The much-rumored Samsung Galaxy Alpha is finally official, launching with a stylish design, good specs, and a metal frame that adds more sophistication.
The smartphone shows the "evolution of Galaxy Design," according to Samsung, marking an important first step away from the company's infamous love of plastic.
"Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today unveiled its new design approach with the Galaxy Alpha. The latest addition to Samsung's Galaxy smartphone line, the Galaxy Alpha features a sophisticated design in a carefully constructed compact body with a metal frame and solid finish, while still maintaining the flagship Galaxy experience. Elegant and practical, the Galaxy Alpha is the optimal convergence of style and cutting-edge technology," touts the press release on Wednesday, Aug. 13.
"The Galaxy Alpha was built and designed based on the specific desires of the consumer market," further notes Samsung CEO JK Shin. "With an entirely new appearance, the Galaxy Alpha focuses on both beauty and functionality combining a stunning metal frame and slim, light weight design with the same powerful hardware and features users expect from a flagship Galaxy mobile device."
"Concentrating on elegant aesthetics and compact construction, Samsung has taken a fresh approach to design with the Galaxy Alpha. Created to help consumers express their unique style without sacrificing functionality, the refined Galaxy Alpha features a sophisticated design with a metal frame, elegantly curved corners and a tactile soft back cover."
Samsung further boasts that its new Galaxy Alpha is one of the slimmest Galaxy devices ever, measuring less than 7mm in thickness.
Samsung Galaxy Alpha Specs
Aside from the design, the Samsung Galaxy Alpha comes as a mid-to-high-end device with good specifications, but not top-notch. The handset sports a 4.7-inch display with a 720p HD resolution, for instance, while other flagships are launching with whopping QHD displays (2560 x 1440 pixels). Coincidentally (or not), Apple is widely rumored to launch an iPhone 6 model with a 4.7-inch display, and Samsung obviously wants to challenge it, albeit Apple's flagship will surely have a higher resolution.
Other specs of the Galaxy Alpha include an octa-core processor (quad 1.8GHz + quad 1.3GHz), 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage capacity. It's worth pointing out that for the first time, Samsung launched this device without microSD support, which means that users will not be able to expand the Galaxy Alpha's storage.
The new handset further features a 12-megapixel rear camera with 4K video recording capabilities, a 2.1-megapixel front shooter, and a 1,860 mAh battery supported by Samsung's Ultra Power Saving Mode. Much like the Galaxy S5, the new smartphone also comes with a fingerprint scanner and a heart rate sensor, and is also compatible with the company's Gear range of wearables. Connectivity options include LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 BLE / ANT+, NFC, MIMO (2x2), and USB 2.0. On the software side, the Galaxy Alpha runs Android 4.4.4 KitKat out of the box.
In terms of availability, the new Samsung Galaxy Alpha will launch at the beginning of September and will come in Charcoal Black, Dazzling White, Frosted Gold, Sleek Silver, and Scuba Blue color options. Available colors will vary depending on market. Samsung has yet to offer pricing details for the handset, but should provide more information closer to launch. In the meantime, check out the video below.
