away from it at the last possible moment. We won’t bank on this rumor having legs, though we’re at least hopeful that there’s a bigger chance of that happening now than ever before.
Samsung first tested the metallic waters with the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active, a rugged device that featured the build quality and material we’ve all been dreaming for out of a Samsung device. The South Korean manufacturer received many praises for the design and feel of that particular phone, which hopefully gave them confidence to keep plugging away at bringing that sort of finish to their top-tier smartphones.
We’re not sure what else will be in store for us with the Samsung Galaxy S5, but we aren’t thinking that far ahead just yet. We’re still wondering what Samsung is looking to cook up with the Note 3, a phone which will be unveiled at the company’s September 4th event ahead of IFA Berlin (alongside a new smart watch). Be sure to stay tuned as we’ll be looking to bring you more live coverage about that than you can handle.
[via SamMobile]
I hope it’s a unique & beautiful design. Not just premium material. They need to execute.
Exactly, it would be funny if it still has that typical samsung look but just in metal.
I know some people consider the physical home button a sacred cow; but I hope they finally realize that they dont have to copy apple anymore and can get rid of the gaudy and inefficient giant physical home button.
coming from the original s and s2, I enjoy having a physical home button.
I kinda wish they all were physical (or only have the centre physical button if apps would cooperate with Holo standards).
Inefficient? I think that capacitive buttons are terrible.
When passing someone a phone, especially a non-smartphone-wielding person, at least 70% of the time accidentally press the capacitive back key then hand the phone back to me telling me “It’s gone”
I HATE CAPACITIVE BUTTONS TOO! I love physical buttons best, and on screen almost as much. I hate it when I accidently hit the back button and end a game, or close out whatever I’m in. Capacitive buttons need to die.
I agree. Physical buttons rule.
Wow I thought it was just me. My dad always somehow manages to exit what I try to show him.
I miss trackballs because you can’t fly across the screen quickly and accurately with a software button.
http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3rjjjf
http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3rjjjf
They might as well so everyone can stop complaining about build quality.
I don’t get all the complaining about the plastic. I have an S4 and I’ve used an HTC One, and although the One is awesome, I chose to stick with the S4, mainly because of the removable battery, and gave the One to my wife. But having compared the two, the S4, to me, feels just as good in my hands as the One. The plastic just doesn’t seem to bother me. Besides, don’t most people put a case on their phone anyway?
Amen, bro.
How about getting rid of touchwiz… God, what an awful overlay.
that only depends on who you ask! i like it!
Imo Touchwiz is not bad (I like the settings/functions), just need to put Nova Launcher over it lol
The fact that you need to out a third launcher over it shows it’s problems.
I have an S4 and when I’m running a touchwiz rom I too put nova launcher on as well.
Touchwiz feels really dated, and it’s really bloated. Sense used to be the bloat king, now I think that torch has been passed to Touchwiz, Samsung needs to put major work into touchwiz, and stop just tacking on useless features.
The worst problem for me is having to create a folder to drop icons into, instead of just stacking them to automatically create a folder like every other launcher does.
I don’t like touchwiz, but according to your logic every phone is flawed. When I run AOSP, Blur, Sense, or Touchwiz roms the first thing I do is add a 3rd party launcher. No stock launcher works for me, but it doesn’t mean they are flawed.
Depends on your needs, I am perfectly happy with the stock AOSP launcher, or recent motorola skins, even sense isn’t horrible.
But touchwiz just feels really dated even compared the AOSP and Sense.
I use nova because I bought prime a long time ago and I’m used to it, if samsung had a better skin I might not need it though. I rarely used nova when I had my nexus4 because AOSP was enough.
But you’re saying touchwiz is crap because you need another launcher, but others may not. I always need a new launcher since no stock launcher has the features I want, but that doesn’t automatically make them bad.
EXACTLY WHAT SIMPLEAS was saying. Thats right. Eat it.
Yeah I agree about the icon/folders, it is annoying. I actually like the features of TW though, I often find myself looking for them on stock android. Concerning the bloat, it’s pretty easy to root and weed it out. Personally I uninstalled anything that was Samsung out of TW, pretty happy with it now.
