Samsung Galaxy Alpha Review: The One We’ve Been Waiting For
Can Samsung ever bring out a decent and premium quality smartphone? This has been a nagging question on everyone's mind, who has foreseen the brand competing with the might of Apple. Even the likes of HTC, Sony manage to deliver excellent quality devices but somehow, Samsung has stuck to its plastic affinity but not anymore. If the Korean major is looking for a revival, then Galaxy Alpha is likely to help them in this process.
Specifications
Samsung Galaxy Alpha
Display: 4.7 inch Super AMOLED HD, 312 ppi
OS: Android 4.4 KitKat over TouchWiz
CPU: octa-core Eynos 5 (set of two quad-core chipset)
RAM: 2 GB
Storage: 32 GB internal
Camera: 12 MP rear with LED flash and 2.1 MP front
Battery: 1,860 mAh
Connectivity: 3G/2G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, microUSB
Weight: 115 grams
Dimensions: 132.4 x 65.5 x 6.7 mm
SIM: nano
Price: Rs 39,990
Design
Galaxy Alpha, is part of Samsung's new strategy (so we hope) that features metallic elements, better finishing, albeit still the presence of Note-series like coated finish. It would be fair to say that Apple's design elements have been rigorously studied by Samsung's design team and with Alpha they have managed to replicate and execute similar stuff but they have also added a Samsung touch to it.
First glance at the Alpha and the iPhone 5S becomes a mirage-effect on your eyes. The curved chamfered edges are now elegantly complimented by metal finishing on the sides and that sadly remains the only 'metal' aspect about the Galaxy Alpha, we dearly would have liked more.
The common sight Home button on the center keeps its place alongside, backlit Back and Multi-app touch buttons. At the back, Samsung has resorted to its tried-and-tested, textured plastic body finish that's neither glossy and definitely not, prone to smudges. But yes, if you're going for the lighter color shades keep them carefully, otherwise it can attract a lot of dust. Right at the bottom, the back panel sticks out oddly, as if the fitting pattern was revised at the last hour. While using the phone, you'll find Alpha to tick the right-size-for-your-hand box with its 4.7 inch sizing and at 115 grams, it is marginally lighter than the iPhone 5S. Galaxy Alpha stands out as a good looking Galaxy device and clearly the best we have seen from Samsung in a while.
Display
While Samsung has been the culprit for some mediocre-built devices, the same cannot be said for the display units in tow. It's a leader in this space and that clearly shows off on the smartphone space as well. Galaxy Alpha sports a 4.7 inch Super AMOLED HD display, their in-house version of display panel that exudes high level color output and vibrancy. It's fair to say that Alpha's display is crisp, bright and high-level of vibrancy is very much part of it as well.
Watch movies, check out the latest episode of Ray Donovan or even take some time out to play Fifa 15 or Asphalt 8: Airborne, you'll have no complaints and that's all we have to say. However, for such a high price-tag, all we would have liked on the Alpha, is a Super AMOLED full-HD variant. That would have made the experience even better. While Sony has improved on the display panels being used on Xperia series off-late, Samsung still owns this space with its sheer imaging experience.
Hardware
Galaxy Alpha sports a 4.7 inch display that offers excellent viewing quality. It packs an Exynos 5 octa-core chipset, which is a real sad part of the deal and what makes us seven sadder is that Samsung is hell bent on throwing devices powered on this chipset in India. In comparison to Snapdragon processors (or Samsung variants), the Exynos models have been found delivering higher heating effects, resulting in low battery support.
The company has claimed to have improved on that with the Exynos 5 5430 but that's nowhere to be seen. The phone offers 32 GB (25 GB user usable) storage space which is non-expandable. Now, if the Alpha could have been given a removable panel, surely Samsung could have offered the expandability option as well? But that is not the case and we'll have to live with the fact. The heart-rate monitor is there at the back along with the fingerprint scanner. On top of that, you have the Samsung S Health kind of features embedded on the software front. There's an in-built speaker at the bottom but it's one-sided for some strange reasons.
Performance
This is where the real deal value of the phone comes through and from our experience, its mixed bag. Ultra-bright display is all fine with us but that really takes a toll on the chipset innards of the Alpha. The phone records some decent numbers on synthetic benchmark tools that we usually test with but that's not really the way to gauge a phone's hardware value.
