The Galaxy Alpha is terrifically thin and light, though that’s not the first thing you’ll notice about it. It happens to be damn good looking too. The sheen from those polished edges makes all the difference, combining with the lustrous Super AMOLED display to make a great first impression. Some devices look better in press photos than reality – the LG G Watch R is a recent example – but the Galaxy Alpha is exactly the opposite. You have to see it in person to appreciate its slick and refined look. Everything is appropriately proportioned, the 4.7-inch screen size feels just right, and ease of one-handed use is as good as you’ll get from any device in that size class. Those who might have felt let down by the new Moto X moving to a larger 5.2-inch screen may find solace in Samsung’s more compact Alpha. Ergonomically, this phone is a delight. I don’t want to call it perfect, but it kind of is.
The Galaxy Alpha is a very interesting device, because it’s essentially Samsung’s answer to Apple’s upcoming iPhone 6, while the upcoming iPhone 6 is Apple’s answer to Samsung’s devices with larger screens. The same applies to Samsung’s Note 4, which now also sports a metal construction. Over the coming months, we’re going to see which of these two answers will have the biggest impact.
I don’t like making predictions – people, and thus the market, are fickle – but I’m fairly convinced that once the dust of the new iPhones settles down (they will sell very well, of course), nothing much will have changed, market share-wise, compared to now. People aren’t going to switch away from iOS because Samsung now offers metal phones, and similarly, Android users aren’t going to switch to iOS because they’re going to get an extra row of icons on their homescreen.
Still, all this shows competition in action: companies producing better products. We, the people, win.
Well, I don’t know about ‘better’, but they sure are prettier… I guess. Personally, I can’t wait until all phones are metal, for no other reason than maybe people will finally shut the hell up about metal. Of course, then they’ll probably want the phones encrusted in diamonds, or some other such horseshit.
Vertu.
Stuart Hughes
http://stuarthughes.com/newdawn/product_info.php?products_id=116
Maybe if I get a second job flipping burgers, I’ll have one by the time I retire?
Really? Launching a stupid new phone every 6 months that they don’t even support for the next 2 years is a win for the buyers?!
I think that’s not a win It’s a shame!
And the environment pays this nonsensical trend.
Edited 2014-09-07 22:03 UTC
At least now you get updates. Back in the good old days, only Nokia bothered with some of their models.
Am I the only one who got tired of these nothing-new-smartphone news? Oh lookie a new one, it is metal. Whatever. It looks nice? Whatever. But it tracks eye movement and scroll is super slick? Whatever. But the blacks are blacker and screen dimensions are blah wah wah… zzzzzz. Not wanting to be negative, but I don’t perceive the improvement and my reaction has been pretty much flat for some time now. Wake me up when there really is something new about a smartphone.
MNews or Mobile News is more fitting.
Maybe the times have changed, but then so should the site move with the times, including its branding. If operating systems are no longer the purview of the site, then the name is no longer accurate.
I don’t want to know about all the latest phones, I really don’t. Otherwise I would follow one of the million Android/IOS/Mobile blogs/sites out there.
Android and iOS are operating systems too.
Deal with it.
This news article had sweet FA to do with Android except it was about a device that runs it.
So it had nothing to do with Android except for the fact that it did?
Ok.
Hardware? A Samsung that looks and feels great is indeed something special, just like an Apple that finally has a screen that is big enough to see and do something on it.
But there is so much more to this next generation of phones, and it is called software. Android will now be able to run on anything and look great. IOS will finally be extensible with (for example) 3rd party keyboards
And with Windows Phone finally having caught up with the IOS and Android since 8.1 this is going to be a very interesting step up.
There is so much change going on in this field that you only have to compare your hardware and software from 1 year ago to the new hardware and software and you will see why there is something to read/write about daily
Indeed. Although there is more to feeling great than a metal case. One key part is Apple’s lighting connector. Yeah it’s not the standard but I’d pay an extra $50-$100 not to have to fiddle to plug my phone in every day for the next 3 years. Outside of wireless charging which doesn’t seem to be quite “there” yet, it’s the easiest way to charge a mobile device. The micro USB 3 port on the S5 is a nightmare in comparison.
