Samsung isn’t due to release the Galaxy S5 until April 11th, but a well known Android modder has already been able to root one variant of the 2014 flagship. The updated CF-Auto-Root tool can be used to root Galaxy S5 SM-G900F variant. Presumably this is the international GSM-LTE model. Its possible that this particular root method might work with other regional and carrier variants as well. CF-Auto-Root tool has been developed by modder Chainfire, its an easy to use solution for rooting an Android device.
There’s very little that users have to do after installing CF-Auto-Root. In this case, it can be flashed on the Galaxy S5 through Samsung’s ODIN tool. Once installed, CF-Auto-Root flashes a temporary modified recovery and then installs the SuperSU app. After that, it flashes the stock recovery once again, completing the root procedure. The steps are easy to follow for anyone who has tinkered with rooting before, but might be confusing for someone who has never done this before.
Its highly likely that this method won’t work on many carrier locked variants. Verizon and AT&T are known for locking bootloaders, which means CF-Auto-Root won’t be able to install the modified recovery on them. Still that doesn’t mean no one will be able to come up with a way to root those variants, we’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out once the phone is actually released.
