Samsung Galaxy Alpha Review: Passion And Fashion Win Out Over Power

 

If you don’t label a handset as a flagship, can it still be the flagship? That’s the quandary that the Samsung Galaxy Alpha has put me in. UK network EE supplied me a loan Galaxy Alpha unit for review, and while the specifications might not represent the ultimate powerhouse, everything else about the handset fits into the definition of ‘Number One Handset from South Korea’.

Samsung Puts The Focus On Design

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha moves on from the multiple curves in the physical design of the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S5 family. There are shades of the earlier Galaxy S devices (notably the Galaxy S2). It would be easy to say that it’s a pale imitation of the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S design cues, but this feels more like a look back into Samsung’s archive. How that archive was initially designed is another matter altogether, and not one I’m going to address here. This article is all about the Alpha.

                      

When placed next to the current Galaxy S5, the Alpha is a much more angular handset , with square-cut edges all round the metallic chassis. Samsung has ensured that the Alpha is comfortable to hold through a shallow 45% incline from the chassis edges to the front and rear of the handset.

It’s cool to the touch, but also gives a sense of a solid smartphone that’s not going to bend, a smartphone that’s going to stand up to the rigours of two years of constant use. With Corning’s Gorilla Glass covering the 4.7 inch Super AMOLED screen, the front of the Alpha keeps that solid feel.

                        

But Does It Bend?

Turning it over, and the back of the machine is a bit of a let down. Sporting a rubberized plastic back that is very easily bent, the tactile sensation does not mimic the rest of the handset. While it is held securely in place, this is only through plastic clips and levered off through an obvious air-gap to get a fingernail in. For a product that is being sold on the strength of the design and the materials used, this is a curious mis-step that feels like cost cutting to me.

The Galaxy Alpha is a thin phone. Even thought it comes in at 115 g, the 6.7 mm depth of the handset is impressive, and contributes to an illusion of svelte style. There is a bulge on the rear to accommodate the camera housing, and both the 3.5 mm stereo headset jack along the top edge, and the microUSB connector at the base of the Alpha sport bulges in both the chassis and the back plate to accommodate them. Neither of the exposed ports are dead centre, so it looks as if Samsung’s designers should have moved them into a more central position that would remove the bulges and keep some clean lines on the Alpha.

                       

The Galaxy Alpha is a great handset to look at, and most of the time it felt expensive in my hand. But that final push for quality, that focus that pushes great design into something that transcends consumer electronics is not present. Samsung aimed at the bullseye, they hit it and achieved a maximum score, but it’s not in the centre of the target.

Features Come First

Normally a flagship handset is going to be completely tricked out with the highest possible number in each category. The Galaxy Alpha does not follow that lead, going with a lower set of hardware specifications that may not match the big guns, but still provides for a strong Android experience.

Two variants of the Galaxy Alpha are available – the US model comes with a Snapdragon 801 processor, while the International variant (which I’m testing) comes with an Exynos 5430 system on chip. Both come with 2 GB of RAM, and have 32 GB of on-board storage. That provides the Galaxy Alpha with performance that is a year or so behind the current flagships. The Galaxy S5 has a bit more oomph, as do most of the top-of-the-line handsets, but unless you are really pushing the limits with some high-end gaming or complicated office applications, this should not be a deal-breaker.

The Alpha does have one advantage over other models as it features Intel’s latest XMM7260 modem, which provides strong 4G LTE support for the international traveller. 4G is prevalent at the high-end, but not always available in mid-range devices. Given the Alpha’s marketing, 4G feels like it had to be included in the package.

A Smaller Camera That’s Great Outdoors

The maximum image resolution on the Galaxy Alpha’s camera is 12 megapixels (slightly down on the 16 megapixels found on the Galaxy S5). Apart from the size of the image, there’s no drop in quality of the image (unsurprising as the f/2.2 lens and 4.8 mm focal length match that of the Galaxy S5) . Samsung’s auto mode provides an excellent level of point and shoot, and the software (identical to the current Samsung Android devices) provides granular controls for those who want to experiment.

                        

Samsung’s imaging engineers have focused on sharpness and edge definition in the post-processing, and that gives good results… assuming you have enough light. Move into low-light environments, or snapping pictures of moving objects that require a faster shutter time (and therefore, you guessed it, less exposure to light per picture) and noise will impact the pictures. Samsung is still some way behind Apple and Sony (and Nokia has beaten them all with its PureView branded smartphones).

The camera delivers at the same level of the rest of the Galaxy range, but be aware that is slightly below average for the industry.

The Biggest Compromise Is The Battery

Battery-wise the thin design of the Alpha has resulted in the small capacity of 1860 mAh. That can get you through a normal day of use of the Alpha, as long as you don’t demand too much from the handset. Pop on some HD video over lunch, a slice of graphically intense gaming, or a lot of 4G internet browsing when you are far away from a cellphone tower, and the battery is going to struggle to make it to the end of the day. It’s cutting it very close just now, and if you purchase the phone on a two-year contract I’d be worried about the impact of chemical degradation in the battery. Luckily the battery is user-replaceable, but it is one of the biggest compromises in the design.

Can The Alpha Be Justified?

So is the Alpha a flagship? Like a good politician, I could argue either way, but given the Samsung’s marketing, especially in the United Kingdom, the company is going all-in and gambling that the style will sell the phone, rather than what it does. I think it’s a gamble worth making, and I think Samsung will pull it off.

The key to understanding the Alpha is not to deliver on the traditional idea of ‘the phone with the biggest number wins’, but in providing consumers with a phone that will do everything they expect. In that sense the Galaxy Alpha is a departure for Samsung. The South Korean firm has traditionally relied on a strategy of a high-end handset with maxed-out specs, and then selling more limited handsets through the halo of brand recognition.

While the marketing spend remains high for the Alpha, it’s not relying on the strength of the Galaxy S5 to sell it. Instead the focus is on the handset as a piece of art, as a cut of fashion you want to be seen with, and as an object of lust. By sacrificing that push for ultimate power, not only does the Alpha lower its own bill of materials (through the use of older parts and more economy of scale with Samsung’s other mid-range Android devices), the company has also begun to realise that Android is now a commoditised game, and you don’t need to be a sports car to have a successful model.

The Galaxy Alpha is packaged with Android 4.4.4, it runs Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, and the application load out is similar to that of the rest of the 2014 Galaxy range, so there’s nothing stand-out in the applications package. You have the core apps as mandated by Google sitting alongside the same functionality but provided by Samsung apps. The various ‘S’ apps to enhance the Samsung experience and tie you into Samsung’s cloud service are all present (such as S Health, which makes use of the heart-rate monitor just underneath the rear camera’s flash unit).

In other words, it’s the stock ‘Samsung’ experience. Debate can now begin if stock Samsung is better than Stock  Android, but the important point is this. The Galaxy Alpha software delivers. Yes there are quirks, but there are no show-stoppers beyond the duplication of functional apps. Neither is there a piece of software that makes the Alpha a must-have handset. Just as the physical styling misses the exact centre of the target, so does Samsung’s sprawling software load-out seek to confuse the user, rather than delight them.