Hardware and design Changes The design of the S5 evolves upon the design of the S4. It features a rounded,
polycarbonate chassis carrying a "modern glam" look with a dot pattern similarly to that on the
2012 Google Nexus 7 tablet computer, faux metal trim and a removable rear cover. Unlike past models, the S5's rear cover uses a higher quality soft plastic and is dimpled to improve grip. The S5 is
IP67 certified for dust and water resistance. As such, the phone is able to be submerged in water up to for up to 30 minutes. The S5's
Micro-USB 3.0 port uses a removable cover. The S5 is available in Charcoal Black, Electric Blue, Copper Gold, and Shimmery White color finishes. The S5's screen is a
1080p Super AMOLED panel, which is slightly larger than that of the S4, and allows for automatic brightness and
gamut adjustments.
Front panel Below the screen are three buttons. The physical "Home" button in the center contains a swipe-based
fingerprint scanner. There is a "Recent apps" key (also known as "task key") on the left side and a "Back" key on the right side of the home button. As with all main models from the
Galaxy S series, the navigation buttons left and right to the home buttons are capacitive. However, in accordance with
Android 4.0 human interface guidelines, the S5 no longer uses a "Menu" key like its predecessors (left side of home button), although its button layout is still reversed in comparison to other Android devices with the S5's button layout (such as the
HTC One X and
Galaxy Nexus, whose "Back" buttons are to the left of "Home"). However, holding the new task key for one second simulates pressing the menu key. The S5 comes with a LED light just by the top left of the bezel, which can be set to notify the user with a blue light when calls and texts are received when the device isn't being used and the screen is turned off. It also notifies users with a red light when the phone is charging, and a blinking red light when the battery is low. This red light turns green when charged to a 100% of battery capacity.
Camera The S5 includes a 16
megapixel (5312×2988) rear-facing camera, which offers
4K (2160p) video recording at 30
fps, phase detection
autofocus (which Samsung claims to be able to focus in around 0.3 seconds), The camera is also able to record 1080p@60fps for smoother
real-time playback. It can also record
slow-motion videos with 720p at 120fps, but only encoded using the
menial method. Related section:
Camera and gallery software.
Miscellaneous Next to the camera's flash on the rear of the device is a new
heart rate sensor, which can be used as part of the S Health software. The top of the device has an
IR blaster and
headphone jack. The IR blaster is a transmitter only and it has a built-in database of devices that can be controlled by Samsung's Smart Remote application. The Galaxy S5 lacks the
thermometer (temperature) and
hygrometer (humidity) sensors that both 2013's flagships, the
Galaxy S4 and
Galaxy Note 3 were equipped with.
Internal specifications The S5 LTE is powered by a 2.5 GHz
quad-core Snapdragon 801 system-on-chip with 2 GB of RAM. Although not mentioned during the keynote presentation, a 3G variant (SM-G900H) with an octa-core
Exynos 5422 system-on-chip was also released in multiple markets. Like the previous model, it uses two clusters of four cores; four
Cortex-A15 cores at 2.1 GHz, and four
Cortex-A7 cores at 1.5 GHz. Depending on resource usage, the SoC can use the power-efficient A7 cores for lighter processing loads, and switch to the A15 cores for more demanding loads. Unlike previous iterations, however, the Exynos 5422 can run both sets of cores at the same time instead of only one at a time.
Battery The S5 contains a 2800
mAh lithium ion battery, which is user-replaceable despite
IP67 water resistance. It is
Qi compatible (requires an optional Wireless Charging Cover) and also contains an "Ultra Power Saving" mode to extend further battery life; when enabled, all non-essential processes are disabled, and the screen switches to grey scale rendering. Samsung claims that with Ultra Power Saving on, an S5 with 10% charge remaining can last for an additional 24 hours in standby mode. Another improvement in power efficiency comes from the use of Qualcomm's
envelope tracker, which reduces the power used in connectivity.
Software The S5 shipped with
Android 4.4.2 KitKat but has received updates, the most recent being
6.0.1 Marshmallow. It has Samsung's
TouchWiz software, which for the S5 has a flatter, more geometric look than that found on the S4. Certain aspects of the changes were influenced by a recent patent licensing deal with
Google, which requires that Samsung's TouchWiz interface follow the design of "stock" Android more closely. The S5 adds the
Galaxy Note 3's "My Magazine" feature to the leftmost page on the home screen, the Settings menu was updated with a new grid-based layout with options for a "list" view and the "tabbed" view similar to that of the S4. A "Kids' Mode" was added, and the S Health app was given expanded functionality, integrating with the new heart rate sensor on the device, along with the new
Gear 2 smartwatch and
Gear Fit activity tracker. The "Download Booster" tool allows internet usage to be split across
LTE and
Wi-Fi to improve download speed. It is not available on the 3G model. Due to carrier policies, Download Booster was not available on Galaxy S5 models released in the United States running KitKat 4.4.2, excluding
T-Mobile US and
U.S. Cellular. The precluded telephone application is equipped with additional options for
noise cancellation, call holding, volume boosting and the ability to personalize the call sound. A
disk space analyzer tool is included. The Galaxy S5 inherits
the interaction functionality of the Galaxy S4, such as finger
Air View, air gesture and motion gesture controls, and Samsung
SmartScreen. For Air View, a
self-capacitive touch screen layer is used to detect the floating finger. The "Quick Glance" feature from the Galaxy S4 was succeeded by "Air wake-up", where hovering above the front proximity sensor next to the "Samsung" wordmark wakes the phone up from stand-by mode rather than just showing the clock and status.