That’s the biggest baloney i heard today. Just cause I installed Nova Prime doesn’t make touch wiz suck… okay? What kind of logic is that? I for one love touch wiz and installed prime for it added functions that no OTHER STOCK roms have. Whats up now? Huh?
this was meant for John Crapworth
Fanboy much? you feel the need to insult me because I don’t like touchwiz, very sad.
so whats up now? answer me lil kid
you seem like the child, smh
-.- what? I didn’t say that Touch Wiz sucks, I actually said I like it, just not the look.
so done with galaxy phones…time to move on…LG, Sony,HTC, Oppo…
I’d remove LG from that list, you’ll be very disappointed…
idk, that G2 looks nice….
I’m not to keen on those buttons on its back…
I’d remove you from the comments, no one will be disappointed.
It’s a valid statement, I’ve owned the g2x, optimus g and have had nothing but issues with them, hopefully lg gets their act together with the g2x.
Am I the only one that doesn’t find metal as a plus? *drop it once* “Wow, the scuff is so rough and sharp.”
I used to say that, but after I held the HTC One…
All I hope is that they keep the removable back plate so that we can switch batteries.
I’m SOOOO not for metal backing. I don’t understand that logic. If it’s not metal, it’s not “premium”…even though all the hardware inside is premium. Removable backing with replaceable SD and battery = major awesomeness. If this so-called metal backing on the S5 is not removable, I don’t see their sales numbers increasing any.
Who says a metal back can’t be removable?
Phandroid should do a poll of users that actually replace their battery. I see so many people complain about not having a removable battery. I bet more than half of them don’t even do anything with their battery.
I don’t, but I see the need for people who keep their phones for 1-2 years, or have a device that has bad battery life. It’svery ni ce to have the option, and doesn’t hurt those who don’t need it. I don’t understand why everyone seems to think a phone made of metal can’t have a removable back though.
The downside of incorporating a removable battery is designing the rest of the phone around that fact. Manufacturers have much more flexibility when they have the entire phone as a canvas to place antenna’s and other internal components. Also the battery will be larger in size due to making it all encompassing and ‘pretty’.
I replaced my note 2 battery with a 9300mah battery that lasts me 3-4 days on heavy usage, including a ton of YouTube and 3d gaming.
yeah, what’s the point of all those specs if you can only use them for brief moments?
I really use the huge battery every single day. At my job, and im sure a lot of other people, im not able to charge my phone during work, although I am able to use my phone ALOT. Im away from home 11 -12 hours a day, and with a regular batter my phone would die around 1pm everyday and id be stuck phone less for hours. Also I use up all the extra memory as well for loading apps and games and movies and all my pics to the micro sd card. Without the extra memory I would be constantly having to worry about having enough space, and I also backup my phone to the sd card with titanium backup.
I also just got back from an 8 day camping trip, and my aftermarket 9300mah battery and stock 3100mah battery lasted the entire trip watching movies from my 64gb micro sd card every night before bed with my wife. Id say a removable battery and memory expansion is important for me. I still had battery left when I got home, didnt have access to power the entire trip to charge, didnt need too.
Try and do that with a stock battery! And this 13% left will last all day easy…
My phone battery usually provides me decent performance until my next upgrade which is every two years. Unless you intend on keeping a phone for an extended period, I see no need for a removable battery. Then again, it all depends on what the user needs. If they’re a gamer and play graphic intensive games several hours a day or a big Web surfer then I can see the need for an interchangeable battery. I guess a removable battery does come in handy when you don’t have access to a charger, but then again you can find pretty inexpensive battery packs to recharge your phone.
Yeah I do a LOT of internet browsing and YouTube and gaming on my phone almost everyday. Without my huge after market 9300 mah battery my phone would die every day around noon or 1, and that’s taking it off the charger at 5 or 6 every morning. My 9300 battery is a beast and I can go 2-4 full days on a single charge.
i’ve seen dropped HTC one’s… doesn;t look any different than other dropped phones.
No. You’re not the only one.
It would be a good change of pace to building the note3 or the next galaxy with some kind of metal casing. Hell the iphone is bringing a it’s plastic casing!
I wish the Note 3 had a metal design. There were rumors of the Note 3 being made of more metal, but then they said Samsung snatched the idea. They probably didn’t have enough time to make a design that didn’t affect the signal. I would rather them wait and get it right rather than give us a metal phone that doesn’t work.
I myself am not a plastic hater, I have the S4 and I love it, I don’t wish they had gone with metal, i prefer my light plastic phone, then again I always have a light slim case on my phone, so I don’t feel the actual phone very often.
However given Samsung falling sales number’s for the S4 (from the S3) and the fact that they made the Samsung Active, I think it’s much more likely that they will change to metal for the S5, most of the complaints about the S4 were build quality complaints so it makes sense for them to finally switch from plastic.
