Introduction
Utilitarian Samsung has finally put on their premium hat to produce a
device with more refined looks and manageable size to match the
upcoming iPhone 6. An Android super mini and an iPhone 6 competitor, the
Alpha puts aluminum back in Samsung's design mix and is optimized for
portability rather than massive screen size.
The Galaxy Alpha we are reviewing is based on the company's latest
Exynos chipset, tailored to its needs, rather than using the ubiquitous
Snapdragon. There's been talk of a Snapdragon-powered version but so far
the details are vague.
The screen size hits right where the new iPhone and the
Xperia Z1
Compact successor are supposedly aiming at - a more manageable 4.7-inch
diagonal.
The Alpha comes with a unique camera with a 12MP 16:9 sensor and 2160p video capture.
Many things about the Galaxy Alpha make us wish it starts a new trend
in Samsung design but the practical, mass-market genes of the company
are still plainly visible in the Alpha's design.
Key features
- Metal frame, 6.7mm slim, 115g of weight
- LTE connectivity (Cat. 6, 300Mbps downlink)
- 4.7" 1280 x 720 Super AMOLED display with 312 ppi pixel density
- Android OS v4.4 KitKat with TouchWiz UI
- Octa-core processor (1.3 GHz Cortex-A7 + 1.8GHz Cortex-A15), Exynos 5 Octa 5430 chipset, Mali-T628MP6 GPU, 2GB of RAM
- Optional quad-core processor (2.5GHz Krait 400), Snapdragon 801 chipset, Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB of RAM for a yet to be confirmed regional version
- Cortex-A5 based Seiren audio co-processor (Exynos model only)
- 12MP camera with LED flash, 2.1MP front-facing camera, 2160p video recording
- 32GB of built-in storage
- Fingerprint scanner with PayPal payments support and private mode access
- Heart-rate monitor
- Motion and gesture control, Air view
- 1,860mAh battery
Main disadvantages
- Low battery capacity
- Still plenty of plastic in the design
- Non-expandable storage
- No TV-Out option (no MHL or SlimPort)
- Not water resistant (like the S5 mini or Z1 Compact)
The small battery capacity is the biggest practical issue with the
Galaxy Alpha though the Exynos 5430 mobile chipset is the first built on
a 20nm process (Snapdragons are at 28nm). That and the Cortex-A7 cores
should be quite a power-efficient setup.
Another thing is the plastic back panel is at odds with the overall
styling, it's the plastic of midrange devices. Still, the Alpha is the
thinnest Galaxy smartphone Samsung has made and it's a featherweight,
too. At 115g, it weighs as much as an iPhone 5s and is almost a full
millimeter thinner to boot. It's only the lack of water-resistance that
can possibly backfire.
The metal edge on the sides does elevate the in-hand feel though.
It's a popular design, the metal frame exposed on the sides with
glass/plastic on the front and back. Apple, Sony and Nokia have all used
it on their flagship devices.
We didn't expect Samsung to completely change its identity for the
Galaxy Alpha but Galaxy S fans still have plenty to drool over. Fans of
Android super minis will also see a glimmer of hope and maybe loosen
their grip on the Xperia Z1 Compact. And even if you are the iPhone
type, the following pages should still be of interest. You know, to
check out what the competition has to offer - and this time, it's a lot
of bang in a package small enough.
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.
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 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.
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.
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 sensor on board.
Connectivity
The Samsung Galaxy Alpha comes loaded with wireless connectivity features. It starts with LTE Cat. 6 (up to 300Mpbs down, 50Mbps up) to match what the latest Snapdragon 805 can offer. Regular 2G and 3G connectivity is of course supported, too.Local connectivity is no slower, the phone packs a MIMO (2x2) antenna setup for dual-channel connectivity. That's different from dual-band (which the Alpha also has), it means that it can use 80MHz of the Wi-Fi spectrum instead of the usual 40MHz for enhanced speed. Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac standards are supported as are Wi-Fi Direct and Miracast screen mirroring.