Security The S5 contains a number of new security features. The fingerprint reader can be used to unlock the phone, while an
SDK is available so third-party developers may offer fingerprint-oriented functionality in their apps; for example,
PayPal integrated support for the fingerprint sensor to authenticate online purchases. The S5 also adds "Private Mode", which allows users to maintain hidden apps and file folders that cannot be accessed without additional authentication. Additional camera modes are downloadable from a store provided by Samsung. The camera software is equipped with a
remote viewfinder feature, which allows using the display of one unit as the viewfinder of a second phone paired through
Wi-Fi Direct. Next to the S5, only the
Galaxy S4,
Galaxy S4 Zoom,
Galaxy K Zoom,
Galaxy Note 3 and
Galaxy Alpha are equipped with this functionality. Two new features,
Virtual Tour and
Spherical (360°) Panorama have been added, respectively allowing to capture photos stitched together to a navigable 3D environment and to a spherical view of the surroundings, both inside the precluded gallery software. 360-degree panoramas are navigable with both touch and gyroscope sensor (device movement). The camera setting shortcuts on the left (horizontal) side of the screen are customizable, allowing the user to select four shortcuts to more frequently accessed camera settings. The camera software has been criticized for over-
sharpening photos in
post processing. The gallery software is able to show
Exif meta data of pictures such as
exposure time,
exposure value,
light sensitivity (ISO),
aperture,
focal length, flash status and a
histogram. The update incorporates performance improvements, an updated "Recent apps" view that utilizes a card-based layout, access to notifications on the lock screen, and modifications to the TouchWiz interface to adhere to
Material design language. It enables new features such as "
Google Now on Tap", which allows users to perform searches within the context of information currently being displayed on-screen, and "Doze", which optimizes battery usage when the device is not being physically handled. == Variants ==
Rugged variants Samsung released two
rugged versions of the S5, the
S5 Active and
S5 Sport. Both models feature a version of the S5's design with a full set of physical navigation buttons and do not include the fingerprint scanner, but are otherwise identical to standard models of the S5. Both devices also include an exclusive "Activity Zone" app, which contains a
barometer,
compass, and
stopwatch. The S5 Active adds an "Active Key" to the side of the device, which can be configured to launch certain apps on short and long presses; by default, the button launches Activity Zone. The Sprint S5 Sport has additional Sprint Fit Live software, which acts as a hub for health-oriented content and S Health, along with the
Under Armour-owned MapMyFitness MVP service and the music streaming service
Spotify—the device comes with complimentary subscriptions to both services. Both models come in different color schemes (grey,
camouflage green, and red for the S5 Active, and blue and red for the S5 Sport), and the S5 Sport is slightly lighter in weight than the S5 Active, at instead of . The S5 Active and S5 Sport were released in the United States in June 2014, and are exclusive to
AT&T and
Sprint respectively. The S5 Active was released in Canada in October 2014. In June 2014, Samsung also released a dual SIM version of the Galaxy S5, called
Samsung Galaxy S5 Duos, model SM-G900FD. The Duos has the LTE specification of the Galaxy S5.
Neo variant A hardware revision called the
Galaxy S5 Neo was quietly released in August 2015. The S5 Neo is a lower cost variant of the original Galaxy S5 that downgrades the SoC to an Exynos 7580 Octa system-on-chip, while improving the front camera to a 5-megapixel unit. Other changes include the removal of a fingerprint sensor and a conventional USB 2.0 port in lieu of a USB 3.0 port with a water-resistant cover, the latter of which had been a source of complaints from users who found the cover was easily broken from regular use, compared to the previous year's model. A noticeable design distinction is the finer dot pattern on the removable rear cover. Samsung also released
Android 7.0 Nougat with
Samsung Experience which the original S5 did not have. The S5 Neo was initially made available in
Europe (SM-G903F) and
Canada (SM-G903W). While the original Galaxy S5 is able to record videos at
2160p at 30fps,
1080p at 60fps and
720p at 120fps, the camera of the Galaxy S5 Neo can only record videos at
1080p at up to 30fps and lacks
slow motion video recording entirely. The Galaxy S5 Neo lacks wireless charging support entirely and cannot be retrofitted with a
wireless charging back cover.
Comparison table == Reception ==