Smart, sleek and incredibly thin

The first Samsung model to incorporate metal with plastic, the new Galaxy Alpha has a smarter, sleeker look than its siblings in the Galaxy range.

A skinny 6.7mm thick with a high-quality metal frame, it sports a plastic back cover that’s easy to remove to change the battery and insert a nano SIM card.

Alpha also has a more compact body than the smartphones in the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series. It measures a mere 132.4 x 65.5 x 6.7 mm, weighs just 115 grams yet still boasts a  4.7-inch HD Super Amoled display with 1,280 x 720 pixels.

Power comes from octa-core processor comprising 1.8 GHz and 1.3 GHz quad cores. It runs on Google Android 4.4.4 KitKat operating system.

The phone has 2 gigabytes of working memory or RAM and it comes with 32 GB of internal storage without a microSD card slot.

The phone supports 4G LTE and 3G HSPA+ connections. I tested it with TrueMove H’s HSPA+ network. The data connection speed was pleasing and I was able to quickly check my Hotmail and Gmail accounts. I also took photos and posted them on my Facebook wall without a glitch and downloaded applications smoothly and rapidly.

Alpha also supports the latest and fastest Wi-Fi 802.11ac protocol allowing you to immediately connect with a wireless LAN router or hotspot that supports the protocol. Best of all, you can use the download booster option to let the handset use both the wireless LAN and mobile data connection simultaneously, which speeds up downloads.

You can also have the Alpha automatically switch between wireless LAN connection, when available, and 3G or 4G connection to ensure stable data connection.

Galaxy Alpha has really good performance. The test found the touch screen and menus responsive and scrolling of the screen fast and smooth.

It played video clips and music files smoothly and also allowed me to listen to high-resolution audio files at FLAC 24 bit/192 kHz sampling rate, which Samsung calls as Ultra High Quality (UHQ) audio files. I played Pink Floyd’s “The Final Cut” encoded in the FLAC 24bit/ 192 kHz format and the songs played smoothly without disruption. I tested it with my in-ear Razer earphones and enjoyed the clarity and details of the music.

Alpha also supports multi-window tasking, allowing you to work on two apps on the top and bottom parts of the screen simultaneously. You can also drag and drop text and photos between windows.

It supports the Air view function too, allowing you to hover your finger over an item on the screen to preview content or information in a pop-up window.

You can scan your fingerprint then use the digital image to unlock the screen and sign into your Samsung account as well as certain web pages.

The home button doubles as the fingerprint scanner. The phone will guide you to place your finger on the screen above the home button and swipe down to scan it. You need to register your fingerprint eight times to make sure that you will not make a mistake when you need to unlock the screen. Alpha also requires you to set a password in case you fail to unlock the phone with your fingerprint.

You can also change the screen lock method by using a pattern. This shows as nine dots on the screen that you connect as a pattern for unlocking the screen.

If you have sensitive information that you don’t want others to see on your phone, you can activate Alpha’s Private mode. The first time you activate the mode, you will be required to set an unlock code and a backup PIN, You can also use your fingerprint. Once in the private mode, you can hide content in Gallery and My Files folder as well as video clips, music files and voice record files. All the items you want to keep secret will be hidden in the Private subfolder of your My Files folder.

Alpha also boasts an Ultra Power Saving mode that allows it to stay on for quite a long time even when the battery is low. For example, when only 52 per cent of its battery remains, it can last about 6.5 days. It works by turning the screen to black and white and shutting down unnecessary functions.

Alpha comes with a 12-mega-pixel rear camera and 2.1-mega-pixel front camera. The main camera can shoot 4K video in 3840 x 2160 pixels at 30 frames per second and the quality is good when taking photos in a well-lit environment. For complex light environments, you need to turn to the HDR option.

Alpha also has built-in ANT+ wireless adapter for connecting a chest-strap heart-rate monitor or other fitness tracking device. The chest-strap heart-rate monitor will be useful for apps like S Health that is available on Alpha, which does not have a built-in monitor.

Alpha has 1,860 mAh battery, which ran out fast when Wi-Fi connection was turned on.

The phone is available in Charcoal Black, Dazzling White, Frosted Gold and Sleek Silver. It’s in shops now for Bt18,900.

 

 

Key specs

_ Network: 4G LTE: 850/900/1800/1900/2100 MHz; 3G HSPA+: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz

_ OS: Android 4.4.4 (KitKat)

_ Processor: Octa Core (Quad 1.8GHz + Quad 1.3GHz)

_ Memory: 2GB RAM

_ Storage: 32 GB internal storage without microSD slot

_ Display: 4.7-inch HD Super AMOLED (1280 x 720)

_ Cameras: CMOS 12MP (rear) + 2.1MP (front); Main camera’s video recording: UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) @30fps

_ Connectivity: Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac HT80, MIMO (2x2)/ Bluetooth 4.0 BLE / ANT+ / USB: USB 2.0/ NFC

_ Sensor: Accelerometer, Gyro Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Hall Sensor, Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Gesture Sensor, Fingerprint Sensor, HR Sensor

_ Dimension: 132.4 x 65.5 x 6.7 mm

_ Weight: 115g