The Samsung Galaxy S5 rumours appear to be gathering steam. A report earlier this week indicated that Samsung’s next flagship smartphone would come with a 16MP camera with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). Now comes a report by South Korea’s ET News that Samsung will drop the plastic body seen on the Galaxy S4 (and presumably on the upcoming Galaxy Note III) in favour of a metal chassis.
Samsung is reportedly already busy setting up the manufacturing line at a Vietnamese factory. Sample cases have already been developed and the company is gearing up for mass production. The report adds that Samsung will need to address a number of challenges with this move and could still reverse course should it not be satisfied with the metal chassis. For example, metal bodies are more difficult and more expensive to manufacture. Will Samsung (and its partners) be able to produce an adequate supply to meet projected demand for the new phone? It will also need to ensure that the full-metal body does not negatively affect radio signals, something that Apple learned the hard way with the iPhone 4. Before a decision is made, Samsung will also have to decide whether it wants to switch from a removable battery to a sealed one in a unibody design.
With the Samsung Galaxy S5 (or whatever it will be called when it is announced) still a number of months away, it is likely that future rumours will reveal prototypes with metal body as well as plastic ones as Samsung experiments with potential designs.
Should Samsung go metal or stick with plastic? Let us know below.