The Samsung Galaxy S5 (SM-G900F) has apparently started receiving the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop firmware in Poland, with other European countries to follow soon.
While this is definitely good news for Galaxy S5 users, it's also a bit surprising for a number of reasons. First of all, the Galaxy S4 GPE has not received the latest OS version just yet, and GPE devices are typically among the first in line to receive new updates as they're part of Google's family. Second, this marks the first time Samsung has rolled out an update so soon after its release, as the new Android 5.0 Lollipop comes to the Galaxy S5 just one month after Google pushed the final code to AOSP on Nov. 4. Moreover, not too long ago Samsung teased a Lollipop treat for its Galaxy Note 4 flagship phablet, yet it chose to update the Galaxy S5 first.
As SamMobile reports, the Samsung Galaxy S5 (SM-G900F) has started receiving the new Android 5.0 Lollipop in Poland, and the rollout is expected to reach other European countries shortly.
With the Samsung Galaxy S5 proving to be the company's first device to receive the latest update, it's interesting to see how the new Android 5.0 Lollipop OS version intertwines with Samsung's own TouchWiz UI, which rests on top. The UI itself doesn't sport any big visual changes, but a new user experience is in the cards nonetheless due to the neat notifications drawer, the fast ART runtime that now consumes less power, and other notable changes.
As a reminder, the Samsung Galaxy S5 made its official debut back in February, sporting high-end specs and features, a fingerprint scanner, a heart-rate monitor, and more, all in a water-resistant package. The handset comes with a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display with a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5GHz, 2GB of RAM, 16GB/32GB of internal storage capacity, microSD support for additional memory of up to 128GB, a 16-megapixel rear camera, and a 2-megapixel front shooter.
Despite all of these notable improvements over its predecessor, however, the Samsung Galaxy S5 didn't fare so well in terms of sales, shipping roughly four million units less than the Galaxy S4. In fact, the handset's poor performance has led to the demise of three Samsung executives, who were forced to resign from their positions.
In such a context, it would make sense if Samsung chose to upgrade its Galaxy S5 first in an attempt to boost sales of the device. Either way, the update is now live in Poland and should hit other markets soon enough.
In the meantime, check out the video below to see SamMobile's exclusive final preview of Android 5.0 Lollipop on the Samsung Galaxy S5.
