Samsung generally releases cut-down variants of its flagship smartphones about a year after the release of the original models. The Galaxy Note 3 Neo and the Galaxy S3 Neo are some of such examples, and now, Samsung is readying yet another cut-down variant of its last-generation flagship smartphone in the form of the Galaxy S5 Neo.
The Galaxy S5 Neo (SM-G903F) will feature a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, 16GB of internal storage, 2GB RAM, a 16-megapixel primary camera, and a 2,800 mAh battery, just like the original Galaxy S5. It even comes with the exact same dimensions and weight – 142 × 72.5 × 8.1 mm and 145 grams – as the original model. The only changes are the processor, the front-facing camera, and the network connectivity.
It features a brand new 64-bit octa-core Exynos 7580 processor that was leaked yesterday through GFXBench. This processor was found ticking inside an unannounced phablet from TCL, a Chinese brand that makes smartphones and various other consumer electronics. It comprises of a 64-bit octa-core CPU (most probably ARM Cortex-A53 cores) clocked at 1.6GHz, and a Mali-T720 GPU. This makes it a downgrade from the Exynos 5422 or the Snapdragon 801 that was used in the Galaxy S5. Neither the CPU, nor the GPU is as powerful as the other two processors.
The front-facing camera has now been upgraded to a 5-megapixel sensor, similar to that of the Galaxy S6, the Galaxy S6 edge, and the Galaxy A series of smartphones. The primary as well as the secondary cameras have sensors homegrown by Samsung.
The device will come in single-SIM as well as dual-SIM variants. The dual-SIM variant of the Galaxy S5 Neo will sport a model number SM-G903FD, and might be released in markets like India, China, and Russia where there's a huge demand for this feature. The device will feature LTE-A connectivity, an upgrade from the original Galaxy S5, but similar to that of the Galaxy S5 LTE-A. Both the variants will come Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box, but we're not sure whether it is the new TouchWiz UI that we saw on the Galaxy S6 duo.
It's too early to talk about the possible release date of the device, but we will keep you updated as and when we get to know more about the Galaxy S5 Neo.
