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Rumors of a more premium, Samsung Galaxy device have been escalating in recent days. Earlier this week, @evleaks tweeted a leaked press image (pictured above) for what could be the Samsung Galaxy F, Samsung’s new smartphone featuring an aluminum construction. The render seemed to confirm those rumors, showing a brushed aluminum back, not too unlike the faux metal material found on the LG G3.
Today, the folks at PhoneArena have nabbed some pictures of the Samsung Galaxy F as it appeared in the wild. The phone, according to the tipster, carries a Snapdragon 801 inside, but only because it’s an early pre-production model. The final version that will be available in stores is said to house a Snapdragon 805 with rumors pointing to a quad HD 1440×2560 resolution display, 3GB of RAM and an improved 16MP OIS shooter.
Something tells us no matter what they call it, this isn’t going to sit too well with those who have recently purchased the Galaxy S5. If Samsung does releases a higher-end device a few short months after their main flagship, would any Galaxy S5 owners out there feel duped?
Does anyone find it hilarious that the date displayed on the phone is also Steve jobs birthday (as well as mine)?
good spot, i hope the theromonuclear turd is turning in his grave.
Did they also make touchwiz more premium?
I don’t believe Touchwiz can get more premium… they’d have to start from scratch.
Scratch is when it becomes premium :/
Actually…that would be a cool name for a launcher…
For those that want vanilla, they should go with the Google Play Edition of these devices. Unfortunately, though, Google’s Camera is still flat out awful, and I’ve never found a camera on the market that really gives me all the features that I typically use. I want Burst Mode, HDR, Pictures during Video, and Low Light. I also want control over exposure, ISO, and metering.
The best I’ve tried out so far was Camera Awesome, but it’s WAY slower than the one on TouchWiz, and less full featured.
Yeah, but the problem is that there’s not GPE’s of these phones on Verizon…
Verizon needs to release their death grip on technological innovation…
Or they’d have to make it stock.
Google Play edition.
As long as they keep the camera, S beam, and the customizable notification widgets, I’m cool. I replace the launcher with Apex on every device I get, install the S4 GPe Gallery, and my S3 still hasn’t met a task I wanted it to do that it couldn’t handle, and moves as fast as you could expect an 2+ year old device to go. Here’s me using the camera app, and tell me that isn’t totally acceptable for responsiveness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6RIuSa6wNk
They classed up the lag.
It’s called Tizen. Samsung’s own homemade version of Android. If it looks and feels anything like the [very early] Youtube video demo, it will be incredibly cool and address many things missing from Android. Supposedly it’ll be backwards compatible with Android apps. The new Gear 2 smartwatches are running it now, and phones running it should start coming out in 2015.
Tizen is not Android. Tizen is based on Linux, like Android, but it’s apps are HTML5 based instead of Java. Just because Gear watches will communicate with Android devices doesn’t mean that the apps are compatible. Don’t confuse bluetooth signals with computer language compatibility. Now, someone may come up with an emulator, but it’s always an imperfect solution, especially without access to the Play store.
Oversaturate the market, someone will buy, piss off old customers. Check!
As the “proud” owner of a Galaxy S5, I believe they messed up on the name for this phone.
I believe it was supposed to be the “Galaxy F Samsung!!!”…
regular s5 owners shouldnt be pissed unless they wanted to pay more than 199, this phone will prolly be 299 on contract and thats with 16gb internally, you know samsung will never give you a good bang for your buck, i mean just look at the reg S5, it may have sold more than the M8 but it was priced the same with less internal memory, and use a cheaper chassis
Well the Note 3 was 32gb standard and that was pretty much the premium model before this, so I don’t see them having a 16gb version for this phone either
the note and S series are not the same, this galaxy s prime is a phone not a phablet so like all samsung phones they prolly will have a 16gig version just like the regular s5
Why is that? Samsung are always releasing new devices and that number is only going to increase.
They’re looking to try something different, they have the resources so it’s in their interest to try many different designs even if it means making up a new product range.
People need to understand that technology progresses faster than they would like. We’re rapidly approaching the time when smartphones become like laptops, where the same model is sold with quarterly internal enhancements.
My philosophy behind upgrading is to upgrade when two conditions are met; 1 – the device that I have no longer does what I want it to do, and 2 – there is a device on the market that does what I want it to do. By following this philosophy, I’ve removed buyers remorse from the equation (mostly). But, KitKat’s MicroSD changes and the recent availability of 64GB Android phones (OnePlus, Moto X) has caused me to want to upgrade. Thankfully I’ve adjusted to KitKat’s changes enough to make my current phone’s 16GB storage work. But, when it no longer works for me, I’ll be looking for a new device.
Let’s hope Samsung also do something with touchwiz, or I should I say do something without touchwiz.
Aluminium body without touchwiz would pretty much kill the market for other manufacturers, with touchwiz it would still have an impact but Android purists wouldn’t be interested.
But maybe they’re looking to test the water with this F series and if successful bring the same build quality to the S and Note series.
I doubt they would include a 16GB model again, at least I hope not as I won’t be buying anything with 16GB again.
If by a slight chance that rear cover is swappable with my s5 that’d be dope
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00JKF4H8M?cache=7880400c4df5e95e3097455ff7cdcecb&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1402185838&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1
I find it very interesting that touchwiz is hated because it changed places with sense. Touchwiz should be stripped down to a bare minimum (like the Galaxy 2) and offer features (like smart stay) as optional downloads. Include a prerequisite warning that the possibility of lag may be associated with all downloads.
