Multi-person video calls, retinal scanning, and everything about the Galaxy S5

The Samsung Galaxy S4 barely rolled off the production line before we started hearing about its inevitable successor. A few months later, and the persistent noise emanating from the Galaxy S5 rumor mill is hard to ignore. If you’re wondering what the next flagship smartphone from Samsung might have in store then you’re in the right place. Here are the most notable Galaxy S5 rumors so far.
Updated on 11/26/2013 by Andy: Added news of a new patent, which suggests Samsung may be working on conference call software utilizing both the front and rear cameras of a future Galaxy phone.

It may come in January, but probably March or April

The annual release schedule for smartphone flagships has become pretty standard in recent years. The Galaxy S2 was unveiled in February and released in May, 2011. The Galaxy S3 was revealed and released in May, 2012. The Galaxy S4 was shown off in March and released in April, 2013. We expect to catch a first glimpse of the Galaxy S5 around March 2014, with the release likely to be about a month later.
It’s possible that Samsung will try to push it forward after disappointing S4 sales. There has been talk of a January release and some suggestion that the S5 will show itself at MWC in February, but this is pure speculation right now, and we’ll be surprised if the South Korean manufacturer deviates much from its usual release schedule.

This one comes in metal

The idea that Samsung might break with tradition and produce a flagship with a metal body instead of plastic first surfaced way back in June. It was a vague notion to begin with, but in August the S5 metal chassis rumor got some meat on its bones when Korean news site ET News suggested magnesium and aluminum as possible materials.
Criticism of the Galaxy range has long focused on what some perceive as a “cheap, plastic feel” and many other flagship smartphones in the same price bracket have opted for aluminum designs. Should Samsung decide to switch to metal it would likely mean a heavier, more expensive device, and it could spell the end of the removable battery.
It’s worth noting that this new metal Samsung phone could be the mysterious Galaxy F, a stop-gap in the flagship calendar that may land a few months before the S5. A report at GalaxyS5Info suggests just that, and also reckons that the faux leather polycarbonate of the Note 3 could make an appearance on the S5.
There’s also a chance that the S5 could use carbon fiber in its construction. Android Beat reported a partnership between Samsung Petrochemical and SGL Group (one of the largest producers of carbon fiber in the world). It’s an extremely light and extremely strong material, so it could be ideal.

Brand new design

Even if the Galaxy S5 doesn’t end its love affair with plastic that doesn’t mean it won’t look different from its predecessors. The Galaxy S line has stuck to a certain design aesthetic, the S3 and S4 are especially alike, but if the patent that Patent Bolt turned up is anything to go by then the S5 could ditch the home button and adopt a new angular form factor.

64-bit processor, like the iPhone 5S

Not long after the iPhone 5S was revealed Samsung’s mobile head, JK Shin told the Korea Times, “our next smartphones will have 64-bit processing functionality.” It’s a safe bet that the Samsung Galaxy S5 will want to match or beat the iPhone 5S in terms of performance and so it will likely have a 64-bit chip.
According to Digital Daily in Korea, the S5 could sport an Exynos 6 processor, a new 14nm chip with 64-bit support and ARM’s Cortex A53/A57 Big.Little octa-core configuration. Whatever the specifics, we can safely assume Samsung will be gunning for the top spot in performance benchmarks.
We would expect at least 3GB of RAM to back that up, but Samsung is already producing 4GB LPDDR3 mobile DRAM, so that’s always a possibility.

Eye scanning security?

According to AndroidSAS, the Galaxy S5 could one-up the fingerprint scanner on the iPhone 5S and take the lead in biometric security with an eye-scanning sensor. The idea is that S5 owners will be able to scan their eyes in order to unlock their smartphones. This would supposedly offer a higher level of security, but the sources are unnamed and there’s nothing to substantiate the rumor. We’ll be sure to keep an eye on this one.

No fingerprint scanner

We’ve already seen a report from the Korea Herald in which a Samsung official is quoted as saying “We never officially admitted that Samsung was weighing the fingerprint system and Knox for Galaxy Note 3 for security functions. We are not yet developing the technology.”
Still, this is Samsung we’re talking about. We wouldn’t be shocked to see a fingerprint sensor of some kind. Samsung knows how to move fast on new tech. Of course, if the eye scanning rumor has any truth to it then fingerprints are out the window.

Multi-person video conferencing, using both cameras

A patent uncovered by GalaxyClub.nl hints that Samsung may be updating its ChatON messaging service to include multi-person conference calls. The listing, which includes the screenshot you see here, indicates the software may enable both front and rear video cameras, along with multiple streams visible along the bottom of the screen. It sounds a little like Google’s own conference call system available through Hangouts, which can support ten different feeds at the same time. Should the software being included with the Galaxy S5, it may come as either a part of ChatON, or a new TouchWiz feature.

Galaxy S5 could run Tizen OS

Samsung has not given up on its own Tizen operating system. The International Business Times reckons the company may release a Tizen version of the Galaxy S5. Would Samsung release two different versions of the S5, one with Tizen and one with Android 4.4 KitKat? It doesn’t seem likely, and we don’t think Samsung is ready to ditch Android for its own platform yet. Maybe the Tizen version may be limited to specific markets, if it exists at all. We’ll have to wait and see.

A 16-megapixel camera

There were early suggestions that the Galaxy S5 would sport a 13-megapixel camera, possibly with optical image stabilization, but now we’re hearing different. ET News predicts that Samsung will opt for a 16-megapixel sensor that’s capable of better low-light performance than the competition.
The new sensor will be produced in-house and it will feature Samsung’s ISOCELL technology which, “substantially increases light sensitivity and effectively controls the absorption of electrons, resulting in higher color fidelity even in poor lighting conditions.”

Waterproof comes standard

Smartphones are getting tougher. At the start of this new flagship cycle the Xperia Z made a splash with its waterproof and dustproof credentials. Samsung released the Galaxy S4 Active as a waterproof variant of its flagship, but ET News thinks the Galaxy S5 may take things one step further and be waterproof and dustproof straight out of the box. According to the report, “industry sources” say the Galaxy S5 will meet the same standards as the S4 Active, which will bring into line with some of the other top Android smartphones.

That’s it for the Samsung Galaxy S5 rumor roundup, but come back soon because we will update this article with fresh rumors as they crop up.