Samsung Galaxy Alpha SM-G850F áttekintő

As mentioned, the storage configuration of Samsung's Galaxy Alpha is limited to 32 GB, and only approximately 25 GB net are available for the user. Incomprehensibly, Samsung does not install a micro-SD slot for easy expansion. The installed SoC is a proprietary development called Samsung Exynos 5430 Octa, which is an eight-core SoC. It uses four Cortex A15 cores with a clock rate of 1.8 GHz and four Coretex A7 cores with a clock rate of 1.3 GHz. The integrated ARM Mali-T628 MP6 takes care of graphics. The 2 GB of LPDDR3 working memory is also up-to-date.

Samsung apparently does not believe that the target group for its Galaxy Alpha is into multimedia because the infrared transmitter known from the Galaxy S5 for use as a remote has also been omitted. Unfortunately, the USB jack is also once again only a micro-USB 2.0 port. Like the Galaxy S5, a fingerprint sensor is located below the "Home" button. The finger is wiped across the counterpart in the review sample, and it did not always function reliably. The issues ascertained in the Galaxy S5 have not been eliminated in the Galaxy Alpha. Apparently, Samsung's engineers currently just cannot get it to work by simply placing a finger on it. Meticulous data protectionists will perhaps not be as enthusiastic about saving up to three fingerprints, but the fingerprint sensor in the review sample is one of the safest methods for protecting the smartphone and stored sensitive data against unauthorized access.

Communication & GPS 

The review sample provides the expected, state-of-the-art full equipment. On board we find swift Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac for local, wireless data transmission, and Bluetooth 4.0. We classify the Wi-Fi reception as very good; Samsung's Galaxy Alpha connected swiftly and absolutely stably to a router 10 meters away and through several walls in the test.

Users who want to browse on the go will be pleased about UMTS/3G and LTE/4G, which enables lightning-fast data rates. Up to 300 Mbps downstream and a maximum of 50 Mbps upstream are possible in the LTE hepta-band (800/850/900/1800/1900/2100/2600 MHz). Furthermore GSM quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and UMTS quad-band (850/900/1900/2100 MHz) do not leave anything to be desired. The Galaxy Alpha achieved a bandwidth of 42 Mbps (downstream) and 5.76 Mbps (upstream) in the HSPA+ net standard in the latter.

Cameras & Multimedia

Samsung's Galaxy Alpha sports a primary camera with a CMOS sensor and 12.0 megapixels, as well as auto focus and LED flash. It even records videos in UHD 4K in 3840 x 2160 pixels with 30 fps. Furthermore, a front-facing camera with a resolution of 2.1 megapixels is installed for selfies and videoconferencing. It records videos in Full HD. The front lens has some minor weaknesses. Pictures exhibit high image noise, poor sharpness, and meager color reproduction especially when shot in poor light. The rear-facing module is sooner apt for snapshots. The superb image sharpness and decent color reproduction of well-illuminated objects are on its pro side.

Although the primary camera is overall convincing, it is defeated by the camera in the iPhone 6 in the direct comparison of contenders - despite the nominally lower resolution on Apple's side. Nevertheless, the image sharpness is high and image noise is very low. Only the image brightness could be a bit higher.

Accessories

Samsung's Galaxy Alpha is shipped with a modular power supply alongside a USB cable, a quick start guide, and warranty card. Also a very good in-ear headset - for included accessories conditions - with interchangeable earplugs and a ribbon cable is in the box. Strange: The accessories were all completely white although the review sample was black.

Just released in the market and Samsung already offers various optional accessories. That ranges from the protective Flip Cover for about 35 Euros over the S View Cover with a window for almost 50 Euros up to the S Charger Cover, a replaceable battery lid with induction charger, for roughly 100 Euros (weight: 24.5 gr, charging station S Charger Pad available separately).

Warranty

Samsung includes a 24-month warranty for its Galaxy Alpha. The accessories and battery are covered for 6 months.

For example, Samsung's Galaxy Alpha outclasses all rivals with its extremely homogeneous illumination of 94%. The mathematically infinite contrast and almost absolute black level are also virtually perfect. That results in a very vivid color reproduction and really deep black.

Although the maximum 348 cd/m² are enough for outdoor use, the highly reflective glass cover makes it very difficult to read the screen in the open air. However, the smartphone's very high contrast allows outings almost without restrictions in indirect light.

The browser-based benchmarks using the preloaded Android 4.4.4 browser did not turn out in favor of Samsung's Galaxy Alpha in the category comparison. The review sample could only show its strength in the Octane v2 benchmark, although Apple's iPhone 6 fared even better. Then again, it is the only device that our review sample could outperform in the Mozilla Kraken 1.1 benchmark. In the Sunspider 1.0 benchmark, the latter managed to push itself just before Samsung's Galaxy S5 and Apple's iPhone 6. It is neck and neck with Sony's Xperia Z3 in the Vellamo 3.0 benchmark. And finally, it had to let its rivals pass in WebXPRT 2013 where only Samsung's Galaxy S5 delivered a somewhat worse performance. We strongly recommend using the significantly faster Google Chrome browser for a good routine performance - it makes browsing fun.

Temperature

Samsung's Galaxy Alpha is cool in every sense of the word in this exercise. The surface temperatures were always within acceptable limits in routine use. An average of 29°C was reached in idle mode. We ascertained the maximum rate of 30.9°C on the front in the area of Samsung's logo. Thus, the casing does not even get lukewarm. The surfaces heated up to averagely 35°C when the device was put under permanent full load. The device reached its maximum on the underside in the SoC's area. The power supply got very hot with 42.7°C when used, and air circulation should thus be ensured.

A look at the specs smothers these hopes because Samsung's Galaxy Alpha only has a 7.17 Wh (1860 mAh) battery – which is at least removable. Solely Apple's iPhone 6 has an even smaller battery (1819 mAh; 6.91 Wh). According to the manufacturer, the Galaxy Alpha should last for up to 9 hours in LTE browsing and up to 11 hours via Wi-Fi.

Our tests show that no contender – regardless whether Samsung's Galaxy S5 (10.78 Wh; 2800 mAh), HTC's One M8 (9.9 Wh; 2600 mAh) or Sony's Xperia Z3 (11.5 Wh) – can really compete with that proportionally despite considerably bigger batteries.

We ascertained 3 hours and 12 minutes in full load via the Stability Test app. Only Samsung's Galaxy S5 lasted about an hour longer here.

The smartphone shut down after good 7 hours in the practical Wi-Fi browsing test using a brightness set to 50% (150 cd/m²). The rivals with a higher battery capacity outrun that.

Samsung's Galaxy Alpha presented a maximum runtime of lush 22:37 hours, measured with minimum brightness, and all communication modules except Wi-Fi disabled in energy saving mode. It is on par with Apple's iPhone 6 and surpasses HTC's One M8 and Sony's Xperia Z3 by lengths. Only Samsung's Galaxy S5 manages a bit more here.

The video playback runtime test using the Video Looper app and the Full HD movie Big Buck Bunny stopped after approximately 11 hours on the review sample. Only Sony's Xperia Z3 can keep up with that.

Overall, the review sample does a fantastic job here. An additional plus: A radical "Ultra Power Saving Mode" that then even displays content in black and white for a longer battery life is available when needed.