Can Samsung’s upcoming smartphone be considered to be a flagship phone?
Months of speculation about the Galaxy Alpha were confirmed when Korean tech giant officially announced the Galaxy Alpha on Wednesday, August 13.
JK Shin, CEO and Head of IT & Mobile Communication at Samsung Electronics, noted in a press release,: “The Galaxy Alpha was built and designed based on the specific desires of the consumer market.”
“With an entirely new appearance, the Galaxy Alpha focuses on both beauty and functionality combining a stunning metal frame and slim, light weight design with the same powerful hardware and features users expect from a flagship Galaxy mobile device.”
Yet Shin did not say if the phone is a flagship phone or not.
Flagship phones are a phone company’s “latest-and-greatest” in terms of hardware and software.
Going by those qualifiers, it is hard to tell if the Galaxy Alpha is meant to pip the current Samsung flagship phone, the Galaxy S5.
For instance, the Galaxy Alpha will definitely run the latest Android software, the Android 4.4.4 KitKat.
However, hardware wise, the Galaxy Alpha doesn’t quite hit the mark. For one, it has a smaller 4.7-inch display as compared to the 5.1-inch display on the Galaxy S5, and has an inferior 12 mega-pixel camera vis-a-vis the 16 mega-pixel camera of the S5.
Yet the Galaxy Alpha will definitely feature a metal frame with “elegantly curved corners and a tactile soft back cover,” as compared to the all plastic Galaxy S5.
Jackdaw Research analyst Jan Dawson told CNET that: “It feels very much like an experiment to me, like so many other Samsung devices in the past.”
Dawson also thinks that the Galaxy Alpha “likely won’t be a big seller, but Samsung’s all about throwing things at the wall to see what sticks.”
Check out some of the official phone specs below.
Display: 4.7-inch HD Super AMOLED
Processor: Octa Core (Quard 1.8Ghz +Quad 1.3Ghz)
Memory: 2GB RAM
Storage: 32GB (no micro SD slot)
Battery: 1,860 mAh
OS: Android 4.4.4 KitKat
Features: Ultra-Power Saving Mode, S Health, Finger Print Scanner, Private Mode, connectivity with the Samsung Gear Fit, Gear Live and Gear 2 wearables.