Well, considering I don’t buy based on a phone being metal or not, doesn’t matter to me. I still slightly prefer the lighter and durability of plastic.
Why in the world couldn’t they offer both?
http://www.webfirm.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Untitled11.png
I dont mind the Plastic at all. When the back gets scratched, it cost me a few bucks to replace it and it looks like new.
Just because a phone is built with metal doesn’t mean it can’t have a removable back.
Just because a phone built with metal can have a removable back doesn’t mean it will have.
In fact, real world examples point to them usually NOT having removable backs.
Just because there’s so much use of removable back I want to say removable back.
Read my other post, I agree with you 101%.
To me, non-removable batteries (which go hand in hand with non-removable backs) are the biggest instant deal-breaker ever.
Only recently have they been non removable.
Frankly can’t remember all these removable metal backplates…
It may be just “selective memory” though, as I have always avoided them since, as I wrote elsewhere: “Leaving aside that I HATE the feel in hand of metal (always unpleasantly cold or hot), it scratches and dents *way* more easily than polycarbonate and you have to design around its NON-radio transparency.I AM “holding my breath”, I am hoping they don’t follow the stupid herd behind Apple and ruin my Note series!!!!”
I had a Droid X which was a mainly metal build with a soft touch rubber finish. That was the most durable finish I’ve had on a phone. With the soft touch rubber it wasn’t cold, but still had the solid feel of metal. I hate the plastic phones I’ve had because the finish always starts to peel within days (the chrome bezel on Samsung phones in particular). I’ve never had a problem with any dents or scratches on the metal phones I had. The Droid X took a beating, and only had one small scratch after 2 years, it’s was over 3 years old and looked gently used except for the shattered screen a couple weeks ago when my co-worker dropped it.
so you are not advocating metal bodies then in the sense we are commenting here. folks who say they want “quality/premium material” metal backs do not mean covered by soft touch rubber finish… (which , BTW, I do like as well)
I also don’t get how you seem to trying to refute the fact that metal bodies are more prone to dents and scratches if your example of a durable metal body is one covered in rubber…
I know the droid maxx hd (my brother’s phone) has no removable battery but does have SD.
Nowhere did i write that metal could not be removed. Typically a metal or aluminum backing would cost more in parts / desirability so it wouldn’t be as cheap for me to replace.
While I love the S3, I won’t be upgrading unless they make the case more resilient. With nominal use, already after only 14 months, the blue paint had rubbed off of the top edge of my phone. I would love to see a metal cover and hope that the S5 will have one….
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130839977790?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
OH NO THE TOP EDGE RUBBED AWAY?!
“Metal = quality/premium material” is just yet another stupid BS spewed by Apple (only once they changed course and abandoned polycarbonate, of course) and bought by the ignorant masses.
Leaving aside that I HATE the feel in hand of metal (always unpleasantly cold or hot), it scratches and dents *way* more easily than polycarbonate and you have to design around its NON-radio transparency.
I AM “holding my breath”, I am hoping they don’t follow the stupid herd behind Apple and ruin my Note series!!!!
Preach it, brutha
i dont know, i’ve seen dropped HTC one’s and they dont look any different than other dropped phones.
About durability, I was mainly thinking about Apple scrap metal toys actually…
Anyway, my Samsung devices (Galaxy S, SII, Note and Note II) have been exceptionally good in this regard. I NEVER EVER use cases and I have dropped each several times. Never broke anything, all they ever got was very minor wear and tear (and I do use the heck out of them).
yeah i mean poly-carbonate is pretty durable. I’ve dropped my old Evo phones tons of times and never had an issue. I’m just saying that i’ve seen a dropped HTC One, and the scuff marks arent that much different so i just think the whole metal gets ruined *way* more easily than poly-carbonate is a bit overblown..
I have a note 8.0 and it feels fine. I’m not saying it has to be metal, but i wouldn’t mind a better feeling device. The home button seems weakly construction for the price i paid for the device, it lacks the attention to detail i’d like from a $400 tablet.
