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Samsung Galaxy Alpha official
- Thread starter Sensamic
- Start date
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It did seem pretty bright though, but yeah there was a very S3 like blueish greenish tone, which isn't as prevalent on the S5 and Note 4.
Overall clarity was so so as well. Pretty big step down for anyone that's owned an S5.
Tried it in a store. I cant see why people call this phone beautiful. It seems incredibly uninspired in my opinion.
I also HATE the dotted texture they put on the front of the phone again. Is that a Samsung thing? They alway do that and it makes the phones look terrible.
The screen was bright but somehow looked really bad. Cant put my finger on it. I did like the aluminum rim and the phone is really, really thin. Other than that, it feels like a poor attempt against the iphone 6.
If this is the best Samsung can do then they should be worried.
I also HATE the dotted texture they put on the front of the phone again. Is that a Samsung thing? They alway do that and it makes the phones look terrible.
The screen was bright but somehow looked really bad. Cant put my finger on it. I did like the aluminum rim and the phone is really, really thin. Other than that, it feels like a poor attempt against the iphone 6.
If this is the best Samsung can do then they should be worried.
While different target audiences, it doesn't help it was on display basically the same time as the Note 4 either.
And I rather Snapdragon per se, there is so much more development support for that than the other one housed in the Alpha and Note 4.
Samsung certainly shouldn't have anything to worry about based off what we have seen from the Alpha and Note 4. Certainly a good step in the right direction with the new look phones.
Well I'm back from my Holiday in the sunshine (and back home to Irish storms and lashing rain) with my Alpha and 5S in tow.
Will finally get around to posting a MRU review, compiling it now, and after using it lots in the past week I'm more comfortable shorting my experiences regarding battery life and such
Will finally get around to posting a MRU review, compiling it now, and after using it lots in the past week I'm more comfortable shorting my experiences regarding battery life and such
Yay! Looking forward to reading it.Well I'm back from my Holiday in the sunshine (and back home to Irish storms and lashing rain) with my Alpha and 5S in tow.
Will finally get around to posting a MRU review, compiling it now, and after using it lots in the past week I'm more comfortable shorting my experiences regarding battery life and such
Looking forward to the review. Am in need of a new handset and it's currently between the Alpha and the Moto X.
Is it just me or has it got harder to decide. All the new handsets are great and each come with their own pluses and minuses but they all come out just about even in the end.
Decisions decisions.
Is it just me or has it got harder to decide. All the new handsets are great and each come with their own pluses and minuses but they all come out just about even in the end.
Decisions decisions.
Well I'm back from my Holiday in the sunshine (and back home to Irish storms and lashing rain) with my Alpha and 5S in tow.
Will finally get around to posting a MRU review, compiling it now, and after using it lots in the past week I'm more comfortable shorting my experiences regarding battery life and such
Well I'm back from my Holiday in the sunshine (and back home to Irish storms and lashing rain) with my Alpha and 5S in tow.
Will finally get around to posting a MRU review, compiling it now, and after using it lots in the past week I'm more comfortable shorting my experiences regarding battery life and such
Glad you're back from Holiday! Hope you had a great time MRU!
Well I'm back from my Holiday in the sunshine (and back home to Irish storms and lashing rain) with my Alpha and 5S in tow.
Will finally get around to posting a MRU review, compiling it now, and after using it lots in the past week I'm more comfortable shorting my experiences regarding battery life and such
Glad you are back and I hope you had a good time. That said get busy on that review!
Yay! Looking forward to reading it.
Thanks all
Its coming Nice holiday Jamezr matey. Cycling around the almost barren volcanic charred terrain of Lanzarote, was a big change from the usual inclement Irish weather & green green grass of home.
Hope you enjoyed the breezy night last night. Blowin stink it was.
Thanks all
Nice holiday Jamezr matey. Cycling around the almost barren volcanic charred terrain of Lanzarote, was a big change from the usual inclement Irish weather & green green grass of home.
There is nothing I like about the Alpha other than the bottom firing speaker. That is long overdue design change on Samsung's part.
