Six Things You Should Know Before Buying The Samsung Galaxy S5 In India


Samsung earlier today launched its flagship, the Galaxy S5 in India at an event held at New Delhi. The company also announced its new Gear Line up of smartwatches along with the phone.

As expected of a flagship phone, the Galaxy S5 is packed to the hilt with features. Chances are high that many of you in India would also be considering this as your next smartphone. However, before you dole out your hard earned money on the Galaxy S5, you better be aware about a few important facts about the Indian version of the phone.

Here are six of them, listed in no particular order of importance.

1. The Galaxy S5 would only be available starting April 11

You heard that right. Don’t rush to your dealer or to Amazon or Flipkart already because none of them are selling any Galaxy S5’s right now. While the formal launch of the handset happened today, the Galaxy S5 would only be available starting April 11, 2014. This means you have almost two weeks to think over your prospective purchase and finalize. For the ones who simply do not care and want the device first day, go ahead and pre-book your device early. Lines open March 29.

2. It is by no means affordable

Quality might come at a price – but the fact that one ought to shell out over Rs.50,000 for a phone sometimes gets on my nerve. The Galaxy S5 comes in a single variant (16 GB) in India and could be priced anywhere between Rs. 51,000 and Rs.53,000. The only thing awesome about this price is that the iPhone 5S is even more expensive. This also means that the Galaxy S5 is almost Rs.10k dearer than the Galaxy Note 3. Why not consider the quite capable Note 3 itself then?

3. The Indian version does not get the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset!

In case you have been a long time Samsung user, you might be aware that Samsung has different variants of the same phone for different markets. In line with the same, the Galaxy S5’s sold in India would be powered by Samsung’s Exynos 5422 chipset and not the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801. This chipset is an updated version of the Exynos 5420 that powers the Galaxy Note 3 in India. This 8 core chip has four 2.1Ghz Cortex-A15 cores and four low-power 1.5 Ghz Cortex-A7 cores. They have been slightly downgraded to 1.9 Ghz and 1.3 Ghz, respectively in India, though. All these 8 cores can work in tandem – making it what Samsung calls a True Octa core processor. Should you need to dig deep into the architecture of the Exynos 5422 that powers the Galaxy S5, head to Anandtech.

4. The Indian version WILL capture videos in 4K resolution

When Samsung launched the Note 3, with its ability to capture 4k videos, Indians were overjoyed. It was then to their utter dismay they later realized that the Indian variant of the Note 3, with the old Exynos 5420 chipset was incapable of capturing 4k videos and could only manage 1080p. That problem has been fixed with the Exynos 5422. The Indian version of the Galaxy S5 will happily let you capture insane 4k videos. No more cribbing about that.

5. India is NOT getting the 32 GB variant

Some people might have thought that the Galaxy S5’s price range of Rs.51 to 53k would encompass different variants with slight differences in memory and other capabilities. That is not the case, though. The Galaxy S5 will come in only a single variant in India. The 16GB one. At this point, the 32 GB version is not being considered. Thankfully, you can enhance the phone’s storage using Micro SD cards.

6. The Indian Galaxy S5 version does not support LTE

In case you happen to be a frequent traveler and are looking forward to using the Galaxy S5 on LTE networks in countries where they have decent LTE infrastructure, STOP! The Galaxy S5 sold in India would only support 3G networks. This is unlike the Qualcomm Snapdragon version which has comprehensive support for various LTE networks.

I hope these six key points about the Samsung Galaxy S5 would help you decide if this eventually becomes your next phone. We would be reviewing the Galaxy S5 in the days to come and to offer you a better overall picture.

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