Samsung Galaxy Alpha review

Key Features: Android 4.4.4; 12-megapixel camera; 4.7-inch display; 4G LTE; NFC; Bluetooth 4.0; 720p HD Super AMOLED display; 1.8GHz and 1.3 GHz Octa-core; 2GB RAM; 32GB storage; 4K video at 30fps; fingerprint sensor; heart rate sensor

Manufacturer: Samsung

What is the Samsung Galaxy Alpha?

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is a 4.7-inch Android phone and more importantly the company's first ever metal phone. It's not all metal in the same way that the HTC One M8 or the HTC One Mini 2 are, but it's a welcome move after a long series of plastic-only phones.

Sitting between the S5 Mini and the Galaxy S5, the Alpha costs the same as the iPhone 6 and clearly comes with ambitions to bite into some of those potential Apple sales. In its own right, this is a great 'small' Android phone, but we can't help feeling disappointed that new look aside it doesn't offer a great deal more than the larger S5.


Left to right: S5 Mini, Galaxy Alpha and Galaxy S5

Samsung Galaxy Alpha: Design

Inevitably the metal frame is the major talking point here, but it’s the weight or lack of it, that really makes the strongest first impression. It weighs just 115g, making it lighter than the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 (129g), the S5 Mini (120g) and only slightly heavier than the iPhone 5S (112g). That has a lot to do with the fact that there's still plenty of plastic to balance out the more expensive materials.

Samsung still uses a dimpled soft touch back, although the dotted pattern is more discreet and is softer than it is on the S5 and the S5 Mini. Here's where you'll find the heart rate sensor, next to a 12-megapixel camera sensor and LED flash.

Up front, the bezel around the sides of the screen are nice and slim while the dotted theme from the back continues on the front as and it's more prominent than it is on other Galaxy smartphones. Most will probably not notice it, but we couldn't help feeling it was slightly naff and would have been better left plain. The home button with metal trim is a familiar sight and also supports the fingerprint recognition technology first introduced with the S5.


Left: Galaxy Alpha, Right: HTC One Mini 2

And so to the metal. Samsung uses an aluminium frame around the edges of the Alpha, including the buttons and volume rocker, replacing the metallic-looking plastic trim. It's difficult not to immediately think of the iPhone when you get your hands on it. The metal has a cold, flat feel with an anodised finish to give it a similar metallic sheen as Apple's smartphone. The corners are gently raised to help gripping it in landscape mode and it really does the trick of making this a much more attractive phone.

The problem, however, is that there’s still a great deal of plastic here and next to HTC’s metal phones, it's not really in the same league. It's a lovely phone to grip, though, and 4.7-inches appears to be the magic number for a so-called ‘smaller’ phone. In that respect, the Alpha is more manageable in one hand although the corners can dig in ever so slightly.