Otherwise I think it is kinda ugly and hollow feeling. The screen is blah too.
Otherwise I think it is kinda ugly and hollow feeling. The screen is blah too.
Well I'm back from my Holiday in the sunshine (and back home to Irish storms and lashing rain) with my Alpha and 5S in tow.
Will finally get around to posting a MRU review, compiling it now, and after using it lots in the past week I'm more comfortable shorting my experiences regarding battery life and such
Still waiting....
Thanks all
Nice holiday Jamezr matey. Cycling around the almost barren volcanic charred terrain of Lanzarote, was a big change from the usual inclement Irish weather & green green grass of home.
How about that! I live just next door in Gran Canary!
You missed the best island of all!
Hope you enjoyed the island! Did you visit Fuerteventura also maybe? It's got beaches that would make your jaw drop
The MRU review......
Galaxy Alpha review
Well as you all are more than aware I have had this phone now for around two good solid weeks and I have been putting it through its paces alongside my white 64gb iphone 5s and my black Moto X for comparison sakes.
The iPhone 5s is aesthetically similar to the Alpha, and the Moto X shares the same screen size and amoled screen, so hence the reason why I decided to put my Alpha through its paces over the last fortnight with these handsets.
I had been looking forward to the Alpha as soon as Samsung announced it, and indeed as a Galaxy S5 owner the Alpha addresses many of the aesthetic issues I had with the S5 and indeed fixes a few software issues too with Touchwiz on the S5 and the persistent Samsung bloat ware of past Samsung devices too.
The Alpha for me is the perfect size of a mobile device. Yes I have had many phablets and 5" + devices and enjoyed them, but always found that I made compromises in regards to their size. Whilst invariably there are benefits to big devices, personally for me I have found that the 4.7" screen size is the perfect compromise as it fits my hand perfectly for one handed operation and offers decent size for two handed operation also.
The moto X is one of my favorite android devices from an ergonomic standpoint, however it falls short in the 'premium' feel of something like the iPhone 5s. The 5s is a beautifully constructed phone but the 4" screen feels confined these days. The Alpha acts like a hybrid of the two offering a 4.7" screen with the build quality of a premium device.
The first thing that surprised me when I first got my hands on the device was the weight of the device. It is surprisingly light. 115 grams is very light, added to the thinness of the device it makes the phone feel surprisingly lighter. The phone is however incredibly well balances despite its thin profile. The plastic back door may leave some disappointed, but it provides the handset a decent grip texture and for me because replacement back door can be purchased cheaply, for me it means I can enjoy the device naked without worrying I'd scratch it. I did however put on a tempered glass screen protector.
The model I bought was the exynos octacore version, and i was more than pleasantly surprised by the performance it has provided. Antutu scores over 48,000 and Geekbench multicore results of over 3100 putting it above the performance benchmark results of the Galaxy S5 and HTC M8.
But how does that performance translate when your running the marmite of Android skins 'touchwiz?'
The Galaxy S5 was a speedy device, indeed it rarely spluttered except when it came to multi tasking having to reload apps into memory. The S5 however was still home to many Samsung apps that I like many just do not want. Indeed a quick look at application manager and you can see lots of needless apps and services running in the background. My S5 was also home to a number of carrier bloatware.
The Galaxy Alpha is the first Samsung device (other than Google play edition of the S4) that I have used that has hardly any bloat ware. I bought mine factory unlocked and was more than surprised to see no more Samsung hub, Chat On, Samsung beam services and other bloat. S Note, scrapbook and story book are still available if you want them, but importantly they weren't there bloating my device if I didn't want them.
The end result is a device which is consistent, fluid and where other Samsung devices traditionally lagged (such as opening Gallery) has all but disappeared resulting in a device which for me has made Touchwiz an enjoyable experience. A massive change over the last 2 years of using Samsung devices. I still have gripes such as the aesthetics of Samsung keyboard doesn't fit with the flattened design ethos of the rest of the new touchwiz. Indeed Google's material design Google keyboard is far more an aesthetic fit.
