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The Samsung Galaxy Alpha (SM-G850x) is an Android
smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whi ...
produced by
Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (, sometimes shortened to SEC and stylized as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational electronics corporation headquartered in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, South Korea. It is the pinnacle of the Samsung chaebol, acc ...
. Unveiled on 13 August 2014, the device was released in September 2014. A high-end device, the Galaxy Alpha is Samsung's first Android-powered smartphone to incorporate a metallic frame, although the remainder of its physical appearance still resembles previous models such as the
Galaxy S5 The Samsung Galaxy S5 is an Android-based smartphone unveiled, produced, released and marketed by Samsung Electronics as part of the Samsung Galaxy S series. Unveiled on 24 February 2014 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, it was rele ...
. It also incorporates Samsung's new
Exynos Exynos, formerly Hummingbird (), is a series of ARM-based system-on-chips developed by Samsung Electronics' System LSI division and manufactured by Samsung Foundry. It is a continuation of Samsung's earlier S3C, S5L and S5P line of SoCs. E ...
5430 system-on-chip, which is the first mobile system-on-chip to use a 20
nanometer 330px, Different lengths as in respect to the molecular scale. The nanometre (international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: nm) or nanometer (American and British English spelling differences#-re, ...
manufacturing process Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ran ...
. The Galaxy Alpha received mixed reviews; although praised for its higher quality build and design in comparison to earlier products, the device was panned for its modest specifications in comparison to its flagship counterpart, the Galaxy S5, and for being priced too high for what they considered to be a "mid-range" smartphone.


Development

In early-June 2014, images leaked of an upcoming Samsung phone tentatively known as the "Galaxy F", shown alongside a
Galaxy S5 The Samsung Galaxy S5 is an Android-based smartphone unveiled, produced, released and marketed by Samsung Electronics as part of the Samsung Galaxy S series. Unveiled on 24 February 2014 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, it was rele ...
: it incorporated a metallic frame, thinner bezels around the screen than the S5, and was to allegedly include a
quad HD 1440p is a family of video display resolutions that have a vertical resolution of 1440 pixels. The ''p'' stands for progressive scan, i.e. non-interlaced. The 1440 pixel vertical resolution is double the vertical resolution of 720p, and one-third ...
display, Snapdragon 805 system-on-chip, along with the heart rate sensor and water/dust-proofing from the S5. On June 18, 2014, Samsung would unveil an
LTE-Advanced LTE Advanced (LTE+) is a mobile communication standard and a major enhancement of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. It was formally submitted as a candidate 4G to ITU-T in late 2009 as meeting the requirements of the IMT-Advanced standard ...
version of the S5 with a quad HD display, exclusively for release in
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
. A Samsung representative stated it had "no plans" to release this device globally. In late July 2014, further images leaked of the rumored device, now identified as the "Galaxy Alpha"; the device depicted was now a mid-range device positioned below the S5, incorporating a metallic frame, a
720p 720p (1280×720 px; also called HD ready, standard HD or just HD) is a progressive HDTV signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HDTV (1.78:1). All major HDTV broadcas ...
display similar to the
Galaxy S III The Samsung Galaxy S III (or Galaxy S3) is an Android smartphone designed, developed, and marketed by Samsung Electronics. Launched in 2012, it had sold more than 80 million units overall, making it the most sold phone in the S series. I ...
, and no expandable storage. On July 31, 2014, Kim Hyun-joon, senior vice president of Samsung's mobile business, told investors that the company was planning to release a major new device incorporating "new materials" by the end of 2014. Critics interpreted his statement as signs that the company was planning to make a metal smartphone, but that it could also be a new entry in the
Galaxy Note series The Samsung Galaxy Note series is a discontinued line of high-end Android phablets and smartphones developed and marketed by Samsung Electronics. The line is primarily oriented towards pen computing; all Galaxy Note models ship with a stylu ...
. On August 13, 2014, Samsung officially unveiled the Galaxy Alpha. Samsung Electronics CEO JK Shin explained that the Alpha was "built and designed based on the specific desires of the consumer market." The company stated that the Galaxy Alpha would mark a "new design approach" for Samsung's products, and that elements from the Alpha could appear on future Samsung models. Later in 2014, Samsung would unveil the low-end and mid-range Galaxy A3 and A5, which featured slim builds and a similar metal design. The Galaxy S6 would fully realize Samsung's new design direction, utilizing a unibody metal frame and glass backing.


