Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled a Galaxy S5 smartphone with a fingerprint reader and bigger screen than the current model as Asia’s biggest technology company tries to keep high-end consumers from buying Apple Inc.’s iPhones.

The water-resistant phone will go on sale April 11 with features including a longer-lasting battery than the S4, according to Min Cho, marketing director at Samsung’s mobile unit.

The device, shown at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, uses Google Inc.’s Android software and has a download booster for fourth-generation networks and Wi-Fi.

Demand for high-end Galaxy devices was curbed by the release of new iPhones in September, squeezing sales in the most profitable segment of the market and contributing to Samsung’s slowest earnings growth since 2011.

The company announced its first wearable devices using Tizen software and plans more smartphones this year to fend off Apple and Chinese producers packing advanced features into inexpensive models.

The back of the Galaxy S5 has a leather feel, and the device will ship in black, white, blue or gold, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said. The smartphone is designed to withstand 30 minutes at the bottom of a meter-deep pond, Samsung said.

The main camera will have a resolution of 16 megapixels, compared with 13 megapixels on the S4 model, and the battery will last 20 percent longer than its predecessor, Samsung said.

The 13-centimeter display is full high-definition on an active-matrix organic light-emitting diode, or AMOLED, screen.

Samsung is the top smartphone vendor in China with 19 percent of the market in the fourth quarter, researcher Canalys said Feb. 20. The company is seeking to use the S5 to maintain that position against domestic producers including Lenovo Group and Xiaomi Corp., which have 12 percent and 7 percent of the market, respectively.

LG Electronics, meanwhile, showcased its entry-level LTE device ― the F70 ― alongside the mid- and high-range models G Pro 2 and G2 Mini.

The F70 will launch in the first half of this year, starting with Europe.

The device features an 11.4-centimeter WVGA display, and is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor from Qualcomm and a 2,440mAh removable battery. It runs on the latest Android 4.4 KitKat. On the rear, it sports a 5-megapixel camera with flash.

By Kim Young-won and news reports

(wone0102@heraldcorp.com)