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Galaxy S5: Check out Samsung's new superphone (photos)

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is Samsung's latest superphone, packing some familiar specs, along with a heart rate monitor.

Andrew Lanxon
Andrew is CNET's go-to guy for product coverage and lead photographer for Europe. When not testing the latest phones, he can normally be found with his camera in hand, behind his drums or eating his stash of home-cooked food. Sometimes all at once.
Andrew Lanxon
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1 of 31 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Editor's note: This slideshow covers the Galaxy S5 launch at Mobile World Congress 2014. Check out the full Samsung Galaxy S5 phone review, complete with in-depth slideshow and videos.

Samsung has a brand new flagship to shout about. The Galaxy S5 has a 5.1-inch, Full HD display, a whopping 2.5GHz quad-core processor, a 16-megapixel camera and it can track your heart rate.

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From the front, not a lot has changed since the S4, but the back of the S5 has had a redesign. It has a soft-touch rubberised panel, with this dotted effect. I haven't made my mind up whether I like it yet, but it could grow on me.

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It feels nice enough, although that white will quickly get marked if you're not careful.

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Feedback about the waterproof Galaxy S4 Active prompted Samsung to make the Galaxy S5 waterproof and dust proof in alliance with military spec IP67, which means that it can take a bath for up to 30 minutes at about 3 feet down.

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The same home button you'll find on nearly every Galaxy phone is in place.

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As is the silver speaker grille.

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The 16 megapixel camera is new though. It has some neat tricks up its sleeve too. Not only can you have HDR mode permanently switched on -- showing you the effect in real-time -- it also works for videos, a smartphone first. You can also change the focus point in a scene after you've taken the picture.

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More important, the 0.3-second auto-focus is 3 times faster than autofocus on the Galaxy S4. This is due to the addition of what Samsung calls Phase Detection autofocus, a feature usually found in DSLR cameras making its first appearance in a smartphone. The image sensor is also larger, allowing the camera to capture more light.

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Below the camera is a flash. That's not all though -- next to it is the heart rate sensor. It actually uses a light to 'see' the blood going through your veins.

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It's not exactly fat, but there are certainly skinnier phones on the market.

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It uses USB 3.0 for faster data transfer.

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Like its predecessors, the back cover is removable, letting you swap out the battery.

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Samsung says it's Ultra Power Saving Mode will double battery life when you're running low. It also promises 21 hours of talk time and over 16 days of standby time on a single charge.

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You can also pop in a micro SD card to expand the on board storage.

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Naturally, it's running on the latest version of Android, version 4.4.2 KitKat.

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The bulk of the interface hasn't really changed a lot.

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You'll still see a grid of app icons in the app menu.

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Go into the settings however and you'll see rounded, minimalist icons, grouped by category.

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They seem pretty straightforward, although Samsung could hardly have made its phones any more complicated to use. Or perhaps it could. Time will tell.

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You'll find software on board to help connect it to Samsung's other newly announced products, the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear 2 Fit exercise band.

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The Gear 2 is an updated version of Samsung's smartwatch that runs on Tizen, rather than Android. We're waiting to hear exactly what sort of new functions this chap has, but we're already pleased to see that the watch has slimmed down a little.

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It appears as though most of the customisation of the watch will be done through the phone.

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This magazine app looks like a news feed aggregator. You'll find it to the left of the homescreens.

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The S5 will come in four different colours.

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There's black, a rather cool blue, white and a browny-gold colour.

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I'm not a big fan of gold phones generally and the dimpled-effect back panel doesn't really make me any more keen here.

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The white colour is fairly neutral.

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I think this blue colour is my favourite -- it's not a shade I've seen much on phones before.

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If you're not keen on colour, go for the black model.

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Samsung will have a host of cases to go with the phone too.

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In the lead up to the S5's launch at Mobile World Congress, numerous rumours about a slim, metal Galaxy Phone swirled around. So far, we're yet to see any sign of this mythical beast, but we're keeping our eyes peeled over the coming weeks.

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