Specifications


Design

The Galaxy Alpha's overall design is an evolution upon that of the
Galaxy S5 The Samsung Galaxy S5 is an Android-based smartphone unveiled, produced, released and marketed by Samsung Electronics as part of the Samsung Galaxy S series. Unveiled on 24 February 2014 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, it was rele ...
, incorporating a
chamfered A chamfer or is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fur ...
metal frame and a dimpled, plastic rear cover. With a thickness of At the time, the Galaxy Alpha was the company's thinnest smartphone.


Chipsets

International models of the Alpha utilize an octa-core,
Exynos Exynos, formerly Hummingbird (), is a series of ARM-based system-on-chips developed by Samsung Electronics' System LSI division and manufactured by Samsung Foundry. It is a continuation of Samsung's earlier S3C, S5L and S5P line of SoCs. E ...
5430 system-on-chip; consisting of a bank of four 1.8 GHz
Cortex-A15 The ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore is a 32-bit processor core licensed by ARM Holdings implementing the ARMv7-A architecture. It is a multicore processor with out-of-order superscalar pipeline running at up to 2.5 GHz. Overview ARM has claimed th ...
cores, and four 1.3 GHz
Cortex-A7 The ARM Cortex-A7 MPCore is a 32-bit microprocessor core licensed by ARM Holdings implementing the ARMv7-A architecture announced in 2011. Overview It has two target applications; firstly as a smaller, simpler, and more power-efficient success ...
cores. The Exynos 5430 is the first ever mobile system-on-chip to use a 20
nanometer 330px, Different lengths as in respect to the molecular scale. The nanometre (international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: nm) or nanometer (American and British English spelling differences#-re, ...
HKMG manufacturing process. The international model was the first device to incorporate
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 ser ...
's XMM7260 modem for category 6
LTE Advanced LTE Advanced (LTE+) is a mobile communication standard and a major enhancement of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. It was formally submitted as a candidate 4G to ITU-T in late 2009 as meeting the requirements of the IMT-Advanced standar ...
support. U.S. models include a 2.5 GHz Snapdragon 801 processor instead; both models will include 2 GB of RAM.


Display, Battery and Storage

The Galaxy Alpha features a
PenTile PenTile matrix is a family of patented subpixel matrix schemes used in electronic device displays. PenTile is a trademark of Samsung. PenTile matrices are used in AMOLED and LCD displays. These subpixel layouts are specifically designed to opera ...
720p 720p (1280×720 px; also called HD ready, standard HD or just HD) is a progressive HDTV signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HDTV (1.78:1). All major HDTV broadcas ...
Super
AMOLED AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode, ) is a type of OLED display device technology. OLED describes a specific type of thin-film-display technology in which organic compounds form the electroluminescent material, and active matrix ...
display, and also incorporates a 12 megapixel rear-facing camera without
optical image stabilization Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce motion blur, blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure (photography), exposure. Generally, it compensates for panning (camera), pan an ...
, fingerprint and heart rate sensors, and removable 1860 mAh battery. The device includes 32 GB of non-expandable storage, and runs Android 4.4.4 "KitKat" but can be upgraded to Android 5.0.2 "Lollipop" with Samsung's
TouchWiz TouchWiz was a user interface developed by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd with partners, featuring a full touch user interface. It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as an operating system. TouchWiz is used internally by Samsung for smartphones, ...
software suite. The Galaxy Alpha is equipped with Samsung's ''
Air View The Samsung Galaxy S4 is an Android smartphone produced by Samsung Electronics as the fourth smartphone of the Samsung Galaxy S series and was first shown publicly on March 14, 2013, at Samsung Mobile Unpacked in New York City. It is the succes ...
'' (using floating finger), air gesture controls (also known as ''"Motion Gestures"'') and ''Smart Screen'' functionality introduced on the
Galaxy S4 The Samsung Galaxy S4 is an Android smartphone produced by Samsung Electronics as the fourth smartphone of the Samsung Galaxy S series and was first shown publicly on March 14, 2013, at Samsung Mobile Unpacked in New York City. It is the succe ...
.Review of the Galaxy Alpha user interface by ''GSM Arena''
/ref> Air View is enabled using a self-capacitive touch screen layer that is also referred to by Samsung as ''"TSP Hovering"''.Video: ''"Samsung Galaxy Alpha SM G850Y TSP Hovering Test"''
/ref>


