4 Insanely Frustrating Samsung Galaxy S5 Questions Remain

The Samsung Galaxy S5 release date in the United States officially took place on April 11th and the new flagship Galaxy S is not only out on major U.S. carriers but on the radar of millions of Americans. That said, there are still some burning Galaxy S5 questions that Samsung and its carrier partners have left unanswered.

When Samsung first announced the Galaxy S5 back in February, it was naturally excited to be taking the stage to show off its brand new Galaxy S smartphone, a device that replaces the Galaxy S4 and a device that joins the Galaxy Note 3 in Samsung’s two-pronged attack against its bitter rivals.

The company took the stage to parade around its brand new flagship and its new features. Who could blame it? The Samsung Galaxy S5 comes with a water and dust proof design that we like much better than the Galaxy S4 design. A camera that offers an extremely fast auto-focus and high quality video capture. A speedy processor and a fingerprint reader. A heart rate sensor and Android 4.4 KitKat. S Health 3.0 and a larger stock battery. It’s an exciting phone and one that Samsung obviously was, and is, very proud of.

In the weeks between the Samsung Galaxy S5’s launch and release in early April, Samsung and its carriers couldn’t hold back their excitement. They told consumers that the Galaxy S5 would be coming in due time. They offered pre-orders for the device and in some cases, offered heavily promoted special details. Heck, even T-Mobile was proudly promoting the amount of sign-ups it received after it announced the Galaxy S5.

But for all the talk, all of the chatter, all of the promotion, and all of the proud confirmations, Samsung and its partners failed to answer some of the biggest questions surrounding the Samsung Galaxy S5 release. And prospective buyers have been left scratching their heads, frustrated with the lack of detail.

In our estimation, there are four insanely frustrating Samsung Galaxy S5 questions that remain.

32GB Samsung Galaxy S5

When Apple launches its iPhone, it announces the different storage options on stage. The different storage options then go on sale on the same pre-determined date. The Apple Store offers all three models and the iPhones carriers offer all three models. Everyone goes home happy.

When Samsung launches its Galaxy S, it announces different storage options on stage. And then everything falls apart. It happened with the Galaxy S3, the Galaxy S4 and Samsung and its carrier partners have apparently decided to put their customers through the same gauntlet of absurdity with the Galaxy S5.

Utterly ridiculous @SamsungMobileUS @sprint @sprintcare The 32gb version of the #GalaxyS5 is nowhere to be found. #fail

— C.C. (@TheLightOfCC) April 21, 2014

Make no mistake about it, the whole situation is absurd. While Samsung announced 16GB and 32GB versions of the Galaxy S5 back in February, only the 16GB Galaxy S5 is on sale in the United States. It’s not that big of a deal given that the device comes with a microSD card slot capable of housing a 128GB microSD card but remember, microSD cards are limited. And hey, some people just want an absurd amount of space on their phone.

I was hoping to get a Galaxy S5,but the 32Gb version isn’t available yet, and I’m having trouble with space on my current 16Gb S3.

— Dashdrum (@dashdrum) April 19, 2014

For reasons that remain unknown, Samsung and its U.S. carriers have zero answers about the 32GB Galaxy S5. Not when asked on social media, not when pressed for answers through other means. U.S. Cellular was the only carrier to respond to our requests for comment and the carrier told us that it doesn’t have any plans to release a 32GB Galaxy S5 model at this time.

@aaron02468 No info on a 32GB Galaxy S5, but we’ll post all the latest device announcements in our Newsroom! https://t.co/NnoS34xvRE ^VS

— T-Mobile USA (@TMobileHelp) April 17, 2014

Here’s the insane part. Why not just tell your customers outright that you won’t be carrying the 32GB model? Why string them along again and again, year after year? It’s ridiculous.

One of the secrets to keeping customers is keeping them happy. Apple figured this out a long time ago, HTC is starting to pick up on it, it’s about time that Samsung flexed its muscle.

Blue & Gold Galaxy S5

It wouldn’t be so bad if there was only one insanely frustrating question that remained but there are more. Remember when Samsung took the stage back in February and showed off the Samsung Galaxy S5? Remember when it took the curtain down and there were not just one, not just two, not just three, but four different Galaxy S5 colors?

You and I remember but apparently Samsung doesn’t because we haven’t seen the blue or gold versions of the Samsung Galaxy S5 emerge in the United States. Nope, it’s just good ole black and white.

Instead of releasing all four colors on release date, consumers are now awaiting the inevitable letdown where Samsung announces that some carrier, or some retailer, has an exclusive over a certain color. It’s a practice that Samsung has used for years and at this point we’d be shocked if something different happened here with the Galaxy S5.

It’s a horrible practice and one that is a disservice to its customers. Fix it, Samsung.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Google Play Edition

What’s that? HTC announced an HTC One M8 Google Play Edition on the same day that it announced the regular old HTC One M8, an announcement that not only answered a pertinent question but also that gave its customers a ton of choice? Well done, HTC, well done. That’s how it’s done.

Will there be a Google Play Edition of the Samsung Galaxy S5??

— Norman Joshua Ramos (@AnnihElation) April 17, 2014

Surely we’ve heard about a Galaxy S5 Google Play Edition then? Sadly no, it’s another question that remains unanswered as we move further and further away from the Galaxy S5’s release date earlier this month.

Interesting that Samsung/Google haven’t brought forth a Google Play edition of the Galaxy S5. Could be saving it for I/O or it could be…

— Matthew Suff (@TheSuff) April 19, 2014

While we initially thought that Samsung would deliver a Galaxy S5 Google Play Edition, now we’re not so sure. Consumers aren’t either and unfortunately, Samsung isn’t saying one way or the other.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Prime

Samsung Galaxy S5 Prime rumors continue to emerge in the days after the Samsung Galaxy S5 release.

Prior to the Galaxy S5’s launch, rumors told tales of a premium Galaxy smartphone with high end features. Those rumors haven’t died down and they continue to emerge on a fairly regular basis. A recent benchmark helped to ignite the rumors and today, the model number shown in that benchmark emerged in a shipping manifest. The SM-G906 is apparently on its way out of Korea for R&D (Research and Development) purposes.

Here is what this “Galaxy S5 Prime” is thought to have on board:

• 5.2-inch Display with 2560×1440 QHD Resolution
• Android 4.4 KitKat
• 3GB of RAM
• 16MP Rear Camera/2MP Front Camera
• 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 Quad-Core Processor

Samsung recently denied the existence of a premium Galaxy S5 and hasn’t offered any details about this rumored device, a device that appears to trump the Galaxy S5 in a number of different ways including display, RAM, and processor.

The company obviously won’t announce anything until it’s ready but it’s going to be pretty tough to explain this device to those who bought the “regular” Samsung Galaxy S5, especially if it offers those powerful hardware features and a metal design. More than a few people will be angry, that’s for sure.

Perhaps one day, Samsung and its partners will launch a smartphone without these lingering questions. These might seem like trivial things but they are important to many people.

We likely have about year to go before the Samsung Galaxy S6 launches so perhaps it will learn its lesson. Watching this year’s iPhone 6 launch and release will be a good place to start.