Surprises in store for GALAXY S5 launch in Malaysia

World industry leader Samsung is launching their new Samsung GALAXY S5 smartphone on Friday in Malaysia, with many new features to tempt the appetites of the smartphone community.

The new GALAXY S5 is the fifth generation of the highly successful GALAXY S series.

It boasts a finger print scanner and a light sensor on the back that gives a heart rate reading when users touch it with their fingertips.

Though the case is plastic, as with earlier versions of the GALAXY series of smartphones, it now has IP67-grade dust and water resistance features, and has a leathery feel on the back.

The Galaxy S5 has a high definition 5.1 inch screen, a 16- megapixel camera, and also has a fingerprint reader as a home button to unlock the device or secure documents.

To add to the list of new features, it also has an extreme battery-saving mode where the display will turn black-and-white whilst retaining just six key applications.

A combined wifi and mobile signal will also help improve connections.

“We expect to sell as many as we can,” said Samsung Product Manager Go Benn Lee in a phone interview with Astro AWANI.

“I am sure the sales will equal or surpass the sale of the GALAXY S4, the hype is already there, we have received pre-orders already,” he added.

The phone which cost RM2,399, will also come with a few surprises during the launch.

“In conjunction with the consumer launch of the GALAXY S5 tomorrow, we want to reward 55 of our lucky fans who have purchased the GALAXY S5 at five pre-selected locations with a surprise gift,” said Samsung in an email with Astro AWANI on Thursday.

In addition to the launch of the new smartphone, Samsung Malaysia Electronics has a collaboration with a total of 34 global and local leading mobile content and service providers to offer GALAXY S5 users more than RM3,500 worth of exclusive, pre-paid and discounted subscriptions.

The new GALAXY S5 seeks to further expand its leadership in the industry in smart device innovation by going back to the basics with what consumers want most.

“We believe the launch of the GALAXY S5 will reinforce Samsung as the smartphone market leader, providing the most competitive and comprehensive line of devices designed for what matters most to consumers,” the company said.

Edwin Yapp, a freelance editorial consultant & contributing editor to Digital News Asia, feels that this is a good step for Samsung as with the S4 he said they overdid it with the fancy features at the expense of the speed of response of the phone

“Going back to what makes a smartphone useful is good step, communication, social media, games, pictures, productivity etc.,” said Edwin

However with all the new upgrades, Edwin is sceptical, specifically about the hardware upgrades.

“There is also a point of diminishing return for the S5. After all, how much more can they upgrade with regard to hardware before the upgrades becomes incrementally and marginally different?“ he asked.

However, he said for it to be a game changer, true innovation needs to happen, such as a revolution in terms of screen, like an organic OLED based foldable screen.

Overall he feels that the S5 will sell well, but not as well as it did when the S3 first came out.

When asked if the new GALAXY S5 might cause migration from other smartphone users, Edwin said that the new features will not be a big enough factor to pull users from other phones.

“For people who are not fan boys or fence sitters, they have many more choices to choose from compared to when Samsung launched the S3, which dominated the market due in part to the lack in choice then.

“For example, a good competitor may be the HTC One, which has also come out recently,” he said.

The GALAXY S series (S, S II, S III, and S4) has hit more than 200 million unit sales globally and have been a significant driver of Samsung’s business.