As you can see, Galaxy Alpha falls behind the likes of Moto X (2014) and even Sony Xperia Z3 Compact and we blame that mostly on the Exynos chipset in tow. Graphics oriented content will deliver bright colours and detail but still fall short of matching up to the full-HD output and that's quite acceptable, for Alpha and not Samsung. There's definite heating visible and that we blame on the inconsistency of the octa-core chipset that still lags behind the Snapdragon 800 quad-core variant.
The 12 MP rear snapper clicks with fast precision and good details are visible with images clicked in daylight. Low-light is expectedly not the greatest strength of the Alpha and that becomes clearer as we proceed with trying out some low-light photo clicks. The images turn out dull, lacking focus as well as detail and giving out lot of noise in the process.
If the 16 MP shooter on Galaxy S5 was exemplary, this one feels like a step down. One notable thing about Galaxy Alpha is its slick and fast TouchWiz interface that's become cosmetically lot more appealing, since its makeover with Galaxy S5. Much is expected of Samsung with the new TouchWiz integration for Android 5.0 Lollipop and we hope the Korean brand manages to shed its image of becoming lethargic and uninventive.
Battery
The last and the most crucial aspect about a smartphone, is its battery life and that for some reasons, hasn't been taken into account with the Alpha. Galaxy Alpha comes loaded with a 1,860 mAh battery which for a Super AMOLED display and octa-core processor was going to prove its undoing, and so has been the case. With PCMark battery test, Alpha managed to last for little over 6 hours and that clearly isn't what a smartphone user wants these days.
During our normal time usage, the phone managed to last us, for around 10 hours which again is quite lower than phones in this range. Sony Xperia Z3 Compact offers the best battery life with more than a day's life. Granted, the Alpha seems to be charging the quickest among any of its Galaxy peers but that isn't the way Samsung should be compensating for the Alpha's apparent lack of desire to last through the day. If you're a heavy smartphone user, do make it a point to use the power-saving and Ultra-power saving (phone sans the web) options available that Samsung clearly wants to highlight.
Verdict
So do you go for the Galaxy Alpha? If you find the Xperia Z3 compact really pricey (which it is) then Alpha comes across as a better option for lower price. Effective display, slick interface and great looks make Alpha desirable. But cranky hardware, less appealing cameras and low battery unit doesn't help its case. Best looking Samsung phone that needed just a bit more to rank as a must-have.
Specifications
Samsung Galaxy Alpha
Display: 4.7 inch Super AMOLED HD, 312 ppi
OS: Android 4.4 KitKat over TouchWiz
CPU: octa-core Eynos 5 (set of two quad-core chipset)
RAM: 2 GB
Storage: 32 GB internal
Camera: 12 MP rear with LED flash and 2.1 MP front
Battery: 1,860 mAh
Connectivity: 3G/2G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, microUSB
Weight: 115 grams
Dimensions: 132.4 x 65.5 x 6.7 mm
SIM: nano
Price: Rs 39,990
Design
Galaxy Alpha, is part of Samsung's new strategy (so we hope) that features metallic elements, better finishing, albeit still the presence of Note-series like coated finish. It would be fair to say that Apple's design elements have been rigorously studied by Samsung's design team and with Alpha they have managed to replicate and execute similar stuff but they have also added a Samsung touch to it.
First glance at the Alpha and the iPhone 5S becomes a mirage-effect on your eyes. The curved chamfered edges are now elegantly complimented by metal finishing on the sides and that sadly remains the only 'metal' aspect about the Galaxy Alpha, we dearly would have liked more.
The common sight Home button on the center keeps its place alongside, backlit Back and Multi-app touch buttons. At the back, Samsung has resorted to its tried-and-tested, textured plastic body finish that's neither glossy and definitely not, prone to smudges. But yes, if you're going for the lighter color shades keep them carefully, otherwise it can attract a lot of dust. Right at the bottom, the back panel sticks out oddly, as if the fitting pattern was revised at the last hour. While using the phone, you'll find Alpha to tick the right-size-for-your-hand box with its 4.7 inch sizing and at 115 grams, it is marginally lighter than the iPhone 5S. Galaxy Alpha stands out as a good looking Galaxy device and clearly the best we have seen from Samsung in a while.
