Samsung Galaxy Alpha, we've tested it

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is the Samsung terminal that marks a new milestone in the brand's designs. A smartphone with a 4.7-inch screen that incorporates a metal border. This detail provides an elegant and thoughtful touch to the device, which also achieves excellent fineness of only 6.7 millimeters . Other highlights are an eight-core processor to run fluently the vast majority of Android applications, an internal memory of 32 GB or a good quality rear camera with 12 megapixels. We have had the opportunity to test this latest generation smartphone, with a market price of600 euros. We tell you our impressions.

Slim, metal-edged design

Undoubtedly, the great attraction of this new Samsung Galaxy Alpha is in being one of the first from Samsung to incorporate metal details. Specifically, the sides of this phone have been reinforced with aluminum. This detail can mark a new design line in the brand's smartphones. A first glance leaves us an elegant and attractive mobile . In addition to the visual impact, another advantage of this use of metal will be to avoid wear on the sides when the phone falls, something that is usually common when you have one of the brand's phones (said by a regular user mobile phones of the Korean firm).

This elegance of the device is reinforced by a very thin design, measuring just 6.7 millimeters, which brings it closer to the thinnest mobiles on the market. This fineness is combined with a weight of 115 grams to complete a very manageable terminal. The Korean company offers this model in white, black, aquamarine, gold and bronze colors. As for the screen, we have a 4.7-inch Super AMOLED panel with HD resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels. This resolution gives a density of 320 dpi,more than enough to enjoy a good detail in the contents of the phone. But above this resolution, the points that we would like to highlight about this panel are the vividness of the colors and the excellent level of luminosity it reaches.

Good quality camera

A 12 megapixel resolution CMOS camera is integrated on the back of the phone . This lens includes many of the attractions of the Galaxy S5 camera , such as a very fast autofocus to be able to carry out photos in a matter of tenths of a second or the option of recording a video with the camera images at the same time. front and rear camera. Another cool feature is the ability to take a photo by blurring the background to create a more professional effect. Finally, we would like to highlight one of the available modes to create a virtual tourthroughout a room or room, a very interesting function if, for example, we want to show our house to friends or potential tenants. In addition, this camera is capable of recording video with 4K resolution to be able to see these contents on a state-of-the-art television. Of course, we have to face a limitation of each shot of a maximum of four minutes .

On the front we will find a camera with a resolution of 2.1 megapixels and a decent bill for both selfies and to use video conferencing apps like Skype . This camera records video quality Full HD 1,920 x 1,080 pixels .

Eight core processor

To run applications and games, the Samsung Galaxy Alpha includes a powerful eight-core processor with a power of 1.8 GHz in four of the cores and with 1.3 GHz in the remaining four cores. It is a chip capable of running the vast majority of Android apps without problems, and that is combined with a good 2 GB RAM. As for the internal memory, the Galaxy Alpha has an internal space of 32 GB. If we remove the space used for the operating system and Samsung's pre-installed applications , this terminal leaves us with a capacity of 25.5 GB. In principle, it is more than enough space to store our personal files and apps. The problem comes if we need more space, since the company has decided to eliminate the Micro SD card slot . An alternative that increasingly offers better features is to bet on an online storage system such as Dropbox or Google Drive .

Samsung Apps

In the guts of this terminal we find the latest version of Android 4.4.4 KitKat. This popular platform has become the great dominator of the mobile landscape. However, here we are going to focus on the proprietary applications developed by Samsung , which are what give us a key differentiating element. In the first place, the company has deployed a portal called "My Magazine" that allows us to access the latest news both in terms of news and on social networks or YouTube . Users can choose different themes such as cooking and travel to receive different news. It is a very attractive and visual platform.

Another feature that this phone inherits is the ability to use two different split-screen applications , although this option is less comfortable on a compact 4.7-inch screen. What I would like to highlight is the app Samsung Health , strengthened by the pedometer and heart rate sensor included in the phone. This last sensor is placed just to the left of the rear camera sensor. The fingerprint reader also has a lot of potential , especially when protecting our most private photos with a hidden mode that can only be accessed with our fingerprint.

Connectivity and sound

How could it be otherwise, the Alpha is compatible with the latest generation 4G networks , with maximum speeds of up to 150 Mbps . These networks have become one of the great attractions of the operators in recent times. We also have WiFi connectivity to connect at home or at public access points. Two things should be noted in the WiFi connection. First of all, the Galaxy Alpha is compatible with the WiFi AC protocol , which operates in the 5 GHz band and used with a compatible modem will give us better connection speeds. In addition, it also has a dual antenna MiMO systemfor a more stable connection. Other connections that this device includes are NFC or Bluetooth 4.0. Sound wise, there were doubts about Samsung's ability to pack good speakers into such a slim design. However, we have to say that the performance of its speaker has positively surprised us both for its power and its quality, which make this terminal a good tool for watching videos or listening to music with friends.

Autonomy, price and opinions

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha integrates a battery with a power of 1,860 milliamps . Samsung has improved the efficiency of this terminal so that we can continue to use it without limitations, but the truth is that Alpha is located below the range we have seen in high - end models such as the S5 or Galaxy Note 3. Still, It should be enough so that we can use it for a whole day without having to recharge it. At this point we must also highlight the usefulness of the ultra battery saving function, which can multiply the autonomy of the team by ten. This is an interesting feature that will save us from a lot of trouble. The official data provided by Samsung includes nine hours of 4G browsing , eleven hours of WiFi browsing or eleven hours of conversation.

The market price of the Alpha amounts to 600 euros. In short, it is a top-of-the-line terminal that stands out both for its very thin design with metallic edges and for the powerful specifications inside. Of course, if the design is not a key aspect, it may be more interesting to bet on another model of the firm such as the Samsung Galaxy S5 or wait for the next launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 .