Sprint and Samsung Unveil the Galaxy S5 Sport
by Brandon Chester on June 23, 2014 2:29 PM EST
Today Sprint and Samsung announced a new addition to the Galaxy S5 family. The new device is similar to the Galaxy S5 Active in its purpose, sporting a more rugged design better suited for being used during workouts and exercise than the standard Galaxy S5. However, the appearance of the Galaxy S5 Sport is closer to the design of the original Galaxy S5 than the Galaxy S5 Active is.
In terms of specifications the new Galaxy S5 Sport is essentially identical to the Galaxy S5. It sports the same 5.1" 1920x1080 Super AMOLED display and a 2.5GHz quad core Krait 400 based Snapdragon 801 CPU paired with an Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM. On the back there's Samsung's 16MP sensor with ISOCELL technology to reduce crosstalk between pixels, along with the LED flash and the heart rate monitor. The front of the device has the same 2MP camera, but you'll notice that Samsung has replaced the capacitive navigation buttons with physical keys which will function more reliably with fingers that are wet or sweaty from exercise. At 144mm x 74mm x 8.9mm in size with a mass of 158g it is also slightly larger and heavier than the normal Galaxy S5. Like all Galaxy S5 variants, the Galaxy S5 Sport has IP67 certification for dust and water resistance.
Connectivity is similar to the Galaxy S5 with support for 2x2 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, USB3.0, GPS/GNSS, MHL, DLNA, and NFC. Being a Sprint device, the Galaxy S5 Sport has support for Sprint's EV-DO network as well as LTE with Sprint advertising the device as supporting their Sprint Spark tri-band LTE network on bands 25, 26, and 41.
The big difference from the original Galaxy S5 is in the software. The Galaxy S5 Sport still comes with Android 4.4.2 and Samsung's Touchwiz UI but Sprint is including some preloaded software to appeal to those who are interested in keeping fit. The device is acting as the launch vehicle for a new service Sprint is creating called Sprint Fit Live which they are billing as a complete mobile health and fitness package. Below are some of the features included in this service for those purchasing the Galaxy S5 Sport.
- Track, monitor, and share workout activity with 12 months of free MapMyFitness MVP, which includes premium content such as customized audio coaching, training plans, live tracking and more. MapMyFitness is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Under Armour, a leading performance and innovation brand.
- Access Spotify Workout playlists with free Spotify premium for six months for customers who are on Sprint Framily plans or three months for other Sprint customers.
- Live the Healthy Lifestyle by receiving updated smart, contextual health and fitness content.
- Customize the look and feel of fitness tracking, education, music and healthy living content displayed on the wallpaper or full screen experience.
In addition to the Sprint exclusive fitness focused features, the Galaxy S5 Sport has all of Samsung's health related software such as S Health. Sprint is also offering buyers $50 off the Samsung Gear Fit for a limited time.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 Sport will be available on Sprint in Electric Blue and Cherry Red on July 25. The phone will be available for $0 with 24 monthly payments of $27.09.
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austinsguitar - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
wow...i feel like we are going back to 2008 with our cellphone designs... that aside, this looks better than an s5. But samsung needs to make better appearance smart devices.s5 and all tablets look the same...
kpb321 - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
Ok so the difference between the Sport and the Active is prebundled hopefully not to crappy software, no more camouflage shell and exclusive to a different carrier and the only difference between the two of them and the regular s5 is the physical rather than capacitive buttons? They really are trying to hit every niche imaginable with as little effort as possible.Too bad they can't make a decent "mini" version that doesn't significantly reduce all the other specs along with the screen size.
mass - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
It's a ruggedized version of the regular S5.... That's what I want: a new phone that has durability, without the bulk of an add on rubber case.r3loaded - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
"Throw everything at the wall and see what sticks!"Coup27 - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
I think Samsung should release some more phones.mass - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
Do you also complain when Amazon releases new books?Coup27 - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
How is that even remotely the same? The vast majority of Samsung phones are regurgitations of the same phone with minor differences, some virtually none existent like this "Sport" which is an S5 with physical buttons. I'm not saying this because I dislike Samsung, the contrary, I own an S4 and promote Samsung SSD's where possible, but they release too many useless phones.cmdrdredd - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
Maybe it's me but all this software for people interested in staying in shape is a waste. If someone wants to keep in shape they will and no amount of software will push people to do so who have no desire to go to the gym etc. Most people I know who work out, train in marital arts, ride bikes, run or play sports either use nothing or just listen to music. Nobody I know has to keep a log or use any type of digital helper.mass - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
You don't need to measure your heart rate or how far you run or keep workout logs, but sometimes it is nice, interesting, and fun. It's not going to unilaterally revolutionize the world and turn couch potatoes into olympians.Paazel - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
The fitness push isn't for people who already work out, it's for people who casually work out, or who are thinking about working out. Sure it's a psychological trick, but if it gets you to be active so be it.I switched health insurance plans in April, and now can qualify for a rebate 2x a year of 5% of my insurance premium if I go to the gym a certain number of times. This is a psychological trick, and let me tell you; it works! In May I got a Suunto Quest which is a very fancy heart rate monitor to track my progress and also to push me to work out more. The combination of the rebate & the monitoring software has me in the gym 3-4 times a week. Previously I was going 3-4 times a month. Fitness monitoring is going to become huge this fall with iOS 8 as I'm sure more and more companies will start to use Bluetooth LE in addition to AMT [most gym equipment, and some phones (galaxy, xperia) us this]. My phone doesn't have AMT (HTC One), if it did I wouldn't need a watch.
I am the target demographic for these features, and yes they matter, and yes they keep me in better shape.
Adapting my diet more than likely also played a huge role!