Samsung Galaxy Alpha preview: First look

13 August 2014
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. An unusual bird, indeed.

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  • adam
  • bJy
  • 14 Aug 2014

looks nice very premium looking phone

    • D
    • AnonD-10363
    • H4v
    • 13 Aug 2014

    darkgamer, 13 Aug 2014Also combine the smaller screen of alpha. IMO, The size of the display does not effect the battery life usually. Yes, sometimes the pixel size can vary between panels with same number of pixels but different sizes (like a 1080p 5.5 inch and 1080p 5 inch), but it will not have much effect on battery.
    What effects it is the number of pixels in the display panel, and that's what point 2 in my comment was about.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • 4QS
      • 13 Aug 2014

      AnonD-291988, 13 Aug 2014Samsung Alpha to take on iPhone 6, Sony Z3 Compact? whome a... moreYou mean like apples Neverending Dame old design worth low end specs and more fragile material and less than hd display?

        • D
        • AnonD-291988
        • 7t%
        • 13 Aug 2014

        Samsung Alpha to take on iPhone 6, Sony Z3 Compact? whome are you kidding Samsung? you killed the party by putting a weak battery a 720P screen and the same old front design.. only a low price can save this chap!

          • s
          • saju
          • 6p6
          • 13 Aug 2014

          AnonD-92522, 13 Aug 2014Wondered why Samsung phones never failed to get a review or... moreProfessor! After beta we have gamma

            • D
            • DoDo
            • 0cJ
            • 13 Aug 2014

            Geek, 13 Aug 2014Why no Full HD?? HTC one M7 with 4.7" screen is FHD an... moreWhy no full HD on a sub-5" screen? Because you don't need it, can't tell the difference and it is nothing other than a cheap marketing gimmick and a battery drainer.

            This is actually the first Galaxy I like.

            Based on the images shown here, the camera seems to have less dynamic compression than the S5, which to me was unacceptable. So, the Alpha is better designed and at first glance it has a better tuned camera than the S5, which is good.

            The only question is, how it would stack against the new iPhone, which promises a much improved camera, as well as the generally impeccable Apple design.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • a0T
              • 13 Aug 2014

              1800mah hhahahaha

                AnonD-10363, 13 Aug 20141. The Exynos 5430 SoC, is probably built on a 20nm process... moreAlso combine the smaller screen of alpha.

                  • D
                  • AnonD-10363
                  • H4v
                  • 13 Aug 2014

                  1. The Exynos 5430 SoC, is probably built on a 20nm process(the first one for an mobile AP AFAICS). This roughly amounts to a ~25% better power efficiency, and delivering better performance as well.
                  2. 50% less pixels to power when compared to full HD S5.
                  3. Combine points 1 and 2, Galaxy Alpha is set to be roughly 40% less power hungry than S5 when in use, so it needs a 1700mah battery to be alive for the same time a Galaxy S5 does with a 2800 mah battery.

                  So, actually, Samsung have made this device to last presumably longer than an Exynos Galaxy S5. Even Snapdragon 805 is still on 28nm die.

                    • N
                    • NotApart
                    • 3Yr
                    • 13 Aug 2014

                    Well this new Alpha is very nice, desigh and specs, i'm not pro Apple neither pro Samsung so i don't kick immediatly wich is the opponent. In my mind there are more users that just use their Smartphones for basics daily things than users that are playing games or any big using battery softwares. I actually got a 2000mah battery on my device and i can stand 2 days with 1h daily call with my girlfriend and playing 2 daily games so that "small battery" on Alpha should not be a problem for me.

                      • G
                      • Geek
                      • N$i
                      • 13 Aug 2014

                      Why no Full HD?? HTC one M7 with 4.7" screen is FHD and much more beautiful than this.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • 35E
                        • 13 Aug 2014

                        AnonD-73252, 13 Aug 2014Not hard to top Snapdragon devices these days. 3 Year old ... moreCortex-A15 isn't exactly new either.

                          • D
                          • AnonD-73252
                          • 4{2
                          • 13 Aug 2014

                          Not hard to top Snapdragon devices these days. 3 Year old Krait architecture wore out its welcome a year ago. Performance really lags behind, especially on the web compared to Nivida, Apple and Intel. Still have to charge your device every day even though battery size on Snapdragon devices have increased by 50% in the last 2 years.

                          Kudos to Samsung (for the first time in a long time) for realizing that 720P is sufficient for smaller devices, and giving them the benefit of increased performance and battery life by making ALL tasks easier for the CPU.

                            • g
                            • gamerkd09
                            • fsW
                            • 13 Aug 2014

                            Hahaha...lets wait for 3 months and we will have galaxy beta, another 3 months and we will have galaxy omega...anyways freedom of choice, Rught?

                              • D
                              • AnonD-92522
                              • vV5
                              • 13 Aug 2014

                              Wondered why Samsung phones never failed to get a review or preview while many phones were not even mentioned after months they were launched?

                                • S
                                • Sammy
                                • IBB
                                • 13 Aug 2014

                                I can see this Samsung giving the upcoming iPhone 6 a run for its money, but it can also cannibalize the sales of Samsung's own 5s mini. It's about the same size of the mini (though much thinner) and has much more premium feel and upgraded hardware specs. Of course it's a shame that the battery had to be that small and the micoSD card had to be sacrificed to meet the diminutive size, but as a whole package I believe the Alpha is one of the most interesting phones in the market for people like me who value small/light phones that have flagship specs, especially with the current flagships being so ludicrously large that they'd be a better fit to tile the bathroom floor with rather than be used as phones!

                                  • D
                                  • AnonD-288168
                                  • vGf
                                  • 13 Aug 2014

                                  AnonD-111148, 13 Aug 2014What really made Samsung so successful is that they focus m... moreDesperate move is coz they r losing on their revenues
                                  Check it out.
                                  Talking abt utility ,yes they have feature that too quite useful but half of them are available on play with nearly matching integration that Samsung provides(which is incomparable to Sony, HTC ) and other half are never used by consumers
                                  It's just their marketing budget that has led them so far. I am not speaking this but their books speak so.

                                    • D
                                    • AnonD-245620
                                    • a4j
                                    • 13 Aug 2014

                                    chris, 13 Aug 2014Moto g with slightly smaller 4.5 inch screen, almost same p... morebut alpha 42% thinner , a lot faster ( like snapdragon 805 ) .

                                      • D
                                      • AnonD-96426
                                      • pKd
                                      • 13 Aug 2014

                                      Z3 compact will literally blow the Galaxy Alpha out of the water.A smaller more compact frame, much larger battery (rumoured 2660 MAh) dustproof and waterproof, stereo speakers and an SD card slot and not to mention a premium feel from a compact flagship.

                                        • d
                                        • der
                                        • Ycp
                                        • 13 Aug 2014

                                        That Battery....why Samsung?