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Last week we got our first look at a press render of an alleged Samsung Galaxy device with a metal body. This device has been called the Galaxy F and Galaxy S5 Prime. Later in the week we saw the device again in some real-world photos that clearly show a brushed aluminum back. Today another photo of the device in the wild has surfaced, once again showing what appears to be a metal back.
The rumors suggest that this back is indeed aluminum, but it could also be yet another faux texture from Sammy. The new photo also gives us a great look at the bezel on the front of the device. There appears to be almost no bezel on the sides of the display. Samsung has always been pretty good at minimizing bezel, but this looks even better. The Galaxy F is also said to have a new quad HD display and possibly an upgraded processor.
The big question with the Galaxy 5 is “why now?” The Galaxy S5 is still very new and fresh. Why release a better device so soon? Won’t S5 owners be upset? If Samsung does release this improved device so soon after the launch of their flagship will you be upset?
[via PhoneArena]
Amazingly, Samsung have managed to make a metal phone that looks like it’s made from plastic!
If it weren’t metal, no one would care. Every generation of Galaxy S has had a mid-cycle refresh. And no one had ever batted an eyelash over these updated models.
I wonder if the back will still be removable. Speakers on the bottom?
“Samsung has always been pretty good at minimizing bezel”
Not on the GS5
Yup. The S5 was a step back from the S4 in terms of bezels.
The only thing I can think of is this is an Android Silver phone. That’s the only way this would make sense to me.
Your post makes no sense to me. Every year, Samsung releases a Galaxy S flagship model. And every year, they release at least one spec-bumped version. So why should this year be any different?
When have they ever released a Galaxy S phone within 6 months of the original with beefed up specs?
While not all variants have been released within 6 months, there is an exhaustive list of spec bumps for Galaxy S handsets. I’ll do a short list. I think that I really only need to dedicate a few minutes to this to prove my point.
Also, keep in mind that, prior to the Galaxy S4, the US wasn’t included in worldwide launches. We usually got the spec-bumped version.
-Galaxy S (GT-i9000) – released June 2010,
-Various Snapdragon-based variants with Qualcomm radios were released shortly after the first Galaxy S.
-If you want, you can argue that the Nexus S (October 2010) was a variant.
-Galaxy S Plus (GT-i9001) released July 2011
Galaxy S II (GT-i9100) – released May 2011
Within a few months, there was a 9100G model (OMAP-based), a 9100R model (Tegra-based), and several Snapdragon-based LTE models. By January 2013 (8 months after release), there was a full-fledged Galaxy S II Plus model released (GT-i9105).
Galaxy S III (GT-i9300) – released May 2012 (1GB RAM, no LTE).
By July, there was an LTE model with Snapdragon and 2GB RAM. This is the variant that the USA got as well. The original S3 did NOT get KitKat (how do you think those guys feel?)
Galaxy S 4 (GT-i9500/9505) – The base model and i9505 were launched simultaneously in April 2013. However, both were quickly supplanted by the GT-i9506 model which featured a Snapdragon 800 and LTE-Advanced (October 2013).
Bottom line is that every time that Samsung has released their flagship Galaxy S phones, they’ve supplanted it with a mid-cycle refresh of some sorts. If Samsung does released a Galaxy S5 Prime or Galaxy F, it will be following the same exact trend that was shown with the S3 and S4 (the S1 and S2 were more of a hodge-podge of localized releases) where a base model came out, and then a souped up model followed. With the S3, as explained earlier, the USA benefited by getting the souped up model due to a staggered release schedule.
And they have never advertised a single one of those “bumps” in the United States. A Galaxy S comes out, a Note follows 6 months later, and the next Galaxy S flagship 6 months after that. There are bunches of lower spec models released like the Mega, the Mini, the Active but they’ve all differentiated themselves with something. If this phone comes out this quickly, they’re directly looking to eat sales from the S5 with a premium version. The only way it’d make sense to me, is if this phone is differentiated with Android Silver. Hence, my original comment.
Alex, you’re moving the goalposts and changing the subject. So, let’s recap (paraphrasing).
You – Samsung never released a spec bump version of their Galaxy S line.
Me – shows an example of at least one spec bump refresh for all 4 prior Galaxy S flagships (actual Galaxy S-named phones, not stuff like the Mega, Mini, etc.).
Acknowledge your comprehension of this and then I’ll Address your other, newer concerns. Otherwise, you’re simply arguing for the sake of arguing, and I have no desire to further engage in that.
They released a phone under the same exact name and marketed it as the same exact phone. That is COMPLETELY different from releasing a premium version of a phone and marketing it as a better version of a phone you just released. What you say is correct but it has nothing to do with the point I’m making.
Does adding a metal back and slightly better spec really move the bar?
In real life, no.
Anyone thought that it could actually be the Note 4 leaked early? We haven’t seen the bottom end of the phone and for all we know there might be a S-Pen slot.
Logical way to not piss off the S5 owners..
Unless they are changing to some sort of push-to-release mechanism for the S-Pen, I highly doubt this a picture of the Note 4. Even with the odd angle of that photo, the cutout notch for a stylus would be visible. (I’m using Note 3 at the moment – you’d almost have to take a picture dead on from the top in order to hide the S-Pen cutout)
Touchwiz will ruin this phone. It’s going to be a bloated POS. Shame.
That’s where….. Root….And. AOSP. comes in….
Could be the Note 4. It’s not easy to gauge how large it actually is based on the picture. I jumped to the S5, I’ll jump to the G3 soon, and when the Note 4 comes out, I’ll jump to that. I’m very excited for the Note 4.
Looks plastic. Is this another bs rumor reported like it’s more than a rumor?
Why all this hate on Touchwiz? I owned Samsung galaxy S1, S3 and now Note 2 and i can say, that the only reason why my next phone will be samsung is the touchwiz. It has a lot of functions, that are not available in other phones, such as multiwindow, which is quite important to me. I also dont dig stock android, because its very empty, you cant even play half the videos with stock video player, also i think tw just looks better. Yes, it might be a bit more laggy, but its berely noticable. The only thing i dont like about tw is the freaking S voice, which opens every time i double press home button.
Oh and i also like tw file browser and the new camera and its functions in N3 and S5.
If you open the S voice app and hit the menu button, you can uncheck the option to start s voice with the home key. This also akes the home key work much faster becase there is no more dela to see if you are going to hit it a second time.
I disabled all sensor, gyroscopic, and physical functions possible..GS3 still runs a bit better from when I bought it..I got first and most recent benchmarks to prove it. with proper tinkering, you can keep TW running smooth..with that said, my next phone is the LG G3.
Thank you for the tip :) Lovin’ the increased speed of home button
The back is clearly plastic.
That statement clearly cannot be proven
Sure it can. Do you see the little opening in the upper left corner? That’s so you can remove the back cover. Do you really think that you would be able to snap on/off a aluminum back cover like a plastic one? If the back cover was made out of aluminum, there would have to be some type of latch to allow you to remove the cover.
You can buy replaceable aluminum covers for every Galaxy S released to date. They work fine though they interfere with reception to a degree. So yes, you can swap out an aluminum cover.
Here is a pic of the OG Galaxy Tab 10.1 with a “brushed aluminum” back.
if this is metal…the plastic-y look just kills it..go back to drawing board… or material board…get it? “material”…lol..sometimes you have to laugh on your own……
The real question is when can they get the Qualcom 805 processor in this phone and to production/
It could be running tizen.