Camera

The rear camera is able to record video footage at
2160p 4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K UHD) is the dominan ...
(4K) at 30
frames per second A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...
(fps),
1080p 1080p (1920×1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the screen ve ...
at 60fps, and
720p 720p (1280×720 px; also called HD ready, standard HD or just HD) is a progressive HDTV signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HDTV (1.78:1). All major HDTV broadcas ...
at 120fps. This makes it the first smartphone by Samsung outside of the Galaxy S and Note series to feature 2160p (4K) video recording, and the second one after the Galaxy K Zoom (if not regarded as "S5 Zoom") to feature 1080p video recording at 60 frames per second and 720p at 120 frames per second. However, 2160p videos are limited to four minutes per video, after which the video recording has to be restarted. In addition, 720p at 120fps video footage is recorded without sound and encoded as slowed-down video.Review of the Galaxy Alpha camera by GSMArena
/ref>


Reception

While praising Samsung's decision to begin manufacturing a smartphone that incorporates actual metal in its design, critics noted that despite its "premium" appearance, the internal specifications of the Galaxy Alpha were "mid-range" in comparison to the S5, with particular emphasis placed on the device's smaller, lower-resolution screen, the replacement of its
USB 3.0 USB 3.0, released in November 2008, is the third major version of the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standard for interfacing computers and electronic devices. Among other improvements, USB 3.0 adds the new transfer rate referred to as '' ...
port with a USB 2.0 port, and its smaller battery. However, ''
Ars Technica ''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sc ...
'' noted that the lower screen resolution could offset the lower capacity of the device's battery, and ''
ExtremeTech ExtremeTech is a technology weblog, launched in June 2001, which focuses on hardware, computer software, science and other technologies. Between 2003 and 2005, ExtremeTech was also a print magazine and the publisher of a popular series of how- ...
'' also noted that the smaller battery would make the device lighter, and the lower resolution of the display could improve the responsiveness of Samsung's Android distribution. In conclusion, the Alpha was considered by ''ExtremeTech'' to be "a hedge against several troubling trends for the world’s largest smartphone maker", believing that its slimmer build and higher quality design were an attempt to compete against the then-upcoming
iPhone 6 The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are smartphones that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the eighth generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 5, iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S, and were announced on September 9, 2014, and rele ...
, which features a 4.7 inch display. ''
Engadget ''Engadget'' ( ) is a multilingual technology blog network with daily coverage of gadgets and consumer electronics. ''Engadget'' manages ten blogs four of which are written in English and six have international versions with independent editor ...
'' described the Galaxy Alpha as Samsung's "most beautiful phone yet", praising its design for being "simple, yet elegant; minimal, yet profuse". Its overall performance was considered to be up to par with the Galaxy S5, and its display was described as being "acceptable" for its class. However, the Galaxy Alpha was criticized for being too expensive for its class, concluding that "the only reason you'd want to pick this over the Galaxy S5, which is available for a similar price, is that you prefer a smaller size or more solid build. But even then, this design isn't a one-and-done; you'll be able to get the same fit and finish on the Note 4 and Note Edge (albeit with larger screens)."


References

{{Samsung Galaxy A, smartphones=yes, tablets=yes Android (operating system) devices Samsung mobile phones Samsung Galaxy Mobile phones introduced in 2014 Discontinued smartphones Mobile phones with user-replaceable battery Mobile phones with self-capacitive touch screen layer Mobile phones with 4K video recording