Samsung Galaxy Alpha deals and reviews

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Alpha?

If you are looking for a premium Android handset in a smaller form factor, the 4.7" Samsung Galaxy Alpha could be for you. Taking a design-first approach, Samsung has created a beautiful handset that bucks its previous tendency towards plasticky phablet-sized units. Samsung have continued this approach with the flagship Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge phones.

Compact, thin, light and backed by a good camera and reasonable screen, the Samsung Galaxy Alpha is a good choice if you want a good-looking phone that fits neatly into your pocket.

Getting to know the Samsung Galaxy Alpha

With its sleek design and lightweight body, the Galaxy Alpha is a notable step up for Samsung compared to previous efforts, with a build quality that matches its high-end spec.

Quad core processor

A 2.5 GHz Snapdragon 801 quad core processor gives the handset multi-tasking capability, with no loss of speed. "The overall performance of the phone is quite responsive, and it's nice to know that it's capable of handling some hardcore 3D gaming without a whole lot of degradation to its performance," said PhoneArena's review.

Some reviewers expressed disappointment at the lack of a microSD slot to enable additional storage. Instead, the Samsung Galaxy Alpha is limited to 32GB of onboard storage.

Casing

The casing of the Samsung Galaxy Alpha is made from plastic offset by an aluminium trim along the edges of the phone. The handset is both thin and light, making it very easy to use one handed, aided by a soft-touch surface on the rear. PhoneArena did not hold back on its praise for the handset's aesthetics: "Utterly gorgeous from head-to-toe, the Galaxy Alpha is the best looking phone we've seen from Sammy - ever!"

Screen

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha sports a 4.7" Super AMOLED screen which performs admirably, although there may be a few problems reading text in bright sunlight. Reviewers were impressed by how accurately colours are rendered on the 720p screen, even though overall image quality is necessarily lower than on the handset's big brothers, the Samsung Galaxy S5 and S6.

Most reviewers conceded that the lower pixel density was not a deal breaker. Theoretically, this means that most people won't be able to discern individual pixels at a normal viewing distance (around 28cm in this case). And from a real-world perspective, we'd concur: the onscreen text, images and colours are very sharp, with no fuzziness or stair stepping at all," "performs as well as, if not better than, a flagship smartphone like the Samsung Galaxy S5 in daylight conditions." However, "the camera struggles in low light. The images are noisy and it doesn't really capture too many details." The Samsung Galaxy Alpha also offers 4K video recording and super slow motion capture at 240fps.

Battery

Many reviewers were disappointed by the 1860mAh battery fitted to the Samsung Galaxy Alpha which is underpowered for the demands of a modern smartphone user.

Android OS and fitness features

Like the flagship Samsung Galaxy S series phones, the Galaxy Alpha has been fitted with a number of health applications designed to help owners better manage their wellbeing. The S Health app works in conjunction with the fingerprint scanner mounted on the back of the handset to monitor heart rate for instance. In general these functions are reported to work well, although David Court said the heart rate monitor "fluctuated by a few beats per minute when we took a number of samples one after another." TouchWiz, Samsung's proprietary overlay for the Android operating system, divided critics. Most agreed that TouchWiz was annoying, but serviceable – "Not great, but not bad [as previous versions of TouchWiz]," as Jon Mundy wrote for Techradar.

What the critics say (scores are out of 100)

