Samsung "Galaxy S5" has started shipping into India from Vietnam [ Available from: April 11, 2014 ]

The Latest flagship mobile device by Samsung, the Galaxy S5 has been launched in India on 27 March 2014 at Delhi. The variant for the Indian market would be different from the US & European markets with regards to the SoC (System-on-Chip, which includes the Processor, GPU, Wireless Modules, Sound chips etc). Samsung did not give the exact pricing on launch day, but said that it will be available to buyers on April 11 for a price between Rs.51,000 to Rs.53,000. 

Meanwhile the phone units have started to ship into India since March 31, according to an Import data portal and the above retail price by Samsung is shockingly higher than Import price !


Update: 33,786 units (White + Black + Blue) have arrived in stores !

While the variants available in the US/Europe is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 SoC running Quad-cores at 2.5 GHz; Indians would be getting the Exynos 5 Octa-Core Processor based SoC, which has been titled as the Adonis Prime2. It would contain a 1.9 GHz Quad-core A15 + 1.3 GHz Quad-core A7 for low-power processing. This time all 8 cores can run at same time unlike previous Exynos 5 Octa-core chips.

Finger-print Scanner can be used for secure payment

The Adonis Prime2 will also contain an Intel XMM6360 chip for Wireless communication like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and FM. LTE support will not be there in this model of S5, though we can expect a LTE variant sometime later in this year. Samsung probably omitted LTE capability looking at the poor LTE coverage in India.

One added advantage of the Exynos variant would be that it will most likely come with the latest Audio Processor by the well appraised Scottish manufacturer Wolfson Micro-Electronics. It's WM5110 chip is a Quad-core HD audio processor which has capability for 24 Bit/192 KHz S-Master audio.

Also it has excellent noise-cancellation capability during voice calls. The low-power modes of the audio processor enables it continuously listen to voice command activations [ Similar to that seen on Motorola Moto X ]

Whereas the Snapdragon 801 variant would come with it's default SoC audio DAC. 

Specifications of the Galaxy S5 [ SM-G900H ZWA/ZKA ] as listed on Samsung India e-Store:

Samsung India E-Store has opened Pre-Booking at Rs.1500 and also has a 15% cash-back offer on Citi Bank cards.

Good news is that Samsung India E-Store has recently reformed it's Order & Cancellation policies and made it a lot buyer-friendly. It was a result of an Online campaign by some popular Tech bloggers/reviewers. 

E-Store Cancellation Policy (Click)

As of now, a total of 33,786 units of the Galaxy S5 have been Imported into cities of Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi & Kolkata from Vietnam.

" It has got the MIMO 2x2 WiFi which reduces download times by half "

The not yet confirmed M.R.P range of Rs.51,000 - Rs.53,000 as hinted by Samsung India is generally regarded by the Online community as a bit over priced. Some bloggers have indicated a "Big Mistake" by Samsung India with regards to pricing.

Meanwhile a popular Retailer in Mumbai city has given a price of Rs.51,500 and he updated today that the cash back offer for Citi Bank cards have been raised to 20%. He also said that the general reaction of the customers at the stores were very negative citing the steep price. 

Hopefully Samsung India is listening to the strong views about the Galaxy S5 pricing circulating the Internet and may care to surprise the buyers and fans on April 11 release. [Surely Samsung has in mind the HTC M8 flagship release in India at the end of April; which would be priced quite high ]

The phone is Dust and Water resistant and has got IP 67 certification.

The Pricing is more shocking when we see that the Import price is less than half of it !! [ Source: ZAUBA Import Data ] 

UPDATE: I suspect that if Samsung sticks with the above mentioned pricing, it may choose to offer the "Gear Fit" wearable device as a Free Gift along with the S5 !