Samsung’s plastic builds are both loved and lamented, with Samsung famously saying they had no intention of moving away form them. With the HTC One, we fell in love with metal devices. Sleek, modern, and easily mass produced, the unibody design had many wondering just who would step up and bring another metal device to Android. As it turns out, it just might be Samsung.
A report out of Korea suggest that Samsung has asked Taiwanese manufacturer Catcher to build the metal case for their upcoming Galaxy S5. While long rumored to be the case, and backed up by a leaked image of a metal frame for the S5, Samsung’s solidifying of a supply chain may prove the linchpin for a metal S5. Though many are excited for a change, there are other concerns we have for a metal Galaxy S5.
Battery life on a TouchWiz device is typically a little worse than average out of the box. We don’t really worry much about it, as Samsung devices have removable battery covers for easy swapping of batteries, but a metal case would probably be totally enclosed. Unless Samsung has a plan for a removable battery cover in metal (which would be amazing), we’ll be keeping a close eye on battery life on a metal S5. Of course, they are working on new batteries for the Galaxy Round, so we also wonder if they might have new battery tech up their sleeves in addition to the bended design.
Another curiosity is that Catcher is said to be approved for a run of 10-30 million units, a far cry from Samsung’s normal run of Galaxy S devices. The S4 shipped about 40 million devices worldwide in a few months, so it seems Catcher might not be the only fabricator here. If it all pans out, this one is said to enter production in January, so we’ll undoubtedly have some leaked pics around that time. Stay tuned!
