Samsung Galaxy S5: Early Benchmarks Reveal It Is ‘The Fastest Device Around;’ Full List Of Key Specs

Samsung (KRX:005935), on Monday, finally took the wraps off its Galaxy S5, the fifth-generation version of the company’s Galaxy S series smartphones.

The new handset, which largely seems to be an evolution of the Galaxy Note 3 with a slightly bigger 5.1-inch display, will be available starting April 11 in 150 countries in four different colors -- “Charcoal Black, Shimmery White, Electric Blue and Copper Gold.”

As far as the specs for the handset go, there are not many surprises as most of the rumors about the device turned out to be spot on. However, there are some added features that make the device stand out -- the Galaxy S5 is water-resistant and features a fingerprint scanner similar to that of the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 5s.

Another key feature of the Galaxy S5 is the S Health 3.0, a new fitness-oriented software that “provides a comprehensive personal fitness tracker to help users monitor and manage their behavior, along with additional tools including a pedometer, diet and exercise records, and a new, built-in heart rate monitor.”

A device with all these new features demands greater processing power. And, the latest Galaxy S5 is no exception as it comes loaded with the MSM8974AC, or Snapdragon 800 system-on-a-chip, or SoC.

Android Community ran a quick benchmark test on the new Galaxy S5, and confirmed that the phone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC, not Exynos, at launch, which could change later depending on market availability. The device also features the Adreno 330 GPU.

According to the benchmarks, the Galaxy S5 is currently “the fastest device around.” The phone scored 34696 on AnTuTu benchmark, making it even faster than Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3. On Quadrant Benchmark, the Galaxy S5 scored 24018, which is a much better score than some older devices such as the HTC One X, Asus Transformer Prime TF201 and Motorola Matrix 4G.

Phone Arena also ran some performance benchmarks, including Quadrant, AnTuTu, GFXBench and Basemark X, on the Galaxy S5 to test the device's speed, and reported that “the Galaxy S5 achieved amazing scores.” The Phone Arena report also mentioned that the benchmark tests were performed on a prototype version of the Galaxy S5, so the retail version of the phone could possibly score even better.

Check out the video here:

Meanwhile, Samsung has posted an official hands-on video of the Galaxy S5 on its YouTube page. The video highlights key features of the new smartphone, such as the perforated back, the 5.1-inch screen with Adaptive Display technology, the fingerprint scanner that can also be used to authenticate payments, the new power-saving mode and the new S Health utility.

Here is the complete list of key specs of the Samsung Galaxy S5:

Network: LTE Cat.4 (150/50Mbps)

Display: 5.1-inch FHD Super AMOLED (1920 x 1080)

AP: 2.5GHz Quad core application processor

OS: Android 4.4.2 (KitKat)

Camera: 16MP (rear), 2.0MP (front)

Video: UHD@30fps, HDR, video stabilization

Camera Features: HDR (Rich tone), Selective Focus, Virtual Tour Shot, Shot&More

Additional Features: IP67 Dust and water Resistant, Ultra Power Saving Mode, Download Booster, S Health 3.0, Quick Connect, Private Mode, Kids Mode

Connectivity: WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac HT80, MIMO(2x2), Bluetooth: 4.0 BLE / ANT+, USB: USB 3.0, NFC, IR Remote

Sensor: Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, Hall, RGB ambient light, Gesture(IR), Finger Scanner, Heart rate sensor

Memory: RAM: 2GB, Internal Memory: 16/32GB, microSD slot upto 64GB

Dimension: 142.0 x 72.5 x 8.1mm, 145g

Battery: 2800mAh, Standby time: 390 hrs / Talk time: 21 hrs