Samsung Galaxy S5 Prime Release Date: Device Rumored To Arrive In June With QHD Display To Take On LG G3

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (KRX:005935) is rumored to release a premium version of the latest Galaxy S5 smartphone, dubbed the Galaxy S5 Prime, with a quad high-definition display to challenge LG Electronics Inc.’s (KRX:066570) upcoming flagship smartphone G3, which is also rumored to sport a QHD display.

Although the Galaxy S5 was expected to feature a QHD display panel, the device ultimately came with a Full HD panel due to high production costs of QHD OLED panels. However, the South Korean technology giant is expected to incorporate the premium display panel in its upcoming Galaxy S5 Prime, which could feature a QHD display with a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels and is likely to be released in June, Korea Herald reported.

“Samsung Electronics was supposed to use a QHD display for its Galaxy S5, but it failed due to the high cost,” an anonymous source from Samsung told Korea Herald. “As the Galaxy S5 Prime will be rolled out in small quantities, it is highly likely that QHD will be adopted.”

According to the report, the Galaxy S5 Prime will undergo an “interoperability test” this week to demonstrate that the handset is ready for the market. Samsung is expected to launch the device to take on LG’s G3, which will arrive by the end of this month or in early June.

LG is said to release its new smartphone earlier than expected to reportedly avoid competition with Apple Inc’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 6, which is highly rumored to roll out sometime in the third quarter of this year.

“If Samsung’s Galaxy S5 Prime hits the market in June, it may be unfavorable to LG as the demand for high-end smartphones will be split,” Korea Herald quoted Lee Min-hee, an analyst at I’M Investment and Securities, as saying.

According to earlier rumors, the Galaxy S5 Prime is expected to be powered by a new octa-core Exynos 5430 processor that sports an integrated Intel LTE modem. The device’s CPU is rumored to be clocking at up to 2.1 GHz on the powerful Cortex-A15 cores and 1.5GHz on the low-power Cortex-A7 cores, and the Mali T6XXX GPU rated at 600MHz.