Samsung Galaxy Alpha

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

TechRadar | Jon Mundy

Samsung has created a truly desirable smartphone for the first time in... well, ever.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

LAPTOP | Sam Rutherford

Samsung shines with the Galaxy Alpha's premium metal design, but its features don't match the price tag.

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.

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.