The next-generation Samsung Galaxy S flagship is at least six months away, but rumors are already surfacing that the Galaxy S5 could be metal-clad.

Although there is still a long  way to go until the Galaxy S4 successor makes its debut, the rumor mill wastes no time in coming up with new speculations.

After a recent report suggested that the 2014 Samsung flagship, dubbed the Galaxy S5, could boast a 16-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), a new report now claims that the next-generation Galaxy smartphone could finally ditch that plastic Samsung seems to love so much and instead rock a more elegant metal chassis.

The latest rumor comes from ET News, which claims that Samsung aims to launch the Galaxy S5 with a metal chassis. The company reportedly plans to kick off a production line by the end of this year. Moreover, a sample has apparently been developed in Europe and sent to Vietnam, as the chassis would enter mass-production in that country.

The report further claims that Samsung is very cautious in considering the concept and it will start off pre-production testing at a small scale so it would be able to avoid issues such as radio interference, which are commonly marring devices with full-metal bodies.

On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S4 stirred similar rumors before it launched last year, with several reports claiming that it would have a metal body. Te Galaxy S4 eventually made its official debut and it still has a plastic case, not metal. The same could happen with this latest batch of rumors and the next-generation Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

If rumors do prove to be true this time, however, it will be interesting to see whether Samsung will choose to keep the removable battery it used in its smartphones so far or whether it would instead go with a unibody metal design such as the HTC One's.

Either way, it's still very early to start speculating about the Samsung Galaxy S4 successor. Rumors are sometimes based on some credible facts or sources, but in other cases they are just the materialization of consumer demand and desire, and it's no secret that many Samsung fans would love to see a metal Galaxy smartphone.