Whilst on the subject of Gallery, there has been a new photo editing software called Studio which offers similar photo editing features as Google's photos application, as well as facility to create montages and even edit video. It's a decent addition and doesn't feel like it's bloat, it feels like it's offering an enhanced set of tools.
Battery life has been comparable to both the iPhone 5s, the Moto X and my Galaxy S5. That is I would get through a day without issue, but would generally be left with around 40% left after 15 to 16 hours on battery and moderate use throughout the day. Ultra power saving is there if you really want to eek out every ounce of battery life, giving you around 11 days on standby should you wish to use it. If you are a mobile gamer, you may be disappointed by the battery life, but at least the Alpha's battery is replaceable if you want to buy a spare battery. However I am comfortable in not needing to do so. Battery charging time is very fast. Seemingly fully charging in less than 2 hours from 5% battery to 100%.
Camera has been dropped to 12mp from the mighty 16mp that the Galaxy S5 had, however other than resolution the photos I have taken on the Alpha have been very good. As most of you know I take lots of outdoor shots, and the Alpha performs great in these conditions and HDR mode works just as well as the S5 despite the 4mp reduction. All the same features of the S5 are present including the ability to film 4k video. It's quantum leaps better than the moto X camera and I would put it comfortably on par with the iPhone 5s camera.
Things that bug me, other than the aesthetics of the Samsung keyboard, is the fingerprint reader. It's still a bit of a pain to use, especially when compared to the touch iD of apples devices. Whilst I ended up using it for PayPal, for unlocking the device it's too much of a pain, with missed reading of the print at least 1/2 of the time.
I have managed to circumvent this with a more enjoyable locking system, as I have a gear fit you can set it up that if it's in direct vicinity of the Gear Fit the Alpha will offer you a simple unlock, however as soon as it's away from the Gear Fit device it defaults to a pattern lock protecting it from third parties whilst speeding up unlocking for the owner.
The screen is 720p and I have read criticism of a blue tint and the fact it being pentile. However I can honestly say that I do not have any issues with the screen and dpi, indeed with display setting set to Amoled Photo or basic setting in Display settings, the white balance and colour reproduction match my iPhone 5s very closely indeed. Compared to the Moto X screen it's a vast improvement despite both being amoled too. I find my screen to be well balanced, very bright, easy to view outdoors and just as good as my S5 screens. Certainly a big improvement over the Galaxy S4 screen despite a lower resolution. Indeed today I compared the Alpha to an iPhone 6 screen and the two were very similar in quality side by side here. Now whether the Snapdragon variant is using a different panel to explain the discrepancy I am seeing in others reviews and my own first hand experience, I am unsure. However I have no qualms with my Alphas screen resolution or colour reproduction after adjusting it in settings.
The alpha for me is a great handset, and it makes me excited to see what Samsung will do, as it is clear they are listening to criticism and importantly the less than expected S5 sales this year. Less bloat, more aesthetic coherence and a genuinely nice build quality has finally resulted in a device that I am very happy with on almost all levels.
Sure a micro Sd card slot would have been nice, but 32gb feels like a liveable concession in this regard.
The Alpha represents to me the best Samsung device I have ever owned, and It's concessions feel less like concessions than the concessions of other past Samsung devices I have owned.
Have I found an android keeper? I think so.
Indeed it bodes well for those looking forward to the Note 4 and for future developments in both hardware and importantly software from Samsung going forward. Now bring on Android L and make sure updates fast and keep me happy.
Recommended, certainly. It may not be for everyone, and Samsung promotional message of the Alpha may be missing it's real strengths, confusing people thinking it's a mid tier device, when from a performance standpoint it feels far removed from mid tier, and more flagship than the S5 despite its concessions to me personally.
Galaxy Alpha review
Well as you all are more than aware I have had this phone now for around two good solid weeks and I have been putting it through its paces alongside my white 64gb iphone 5s and my black Moto X for comparison sakes.
The iPhone 5s is aesthetically similar to the Alpha, and the Moto X shares the same screen size and amoled screen, so hence the reason why I decided to put my Alpha through its paces over the last fortnight with these handsets.
