The Samsung Galaxy S5 is expected to launch at a Samsung Unpacked event at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this month. The tech conference will be held Feb. 24-27 and the launch event will take place on the first day of MWC.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is rumored to pack a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 3GM RAM, and an all new iris-eye scanner. There have been rumors of a super Quad HD display with 2560x1440 resolution, but a contradicting report by the New York Times this week states that the Quad HD display and iris-scanner will not be featured in the new handset.

The latest report is in line with predictions made by KGI analyst Ming-chi Kuo last month who predicted that the Galaxy S5 will have a fingerprint sensor much like the one that is featured on the iPhone 5S, rather than the iris-scanner. "Fingerprint is necessary for a star model," he said. The analyst also predicted that the rumored metal-version of the next-gen Galaxy handset will not come to fruition.

The Galaxy S5 is also poised to feature a 2850 mAh battery and an improved 16MP camera, up from the 13MP camera sensor packed in the Galaxy S4.

This year, Samsung will face touch competition with its other Korean rival – LG.

LG surprised the mobile industry last year with its powerful LG G2, which was ranked among the top smartphones of 2013. LG impacted the smartphone market with the LG G2, proving that the company has come back into the game.

LG is set to launch the successor to the LG G2, dubbed LG G3, in May this year. This could mean that customers may hold off until the LG G3 is launched before deciding to purchase the Galaxy S5. No concrete rumors have surfaced for the LG G3, yet, except for rumors of a 16 MP camera and a powerful octa-core chipset.