The Galaxy Alpha has the Download booster features - for native apps it can download simultaneously from Wi-Fi and from LTE to combine their speeds. Unless you're connected to a really slow Wi-Fi network we don't see much use in it though.
Additional local connectivity includes Bluetooth 4.0 LE and ANT+, both of which are low-power and can be used to connect with wireless sports accessories (to be used with the S Health app or third-party apps). NFC rounds off the wireless connectivity section.
The Galaxy Alpha relies on a standard microUSB 2.0 port for charging and wired data connectivity. USB 3.0 ports are rare and require a fairly large adapter. The port is USB OTG-enabled meaning you can attach USB accessories to it (e.g. a thumb drive). What we miss here is wired TV out either via MHL or SlimPort.
Excellent display
The Samsung Galaxy Alpha uses a 4.7" Super AMOLED display with 720p resolution and 312ppi pixel density. That's a first for a Samsung phone - the Galaxy S III was a 4.8" 720p screen while the Galaxy S5 mini has a 4.5" 720p screen, both close but not the same.The 300ppi may not be cutting edge these days, but it's enough by our books. It's really hard to actually see any imperfections though if you look close enough you can spot the telltale signs of the PenTile matrix.
It's the diamond pattern arrangement that Samsung has been using for a couple of generations of Super AMOLED, which does look better than the regular PenTile arrangement.
Black levels are perfect though resulting in an impressive contrast ratio.
The Sony Xperia Z1 Compact has amazing contrast too and it's a potential competitor to the Alpha (though the upcoming Z3 Compact is where the real battle will be).
| Display test | 50% brightness | 100% brightness | ||||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | |||
| 0 | 228 | ∞ | 0 | 456 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 274 | ∞ | 0 | 529 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 226 | ∞ | 0 | 432 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 166 | ∞ | 0 | 396 | ∞ | |
| - | - | - | 0.34 | 626 | 1819 | |
| 0.12 | 91 | 752 | 0.52 | 398 | 748 | |
| 0.19 | 220 | 1141 | 0.42 | 501 | 1196 | |
| 0.14 | 163 | 1145 | 0.49 | 596 | 1219 | |
Super AMOLEDs rely on their low reflectivity for good sunlight legibility so even with an average brightness (compared to LCDs) the Galaxy Alpha screen is among the best we've tested in our Sunlight legibility test. It's practically as good as the Galaxy S5 screen or the Apple iPhone 5s screen.
Aside from Android minis, the Alpha will also fight it out with the new iPhone, so this is an important comparison. Of course the iPhone 6 is the real target and we have no measurements of that but if the iPhone 5s is of any indication, it should offer great sunlight legibility as well.
Colors are beautifully rendered on the Samsung Galaxy Alpha's screen but everybody have their own preferences when it comes to color saturation. The Screen mode option lets you pick between more saturated or more accurate options for the saturation.
There's a slider in the notification area to adjust the screen brightness. If you enable auto brightness that slider biases the automatic setting towards brighter or darker. You can enable an automatic screen tone adjustment, which promises to improve battery life by adjusting screen settings to the image it's displaying.
Another option is Smart stay, which prevents the display from locking while you're looking at it. This way you can keep the screen timeout at a short setting (say, 30 seconds) without the annoyance of having to manually keep the screen on while reading a longer article.
If you're wondering what's with all the battery saving tips, it's because the battery capacity of the Galaxy Alpha is lower than we're used to on a 4.5+ inch phone. The battery tests will reveal if those tips were necessary or not.
Battery life
The 1,860mAh battery capacity blinked like a warning beacon on the Samsung Galaxy Alpha spec page but we're glad the phone makes the best out of it. We've only tested the version with an Exynos 5430 chipset so far so keep in mind that the Snapdragon 801 version might have a somewhat different endurance.The 52 hours endurance rating is on par with what an iPhone 5s achieves, though the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact has a noticeably lead on both. It remains to be seen what the iPhone 6 and Xperia Z3 Compact, the true Galaxy Alpha rivals, will be like.
