October 3, 2014 at 17:30
Dmitry Smirnov, IT.TUT.BY
Several facts suggest that it is the Samsung GALAXY Alpha, and not the flagship GALAXY S5 developed by Korean manufacturer as the main competitor Apple iPhone 6. It is very slim body with metal (for the first time in Android-smartphone Samsung), support nanoSIM, no microSD slot, and even a screen with a diagonal of 4.7 inches. Therefore, the comparison with the new flagship Apple is no escape.
IT.TUT.BY tested the Samsung GALAXY Alpha silver. Share with you my impressions about this device.
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| Photo: TUT.BY |
Appearance, ergonomics
Samsung GALAXY Alpha – very light and compact smartphone. The Korean company did not make the metal rear cover, and for good reason. Besides the fact that soft-touch plastic makes the unit slip out of the hands (are complaining about iPhone owners 6) Smartphone lighter competitors.
The boxes around the screen of the smartphone Samsung minimum can not be named, however GALAXY Alpha turned popular among the most compact 4.7-inch smartphone:
The metal rim smartphone looks great, including through the polished ends (felt similarity with the latest Ultrabooks Korean company). Compact dimensions and rounded corners allow you to conveniently keep your smartphone and use it with one hand. No backlash and squeaks were noted – a great assembly.
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| Photo: TUT.BY |
By cons include except sticking the main camera module – this is the price paid for a slim body. However, with the iPhone 6 parity here.
For Samsung GALAXY Alpha manufacturer offers a brand-book cover with a window. It can be installed by removing the rear cover of the smartphone. Without opening the case, you can answer the call, see incoming messages and even take a photo.
Display
Display resolution news – 1280 x 720 pixels. Of course, it is not impressive, but with a small diagonal (4.7 inches), we obtain virtually indistinguishable pixels (density – 312 ppi), the iPhone 6 is slightly higher – 326 ppi.
We believe that Samsung was fully able to equip GALAXY Alpha Full HD display, but it would be unwise due to lower overall performance and the battery life of the device.
Super AMOLED matrix gives the usual “blue”, but it can be corrected in the settings (change your profile). The screen is very bright, not very fade in the sun and has a maximum viewing angles.
Performance
Samsung GALAXY Alpha is equipped with the most powerful 32-bit processor Samsung – Exynos 5430. eight-processor with a maximum frequency of 1.8 GHz. This is the first chip of the Korean company, made on 20-nanometer process with all its benefits – high power and low power consumption.
A powerful graphics accelerator ARM Mali-T628 MP6 600 MHz (122 GFLOPS) in combination with a low resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels allows without any lags play Asphalt 8 or Dead Trigger 2 at maximum settings. At the same time the smartphone is almost not heated.
The amount of RAM is also sufficient – 2 GB. Thus, Samsung GALAXY Alpha can be recommended to fans of 3D-games (which will suit small by current standards, the display).
Here are the results of passing popular synthetic benchmarks:
As for the interface, there is also all very smoothly, the animation does not slow down even after the closure of demanding applications.
interface, other features
Samsung GALAXY Alpha running Android 4.4.4 KitKat. It is likely that before the end of the year will receive the upgrade to Android L. proprietary TouchWiz shell meets us gurgling sounds, round icons in the settings and the separation of desktops with widgets and icons on the menu of installed programs (from what has already abandoned by many manufacturers).
The first (left-most) desktop – the collector of useful information from various resources and sots.setey (content chosen by the user).
You can create a toolbar for quick access to favorite applications, private mode, in order to restrict access to the information stored in the smart phone to other people, as well as the ability to use a number of gestures.
As the flagship GALAXY S5, GALAXY Alpha received fingerprint sensor and heart rate. Like the flagship, the options are virtually useless. Sensor is often mistaken with the testimony, and the scanner can not identify the periodically prints, making swiping the button several times.
Autonomy
Samsung GALAXY Alpha got the battery at 1,860 mAh. Plus the fact that it is removable, minus – in a fairly small tank (the price paid for a small thickness). Nevertheless, very energy-efficient processor compensates not the highest capacity of the battery and the device with a standard load, open all day. Not bad, but not great.
If you disable sync with social networks and limit itself to the games, the smartphone stand and two day. In playback mode, HD – video at maximum brightness unit lasted about 10 hours. The time required to fully charge – a little less than 2 hours.
We should also distinguish between different power saving modes to significantly extend battery life GALAXY Alpha, some of whom are brand new, which makes the screen black and white.
Camera
New Samsung is equipped with a 12-megapixel main camera with autofocus, flash and video recording in 4K-resolution. There are several shooting modes, including panorama and retouching. Automation always work out as “excellent” – straight out with the white balance was not observed.
Do not like shumodava active work in low light. Also clearly lacks aperture when shooting at night. The rest of the complaints about the camera does not – in moderate light (not necessarily on a bright day) the pictures are great and lubricated. Superb main photomodule copes with macro.
Examples of photographs taken in different conditions, see below (images are clickable):
The front 2.1-megapixel camera allows you to take great self (there is also an automatic retouching).
Price
Samsung GALAXY Alpha is already on sale in Belarus. On the “gray” market, it can be bought for about $ 600. Belarusian operators traditionally offer smartphone more expensive – for 7.399 million rubles (about $ 700 at current exchange rates).
Result
Samsung GALAXY Alpha can be called one of the best deals in the compact segment of smartphones. If you are the enemy, “apples”, but want a compact, stylish and powerful device, the GALAXY Alpha – is a great choice.
Pros devices : a powerful processor, good camera, bright and clear screen, compact dimensions, low weight and metal body.
By cons Samsung GALAXY Alpha is the impossibility of memory expansion (32 GB total), not the highest battery life and high cost. But we can safely assume that in a few months the new Samsung smartphone will cost less than $ 500, making it extremely attractive proposition in its segment.
The main competitor to Android-news Samsung is the recently announced Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. Here, too, a compact body (display with a diagonal of 4.6 inches), very powerful stuffing and a great camera. The advantages of the smartphone Sony (compared with GALAXY Alpha) include protection against water and dust and a high capacity battery, the disadvantages – less premium appearance and thicker body. Price they have about the same.
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