SAMSUNG GALAXY ALPHA REVIEW

Info : Samsung Galaxy Alpha preview: First look.
The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is a surprising change in the Samsung product strategy. It certainly
has many of the Galaxy S5 key selling features, while staking on more premium material such
as aluminum. But it's not another flagship, no, it's rather an offshoot of the Galaxy
family tree - something that the Galaxy S5 mini could have been but is not. A strange
bird, indeed. That certainly doesn't mean we don't like
it. Just on the contrary. The Samsung Galaxy Alpha presents a nice departure from the Galaxy
S5 design language. The sides are machined out of aluminum, while the back no longer
imitates faux leather. The Galaxy Alpha has a smaller screen than
the S5 to make it much more pocketable and also, undoubtedly, to allow it to compete
with the iPhone 6 directly. Here's what makes the Samsung Galaxy Alpha
tick. Samsung Galaxy Alpha at a glance:

� General: GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSPA/LTE connectivity; � Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone with
aluminum sides and a plastic back cover; � Dimensions: 132.4 x 65.5 x 6.7 mm, 115
g; � Display: 4.7" 720p SuperAMOLED touchscreen,
320ppi pixel density; � Chipset: Octa-core Exynos 5 Octa 5430
chipset, including a quad-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7, Mali-T628 MP6
GPU � OS: Android 4.4.4 KitKat with TouchWiz;
� Memory: 32GB storage, no microSD card slot;
� Camera: 12MP auto-focus camera, 31mm focal length, f/2.2; LED flash;
� Video camera: 2160p video recording, but also 1080p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@120fps;
� Front camera: 2.1MP front-facing camera; � Connectivity: Dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n,
Wi-Fi hotspot, DLNA, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, standard microUSB 2.0 port, GPS/GLONASS receiver, 3.5mm

audio jack; � Battery: 1,860mAh Li-Po removable battery;
� Misc: Fingerprint sensor; heart rate sensor; The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is surprisingly light,
it feels sturdy and the back looks like it could take a lot of beating before it gets
seriously scratched. The latter benefit is certainly something we've missed in high-end
smartphones that we've seen lately. Our biggest regrets in the specs department
are the lack of water-proofing and the lack of a microSD card slot.

Design and build quality. Samsung's shift in design has to be felt to
be believed. No, really, on the outside the Samsung Galaxy Alpha is very similar to the
Galaxy S5 mini. A keen eye will notice that the bezels above and below the screen are
smaller, accommodating the bigger screen. The Alpha is also considerably thinner, if
that's not obvious by first look. Of course, the major upgrade to Samsung's
design language here is the metal chassis. The sides of the phone are exposed metal while
the front and back are covered in glass and plastic, not unlike Apple's iPhone 4 / 4s
and Sony's Xperias. The Galaxy Alpha will inevitably draw comparisons
with the iPhone - the flat metal sides are segmented by thin lines of plastic and look
so familiar.

Samsung's design features flared corners which improve handling a bit by preventing
your fingers from slipping off the rounded corner. They also remind us a bit of the Samsung
Galaxy S5 Active. The back of the phone is plastic, with the
dotted pattern of perforated leather similar to the Galaxy S5 though here the pattern is
finer and not resembling leather so much. While the plastic isn't the most premium material,
the Samsung Galaxy Alpha impresses with a mere 6.7mm thickness. It's the slimmest Galaxy
device to date though not the slimmest smartphone in general.
The feeling of compactness is helped by the weight of 115g, few 4.7" phones weigh this
little. The Galaxy Alpha feels tiny compared to the current crop of 5" flagships.

The Galaxy Alpha also compares favorably against iPhone 5s, which measures 7.6mm thick and
weighs 113g. The iPhone 6 is expected to be bigger and thinner than its predecessor but
it remains to be seen if Apple can keep the weight down. And it's the upcoming iPhone
that Samsung has in its sights, not the 5s. We can only suppose that the magic behing
this reduced weight is the reduced battery capacity, which in this case amounts to only
1,860mAh. Indeed, the battery is removable, but it's still a measly capacity.
The front is made of glass though Samsung has not revealed yet whether it's the usual
Gorilla Glass or not. Under the glass is a plastic that matches the back in terms of
color and the fine dotted pattern. The Galaxy Alpha will be available in Charcoal Black,
Sleek Silver, Dazzling White, Frosted Gold and Scuba Blue.

The front of the device features an earpiece, the usual sensor array (proximity, ambient
light and Air Gesture) and a notification LED. There's also a 2MP/1080p camera above
the screen. Nothing has changed below the screen either, a hardware Home key is flanked
by capacitive App switcher and Back keys. The Home key houses a hidden fingerprint reader,
which can be used to lock the phone and authorize transactions (it's PayPay-certified). It also
enables Private mode, which gives you access to a secure part of the storage where you
can keep sensitive data and photos. The sensorama tour continues with a heart
rate monitor on the back. It's placed next to the camera and is grouped with the LED
flash in a small black segment amidst the colored plastic.
The camera itself protrudes slightly from the back of the phone, extending past the
6.7mm thickness.

It has 12MP resolution and can record 2160p video, more on that later.
The back panel can be removed to expose the 1,860mAh battery. It's user-replaceable but
is relatively small even for a phone this size. We guess sacrificing battery capacity
is part of how Samsung got the Galaxy Alpha down to this thickness and weight. Ultra Power
Saving Mode is available for when battery charge gets too close to 0% for comfort.
Anyway, under the back cover you'll find a nanoSIM card slot but no microSD. The phone
comes with 32GB of storage as default and that's all you're getting (there's no 64GB
version announced yet). The bottom of the phone features a microUSB
2.0 port, a microphone and the grill of the loudspeaker.

Positioning the loudspeaker here
means it won't get muffled regardless of how you put the phone down (face up or face down)
but is bound to draw even more comparisons with the iPhone.
Note that the Galaxy Alpha is not water resistant like its Galaxy S5 siblings.
The top of the phone houses the second microphone and an exposed 3.5mm audio jack. What's missing
is an IR blaster, which both the big Galaxy S5 and S5 mini have.

The metal sides of the phone host one hardware control each - the Power button on the right
and the Volume rocker on the left. Both are made of metal and are slightly too thin for
our liking, it makes pressing the keys slightly more difficult.
Among the sensors packed inside the Samsung Galaxy Alpha is a Hall sensor, normally used
to detect the opening and closing of covers. Samsung hasn't announced any dedicated Alpha
covers yet but it would be interesting to see if they'll have a premium feel to them
compared to regular S Covers. Note that there doesn't seem to be a barometer or humidity
SAMSUNG GALAXY ALPHA REVIEW