With the Alpha, talk time is solid but the tests that involve the full processing power and display staying on are somewhat unimpressive.
Adding the standby battery performance allowed us to come up with an endurance rating of 52h - that should be good enough for a day of heavy usage, two if you don't push it as hard.
Latest TouchWiz on KitKat
The Samsung Galaxy Alpha runs on the latest available Android 4.4.4 KitKat enhanced with the TouchWiz UI that also powers the Galaxy S5The lockscreen can be secured with a fingerprint - the Galaxy Alpha can be set to recognize up to three individual fingerprints. You can scan the finger from a different angle to improve the accuracy of the reader. If it still fails reading the finger for some reason (e.g. wet fingers), the phone will ask for a password so you'll never get locked out.
The new lockscreen wallpaper is interactive and as you move the phone in your hand it shifts colors around.
The homescreen features the My Magazine that displays both news articles
and social networking updates. This is powered by Flipboard and you can
enjoy your reads in a clean interface and send links to your friends or
post social updates straight from the app.
There are regular homescreens too, with shortcuts, widgets and folders.
If you want just those, My Magazine can be disabled completely.
The notification area is filled to the brim with features. The toggles
work as usual and below them are two buttons (S Finder and Quick
connect). Below that is the brightness slider, which can be hidden to
save space, but you're stuck with the two buttons.
The Galaxy Alpha has an App Switcher button that calls up a custom
switcher UI. As usual, you can go into the task manager for more
advanced controls or just hit the Close all button.
The Galaxy Alpha comes with the Multi-window multitasking feature, which
allows you to run two apps side by side. Unlike previous iterations of
the feature, you can't resize the two windows (even though the Help
tries to teach you how).
Safety, power saving, simplicity
The Samsung Galaxy Alpha features Private mode. It secures photos,
voice recordings, music and other files with your fingerprint (any of
the three prints set up, with the password as a failsafe). Those files
are only accessible when Private mode is enabled and completely hidden
from apps otherwise.
Enabling Private mode and moving photos to a secure location
Note that this is completely separate from the lockscreen - you can
have the insecure Swipe to unlock screen and still keep your files safe
with Private mode. You can also chose less secure options like a Pattern
lock or PIN to use instead of a fingerprint.
The fingerprint scanner has been certified by PayPal and can be used
by apps to secure transactions, unlike the iPhone's sensor, which cannot
be accessed by third-party apps. You can also verify your Samsung
account and sign into websites using the fingerprint reader.
Samsung offers two Power saving modes on its recent smartphones.
Those are particularly welcome on the Galaxy Alpha and its small
battery. The first can restrict chipset performance and background data
and even turn the screen greyscale for extra power saving.
If you really need to make those last few percent battery charge
last, you go to Ultra power saving mode. This one cuts off all advanced
functions and even changes the homescreen to a simple one with big
shortcuts (only 6 of them too).
This one also works with the Safety assistance feature. In case of an
emergency, the phone will alert you to Geo News (e.g. extreme weather,
earthquakes) and you get easy access to the primary contacts. Hitting
the Power key three times fast can send out a message to your emergency
contacts.
The Ultra power saving mode is enabled to make the battery last as
long as possible but with a different set of shortcuts - flashlight,
emergency alarm and sharing your location get top spots on the
homescreen.
Finally, the TouchWiz feature tally is completed by the Easy mode,
which shows only a handful of large shortcuts on the screen. The step
counter is also visible on the homescreen, so this mode is perhaps meant
for when you're out on a run and aiming for tiny icons is too hard.
Easy mode simplifies the user interface
The Galaxy Alpha also has the Smart screen features - Smart stay prevents the screen from locking while you're looking at it, Smart pause stops video playback when you look away. Smart scroll lets you scroll through pages just by tilting your head or by glancing up or down. Air View is also available, it shows additional info when you hover your finger over a calendar entry or a folder in the gallery.
Motions gestures and Air View are available
Motion gestures are available too. Direct call dials the currently selected contact when you put the phone up to your ear, while smart alert will vibrate the phone when you pick it up if there are missed events.