100	Expert Reviews | David Ludlow The Galaxy Alpha is still a pretty decent handset with a smaller than usual display. It's no longer widely available to buy new of course, but it's well worth checking out secondhand if you're in the market for a classy-looking handset for less. Read full review
90	Know Your Mobile | RIchard Goodwin The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is one of the best handsets Samsung has EVER produced. I love this phone... To sum up in one sentence: the Samsung Galaxy Alpha, despite my preconceptions, really does live up its name. The device looks better, feels better and in many respects appears to perform better than its larger, flagship brethren, brother. Read full review
90	PC Advisor | Marie Brewis This really is the Samsung iPhone, and the South Korean firm has done a fantastic job of it. By putting build quality before specification it has produced a truly desirable, premium phone with a mid-range price. And still the Samsung Galaxy Alpha is still astonishingly fast. Read full review
90	Wired UK | Dave Oliver The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is an excellent smartphone but it comes at a premium price. It looks and feels great -- a fine balance between style and easy one-handed use, with a high-performance spec that puts it head and shoulders above most of its rivals. Read full review
90	Mobile Choice The Galaxy Alpha is all about the look and feel. This is a phone which Samsung is selling almost exclusively on the way it looks; TV adverts and posters all over London show off the phone's chamfered metal edges and slim profile. Read full review
88	phoneArena | John V. The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is an excellent, all-around phone. From taking photos, to its battery life, it earns plenty of high marks from us. Read full review
85	Australian PC World | Tony Ibrahim the first steel chassis to be used in any Samsung smartphone... The Alpha feels less assembled and more crafted...Complementing the premium feel of the Galaxy Alpha is a sweet spot in size. The smartphone's 4.7in AMOLED screen puts it in contention with the iPhone 6, but the bigger screen of the Alpha sits in a body that is shorter and lighter. Read full review
85	Mobile Syrup | Douglas Soltys A bunk screen and other nagging hardware quirks drag down a potentially all-time great device. Still worth a look if you crave some Apple with your Android, and don't mind a dollop of TouchWIZ. Read full review
83	PC Pro | David Court The Galaxy Alpha is Samsung's best looking smartphone to date, but it's short on features and the price is too high. Read full review
82	pocketnow | Michael Fisher We wish it could be a little throatier and less tinny; Apple managed to deliver an excellent speakerphone in the same position on the new iPhone 6, after all, and we've heard Samsung deliver awesome sound before. Small phones, like their larger counterparts, can't always be perfect. Read full review
80	Gadgets Now | Ravi Sharma There's a lot to like in Samsung Galaxy Alpha, and that's enough to overlook its (few) shortcomings ... nevertheless, we would suggest that if you want a smartphone, then Samsung Galaxy Alpha is easily among the best choices you can make. Read full review
80	AndroidPit | Scott Adam Gordon There is a lot to be said for just making a phone that feels nice to hold and look at, but add high performance and a nice camera and it really becomes an attractive option, that is, if you can stomach the small battery life and high entry price. Read full review
80	Digital Trends | Malarie Gokey The Galaxy Alpha is Samsung's concession to those who want real metal incorporated into the design. The result is a fantastic high-end Android phone with a mid-range screen. And it looks almost exactly like an iPhone. Read full review
80	S21 The Samsung Galaxy Alpha brings premium styling to the Galaxy smartphone range. It's a superslim, ultra-lightweight Android phone with good performance, but not quite in the superphone league. Read full review
80	Android Authority | Lanh Nguyen At the end of the day, the Galaxy Alpha might just be another phone in Samsung's vast product portfolio. But in this case, it's not really about the phone itself, but about what it represents. The Galaxy Alpha might very well be the start of something new from Samsung. Read full review
80	Digital Versus | Florence Legrand The Galaxy Alpha certainly has the desired effect regarding design: sophisticated, crafted... But looks aren't everything. And while the Alpha might be very nice for general use, it's far from perfect. It faces stiff competition from the cheaper Sony Xperia Z3, which performs better on the whole, especially concerning battery life and photo/video quality. Read full review
80	T3 | Max Parker If you're looking for a Android phone that doesn't come with a screen ranging from 5-6 inches, but that still can perform like the big boys, the Galaxy Alpha is, along with Sony's fantastic Z3 Compact, a good, if not perfect, choice. Read full review
80	The Gadget Show Samsung has crafted its finest looking handset to date, and it's one that can easily be used in one hand too, unlike the company's phablet obsession. The Galaxy Alpha marks a new look for Samsung, and we've got to say we're impressed. More like this, please. Read full review
80	TechRadar | Jon Mundy Samsung has created a truly desirable smartphone for the first time in... well, ever. Read full review
80	Trusted Reviews | Michael Sawh The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is a beautiful-looking phone, it's just a shame it misses out on some of the S5's most impressive features. Read full review
80	The Telegraph | Matt Warman In truth, if a user walks into a Carphone Warehouse and walks out with an Alpha it's because they like the design and the price. It's a symbol of Samsung's willingness to change but also the weakness of its previous designs. Read full review
80	Pocket-lint | Luke Edwards Overall the Galaxy Alpha is an attractive smartphone that's powerful enough to handle anything you care to throw at it. Compared to any Samsung smartphone that's come before it, it's also a lot more premium in build quality. Read full review
80	Digital Spy | Hunter Skipworth Ultimately it's this lack of polish that really holds the Alpha back from greatness. It's such an important moment for Samsung that it has finally realized specifications aren't everything, so now it's just a case of building on what it has learned. Read full review
80	CNET UK | Andrew Hoyle If you love the high-end tech Samsung crams into its phones but hate the plastic bodies, the Galaxy Alpha may well be the phone for you. Its processor and camera perform brilliantly, while its compact 4.7-inch size makes it very comfortable to hold and use in one hand. Its low-resolution display is a big letdown, though, especially when you consider the high price of the phone, which does take the shine off an otherwise brilliant phone. Read full review
79	The Verge | Vlad Savov The Galaxy Alpha is an unusual device for Samsung that augurs well for the future. It combines most of the good things about the Galaxy S5 with the metallic allure of recent competitors from HTC and Apple. It's beautiful. Now Samsung needs to make sure that it's practical too. Read full review
78	Engadget | Brad Molen The Alpha is Samsung's first phone with a metal frame, and it's the most aesthetically pleasing Galaxy phone we've ever seen. Unfortunately, it's priced at a premium and doesn't have the same set of features that you can get on the Galaxy S5 for the same price. Read full review
75	TechSpot | Tim Schiesser For now, the Galaxy Alpha seems like a concept; a glimpse into the future of smartphones at Samsung. But pitch it against the competition, including Samsung's own Galaxy S5, and it's clear that there are just too many downsides to the Alpha for it to be recommended. Read full review
75	YourTechExplained | Alex Garcia Hardware is great but it does lack some of the things that could have made it a contender such as a 1080p display, better battery life (...) At the end of the day this phone as a lot of potential. Read full review
75	Neowin | Timi Cantisano The Galaxy Alpha is an interesting device. It's essentially a flagship device with a mid-tier display and a flagship price tag. Although I did enjoy the metallic bezel, I don't think Samsung went far enough. It is a good first attempt however, and I'm sure there will be many more iterations and variants in the near future. But, when it comes down to it, I don't think this is what people have been asking for. Read full review
75	TechnoBuffalo | Brandon Russell If you're really set on the Galaxy Alpha, I'd say wait to see what Samsung does next. Ultimately, the Alpha doesn't excel in any particular aspect, and although it does feature a good design, there's much more potential here for something greater. Read full review
70	Register Hardware | Alun Taylor Small, light and kinda funky, the Galaxy Alpha is without a doubt the most aesthetically pleasing phone ever to leave a Samsung assembly plant in the back of a truck. Read full review
70	LAPTOP | Sam Rutherford Samsung shines with the Galaxy Alpha's premium metal design, but its features don't match the price tag. Read full review
70	NDTV Gadgets | Ershad Kaleebullah By no means we are saying Galaxy Alpha is a bad phone, because it is the most premium-looking and sturdy Samsung phone we've played with till date. However, there are compromises in the form of heating issues, the lower resolution screen and the lack of expandable storage. Read full review
65	Brighthand | Jeff Dunn The Alpha deserves praise for being a capable Android phone that's eminently usable with one hand, but its promise is ultimately better than its product. Read full review

