Samsung Galaxy Alpha Specifications, Tests and Review

Design of Samsung Galaxy Alpha has dimensions of 132 mm × 65.5 mm × 6.6 mm and weight of 115 g.

The screen size reaches 4.7" inches. Smaller phone displays are not necessarily a disadvantage. They are easier to use with one hand. However, displays of these sizes don't provide the same experience when watching videos or playing games, so they're better suited for less demanding users. It means, if you're a basic user and you don't expect to use your phone for activities like watching videos or playing games on regular basis, this size is perfectly adequate. Owing to OLED technology, the display offers a true representation of colours, especially black. The resulting contrast is significantly higher and colours appear more vivid. OLED technology is now part of most smartphones, while LCD displays are becoming a thing of the past in mobile phones. OLED displays also have lower power consumption compared to LCD technology.

Display Resolution of Samsung Galaxy Alpha is 1280 x 720 pixels. A higher display resolution is a prerequisite for a sharper image. The standard for mid-range phones today is a Full HD resolution of 1920 × 1080 px. Cheaper phones, which usually have a smaller diagonal, have an HD resolution of 1280 × 720 px. Smaller resolutions can only be found in older models. Best phones, on the other hand, have a 4K resolution of 3840 x 2160 px. If you want a perfect picture, focus on pixel density in addition to resolution. This number indicates how sharp the image will be. Best phones today have a display fineness of 450 ppi or higher, but the today´s average is around 350-400 ppi. That should be enough for you to enjoy a fine and sharp image. This model has a pixel density of 313 ppi.

The processor type of the Samsung Galaxy Alpha is Qualcomm Snapdragon 801. The number of processor cores is 4. It is a number of cores that plays an important role in evaluating the performance of phone as it is responsible for computing operations. Smartphones already commonly have a core count of around 4 to 8. Multi-core processors can perform better and reduce the processing time of a request to a minimum, which is reflected in the responsiveness of the phone, e.g. in the speed of opening applications. Samsung Galaxy Alpha is provided with processor´s frequency of 2.5 GHz. Normally today you will find this value between 1.8 and 2.8 GHz, and the higher the number, the faster the response of the phone. The processor frequency will thus be one of the important parameters if you are looking for a phone capable of managing several requests at once without major problems.

The phone is provided with an internal memory of 32 GB. Internal storage capacity is often a key parameter, as it determines how many files, photos, apps and more your phone can store. This memory capacity is ideal for those who have a few basic apps and a few dozen photos on their phone. If you don't expect to use your phone to play games or need to store high-resolution photos, this size should be sufficient. There is almost no probability you're likely to see this low capacity on new smartphones. The standard memory today is around 64 and 128 GB. The best phones have internal memory of 256 GB or more. Fortunately, manufacturers nowadays think of all users and therefore offer phone models with different memory sizes so that everyone can choose what suits them.

Operating memory significantly affects the performance of the entire phone. Samsung Galaxy Alpha has an operating memory of 2 GB. Phones with less than 4 GB of RAM are better suited for undemanding users who use phone more for basic needs and some essential applications only. But if you are a heavy user, reach for at least 6 to 8 GB of RAM, which is the standard today, or 12 GB for the really demanding ones.

The rear camera of the Samsung Galaxy Alpha has only one lens. Single lens is more typical for older phones or lower-end phones with lower quality cameras. The rear cameras of modern phones nowadays are usually equipped with two, three and sometimes even five rear camera lenses. A high resolution lens alone does not necessarily mean high quality photos. The main lens in this has a resolution of 12 Megapixel. However, if you are looking for perfect photos, in addition to resolution, don't forget to focus on at other parameters such as lens aperture or pixel size.

Digital zoom in this case offers zooming up to 4x. Of course, the higher the lens value, the more distant object can be zoomed in. Nonetheless, the disadvantage of digital zoom is that the quality and sharpness of photo deteriorates when using it. If you like to take photos of people and portraits, you'll appreciate the facial recognition feature. The camera automatically detects face and focuses on it.

Front camera
The front camera of phone Samsung Galaxy Alpha has one lens. This number of lenses is standard on most smartphones nowadays. The resolution of main lens reaches 2.1 Megapixel. Again, it should be noted that resolution is not the only factor affecting the quality of the front camera photo.

The battery size of Samsung Galaxy Alpha is 1860 mAh. Nevertheless, battery capacity is not the only factor that affects the phone's battery life. For example - the size of the display, the performance of the processor, the use of data functions and, of course, the intensity of use of phone in general all have a significant impact on battery life. Standard for most smartphones today is a battery capacity of around 4500 to 5000 mAH. Phones with this battery size usually guarantee a phone life of at least 1 day. Older or cheaper smartphone models can then reach battery capacities typically around 2500 mAH and below. With this capacity, you may find that if you use your phone heavily, you may need to recharge your phone during the day.

Standby time is 276 hours. The value indicates how long your phone will last on a single charge when you are not actively using it. The battery life when making calls is, like standby time, a figure that tells us how long the phone will last on a single charge when making continuous calls. For the Samsung Galaxy Alpha it is 780 minutes.

Samsung Galaxy Alpha supports 4G. 4G connectivity is still common today, although the latest phones already have 5G connectivity. 3G connectivity is now more of a thing of past and can only be found on older models. The phone's operating system is Android 4.4.4 (KitKat).

The NFC function will please all fans of contactless mobile payments. In addition, you can also use function in the context of connectivity, for example, to unlock doors or load menus in restaurants. Bluetooth 4.0 makes it easy to connect your phone to other wireless devices such as headphones, speakers, TV or tablet and more.