S Voice and Google Now
The Galaxy Alpha features both Google Now and Samsung's S Voice.
Google Now integrates with your Google account and can access your
daily routine, internet searches, email, etc. and give you information
relevant to your interests and daily needs.
It provides traffic information to your work or home, knows the
scores of sports teams you follow and gives you the weather forecast for
your location. It's great for at-a-glance info, but can handle voice
input as well.
Google Now
Google Now also has its own dedicated homescreen widget.
S Voice is meant for just voice commands. It can be used to dictate
text, play music, open an app, change a setting, make a memo (including
voice memo), add a reminder, schedule an event, set an alarm or timer,
check the weather, do a search on the internet, look for local listings
(e.g. nearby restaurants) and even get an answer to a question.
If a pair of apps works well together (e.g. the browser and the email
client) you can create a shortcut that launches both. Note that only
select apps work with Multi-window but more can be found in the Play
Store.
There are no floating apps here, but there's something called Toolbox
- a floating icon that shows a list of shortcuts once tapped. This is a
quick way to get to some of the most commonly used apps
Performance
The Samsung Galaxy Alpha comes with either a Exynos 5 Octa chipset or a Snapdragon 801. It's the first to get the Exynos 5 Octa 5430 and it's the one we're testing. If we get hold of the S801 version we'll add that into the charts too.The chipset features a big.LITTLE processor with four Cortex-A15 cores and four Cortex-A7 cores clocked at 1.8GHz and 1.3GHz respectively. All eight can run simultaneously so we can expect great multi-core performance.
The chipset also packs a hexa-core Mali-T628 MP6 GPU, the latest currently available Mali design. Processor and RAM share 2GB of RAM.
The Samsung Galaxy Alpha comes with Android 4.4.4 KitKat out of the box. Note that Samsung disables the ART runtime in its TouchWiz software, that's the faster optional runtime that debuted with KitKat and will be made default in Android L. An increasing number of apps is becoming compatible with ART.
With technical specifications out of the way, let's pit the Galaxy Alpha against flagships and high-profile minis. Of the minis only the Xperia Z1 Compact has a chance of competing here, the others are powered by mid-range Snapdragon 400 chipsets.
We start off with the Basemark suite of cheat detection software. We're pleased to report that Samsung hasn't gone back to benchmark shenanigans. The Basemark tests are good for comparing performance, too.
Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Alpha shows proper flagship performance, even chart-topping performance in certain tasks. The Exynos 5 Octa 5430 chipset finally brings Samsung's homebrewed solutions back to champion shape after falling behind Snapdragon 600/800 last year.
One thing we should note is that the chipset can run hot while doing tests (they all do) and the heat is easily transferred to the external metal frame. Metal is a lot more conductive than plastic, which means you feel the heat from the chipset a lot more while holding the device than you do with plastic bodie
Final words
The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is a brilliant addition to the Galaxy line. Not quite an alpha dog but a starry-eyed pup, dreaming of leaving its own legacy. What if they dropped the "Galaxy" moniker and just called it "Samsung Alpha"?A tempting thought. The plastic back, the hardware keys below the screen, and some of the TouchWiz bloatware are all weighing down the Galaxy Alpha and those are all Galaxy genes. Samsung missed an opportunity to one-up the iPhone 6 with water resistance and a large battery - one that Sony won't miss with the Xperia Z3 Compact.
Key test findings:
- Good build quality but premium feel suffers from the plastic back
- The screen is sharp enough and great outdoors
- Battery life is better than expected given the small battery capacity
- The speaker loudness is only average
- TouchWiz UI is responsive and comes with lots of proprietary features (but nothing unseen before)
- Audio output quality is great
- Takes great photos and videos
- Video player won't play clips with multi-channel audio (AC3, DTS) or DivX video
The TouchWiz UI is incredibly rich in features and some of those actually make a difference. Like Multi-window, Smart stay, Smart pause, Smart rotation and Smart scroll. Air View (recognizing a finger hovering over the screen), Air Browse (scrolling with waving in front of the screen), Direct Call (motion-activated calling) Smart Alert (motion-activated alert about missed events), and Blocking mode (Do Not Disturb profiles).
