Samsung Group goes the HTC way, chooses metal over plastic in Galaxy Alpha

[Transcendence]

We’ve seen photos and heard details about specs and features, but Samsung’s finally let the cat out of the bag – without building up the hype any longer.

 

Samsung Group announced the Galaxy Alpha earlier today, providing little in the way of availability for the device while letting consumers know that the iPhone competitor is real and ready for primetime.

 

The Galaxy Alpha comes with all the features we’d known for weeks: a 4.7-inch (not the 4.6-inch rumor that gave us a slender, momentary doubt) Super AMOLED display with a 1280 x 720p screen resolution, aluminum metal siding with a 12MP back camera, 32GB of internal memory storage, a 1,850mAh battery, 2GB of random access memory (RAM), and the heart rate monitor on the back of the Galaxy Alpha.

While not discussed as much, the Samsung Galaxy Alpha will also feature Samsung’s newest trademark, its Ultra Power Saving Mode. As we’ve shown in our own Galaxy S5 review, the device can last as long as 7 days on a single charge. If you enact Ultra Power Saving Mode overnight, you’ll find that you only lose 1% of your battery life throughout the entire 7 or 8-hour rest.

There are five color options: Charcoal Black, Shimmering White, Scuba Blue, Frosted Gold, and Sleek Silver. The Galaxy Alpha will be available the first week of September, seeing that Samsung intends to beat Apple and the iPhone 6 to market.

 

Some have said that the Galaxy Alpha is no contender for the LG G3, but those who compare these two phones in the same category don’t understand the purpose for which the Galaxy Alpha has been constructed. The iPhone 6, in all likelihood, won’t rival the screen resolution of the LG G3 (though it might beat it on design), or the quad-core processor in the G3. Rather, Samsung Group constructed the Galaxy Alpha to compete head-to-head with the iPhone 6. Thus, the lack of a microSD card slot on the Galaxy Alpha (and the lower-megapixel 12MP back camera) are no misfires by Samsung, but instead, expected for a device that looks to compete with an iPhone 6 whose specs won’t be mind-blowing.

 

What the Galaxy Alpha intends to do is show that Samsung Group can make a device that should be considered just as premium as Apple’s iPhone 6. And, the fact that it is just 6.7mm thick makes for an additional reason to be excited about the Galaxy Alpha. It’s sleek, slender, and provides an enticing display with Samsung’s innovative software.