Samsung Galaxy Alpha Release Date, Specs & Features: Metal Chassis Brings 'Entirely New' Design
The battle for smartphone dominance continues as South Korean electronics giant Samsung reveals its new Samsung Galaxy Alpha weeks ahead of the expected launch of the iPhone 6. The Alpha model has been circulating the rumor mills for a while.
Ditching its standard plastic casing, the Galaxy Alpha is the first metal chassis device of the Galaxy smartphone line. What is noticeable right of the bat is the similarity of the design to that of the Apple iPhone. With its metal edge, it's eerily a twin to the frame of the iPhone 5S.
The Alpha seems poised to meet Apple's iPhone 6 head on. It's 4.7 inch display is consistent with the rumored size of the smaller iPhone 6 model due out next month, the same time Samsung plans to put the phone up for grabs.
Per the Samsung website, "The new Galaxy Alpha smartphone arrives in stores soon, and it's the sleekest Samsung Galaxy smartphone ever." Samsung advertises the "entirely new" metal frame as veer away from its existing products.
What's Under The Metal Hood?
According to GSM Arena, an outline of the next-generation smartphone's specs include the following:
- 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; and
- Misc: Fingerprint sensor; heart rate sensor.
The move isn't a surprise, with the clamor for more luxurious hardware and an internal concern of weakening sales, "Samsung Mobile's senior vice president Kim Hyun-joon recently told investors to expect a device made from ‘new materials' soon," recalled The Verge.
What is also interesting to see now is how Samsung will be moving forward in terms of hardware and appearance from this point on. It remains to be seen if this design will be trickling down to Samsung's other upcoming devices. This metal device is definitely only a first for Samsung with more to come. It will be interesting to see how this game-changer for the company will fare when the iPhone 6 launches in about a month's time.
The Galaxy Alpha is expected to be available by September but no price points have been released.
See the Samsung Galaxy Alpha official video below titled, "Just Alpha."