It has been more than 24 hours since Samsung unveiled its latest flagship — the Galaxy S5. Even in all the barrage of hands on, preview and announcement posts, there are quite a few things that you still don’t know about the device. What are they? Read below to find out.
1. Download Booster
The Galaxy S5 is among the first few Android devices to come with a Wi-Fi antenna in 2×2 MIMO configuration. However, that is not the only network-related improvement that Samsung has introduced in the Galaxy S5. The company has also added a Download Booster mode that will allow users to combine the network speed of their mobile data and Wi-Fi network for faster download speeds.
At the moment, it is unclear if this feature will work across the system or only in Samsung-made apps.
2. ISOCELL Image sensor
The only information Samsung provided about the 16MP F/2.2 camera on the Galaxy S5 is that it had an extremely quick focus time of 0.3 seconds and was capable of shooting videos in UHD resolution. What the South Korean giant did not mention is that the 16MP sensor uses its new image sensor technology — ISOCELL — that helps in increasing light sensitivity and color fidelity. According to Samsung’s press release, an ISOCELL incorporated image sensor will have “30 percent decrease in crosstalk; 30 percent increase in full well capacity; and 20 percent wider chief ray angle.”
Other OEMs have been using OIS to improve the low-light photography on their devices, except for Samsung. The company’s flagship devices have continuously managed to deliver above average image quality in poor lighting even without OIS, thanks to their image processing algorithms. It would be interesting to see how the ISOCELL sensor on the Galaxy S5 compares to OIS-enabled sensors found on other devices.
3. Knox 2.0
Samsung was, surprisingly, mum about its security solution — Knox — at the Galaxy S5 announcement. Turns out, the company had plans to unveil it later in a separate event. With the latest version, Samsung is getting serious in its mobile security platform and aims at capturing the mass-enterprise market.
The major change that Samsung has introduced in Knox 2.0 is the ability to digitally secure the Google Play apps, which eliminates the need to run them in a separate Knox mode as before. The company also unveiled a dedicated Knox marketplace that will allow enterprise managers to install apps on their employee devices easily. Lastly, Samsung has tied Knox 2.0 to the fingerprint scanner on the Galaxy S5, thereby providing two-factor biometric authentication.
Knox 2.0 will come pre-installed on the Samsung Galaxy S5 with other Galaxy devices getting it via a future software update.
Which is your favorite feature of the Galaxy S5? Drop in a comment and let us know!