Yep, phones are now in an evolutionary path so the upgrades are less obvious but compare the phones + OS from 2 or 3 years ago to now and you see a big difference.
Well…
Wireless charging is a perfectly mature tech, though – it just works if you get a phone with e.g. Qi built in (like the Nexus 4 and 5). Put phone on charger pad, go to sleep. Grab a fully charged phone in the morning.
I dunno I had a Qi charger for my wife’s Nexus 4. It was super picky about the right placement of the phone and basically did not work with her case on at all. Maybe there are better ones out there but it’s not yet as easy as toss it on the pad and it works.
OT: My Lumia 820 very eagerly begs to differ…
Thom, how can you make such a bold analysis without actually seeing what Apple will reveal? It’s been stated that Android garnered as much market share as it did simply because it incorporated larger screens… this despite iOS being generally preferred over android.
A larger screen on the CURRENT model iPhone would give it at least parity and some might argue a slight edge if you consider the exceptionally faster processor paired alongside the preferred iOS.
You’re assuming that Apple will bring nothing new to the table on Tuesday’s announcement.
Android has gotten as much market share as it did because it offers an incredible amount of choice for hardware and software at every possible price point, works well, has a handful of gigantic companies behind it.
Just reducing that to “it runs on phones with big screens” is nonsense. Not everyone likes iOS, not everyone likes the features that iPhones offer (no dual sim, sdcard, removable battery, usb, nfc) and not everyone likes the price of an iPhone.
It is pretty much a given that Apple is going to move the current 4″ 5S to mid-level and is going to add 4.7″ and probably 5.5″ as their high-end. That means they can now compete when people want a bigger phone, but it doesn’t mean they automatically will win that competition
As an iOS/Mac devotee I’m excited about the launch of the new iPhone primarily because of rumoured the larger screen, band 28 LTE support and iOS 8.0 but with that being said I always have a look at alternatives. Right now Samsung may boast hardware specifications but their software (both on the phone and sync’ing software on the desktop) royally blows with HTC really the only viable alternative who seem to be genuinely attempting to create an experience for customers that doesn’t suffer from the bloat that Samsung foisted onto its user base and provide regular updates for at least 2 years along with a sync’ing application for the desktop that isn’t buggy as hell on OS X. Oh well, worse comes to worse, if everything turns to crap on Wednesday morning NZ time then I can always move to a HTC One M8.
I was yesterday at IFA in Berlin and I had the feeling that I was looking at an Iphone instead of a Samsung phone.
Seriously, the only thing that was significantly different was the “Samsung” brand on the phone.
The phone doesn’t even feel sturdy, seriously. My One Plus One feels much better in my hands than this Samsung phone.
And I could overheard many comments from other people saying that the phone was a joke…
I agree that the existing iphones are very sturdy. My work one has survived being whipped onto the tile floor or into the wall or down the stairs in disgust when iOS screws up. Sturdy hardware, crappy software.
The word beautiful is used, and, I don’t see it. I own a Samsung Note3, and it doesn’t look that different from that, and it is a lot of things, but beautiful is not really one of them. In fact, the picture I saw it kinda looked like a Gen 1 iPhone
People? Win? What exactly? You still have to pay for these products with your own hard earned money.
I don’t like it at all.
…however, I’m the guy who loves the retro-sci-fi design of Nokia N-Gage, so you cannot call me a “trendy” guy
Let’s be honest though. Samsung quality is pretty poor. Samsung would be the last phone I would recommend to someone. I rather see them in a HTC if they feel the need for an Android phone.
beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I think my white plastic Ace2 is beautyfull!
…an iPhone 4 to me.
Edited 2014-09-09 02:19 UTC