Besides the Apple iPhone 5s the Samsung Galaxy S4 is the hottest smartphone on the block. But what's old is new again with rumors that the launch of the Galaxy S5 is imminent. Like Apple, Samsung sticks to a yearly release schedule for its flagship phones. With that in mind, the S5 could literally be launching this February or March.

Launch date aside what new features and refinements will Samsung bring to the Galaxy S5? One of the more popular rumored features is a high resolution 2560 x 1440 screen resolution, or QHD for short. The QHD display would reportedly be available on the premium version of the Galaxy S5, with a more budget-oriented version shipping with a respectable 1080p panel.

That's right -- two phones will be coming out if The New York Times is to be believed. The budget Galaxy S5 would be encased with the traditional, no frills plastic casing all prior Galaxy S phones had. The premium version may adopt a metal casing like the iPhone lineup and HTC One include. Although this addition is being disputed. For people to whom quality materials matter, this is a big deal. Even if you don't go gaga over whether your phone has a metal or a plastic exterior, you should get what you pay for. And when you spends a few hundred dollars on a "subsidized" smartphone, it should forego plastic entirely. Plus, it's bad for the environment.

It's okay that cell phone makers like Samsung skin (or customize) Android but using restraint should be advised. There's no reason why quad or octo-core CPUs should stutter just when the phone's owner flips through a page of apps. There should be no lag. One way to accomplish this is to reduce bloatware (or unnecessary software). 

Practically everyone knows that Samsung's TouchWiz UI is garbage. By cutting down on silly excess features that double as memory hogs, the Galaxy S5 will look and feel ten times better than its predecessor. The phone will also have a lot more storage; a 16GB Galaxy S4 only comes with 8GB usable. The Galaxy S5 will likely ship with a smaller version of TouchWiz and Google's newest Android 4.4 KitKat.

Would you ditch your iPhone 5s for a Samsung Galaxy S5 with a metal case? Let me know in the comments section below.