I had been looking forward to the Alpha as soon as Samsung announced it, and indeed as a Galaxy S5 owner the Alpha addresses many of the aesthetic issues I had with the S5 and indeed fixes a few software issues too with Touchwiz on the S5 and the persistent Samsung bloat ware of past Samsung devices too.
The Alpha for me is the perfect size of a mobile device. Yes I have had many phablets and 5" + devices and enjoyed them, but always found that I made compromises in regards to their size. Whilst invariably there are benefits to big devices, personally for me I have found that the 4.7" screen size is the perfect compromise as it fits my hand perfectly for one handed operation and offers decent size for two handed operation also.
The moto X is one of my favorite android devices from an ergonomic standpoint, however it falls short in the 'premium' feel of something like the iPhone 5s. The 5s is a beautifully constructed phone but the 4" screen feels confined these days. The Alpha acts like a hybrid of the two offering a 4.7" screen with the build quality of a premium device.
The first thing that surprised me when I first got my hands on the device was the weight of the device. It is surprisingly light. 115 grams is very light, added to the thinness of the device it makes the phone feel surprisingly lighter. The phone is however incredibly well balances despite its thin profile. The plastic back door may leave some disappointed, but it provides the handset a decent grip texture and for me because replacement back door can be purchased cheaply, for me it means I can enjoy the device naked without worrying I'd scratch it. I did however put on a tempered glass screen protector.
The model I bought was the exynos octacore version, and i was more than pleasantly surprised by the performance it has provided. Antutu scores over 48,000 and Geekbench multicore results of over 3100 putting it above the performance benchmark results of the Galaxy S5 and HTC M8.
But how does that performance translate when your running the marmite of Android skins 'touchwiz?'
The Galaxy S5 was a speedy device, indeed it rarely spluttered except when it came to multi tasking having to reload apps into memory. The S5 however was still home to many Samsung apps that I like many just do not want. Indeed a quick look at application manager and you can see lots of needless apps and services running in the background. My S5 was also home to a number of carrier bloatware.
The Galaxy Alpha is the first Samsung device (other than Google play edition of the S4) that I have used that has hardly any bloat ware. I bought mine factory unlocked and was more than surprised to see no more Samsung hub, Chat On, Samsung beam services and other bloat. S Note, scrapbook and story book are still available if you want them, but importantly they weren't there bloating my device if I didn't want them.
The end result is a device which is consistent, fluid and where other Samsung devices traditionally lagged (such as opening Gallery) has all but disappeared resulting in a device which for me has made Touchwiz an enjoyable experience. A massive change over the last 2 years of using Samsung devices. I still have gripes such as the aesthetics of Samsung keyboard doesn't fit with the flattened design ethos of the rest of the new touchwiz. Indeed Google's material design Google keyboard is far more an aesthetic fit.
Whilst on the subject of Gallery, there has been a new photo editing software called Studio which offers similar photo editing features as Google's photos application, as well as facility to create montages and even edit video. It's a decent addition and doesn't feel like it's bloat, it feels like it's offering an enhanced set of tools.
Battery life has been comparable to both the iPhone 5s, the Moto X and my Galaxy S5. That is I would get through a day without issue, but would generally be left with around 40% left after 15 to 16 hours on battery and moderate use throughout the day. Ultra power saving is there if you really want to eek out every ounce of battery life, giving you around 11 days on standby should you wish to use it. If you are a mobile gamer, you may be disappointed by the battery life, but at least the Alpha's battery is replaceable if you want to buy a spare battery. However I am comfortable in not needing to do so. Battery charging time is very fast. Seemingly fully charging in less than 2 hours from 5% battery to 100%.
Camera has been dropped to 12mp from the mighty 16mp that the Galaxy S5 had, however other than resolution the photos I have taken on the Alpha have been very good. As most of you know I take lots of outdoor shots, and the Alpha performs great in these conditions and HDR mode works just as well as the S5 despite the 4mp reduction. All the same features of the S5 are present including the ability to film 4k video. It's quantum leaps better than the moto X camera and I would put it comfortably on par with the iPhone 5s camera.
