The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is their first metal smart phone in the Galaxy line up that are running with Android OS. However this isn’t the first time Samsung has made metal device. They have shared on their global blog that Samsung has been making metal phones way back since 2006.
According to their designers, the Galaxy Alpha was inspired by their Samsung Card Phone (SGH-P310) that’s thin and comfortable to hold. To match the same characteristics, Samsung had turned to metal and the result is their thinnest Android smart phone at 6.7mm and it’s also lightweight at 115 grams. As comparison, the iPhone 5S weighs 112 grams and it is 7.6mm thick.
The protruding corners is not just for looks but acts as a protection as well. Apart from giving it a premium appearance, they have maximise the area of each corners to absorb more impact to improve its durability. They added that the corners are usually the prone spot of impact when a phone is dropped.
Having a metallic phone could also be slippery to hold which is a case with the metal-clad HTC One M8. For a more reassuring grip, they have used a special thin coating to enhance grip at the sides and they have also applied matte finish making it warmer to touch. If you want to know more about its specs, you can refer to our Galaxy Alpha announcement post.
The Galaxy Alpha is no doubt a breakthrough from its common plasticity phones in the past line up. Another common complaint is that all of their phones look similar across high end to entry level devices. According to Samsung, they are constantly upgrading its design to meet the change of consumer demand and hopefully we can see something refreshing starting with their upcoming Galaxy Note 4.