The music player comes with proprietary features such as Music square (filtering music by tempo or mood), Smart Volume (track volume normalization), and Adapt Sound (tuning sound output to your headphones). The security-related features include the Private mode info vault, Samsung KNOX (switch between Personal and Work mode).
Next up, there is the Ultra power saving mode, which limits the device functionality to conserve energy. Samsung ChatOn (instant messaging between ChatON users) and the special My magazine homescreen, powered by Flipboard, are all Samsung proprietary features as well.
Samsung Sidesync allows you to share content between a Samsung smartphone and PC or a Samsung tablet and smartphone, as well as remotely control the smartphone from the bigger device (including mouse and keyboard input).
Aside from all that, Samsung's proprietary camera features include Selective focus, Virtual tour shot, 360-degree panoramas, and Audio zoom (amplifying the sound of the subject that's zoomed in).
Below is the list of Galaxy Alpha competitors but keep in mind those are only the ones currently available and not Samsung's real target. The Apple iPhone 6 and the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact will be unveiled in less than a month and then the real competition will begin.
The Apple iPhone 5s is still in the running though and unless Apple pulls an iPhone 5c on it, it will continue to be even when the 6 is out. It's metal all the way around and the epitome of a compact super phone. Its small screen is getting cramped even for long-time Apple faithfuls. The 8MP camera is also showing its age.
Apple iPhone 5s
The Sony Xperia Z1 Compact is held up as example to other compact Androids out there. It puts flagship guts in a petite body without dropping components on the floor in the process. Even a month away from being succeeded it still turns heads with its powerful chipset and high-resolution camera. The Galaxy Alpha could have used its IP58 water-resistance rating to bolster its position - it's odd that the mid-range Galaxy S5 mini has it but not the new flagship line.
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
The Samsung Galaxy S5 mini has a slightly smaller screen than the Alpha (a 4.5" 720p Super AMOLED) though it's not noticeably more compact. It's all plastic and it's way behind in terms of processing power (it only has the four Cortex-A7 cores) and the camera department (8MP / 1080p). On the up side, it is water-resistant and comes in a dual-SIM version. It's more affordable than the Alpha too.
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
The HTC One - not the One (M8) - is not as compact as the Alpha but for the extra size you get front-facing stereo speakers. The premium metal unibody envelops the sides and back and the 4.7" screen is much sharper (1080p). It runs Android 4.4 with Sense UI with an option for pure Google Play Edition software. It's powered by the now-outdated (but still reasonably fast) Snapdragon 600 and the camera has a third of the resolution, though it does offer OIS.
HTC One
The HTC One mini 2 is another all-metal option with a slightly smaller screen (4.5" 720p), which maintains the stereo speakers but bumps up the camera to 13MP. It's no match in terms of processing power though with a quad-core Cortex-A7, it's really meant to compete with the Galaxy S5 mini and not the Alpha.
HTC One mini 2
An alternative option is the ZTE Nubia Z5S mini. It has a 4.7" 720p IGZO screen and dimensions close to the Alpha. It's powered by Snapdragon 600 and has a 13MP / 1080p main camera, plus a 5MP selfie shooter. Be warned that it runs an outdated Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and the LTE connectivity is market dependent.
ZTE Nubia Z5S mini
LG has a mini too but it was discredited due to its low screen resolution (qHD) and little in the way of premium feel.
We haven't seen the iPhone 6 and Xperia Z3 Compact and rumors aren't enough to tell whether the Samsung Galaxy Alpha has a shot at all. We do know that it fills a gaping hole in Samsung's lineup, a proper compact flagship, a hole many other makers still need to worry about.
With the familiar Galaxy branding (a blessing and a curse) the Alpha should sell reasonably well. It won't make everyone happy but seems capable of helping Samsung extend their reach, perhaps even dip into Apple territory.
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