We first started hearing about a metal-clad Samsung Galaxy phone in the making ages ago, or so it feels. After a hefty rumor phase, however, Samsung finally made the Galaxy Alpha official today at an impressive event in Russia, and it turns out that most of what we thought we knew about the device was right all along.

Perhaps most importantly, and to start off, the Galaxy Alpha sports a 4.7-inch AMOLED display, putting it right in-between the 4.5-inch Galaxy S5 mini and the 5.1-inch Galaxy S5. Naturally, in this day and age, this puts the Alpha on the rather short list of relatively compact devices available to consumers who aren't necessarily crazy about the continued growth of smartphone displays. Where the new Samsung device differs from most 'mini' devices, however, is the specs sheet that comes attached to it -- it sports Sony Xperia Z1 Compact-worthy hardware, though it doesn't tout water- and dust-resistance.

So how does the Galaxy Alpha compare against the two 'mini' devices mentioned above? Here's a bird's eye overview of the specs, and a look at the Alpha's relative size against them and other competitors.

Front view | Side view

5.21 x 2.58 x 0.26 inches
132.4 x 65.5 x 6.7 mm
4.06 oz (115 g)

Samsung Galaxy Alpha vs Sony Xperia Z1 Compact vs Samsung Galaxy S5 mini

Design
OS	Android (5.1, 4.4.4), TouchWiz UI	Android (5.1, 5.0, 4.4.4, 4.4.2, 4.3)	Android (5.1, 4.4), TouchWiz UI
Dimensions	5.21 x 2.58 x 0.26 inches (132.4 x 65.5 x 6.7 mm )	5.00 x 2.56 x 0.37 inches (127 x 64.9 x 9.5 mm)	5.16 x 2.55 x 0.36 inches (131.1 x 64.8 x 9.1 mm)
Weight	4.06 oz (115 g) the average is 5.3 oz (151 g)	4.83 oz (137 g) the average is 5.3 oz (151 g)	4.23 oz (120 g) the average is 5.3 oz (151 g)
Materials	Main body: plastic; Accents: aluminum		Main body: plastic; Accents: metal
Features	Fingerprint (swipe)		Fingerprint (swipe)
Rugged		Water, Dust resistant	Water, Dust resistant
IP certified		IP 58	IP 67

Display
Physical size	4.7 inches	4.3 inches	4.5 inches
Resolution	720 x 1280 pixels	720 x 1280 pixels	720 x 1280 pixels
Pixel density Pixel density - The pixel density of a display represents the number of pixels over an area of one inch. It’s measured in “pixels per inch”, or ppi. The higher the number, the more detailed and good-looking the display is.	312 ppi	342 ppi	326 ppi
Technology Technology - There are two main screen technologies currently used in phones and tablets: LCD and AMOLED. The former usually features a light source and liquid crystals, while the latter is based on organic light-emitting diodes. Newer LCD variations like IPS-LCD and Super-LCD allow for very accurate color reproduction and very wide viewing angles, where no significant image quality loss is observed. Current AMOLED screens differ in such a way that they can exhibit much more saturated colors (sometimes too much) and incredibly high contrast levels, which is due to black color being completely black in AMOLED displays.	Super AMOLED	IPS LCD	Super AMOLED
Screen-to-body ratio	70.22 %	61.72 %	65.76 %
Colors	16 777 216	16 777 216	16 777 216

Camera
Camera	12 megapixels	20.7 megapixels	8 megapixels
Flash	LED	LED	LED
Aperture size Aperture size - The aperture of a camera is the opening through which light travels before it reaches the camera sensor. The smaller the number is, the bigger this opening is, allowing for more light to pass.	F2.2	F2.0
Focal length (35mm equivalent)	31 mm	27 mm
Camera sensor size		1/2.3"
Hardware Features	Autofocus, CMOS image sensor	Autofocus, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI)	Autofocus, CMOS image sensor, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI)
Software Features	Manual focus, Face detection, Smile detection, Digital zoom, Digital image stabilization, Touch to focus, Geo tagging	Face detection, Smile detection, Digital zoom, Self-timer, Digital image stabilization, Touch to focus, Geo tagging	Face detection, Digital zoom, Self-timer, Digital image stabilization, Geo tagging
Camcorder	3840x2160 (4K) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (1080p HD) (60 fps), 1280x720 (720p HD) (120 fps)	1920x1080 (1080p HD)	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps)
Recording format	MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV	MPEG4, H.263, H.264	MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV
Features	High Dynamic Range mode (HDR), Digital image stabilization	High Dynamic Range mode (HDR), Continuous autofocus, Video light, Digital image stabilization
Front-facing camera	2.1 megapixels	2 megapixels	2.1 megapixels
Video capture	1920x1080 (1080p HD)	1920x1080 (1080p HD)

Hardware
System chip System chip - Most modern handsets use an advanced chip that includes many of the device’s hardware modules like the processor, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and sometimes even the wireless radio. This field shows what particular system chip (or System-on-a-Chip) is used in the phone.	Samsung Exynos 5 Octa 5433	Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974	Samsung Exynos 3 Quad 3470
Processor Processor - The processor is the main computing component of a phone and is a major factor when it comes to the overall speed of the device. Some more powerful smartphones use dual-core and quad-core processors designed to deliver greater performance.	Octa-core, 1800 MHz, ARM Cortex-A15 and ARM Cortex-A7	Quad-core, 2200 MHz, Krait 400	Quad-core, 1400 MHz, Cortex-A7
Graphics processor	ARM Mali-T628 MP6	Adreno 330	ARM Mali 400MP4
System memory System memory - System memory, or RAM memory is the type of memory that the device uses to temporarily store data from the OS or currently-running apps. The more RAM available to the device, the better the performance will be when multiple or heavier programs are running.	2 GB RAM (Dual-channel, 933 MHz) / LPDDR3	2 GB RAM (Dual-channel, 800 MHz) / LPDDR3	1.5 GB RAM
Built-in storage	32 GB	16 GB	16 GB
Storage expansion		microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC	microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC

Battery
Capacity	1860 mAh	2300 mAh	2100 mAh
Talk time		10.00 hours the average is 14 h (857 min)
Stand-by time		27.9 days (670 hours) the average is 15 days (370 h)
Talk time (3G)	11.00 hours the average is 17 h (997 min)	18.00 hours the average is 17 h (997 min)	10.00 hours the average is 17 h (997 min)
Stand-by time (3G)		25.0 days (600 hours) the average is 20 days (485 h)
Stand-by time (4G)		22.9 days (550 hours) the average is 21 days (493 h)
Music playback	37.00 hours	94.00 hours	47.00 hours
Video playback	10.00 hours	12.00 hours	11.00 hours

Multimedia
Mirroring	DLNA	DLNA, MHL, MirrorLink, TV-out

Cellular
GSM	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
UMTS	850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz	850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz	850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz
LTE (FDD)	Bands 20, 5, 8, 3, 2, 1, 7	Bands 20, 5, 8, 4, 3, 2, 1, 7	Bands 20, 5, 8, 3, 1, 7
Data	LTE-A Cat 6 (300/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 21.1 Mbit/s	LTE Cat 4 (150/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS	LTE Cat 4 (150/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS