Samsung shows its metal with Samsung Galaxy Alpha

14 Aug 2014

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha iin gold

After much speculation and build-up to its reveal, the Samsung Galaxy Alpha, the phone touted as the challenger to the upcoming ‘iPhone 6’, has been shown off with an all-metal body.

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha will feature a 4.7-inch Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1,280 x 720p with both a rear-facing 12MP camera and a 2.1MP ‘selfie camera’.

In terms of processing power, it is certainly on the upper end of the scale, running off either an octa core (quad 1.8GHz and quad 1.3GHz) or a quad core 2.5GHz depending on location, but Samsung hasn’t revealed which locations will have the octa core option.

The phone will run on the latest version of Android, Kit Kat 4.4.4, all of which will be housed in Samsung’s first all-metal bodied phone that has been polished in all corners but left with the distinctive pocketed back plate that has been seen on its Galaxy S range.

While the idea of an all-metal phone might be enough of a draw for those looking for a sturdy piece of equipment, it also comes in five different colours: black, white, blue, silver and gold.

Despite this, from its listing dimensions, an all-metal casing hasn’t affected the Samsung Galaxy Alpha’s bulkiness. Its 6.7mm thickness is quite slim in comparison to other higher-end models on the market, and it weighs in at 114g.

On top of the basics, the phone comes with all the latest sensors and connectivity hardware, including a heartbeat sensor, gesture sensor and fingerprint sensor, as well as 4G connectivity.

Samsung Ireland has not revealed its retail price or release date as of yet, but given that the UK is expected to receive the first shipment in September, Ireland is likely to follow suit.

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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