Things that bug me, other than the aesthetics of the Samsung keyboard, is the fingerprint reader. It's still a bit of a pain to use, especially when compared to the touch iD of apples devices. Whilst I ended up using it for PayPal, for unlocking the device it's too much of a pain, with missed reading of the print at least 1/2 of the time.
I have managed to circumvent this with a more enjoyable locking system, as I have a gear fit you can set it up that if it's in direct vicinity of the Gear Fit the Alpha will offer you a simple unlock, however as soon as it's away from the Gear Fit device it defaults to a pattern lock protecting it from third parties whilst speeding up unlocking for the owner.
The screen is 720p and I have read criticism of a blue tint and the fact it being pentile. However I can honestly say that I do not have any issues with the screen and dpi, indeed with display setting set to Amoled Photo or basic setting in Display settings, the white balance and colour reproduction match my iPhone 5s very closely indeed. Compared to the Moto X screen it's a vast improvement despite both being amoled too. I find my screen to be well balanced, very bright, easy to view outdoors and just as good as my S5 screens. Certainly a big improvement over the Galaxy S4 screen despite a lower resolution. Indeed today I compared the Alpha to an iPhone 6 screen and the two were very similar in quality side by side here. Now whether the Snapdragon variant is using a different panel to explain the discrepancy I am seeing in others reviews and my own first hand experience, I am unsure. However I have no qualms with my Alphas screen resolution or colour reproduction after adjusting it in settings.
The alpha for me is a great handset, and it makes me excited to see what Samsung will do, as it is clear they are listening to criticism and importantly the less than expected S5 sales this year. Less bloat, more aesthetic coherence and a genuinely nice build quality has finally resulted in a device that I am very happy with on almost all levels.
Sure a micro Sd card slot would have been nice, but 32gb feels like a liveable concession in this regard.
The Alpha represents to me the best Samsung device I have ever owned, and It's concessions feel less like concessions than the concessions of other past Samsung devices I have owned.
Have I found an android keeper? I think so.
Indeed it bodes well for those looking forward to the Note 4 and for future developments in both hardware and importantly software from Samsung going forward. Now bring on Android L and make sure updates fast and keep me happy.
Recommended, certainly. It may not be for everyone, and Samsung promotional message of the Alpha may be missing it's real strengths, confusing people thinking it's a mid tier device, when from a performance standpoint it feels far removed from mid tier, and more flagship than the S5 despite its concessions to me personally.
How about that! I live just next door in Gran Canary!
You missed the best island of all!
Hope you enjoyed the island! Did you visit Fuerteventura also maybe? It's got beaches that would make your jaw drop
cool
No didn't get to explore the other islands, maybe next time. Saw lots of Lanzarote cycling all over the Island, if I had another week I would have gone over to the other islands. The biggest gripe for me was too many Irish and English bars/restaurants and people.... I wanted to escape Ireland for a week, didn't need every plastic paddy forced down my throat. Thankfully cycling off the beaten track I escaped a lot of those trappings in Puerto del Carmen / Playa Blanca and Costa Teguise.----------
Never rush an Irishman.
Lol... They clearly don't appreciate an 'irish hour'
MRU - Great write up. My next purchase is between this and the Moto X and your post makes that decision even more difficult!
thanks
thanks
Cool review, thanks for posting! Less bloat certainly feels like a good sign for Samsung...
This thing really is incredibly light, I had the good fortune of finding one in a store the other day. Would definitely be interested in this one if I wasn't so hooked on huge screens. I hope it serves you well!
This thing really is incredibly light, I had the good fortune of finding one in a store the other day. Would definitely be interested in this one if I wasn't so hooked on huge screens. I hope it serves you well!
MRU, thank you so much for the review. It is really helpful.
Actually my kids love Marmite.
http://marmite.co.nz/
Great review!
You said "marmite" lol
Actually my kids love Marmite.
http://marmite.co.nz/