It is no surprise Samsung the leading mobile smartphone provider of the world announced the release of their new Samsung Galaxy S5. Here are 5 “new” features it has to offer the public:

1.  Gold Edition (hmm… how original)

The Galaxy S5 does not look much different from its predecessor the S4.  With the exception of Samsung being able to squeeze out an extra bit of screen real estate making it 5.1″ with a very nice thin bezel all around.  It will be available in April in Canada with the colour option of black or in white. However an electric blue and an iPhone 5S-like copper-gold will be available at a later date.

2. Water-resistant

The Galaxy S5 is IP67 certified, which means it can be dropped in a glass of water or in up to 3 meters of water for up to 30 seconds.  This is a very exciting features as not many other flagship devices (with the exception of Sony xperia products) are doing yet.  This is definitely something apple products will need to implement if they want to stay in the game.

3. Less on-board apps

A smart move by Samsung.  For years their only way to compete with Apple was to “overload” their smartphones with unnecessary apps that were useless to the end user.  They finally have cleaned up the OS by making it a beautiful uncluttered Android 4.4 KitKat.  Perfect for the first time user to learn or the entrepreneur on the go who doesn’t want to waste their time learning useless “extra stuff”.  However Samsung was smart enough to keep the most popular apps: S Voice, S Health and ChatOn.

4. Faster WiFi

The Galaxy S5 is the first phone to sport a 802.11ac MIMO WiFi antenna, which means it can download files up to three times faster than the Galaxy S4 does. Samsung also added a “boost” feature which allows to download simultaneously using the WiFi and LTE connections.  This is a great feature for the business world to limit down time on downloading or uploading PDF’s or any sort of document instantaneously so they can carry on with what matters.  This is a feature Apple dropped the ball on last year with their iPhone 5s and iPad Air and Mini 2 launches.  Surely they have to meet this demand in 2014.

5. Fingerprint scanner (hmm… how original?)

By swiping to the bottom of the display you can now unlock your samsung phone with the integrated finger scanner in the button.  I wonder where they came up with this idea.

Along with these features were some other small additions.  Like an upgraded 16 Megapixel Camera,  a cool heart rate sensor for the physically fit, and an increased battery life.  However, with all these additions to the S5, is it truly worth upgrading from your current model of phone?  Well that’s for you to decide, but financially to fork out the extra dough to upgrade to this phone when it is released in April.  Don’t be surprised if you are let down.  Samsung simply did not make a big enough leap ahead in technology here, especially considering some of there features are just copy-cat’s of Apple to stay in the game.  Then again, if you currently own an iPhone 3gs or Samsung S2 or something of those generations, then perhaps this will be the phone for you! In my opinion I would look ahead to the Summer of 2014.  When Apple, Sony, HTC, and yes probably Samsung, will be lining up there flagship products for a launch in the Fall.  What’s your opinion? Let me know with a comment!