We review the Samsung Galaxy Alpha!

When you talk about Samsung’s flagships, you usually envision hi-end specs encased in an all-plastic shell. This has been the order of the day for Samsung unitl the Galaxy S5, and while the company’s products were techinically brilliant, their externals were somewhat of a letdown, especially when you consider the offerings of its competitors, Apple being one of them.

This all changed with the Galaxy Note 4 and the Galaxy Alpha, two devices that bears a new design language for the company. The Galaxy Alpha bears bears largely the same metal frame design as its bigger brother, although in a slimmer, more compact body. Will the Alpha grab the attention of people set on buying Apple’s iPhone 6?

Samsung Galaxy Alpha specs

• Octa-core processor, Quad 1.8GHz + Quad 1.3GHz
• Mali-T628MP6 GPU
• 2GB of RAM
• 4.7-inch HD Super AMOLED display, 1280 x 720
• 32GB of non-expandable storage
• 12-megapixel rear camera
• 2.1-megapixel front camera
• 3G, LTE
• WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, GPS
• 132.4 x 65.5 x 6.7 mm
• Android KitKat 4.4
• 1,860 mAh battery

 

Samsung’s new design language is a step in the right direction

The Galaxy Alpha is probably the nicest smartphone Samsung has ever released, and personally we think it looks better than the Galaxy S5. The sides of the Galaxy Alpha is chamfered and polished, and gives the device that much needed premium look that the Galaxy S5 desperately needed. While the back of the smartphone is still plastic, it’s definitely miles better than the one on the S5.

While not everyone will be a fan of the still plastic back, you’ll be comforted in the knowledge that it feels better to the touch than Samsung’s previous offerings. The dimpled treatment of the plastic returns, but now it’s softer and more subdued than it’s previous incarnation. Button layout is typical for a phone this size – volume rocker on the left and power button on the right, with the 3.5mm jack and USB port on top and bottom, respectively. Much like most of Samsung’s hi-end offerings, the Alpha has a fingerprint sensor embedded in the home button, as well as a heart rate sensor along with the LED flash of the device. The speaker is located on the bottom of the device, and is offset to the right.

The phone is only 6.7mm thick, which is probably the slimmest phone Samsung has ever released. Comparisons between the iPhone 6 is unavoidable, since the Galaxy Alpha and Apple’s latest smartphone have the same screen size. Like the iPhone 6 it’s relatively easy to grip and can be operated by one hand, though unlocking it using the integrated fingerprint sensor on the bottom can be a bit of a hassle. After using Hauwei’s excellent Mate7 and its no-nonsense fingerprint scanner, the one on the Galaxy Alpha felt clunky and hard to use, and probably had a 70% of recognizing your finger when you swipe it. Clearly, Samsung needs to rethink how they do biometric scanning for their next iteration.

Samsung has always liked putting their Super AMOLED display on their hi-end devices, something that has not changed with the Galaxy Alpha. The Galaxy Alpha uses a 4.7-inch HD display that is both bright and vivid which is to be expected with the company’s Super AMOLED panels. While some don’t like the oversaturated colors that comes with the display technology, it’s perfectly okay for the typical user.

We’re not going to go in depth about the TouchWiz UI of the Alpha, because in truth it’s similar to the one that you’ll see in the Galaxy S5. We recommend that you check out our in-depth review of the Galaxy S5 to see what TouchWiz can give you.

Samsung’s new Exynos processor is beastly

The Galaxy Alphas being sold here in the PH use Samsung’s latest Exynos 5 Octa 5430 SoC, paired with 2GB of RAM. International versions used Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 801 processor which we’ve encountered before in other high-end flagships, so we were interested to see how this version stacked up.

As far as benchmarks go, the Alpha managed to score high on both AnTuTu and Geek Bench, so the Exynos 5 Octa definitely has some grunt under the hood. We had high hopes for the SoC’s performance when it came to gaming, considering it also had a Mali-T628MP6 GPU inside, along with 2GB of RAM to ensure everything is nice and lag free.

The Alpha didn’t dissappoint, as it managed to run everything that we threw at it like a boss, and graphically intense games like Real Racing 3 ran quite well with minimal lag. Everything is nice and smooth as we expected.

We also liked how loud the speaker of the Galaxy Alpha was. Usually we’re disappointed when it comes to speaker volumes on flagships, but the Galaxy Alpha was a pleasant surprise. The Galaxy Alpha is also an LTE smartphone, and gave us consistent LTE speeds that’s comparable to other LTE- equipped devices.

Camera is slightly downgraded compared to its contemporaries, but still performs well

The Galaxy Alpha sports a slightly downgraded 12-megapixel camera compared to the 16-megapixel ones on both the Galaxy Note 4 and the Galaxy S5, though it comes with many of the same enhancements as its bigger brothers: ISOCELL technology, F/2.2 lens and a 35mm equivalent focal length of 31mm. Most of the same shooting modes from the Galaxy S5 are also present on the Alpha, really the only thing that’s different is slightly worse low-light shooting performance compared to the S5 (something that Samsung has always struggled with) and slightly less digital zoom (because of the lower resolution camera).

Not-so-awesome battery life

Compared to the Galaxy S5, the battery on the Galaxy Alpha is pretty small, coming in at just 1,860mAh. Some users may have expressed concern that that tiny battery may not be able to provide enough juice for the Alpha. Well, that’s partly true – after charging the device to full at around 10 AM and using it during a particularly hectic work day (moderate use) we were left with just 20% at around 10 PM the same day. This means you’ll barely have any battery left the next day if you forget to charge the Alpha at the end of the day. Of course you can always use the ultra power saving mode feature of the device to conserve juice.

Verdict: A step in the right direction for Samsung

The Galaxy Alpha is a strong contender for people looking for a small, powerful handset that can be used with a single hand. Probably the biggest issue we have with the Alpha is price – at Php 29,990, it’s more expensive that the bigger, more feature packed Galaxy S5. It’s the very definition of a trade-off – a smaller, more premium looking smartphone, or a device that has more features and a bigger display, and ultimately better battery life.

Still, the Galaxy Alpha represents a positive shift in design language for Samsung, one that will probably see nicer looking smartphones from the Korean brand in the next few months. If the Alpha is a taste of what’s to come from Samsung, then we’re waiting with bated breath to see what they come up with next.