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.
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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 S5.
The 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.