Compare Samsung Galaxy Alpha specs side-by-side with other phones COMPARE SPECS

Dimensions & Form	Form factor: Touchscreen bar Dimensions 132.4 x 65.5 x 8.05 mm (5.21 x 2.58 x 0.32 in) Weight: 115 g (4.06 oz)
Screen	Size: 4.7 inches diagonal Resolution: 1280 x 720 pixels Screen Density: 312 ppi Screen-to-Body Ratio: 70.2 % Display Type: Super AMOLED
Runs
Performance	Chipset: Exynos 5430 Octa CPU: Quad-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7 GPU: Mali-T628 MP6 RAM: 2GB
Camera	Main Camera: 12 megapixels, 4K video recording Secondary Camera: 2.1 megapixels
Storage	Built-in Storage: 32GB Expandable Storage: Not Available
Battery & Charging	Capacity: 1860 mAh Removable Battery: No Wireless Charging: No Quick Charge: None
SIM standard	Micro SIM Compare SIM Only deals
Water & Dust Resistance	Not Available
Fingerprint Reader	Front
References & More info	Official website GSMArena specs page

Photos taken with the Samsung Galaxy Alpha

We've used Flickr to find a selection of pictures taken by the Samsung Galaxy Alpha camera. Here is a selection of photos taken by users from around the world so you can see what kind of picture quality you can expect from real-world use of the Samsung Galaxy Alpha.

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All images shown are used under the rights and terms specified by the Creative Commons.