Exclusive: Samsung Galaxy S5

The Samsung company's new flagship smartphone has plenty of innovations, including water resistance, heart rate sensor and a fingerprint reader to bypass security passcodes. The screen size is 5.1 inches diagonally, which is slightly larger than its predecessor's 5 inches and much bigger than the iPhone's 4 inches. The Galaxy S5's camera is capable of taking 16 megapixel images, which is an improvement from 13 megapixels in its last year's Galaxy S4.

The new Galaxy S5  goes on sale Friday around the world, though a few carriers in Korea released it early. Through the major U.S. carriers, it will cost around $200 with a two-year service agreement or $600 to $660 without one.

The heart rate sensor, located on the back just below the camera lens, doesn't measure your pulse continuously. Rather, you have to hold your finger on the sensor for about five seconds before and after your activity. The information gets stored in Samsung's S Health app. Other app developers can make use of the sensor, too.

The fingerprint reader is what excites me most about the S5. When it arrived on the iPhone 5s last fall, I had a lot of fun using the fingerprint reader to unlock the phone without needing to punch in a four-digit code.

 

Key Features:

Display :                             5.10 inch

Processor :                          1.9GHz

Front Camera :                   2.1 MP

Resolution :                   1080x1920 pixels

RAM :                                   2GB

OS :                                 Android 4.4.2

Storage :                               16GB

Rear Camera :                     16MP

Battery :                              2800mAh