Having launched its flagship smartphone Galaxy S5 in India in April 2014, Samsung today launched the 4G variant of Galaxy S5. The new S5 comes with 2.5 GHz Snapdragon 801 processor as opposed to the Exynos processor in the original version. Also, the graphics are now handled by Adreno 330 GPU. Read on to find out the complete details and our analysis on the same.

Speaking about the launch, Mr. Asim Warsi, Vice President – Marketing, Mobile & IT, Samsung India said, “We are excited to introduce our first 4G variant of the Galaxy S5 in India with a powerful processor, stunning display and faster connectivity for an unmatched user experience. We expect the 4G version to catch the imagination of technology enthusiasts and professionals, who demand superior smartphones for their heavy multimedia content consumption.”

The 4G variant of Galaxy S5 looks exactly identical to the Exynos variant and there are some changes under the hood. As mentioned earlier, the CPU is now a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8974 Pro 2.5 GHz (Octa-core) and it supports eight 4G LTE bands. All the bells and whistles like the full HD display, the 16 MP camera with numerous shooting modes and ultra power saving mode are also present in this iteration.

In addition to these, the 4G variant comes with features like Download Booster and Wi-Fi MIMO. Download Booster lets users access 4G and Wi-Fi simultaneously to give very high internet speeds. Wi-Fi MIMO technology employs the double Wi-Fi antennas to accelerate the network speed.

Complementing the launch, Airtel has launched an exclusive plan for S5 customers. All new and existing 4G subscribers will get 5GB 4G data per month free for 2 months.

Price and Availability

The Samsung Galaxy S5 4G is available at a Rs 53,500.  It also comes with a Rs 10,000 upgrade offer to allow consumers to upgrade.The device will be available in all 4G service enabled markets in India from July 20 onwards. It will be available in Copper Gold, Charcoal Black and Shimmery White colour options.

Expert Analysis

While the 4G variant of the Galaxy S5 sounds promising, the price tag however is very questionable. The Exynos version of Galaxy S5 is currently retailing for about Rs 36000. Apart from the 4G technology and processor change, it doesn’t offer anything new for the huge price difference. 4G coverage in India is also in nascent stages of development. Also, the Exynos variant of the device generally performs better than the 4G variant in benchmarks (except Graphics performance). So if you’re really into future proofing your next purchase, go for it, else steer clear.