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Samsung has made the Galaxy Alpha official this morning, folks. No longer do we have to rely on thin rumors to figure out what exactly we’re getting. This thing is built out of metal, which is quite a big deal considering Samsung has largely used plastic materials to date. Samsung made special care to first mention that this is the “evolution of Galaxy Design,” which certainly suggests they won’t be shying away from using metal in future smartphones (including a possible appearance in their upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 4).
The Galaxy Alpha doesn’t come with a unibody frame so you’ll still be getting that “premium” soft-touch backplate found on many of their latest smartphones. But the use of metal as the frame and on several edges of the devices certainly should provide an enhanced look and feel that you don’t quite get with plastic. Taking a break from the design of it all, let’s jump into the specs:
- 4.7-inch 720p Super AMOLED display
- Octa-core processor (1.8GHz quad-core and 1.3GHz quad-core chips)
- 2GB of RAM
- 32GB of internal storage (no microSD)
- 12 megapixel rear camera + 2.1 megapixel front camera
- WiFi ac w/ MIMO, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and GPS
- Fingerprint scanner
- Android 4.4.4 KitKat
- 132.4 x 65.5 x 6.7 mm, 115g
- 1,860 mAh battery
And you can expect Samsung’s usual take on the software front, including S Health, Ultra Power Saving Mode, and more. Unfortunately Samsung didn’t give any indication as to which markets this thing will be headed for, but we at least know it’ll be here starting early September and that you’ll get to choose from a wide range of colors: Charcoal Black, Dazzling White, Frosted Gold, Sleek Silver, and Scuba Blue (with availability of colors being subject to your market, of course).
So Samsung’s finally gotten the confidence to launch a metal-clad smartphone that isn’t just a one-off variant (like the Galaxy Active) line, and it sounds like they’re committing to metal for the future. Will you be looking to jump on one of these or will you wait for this new design language to be reflected in flagships like the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and possibly the Samsung Galaxy S6? Let us know your thoughts below!
[via Samsung]
“So Samsung’s finally gotten the confidence to launch a metal-clad smartphone that isn’t just a one-off variant (like the Galaxy Active) line”
The Galaxy Active (S4 version on AT&T) wasn’t metal either. I thought it was, based on looks, and then I got my hands on one. It’s plastic.
1,860 mAh battery? Really?
that could pass for an iphone, to the untrained eye.
It’s size and specs tell me it’s meant to be a definately iPhone 6 competitor.. The timing is almost spot on to. I can’t wait to see what desperate commercials they come up with to compare the two.
LOL, what a joke. From the front and back its the exact same boring samsung design. Having metal frame/edges doesn’t change anything, its still ugly and boring. Also, samsung has got to do something about that ugly ass home button.
I totally agree. I don’t understand why Samsung just get rid of that Hardware Home Button. Everyone else is and they still keep that damn hardware home button. It would so much much better and cleaner.
Because there are plenty of people who really like a physical home button and don’t want to give up valuable screen real estate to soft navigation keys.
I understand where you are coming from but I was only referring to the advantages of not having a Hardware Button. More so on the better design and clean look it would have. In regards to screen real estate, I don’t think it would be a problem since many phones like the Nexus Line allow you to auto hide the Navigation Buttons plus you can always run or forced Immersive Mode to get more real estate. You really can’t go wrong. I was just wondering when will Samsung start making phone without the physical home button. It’s almost like that’s what they are known for and they don’t want to leave there comfort zone.
They replace the home button with a capacitive button and get the exact same functionality, the home button is cheap garbage and unnecessary, plain and simple.
Except a capactive button won’t wake up the screen where a physical button will.
Is that the best you got? The m8, g2 and g3 can wake the device by a quick double tap of the screen. Also there are software mods like sweep to wake for example that can wake the screen by quickly swiping across the capacitive buttons. No reason why something like that can’t officially be supported by more OEM’s
Or they can just put a button in that works universally.
You severely overestimate the number of people who prefer phones without a physical home buttons.
In any case, isn’t the main point of Android to allow for greater variety to better satisfy the wants of more people rather than forcing everybody to do things the exact same way? If you don’t want a phone with a physical home button then don’t buy one. I do and I will.
Given that it says “LTE Cat 6” in the Product Specifications for Network, it looks to be a home country phone for now.
After using a 64 GB card in my Note 3, it would be a step back for no microsd!
“evolution of the galaxy” phone is apparently the deveolution back to copying the iphone design…smh samsung mobile is such a joke
Sure, we’re all happy to see a Samsung phone with a metal design. I’m just a bit surprised that it looks like an iPhone from the top and the side though. I’m sure with the rumored iPhone to come out at 4.7″ in a few weeks, this is not a coincidence. Either way, kudos to Sammy for upping their design and quality.
Mehh, I’ll stay looking elsewhere for my Android devices.
I think it looks good. I hated the plastic. Very eager for the Note 4 announcement.
This is the first Samsung phone I’ve considered using since the Nexus S (since I prefer small phones), but it won’t fit my music on it… and the Moto X has better battery… the processor is not worth it.
This thing has everything a Samsung fanboy hates:
No microSD
No replaceable battery with a tiny battery size
Metal body
Not sure if I count as a Samsung “fanboy” but I did switch from HTC to Samsung because they were the only company still making phones with expandable storage and a replaceable batteries which are very important features for me.
…not sure if it has a replaceable battery, but I’m fairly certain the M8 has a micro SD card slot. If you still wanted to use an HTC.
Yeah I know. My current phone is a Galaxy S4 (my first Samsung personal phone) and at the time I bought it (last year) it was either it or the M7 and the M7 had neither.
The M8 has the expandable storage but still doesn’t have a replaceable battery but if by the time I replace the S4 there is one that has both of those I will certainly consider it.
I think this phone is aimed at making fangirls out of iphone fangirls. Based on that video.
iPhone fangirls are almost worse than Justin Bieber fangirls. Almost.
Where did you read the battery is not replaceable?
This is aimed at iPhone fanboys, not Samsung fanboys.
Make the phone out of polymer or carbon fibre, please the metal haters and the plastic haters.
The new Samsung galaxy iPhone
its the next big thing
Just Alpha…lol
Samsung’s marketing team has certainly done better.
The edges are only metal rest of the phone is still crappy plastic with lagwiz…Samsung IPhone wanna be
It looks like this phone was made specifically to lure iPhone users away to Samsung. Definitely not my cup of tea but it’s nice to see Samsung finally making a metal, premium looking phone.
I like it. I actually like the square design of the latest galaxy devices. It looks minimalistic. Not to flashy, but flashy enough.
Umm htc does support micro SD have you not heard about the htc m8
1800mA Battery? Outta line. I’ll kill that in a few hours. All my facebooking and photo syncing need a strong battery. LoL!!
And if they were going to do away with micro SD card support, they should have done away with the home button. A new design.
And I forgot my M8 has SD card support. I’m all low on space and too lazy to move my media to my laptop. LoL!!
This definitely lends credence to those leaked Note 4 pics. You can see the shared design ascetic. This makes me more pumped for the Note 4 now. I just hope the Note 4 supports SD cards. If not, it better have a 128GB option.
Not bad for a mid-range … i’m sure my dad would like that kind of specs … but me … I NEED REAL POWER all my hope is on the Note 4 !!