Does NFC or wireless charging work through a metal back? If not, I’ll stick with plastic.
The One M7 and M8 both had metal backs and indeed both wireless charging and NFC. My main thought though is would it still be removable if it was aluminum.
Neither the One M7 or M8 has wireless charging.
It will be 6 months by the time it comes out, not that big a deal. Give me the Z3.
It might come out this month and be called the S5 Prime.
Even with premium materials, Samsung still sucks at design. They really need to hire a better design team. Even with the specs said to be in this device, the design kills it!
Going to be a lot of S5 owner anger!
I wouldn’t worry about it if I were them. If it truly is Aluminum, there will be sacrifices. Due to the lack of flex, the back plate probably won’t be removable. If they figure out a way to do that, it’ll surely be less than waterproof. And honestly, screens with resolutions beyond 1080p on a non-tablet device are such a total waste. From a reading distance, Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy showed that the eye cannot differentiate some mobile screen resolutions from reality. That was back in 2010. But with more pixels comes more required processing power, which in turn is a bigger battery drain. So, yeah, a slightly better processor and more RAM would be welcome, but with a (almost certainly) higher price tag and the other aforementioned caveats, it’s not something to get worked up over. Besides, does anyone actually need more horsepower than what came out in flagships in 2012 and 13?
All logical arguments, but the spec chasers aren’t logical!
People said the same thing when going from 720 to 1080… You might not see the pixles but you can see the difference.
I actually question that. Does the S4 screen look better than the S3 screen due to resolution alone? Or is it a combination of better color scaling, brightness, contrast, and placebo? If an eye cannot actually see the pixels, then we must search for alternative explanations.
It’s a combination. Better resolution plus brightness, color gamut, etc. It’s a better display overall. If resolution were the single solitary improvement, it might not make much sense to spring for the Galaxy F, but it’s not.
Again, though, I’m going to argue that until you hold the phone less than a foot from your face, the user can’t tell the difference between 720p and 4k, all other things being equal.
There is a noticeable difference side by side. My note 2 screen seemed more washed out to my note 3. I also just bought a 65″ Curved 4k Samsung TV and the difference is remarkable to my 1080p LG which is now in the bedroom. However, it is most noticeable the larger the display gets.
Yes, I definitely need more horsepower than my 2012 Galaxy S3. It’s slow and large compared to the Note 3 or S5. With websites and apps both becoming constantly bigger, more complex and more demanding, it’s almost a necessity to upgrade at least every 3 or 4 years. Eventually newer versions of apps don’t work at all on old hardware and OS versions.
But what app out there doesn’t work well? I have over 120, and none of them have any problems.
I’m going to upgrade in the near future, but it’ll be to take advantage of stuff like the IR blaster, better camera, waterproofing, etc. But my day-in, day-out apps all work just fine.
Also, the S3 is identical in size to the S4, which is slightly smaller than the S5, and definitely smaller than the Note 3.
It’s tech the moment you buy it, it’s obsolete if you’re upset tough, welcome to technology.
It looks literally the same as my Galaxy Note 2 im holding in my hands right now. That fake brushed metal look is very close to the one in the picture, also the form factor. Makes it seem like its just a GN2 picture with slight photoshop…
It looks the exact same as the S5!
Who are they trying to fool with the ‘F’ branding?
No one because it stands for Fu*k you
Literally raising the middle fonger to the customers
Hahaha! you are right, if this is the way is going to look! them they just lost me, moto x+1 here i come.
That’s an S5 with the metal backs that you can buy off eBay with a watermark on the picture. I bought some of the metal backs off eBay for my S4, but they mess with your signal. Just putting it on it cut it down 2 bars.
Welcome the world of technology, the only industry where you buy a new product one day and it is outdated the next.
However, this may be a device operating on a new os, maybe tizen? It wouldn’t surprise me.
Tizen is still relatively unknown. I doubt Samsung would put it in what looks to be a premium device right now. Maybe down the road when its more established.
“Galaxy”is an Android only brand.
No Tizen.
Samsung Galaxy Wave was bada os few years back
Not to mention Galaxy Gear. Tizen.
You haven’t bought a car recently have you
I’m already feeling duped. I’m sure everyone else will. I have the Note 3
Why? Did you think that Samsung was going to stop making Android phones after the release of the Note 3? IF you have/want a Note product, this isn’t even in your target market, and the next phone that should interest you is the Note 4. That is likely to be released in September/October.
No I’m not saying I’m feeling duped cause I have a Note 3 . I’m saying that if you’ve just gotten a S5 or a new Samsung phone, I didn’t think another phone that might be better comes along before the Note 4. I’m happy with my Note. On a contract anyway.
UGGGGGGGLY!
Looking forward to it now… All we can hope is we get this soon to the states :)
I wonder is the F for final Android version or F for Finished product ?
the S didn’t stand for anything, so why should the F? It’s just like all their other ones, K, etc
No, I will not feel duped…..except for that OIS shooter. 2k resolution screen is pointless and I don’t want an aluminum/metal phone. There are so many issues with using metal: cost, induction, RF interference, super slippery surface (all that have to be engineered away from). What I wouldn’t mind is a little more cleanup in their current design, smooth out the edges, simplify things….and oh yes, that OIS.
Sucks to be you if you just got a S5 or Active. Obsolete by September.