Now that the Galaxy S5 has had some time to settle down in the market, tools and methods for getting super power access to the device is bound to start popping up everywhere. The latest comes from XDA Recognized Contributor ricky310711, who is making available a relatively easier way to root any Galaxy S5 variant.
The Galaxy S5 was actually already first rooted back in March when Chainfire released his CF-Root for Samsung's latest flagship. However, given the limited availability of the device, it was only tested and guaranteed to work on the model SM-G900F, which corresponds to the International model. With TWRP recovery now available for the smartphone, it's only expected that owners of other models would also want in.
Thanks to ricky310711, they now can, of course, if they're willing to take their risk and void their warranty no matter the outcome. The process is only slightly different from your usual root flashing method in the sense that it requires not your usual recoveries. The requirement is PhilZ Touch recovery, which is actually also based on CWM. However, the developer does mention that there are other supported recoveries but doesn't name them. Once that part is done, all that's left is to download the rootkit, which comes in a flashable ZIP form, and flash it using the recovery. The usual precautions and disclaimers applies.
[UPDATE] XDA has closed the thread because the method didn't really offer anything new and was, in fact, misleading and redundant. To flash the root package, one needs to install a custom recovery, but to do that, one needs to have an unlocked device first. So ChainFire's tool still remains the most reliable method around for Samsung's flagship.
VIA: XDA