Samsung Galaxy S5 unveiled: finger scanner, waterproof, bigger screen

Unveiled at Mobile World Congress, the device has a leather feel, will ship in black, white, blue or gold and can survive 30 minutes at the bottom of a metre-deep pond.

Chief executive and president of Samsung JK Shin presents the new Samsung Galaxy S5 during the first day of the Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona. David Ramos / Getty Images

Samsung last night unveiled a Galaxy S5 smartphone with a fingerprint reader and bigger screen than the current model as Asia's biggest technology company tries to keep high-end consumers from Apple's iPhones.

The water-resistant phone will go on sale on April 11 with features including a longer-lasting battery than the S4, according to Min Cho, the marketing director at Samsung's mobile unit. The device, shown at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, uses Google's Android software and has a download booster for fourth-generation networks and Wi-Fi.

Demand for high-end Galaxy devices was curbed by the release of new iPhones in September, squeezing sales in the most profitable segment of the market and contributing to Samsung’s slowest earnings growth since 2011. The company announced its first wearable devices using Tizen software and plans more smartphones this year to fend off Apple and Chinese producers packing advanced features into inexpensive models.

The back of the Galaxy S5 has a leather feel, and the device will ship in black, white, blue or gold, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said. The smartphone is designed to withstand 30 minutes at the bottom of a metre-deep pond, Samsung said.

The main camera will have a resolution of 16 megapixels, compared with 13 megapixels on the S4 model, and the battery will last 20 per cent longer than its predecessor, Samsung said.

The 5.1-inch display is full high definition on an active-matrix organic light-emitting diode, or AMOLED, screen.

Shares of Samsung fell 0.2 per cent to 1,328,000 won on Monday in Seoul. The stock has dropped 13 per cent in the past 12 months, wiping out about $28 billion of market value.

The iPhone 5s, which went on sale in markets including China, Japan and the United States on September 20, has fingerprint-reading technology.

Samsung used a more low-key approach in unveiling the Galaxy S5, sharing the spotlight with carriers and producers including Sony, Huawei and HTC at the Mobile World Congress. The S4 debuted at an exclusive gala at New York’s Radio City Music Hall last March, yet fell short of its predecessor’s shipments as the high-end market became more saturated.

Samsung shipped 63.5 million units of the 5-inch S4, according to the median of three analyst estimates. The 4.8-inch S3 shipped about 65.6 million units, according to analysts.

Apple sold 51 million iPhones in the December quarter alone, and last month began selling the devices through China Mobile, the world’s largest carrier with 772 million subscribers.

Samsung is the top smartphone vendor in China with 19 per cent of the market in the fourth quarter, researcher Canalys said on February 20. The company is seeking to use the S5 to maintain that position against domestic producers including Lenovo and Xiaomi, which have 12 per cent and 7 per cent of the market, respectively.

Samsung last month posted a 5.4 per cent rise in fourth-quarter net income to 7.22 trillion won (Dh24.77bn), its slowest profit growth since 2011.

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