Samsung Launched the Galaxy S5 on the 26th of March in the sidelines of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The device is expected to hit the global market on 11th of April concurrently. Samsung India already has a launch date and as expected, Kenya too also has an early launch date.
This is on the 11th of April, the same day Galaxy S5 hits the shelves in many countries. Several retailers and mobile carriers have opened pre-orders, this includes Duka1, Jumia, Airtel, Fonexpress and Safaricom. Samsung had previously put up a pre-order page but has since put it down claiming that they needed to make some amendments to the details to best fit each retailer.
The launch in Nairobi will be for more than Kenya. The launch will also have Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda as participants. Just like was previously the case where the continental launch was for all African countries and they then would proceed to have their own local press launches. This time finds Kenya a full subsidiary of Samsung and a hub for the region. This means that the four countries are headquartered in Kenya with Robert Ngeru as the Vice President for the region.
Other devices to be launched alongside the Galaxy S5 include the Tizen powered Gear Fit and Gear 2 which were also announced at the same time as the Galaxy S 5. The Gear Fit is the smaller smart watch with a sleek curved AMOLED design for the desigh conscious smart watch wearer. The Gear 2 on the other hand comes with a camera on the watch chassis meaning the user can change straps unlike previously with the first Galaxy Gear. It also has an Infra-Red blaster and a watchON app for use as a remote for TVs. The Gear Neo misses the camera but has the IR blaster.
All of these come with an array of straps at launch to allow user preference as to the colours they fancy.
Here are some of the Galaxy S5′s key specifications:
- 5.1-inch full HD (1920×1080 pixels… 432 ppi) Super AMOLED display
- 2.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor. An Exynos variant may exist for certain markets.
- 2GB RAM, 16GB / 32GB internal memory, expandable up to 64GB with microSD
- Android 4.4.2 KitKat with a refresh of Samsung’s custom TouchWiz UI
- 16 megapixel camera at the back with LED Flash, BSI and supporting 4K video recording at 30 fps and 1080p video recording at 60 fps; a 2.1 megapixel shooter that can record video at 1080p sits on the front of the device
- IP67 certified for dust and water resistance.
- Infrared LED for smart TV remote using Samsung’s built-in WatchON application
- S Health 3.0 and a Heart rate sensor at the back of the device
- Fingerprint scanner
- HSPA+, 4G LTE-A, Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2X2 MIMO), Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GPS, USB 3.0 and NFC
- 2800 mAh Battery
