Samsung's Galaxy S5 is set to be unveiled in just a few days, and a lot rides on its success. Samsung will be looking to reassert itself after the Galaxy S4 underperformed in 2013, and here's how the Galaxy S5 might help the South Korean electronics manufacturer do that.

Why the Galaxy S5 is so important to Samsung

It's important to note how crucial the Galaxy S5 is to Samsung. The Samsung Galaxy S4, although an incredible success by most standards, remained a best seller for only half a year. That's half the time of the Galaxy S2, and sales figures indicate that even the larger phablet cousin, the Galaxy Note 3, has been outselling the Galaxy S4 recently.

While the exact reason for the Galaxy S4's less-than-stellar performance is unclear, there were a few glaring criticisms of the handset. Some felt the gesture control were simply too gimmicky and did not actually enhance the experience. Then there's the Galaxy S4's design, which drew much of the fire for being essentially the same as the Galaxy S3's. And let's not forget that customers were slightly turned off by the plastic construction in a market place filled with high-quality metal smartphones like the HTC One and Apple iPhone.

"When we moved to S4 from S3, it's partly true that consumers couldn't really feel much difference between the two products from the physical perspective, so the market reaction wasn't as big," executive vice president of Samsung's mobile business Lee Young Hee said in a Bloomberg interview in January.

"For the S5, we will go back to the basics. Mostly, it's about the display and the feel of the cover."

What will be different from the Galaxy S4

Samsung will have definitely gone back to the drawing board hundreds of times for the Galaxy S5's design. The form factor and construction material could be the most important element determining how many Galaxy S5s Samsung sells. The exact design hasn't leaked out yet, so it's still up in the air as to what Samsung has settled on, although it's possible the faux-leather backing from the Galaxy Note 3 might find its way onto the Galaxy S5. What is likely to happen is that there will be two models.

Samsung is said to be prepping two main variants of the Galaxy S5: a normal version and a more expensive premium model. Hardware specs between the two are bound to be the same, and in fact, it'll be the outside that varies. The premium model should feature a metal casing, bringing it up to par with rival high-end smartphones, while the normal model will probably still use the polycarbonate shell associated with the Galaxy S series.

Samsung is also tipped to unveil a new interface with the Galaxy S5. Details are still murky concerning what exactly what fresh features the new interface will contain, but expect more gesture controls than ever before. Based on some leaked screenshots, it looks like the changes will be pretty drastic when compared to TouchWiz.

Samsung has also been reportedly confirmed to be following in the footsteps of Apple. The Galaxy S5 should feature a fingerprint scanner in the vein of Apple's iPhone 5S. Unlike Apple, however, Samsung seems to have implemented the fingerprint sensor throughout the operating system in different ways.

Only a few days more...

Samsung will be revealing the Galaxy S5 handset at a low-key Unpacked event at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Feb. 24. Samsung revealed the Galaxy S4 at a glamorous New York City event in 2013, but given the underperformance of the handset, looks like the Samsung is playing it safe and trying not to set the bar too high. The smartphone should releasing in regions worldwide sometime in March or April.