Display
While Samsung has been the culprit for some mediocre-built devices, the same cannot be said for the display units in tow. It's a leader in this space and that clearly shows off on the smartphone space as well. Galaxy Alpha sports a 4.7 inch Super AMOLED HD display, their in-house version of display panel that exudes high level color output and vibrancy. It's fair to say that Alpha's display is crisp, bright and high-level of vibrancy is very much part of it as well.
Watch movies, check out the latest episode of Ray Donovan or even take some time out to play Fifa 15 or Asphalt 8: Airborne, you'll have no complaints and that's all we have to say. However, for such a high price-tag, all we would have liked on the Alpha, is a Super AMOLED full-HD variant. That would have made the experience even better. While Sony has improved on the display panels being used on Xperia series off-late, Samsung still owns this space with its sheer imaging experience.
Hardware
Galaxy Alpha sports a 4.7 inch display that offers excellent viewing quality. It packs an Exynos 5 octa-core chipset, which is a real sad part of the deal and what makes us seven sadder is that Samsung is hell bent on throwing devices powered on this chipset in India. In comparison to Snapdragon processors (or Samsung variants), the Exynos models have been found delivering higher heating effects, resulting in low battery support.
The company has claimed to have improved on that with the Exynos 5 5430 but that's nowhere to be seen. The phone offers 32 GB (25 GB user usable) storage space which is non-expandable. Now, if the Alpha could have been given a removable panel, surely Samsung could have offered the expandability option as well? But that is not the case and we'll have to live with the fact. The heart-rate monitor is there at the back along with the fingerprint scanner. On top of that, you have the Samsung S Health kind of features embedded on the software front. There's an in-built speaker at the bottom but it's one-sided for some strange reasons.
Performance
This is where the real deal value of the phone comes through and from our experience, its mixed bag. Ultra-bright display is all fine with us but that really takes a toll on the chipset innards of the Alpha. The phone records some decent numbers on synthetic benchmark tools that we usually test with but that's not really the way to gauge a phone's hardware value.
As you can see, Galaxy Alpha falls behind the likes of Moto X (2014) and even Sony Xperia Z3 Compact and we blame that mostly on the Exynos chipset in tow. Graphics oriented content will deliver bright colours and detail but still fall short of matching up to the full-HD output and that's quite acceptable, for Alpha and not Samsung. There's definite heating visible and that we blame on the inconsistency of the octa-core chipset that still lags behind the Snapdragon 800 quad-core variant.
The 12 MP rear snapper clicks with fast precision and good details are visible with images clicked in daylight. Low-light is expectedly not the greatest strength of the Alpha and that becomes clearer as we proceed with trying out some low-light photo clicks. The images turn out dull, lacking focus as well as detail and giving out lot of noise in the process.
If the 16 MP shooter on Galaxy S5 was exemplary, this one feels like a step down. One notable thing about Galaxy Alpha is its slick and fast TouchWiz interface that's become cosmetically lot more appealing, since its makeover with Galaxy S5. Much is expected of Samsung with the new TouchWiz integration for Android 5.0 Lollipop and we hope the Korean brand manages to shed its image of becoming lethargic and uninventive.
Battery
The last and the most crucial aspect about a smartphone, is its battery life and that for some reasons, hasn't been taken into account with the Alpha. Galaxy Alpha comes loaded with a 1,860 mAh battery which for a Super AMOLED display and octa-core processor was going to prove its undoing, and so has been the case. With PCMark battery test, Alpha managed to last for little over 6 hours and that clearly isn't what a smartphone user wants these days.
During our normal time usage, the phone managed to last us, for around 10 hours which again is quite lower than phones in this range. Sony Xperia Z3 Compact offers the best battery life with more than a day's life. Granted, the Alpha seems to be charging the quickest among any of its Galaxy peers but that isn't the way Samsung should be compensating for the Alpha's apparent lack of desire to last through the day. If you're a heavy smartphone user, do make it a point to use the power-saving and Ultra-power saving (phone sans the web) options available that Samsung clearly wants to highlight.
Verdict
So do you go for the Galaxy Alpha? If you find the Xperia Z3 compact really pricey (which it is) then Alpha comes across as a better option for lower price. Effective display, slick interface and great looks make Alpha desirable. But cranky hardware, less appealing cameras and low battery unit doesn't help its case. Best looking Samsung phone that needed just a bit more to rank as a must-have.
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