Samsung goes ahead of Apple in the smartphone wars with the Galaxy S5. The Korean tech giant has released its newest flagship phone at the Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona, Spain. The product will have an actual release on April 11. Despite the later release from the announcement, Samsung will still get a good lead of Apple for a few months. Analysts think it is not just the early release date which will give Samsung Galaxy S5 and advantage over the iPhone 6.

Apple has dominated the smartphone industry until Samsung persisted and gained a great part of the market. Nonetheless, despite the constant releases, Samsung has yet to get head of Apple completely. According to a recent report by TIME, the new Samsung Galaxy S5 has a number of features that may help it get past the sales of Apple's flagship phones.

Large Form Factor

The screen of the Samsung Galaxy S5 is larger compared to the iPhone 5s. This means the device has a higher resolution. These days, consumers prefer large-screened handsets that can still fit inside their pockets. This is the reason phablets have become very popular. According to forecasts, phablets will reach total sales of 120 million units in 2018.

While the Galaxy S5 cannot be considered a phablet, it does have a large form factor satisfying the phablet appeal.

Fresh Factor

The Apple iPhone 6 may be coming soon, but it remains an idea. The Samsung Galaxy S5, on other hand, is fresh meat.

New products in the market have a certain appeal. It will take a while before the attention dies down. By the time Apple reaches the market, Samsung may have taken a good portion of it already, or so industry watchers and observers speculate.

Some features of the Samsung Galaxy S5 include the following:

  • Size: 142 x 72.5 x 8.1
  • Weight: 145 g
  • 5.1-inch FHD Super AMOLED display (1,920 x 1,080 resolution)
  • 2.5 GHz quad-core processor
  • 2 GB RAM
  • 16/32 GB memory
  • MicroSD support up to 128 GB
  • 16-MP camera with UHD 4K video recording at 30 fps and various software features
  • 2.1-MP front-facing camera
  • LTE Cat 4 (150/50 Mbps) support
  • 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac HT80 MIMO (2×2) Wi-Fi
  • Bluetooth 4.0 BLE/ANT
  • USB 3.0
  • NFC
  • IR Remote
  • 2,800 mAh battery
  • IP67 dust and water resistance
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Heart rate sensor
  • Android 4.4 KitKat.

Heart Rate Monitor

Most smartphone manufacturers concentrate on the screen and camera. This time, Samsung decided to shake things a little bit by adding the heart rate monitor. The new Samsung Galaxy S5 features a heart rate monitor, supporting people working out. According to TIME, it may be a point of interest, especially since it combines what wearable tech offers with smartphone capabilities.