The metal-equipped Samsung Galaxy Alpha is expected to bring a more premium feel to Samsung's smartphone lineup. A UK retailer has revealed its price and specs, and began taking pre-orders before quickly taking it down.
As sales of Samsung's current Galaxy S5 flagship haven't lived up to expectations, the company is preparing to launch two new smartphones in the coming weeks that have been designed to compete with the impending arrival of Apple's 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6.
We recently reported that Samsung was widely expected to officially announce the company's first smartphone that has a design very reminiscent of Apple's iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s, complete with chamfered edges around the handset's case. The aluminum frame will reportedly give the handset a more premium feel. At the time, the device was believed to be the Galaxy F / S5 Prime but leaked images confirmed it was indeed the Galaxy Alpha.
Samsung is expected to take the wraps off of the Galaxy Alpha at a press event that will reportedly take place on Aug. 13. As that date approaches, we should expect to gain more information on the smartphone. According to a new report from The Inquirer, UK retailer Mobilefun has already started taking pre-orders for the Galaxy Alpha. The retailer has already taken the page down but not before it revealed the price and specs of the Galaxy Alpha.
The site listed the 32GB Galaxy Alpha for £549, which is about $920. The high price likely indicates that this is an unlocked handset; it should be priced much lower when purchased with a carrier contract. The retailer also listed the Samsung Galaxy Alpha's complete spec list.
The Samsung Galaxy Alpha was listed as having a 4.7-inch 1280 x 720 Super AMOLED display with a pixel density of 320 pixels per inch (ppi). It will be powered by a Samsung octa-core Exynos 5 processor and 2GB of RAM. The handset will ship with 32GB of internal storage, Android 4.4.4 KitKat, and Samsung's TouchWiz UI.
The Galaxy Alpha will sport a 12-megapixel rear camera with "super-fast autofocus" and LED flash and a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera. Its wireless connectivity options will consist of a 4G LTE radio, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS. The smartphone will also include the same fingerprint scanner and heart rate sensor currently found on the flagship Galaxy S5.
We'll be sure to keep you posted on any new Samsung Galaxy Alpha information as it becomes available.
