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Galaxy S5 pre-order starts today in UK

Samsung's new toy can now be reserved, ahead of its release on 11 April. Expect to shell out a lot of cash, though.

Luke Westaway Senior editor
Luke Westaway is a senior editor at CNET and writer/ presenter of Adventures in Tech, a thrilling gadget show produced in our London office. Luke's focus is on keeping you in the loop with a mix of video, features, expert opinion and analysis.
Luke Westaway

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The Galaxy S5 is now available to pre-order in the UK -- but expect to splash out plenty of cash if you want to own Samsung's heart-rate-monitor-sporting flagship.

As of this morning, UK retailers will let you pay for the S5, ahead of its official release on 11 April. High-street phone shop Phones 4U says the S5 will be free upfront from £47 per month on a 4G tariff, and can be acquired SIM-free for the wince-inducing price of £570.

Exploring the Galaxy S5's features (pictures)

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Phones 4U is also putting the S5 on display in selected shops (as demonstrated by the photo above), giving you a chance to play with the phone and check out some of its features before throwing down your money.

Carphone Warehouse has also thrown open its pre-order doors, promising the Galaxy S5 from £42 per month with no upfront cost (that example tariff is a 3G, 24-month Vodafone contract that nets you 3GB of data, unlimited calls and unlimited texts). Carphone's SIM-free option costs a wallet-petrifying £580.

That's even more expensive than the monstrously pricey iPhone 5S , which starts at £549. For your money Samsung gives you a 2.5GHz quad-core processor, a 5.1-inch display, a heart-rate monitor, a fingerprint scanner -- and it's water resistant to boot.

So will you be -- wait for it -- splashing out on the Galaxy S5? Let me know in the comments, and check out the video below to learn how Samsung built its Galactic Empire.

Watch this: How Samsung built its Galactic Empire