Samsung finally unveils the new Galaxy S5 smartphone

After months of anticipation, electronics giant Samsung, has finally taken the wraps off the Galaxy S5, the latest in its series of flagship Android smartphones, including unique features.

The Galaxy S5 was manufactured, taking into account the specific nature of the African market, the climatic condition, tastes and usage, and specifically designed to fit the consumer's pocket and to last longer.

The Galaxy S5 was unveiled together with the Samsung Gear 2, the Samsung Geo Neo as well as Samsung Gear fit at a global launch dubbed: “Samsung UnPacked 5” in Barcelona, Spain. The colourful event brought together thousands of the world’s most powerful media practitioners from countries such as Ghana, as well as distributors, retailers and other stakeholders.

The Korean manufacturer has confirmed that the Galaxy S5 would be launch in 150 countries, starting from April 11, 2014.

The biggest new features on the Samsung Galaxy S5 include a fingerprint scanner on the home button, a heart rate sensor placed near the 16-megapixel camera, and the IP67 certification that makes it dust and water-resistant.

The smartphone also features a new design in terms of the back panel now being perforated, and available with four colours at launch.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 will ship with Android 4.4.2 KitKat. It also features a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display with a 1080x1920 pixel full-HD resolution. This is powered by an unnamed 2.5GHz quad-core processor coupled with 2GB of RAM. The Galaxy S5 will be available in 16GB and 32GB variants, with microSD card expandability up to 64GB.

The Galaxy S5 bears a 16-megapixel rear camera with HDR for video as well, and a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera. The rear camera can record UHD video at30 fps along with HDR and video stabilization functionality.

The connectivity options of the new Galaxy S5 include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with MIMO functionality, ANT+, Bluetooth 4.0, USB3.0, NFC, and Infrared remote functionality. A Download Booster is also being touted, which combines LTE and Wi-Fi for faster download.

It features a 2800mAh battery, rated to deliver 21 hours of talktime, and 390 hours of standby time.

The smartphone weighs in at 145 grams (slightly heavier than the Galaxy S4), and has dimensions of 142x72.5x8.1mm (slightly thicker than the S4's 7.9mm). The Galaxy S5 arrived in four colour variants - Charcoal Black, Shimmery White, Electric Blue and Copper Gold. Furthermore, the handset will be compatible with Samsung Gear Fit, which is the firm's first curved, Super AMOLED health-focused wristband.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 also comes with the latest and updated Samsung KNOX security software to keep the user's data safe. Some of the pre-loaded Google service available in the handset are Chrome, Drive, Photos, Gmail, Google, Google+, Google Settings, Hangouts, Maps, Play Books, Play Games, Play Newsstand, Play Movie & TV, Play Music, Play Store, Voice Search and YouTube.