“i wouldn’t mind a better feeling device” One of my points (the only subjective one) was that metal feels (MUCH) WORSE to me. *I would pay more to get polycarbonate*
” The home button seems weakly construction” seeming and being are 2 different things, just look at Samsung backs which morons call “flimsy” all the time and yet are almost impossible to break (contrary to “high quality material” iPhones’ backs… and I am talking about 3GS plastic backs, 4 and 4s glass back and 5 metal back) I have never had any issue with Samsung’s home button but I know plenty of folks having issues with their iPhone’s ones (which is usually regarded as NOT seeming of “weakly construction”)…
I dont use an iphone, so i dont know why that’s constantly being used as a point of reference… and its the glass on my nexus 4/iphones that are most annoying. Not really metal.
yes seems like is the key word, that’s exactly what i said, I never said it was broken or it didnt work. I was just saying it feels cheap. I don’t like it that if i press the button from an angle it brushes up against the side of the slot. That makes it feel like some sort of cheap third party xbox controller. Its not the end of the world, its not a big deal, but i would prefer a better feeling device if given the option.
It is subjective you are right. But i’m just saying, and some others feel the same way, i don’t want to spend $100,000 on a car if its going to feel like a $20,000 car. People always complain about Corvette interiors, its a “luxury sports car” with an entry-level feel. Yes it’s fast and looks sexy on the outside, but it doesn’t feel sexy on the inside. Yes its subjective, we’re talking about look and feel here. I was just stating that “metal” doesn’t necessarily get destroyed “way more easily.”
“I dont use an iphone, so i dont know why that’s constantly being used as a point of reference…” simply because it’s usually taken (even by many Android users) as the gold standard in “well built” and “premium/quality materials” LMAO
I agree on the “cheap feeling” part, of course, I too want and prefer something that besides *being* better, also *feels* better. But, again, metal to me is synonymous with both *being* worse AND *feeling* worse.
What to me *feels* better (besides *being* better, like it is), is good quality and well built polycarbonate/rubber bodies. Well done polycarbonate screams “high tech” to me, metal and glass do not.
“I was just stating that “metal” doesn’t necessarily get destroyed “way more easily.”” when they don’t get destroyed (dented and scratched) “way more easily”, they get destroyed “more easily”…
What would you say about the S4 Active? To me, durability is the bottom line and not how shiny it is. But if that means metal then I’m all for it.
As I don’t even glance at anything smaller than my Note II I haven’t much to say about the S4 Active other than you have got it exactly backwards (“durability is the bottom line and not how shiny it is. But if that means metal then I’m all for it”).
The toughest phones ever are made out of polycarbonate, NOT metal. Shouldn’t that tell you something..?
The S4 Active may look like metal but it’s hyperglazed plastic and rubber.
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4_active-review-935p2.php
Carbon fiber S5, FTW!
As they said for Galaxy SII, SIII and S4. None of them turned out to be true.
They didn’t say it, rumors did. Big difference.
I think “they” was supposed to refer to all those who were spreading the rumours, not Samsung themselves.
lol words can be so confusing
I was referring to rumours, of course.
Samsung using metal? I don’t believe it man…
That’s what I want a sealed metal Samsung phone with no accessible battery. Is that what you all REALLY want? I for one LOVE the plastic back on my GS4. I love everything about the phone. If you want a Metal F#$%ING phone, buy an HTC One or an iPhone. STFU about the plastic back already. Its in a case the whole time so who cares?!
/rant
Maybe Samsung doesn’t want people to buy an HTC or an iPhone. It’s all about having choices. If you can get a Moto X with a wood trim, maybe Samsung will have the option of a metal phone?
Agreed, I’d actually prefer plastic. It’s stronger, and holds against damage better.
Yup! plastic is way better than aluminium or alloy casing.
amen to that. Its funny how most people make fun of samsung going the Apple way yet every other Android manufacturer out there seems to be following this stupid fad that started with iphone of unibody design with non removable battery and mo microSD slot. Next what ? Glass design and having to worry about both ends of my phone and call it evolutionary and better than plastic and metal ?
Thanks but no .
Well said my friend.
“Samsung first tested the metallic waters with the Samsung Galaxy S4
Active, a rugged device that featured the build quality and material
we’ve all been dreaming for out of a Samsung device.”
Actually that is still plastic but with a different texture.
I think I read about it few months ago — http://www.digitfreak.com/internet/1774-samsung-galaxy-s5-body-rumor
Isn’t it something that might be obvious after metal body trend for gadgets?
Copying Apple yet again. This isn’t news.
Metal = scratches and dents. No way sammy!
Bad part about metal is:
1. Difficult to make removable battery cover.
2. Dents.
3. Bending, metal doesn’t really return to its original shape. You just can’t make a removable battery cover in metal. To make the phone resist bending, you’d have to seal in the battery.
I’ve heard horror stories of people putting HTC Evo 4G LTE phones in their pockets and pulling them out bent.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1679027