Samsung Galaxy S5 Google Play Edition shows up again

At this point it's become very clear indeed - Samsung is working on a Google Play Edition Galaxy S5.

This will come as no surprise, as last year we saw the Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition (GPE) launch alongside the HTC One GPE.

Obviously one shouldn't have expected either of those to become a mass market success, but apparently there was enough demand for them that Google decided to ask Samsung for a reprise.

And that will become reality in the form of the Galaxy S5 GPE, which you can see on the left in yet another leaked render. This one arrives quite a while after a Google mishap back in April allowed for the S5 GPE to be shown in the picture associated with the S4's listing in the Play Store.

The GPE version looks just like a 'vanilla' Galaxy S5, which is perfectly normal. The difference here is in the software, which is going to be 'stock Android' - akin to what you get when you buy a Nexus. And just like with the Nexus line, updates to new Android versions ought to come much faster than for the TouchWiz-infused variation of the S5. That's because Google has a hand in the update process for the GPE devices.

The downside to going GPE with this phone is that you lose all of the unique software features that Samsung's baked into its very own interpretation of Android.

The Galaxy S5 GPE will probably be sold for around $599-699, sans contract, exclusively in the Play Store.

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