Samsung Galaxy Alpha vs Sony Xperia Z1 Compact vs Galaxy S5 mini: specs and size comparison

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 (6.0, 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 5.4 oz (154 g)	4.83 oz (137 g) the average is 5.4 oz (154 g)	4.23 oz (120 g) the average is 5.4 oz (154 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	Digital image stabilization, Face detection, Self-timer, Digital zoom, 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 24 h (1453 min)
Stand-by time		27.9 days (670 hours) the average is 19 days (467 h)
Talk time (3G)	11.00 hours the average is 41 h (2431 min)	18.00 hours the average is 41 h (2431 min)	10.00 hours the average is 41 h (2431 min)
Stand-by time (3G)		25.0 days (600 hours) the average is 23 days (550 h)
Stand-by time (4G)		22.9 days (550 hours) the average is 61 days (1457 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 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20
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

Related phones

22 Comments

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posted on 13 Aug 2014, 04:35 2

1. enthasuium (Posts: 138; Member since: 21 Nov 2013)

6.7 mm thick, amazing

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 04:44 5

4. xperiaDROID (banned) (Posts: 5629; Member since: 08 Mar 2013)

Huawei Ascend P7 is 6.5mm thin, definitely amazing.

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 05:03 6

6. Genza (Posts: 576; Member since: 12 Mar 2014)

How about 5.6mm Gionee Elife S5.5?

http://www.gsmarena.com/gionee_elife_s5_5-6109.php

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 05:04 2

7. xperiaDROID (banned) (Posts: 5629; Member since: 08 Mar 2013)

That's absolutely amazing.

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 05:18 5

9. RuiBacelar (Posts: 153; Member since: 25 Feb 2014)

1860 mAh battery...uhhh, amazing!

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 16:04

17. na7noo7 (Posts: 278; Member since: 29 Mar 2014)

Also see the 5mm version.

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 18:38 1

20. techperson211 (Posts: 1280; Member since: 27 Feb 2014)

Z1c beats out the crap out of these 2 wannabe compact!! and wait for the Z3c it'll totally blow away competition, A worthy opponent for iPhone 6.

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 21:42

21. bobox (Posts: 6; Member since: 03 Jun 2014)

Galaxy Alpha use Exynos 5430 is the first 20nm SoC of Samsung, so it has lower power consumption.
Exynos 5420 and Snapdragon 800&801 are 28nm process.

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 04:39 14

2. ArtSim98 (Posts: 3535; Member since: 21 Dec 2012)

Z1 C will remain king in this department untill the Z3 C :)

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 05:49 1

10. JC557 (Posts: 1769; Member since: 07 Dec 2011)

If Sony wants it to do well they should do their best at making it available for as many carriers as possible. I don't even think I've seen the Xperia Z1 Compact available at a US Sony Store.

I was bummed about the Xperia Z2 not making its way to Verizon.

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 08:54 1

13. sachouba (Posts: 209; Member since: 08 Jun 2014)

It would be if it were really compact, without those big bezels that make it almost as big as the Galaxy Alpha with a screen 0,4" smaller.

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 16:17 1

18. xtremesv (Posts: 298; Member since: 21 Oct 2011)

Actually those bezels serve me well because I rely on a mod that adds gesture based UI navigation to my SZ1c. But true to be told, bezels are somehow big and SZ3c will solve that.

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 04:40 10

3. Settings (Posts: 2264; Member since: 02 Jul 2014)

Spec-wise, obviously Z1 Compact has the lime light.
S5 mini is a joke.

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 04:48

5. Felix_Gatto (Posts: 929; Member since: 03 Jul 2013)

This is not you, Samsung. Why no SD card slot????!!

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 05:13 1

8. ArtSim98 (Posts: 3535; Member since: 21 Dec 2012)

They want to become like Apple.

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 06:19 2

11. Amir1 (unregistered)

the one and ONLY compact flag is z1c, soon to be replaced by z3c. alpha is a joke.

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 07:47 1

12. Arte-8800 (banned) (Posts: 4562; Member since: 13 Mar 2014)

Exynos chips have always tended to outperform Snapdragons released at about the same time.

Problem is that Cortex-A15 has been a dud in terms of power consumption, which is why it hasn't been seen in anything but a small percentage of mainline phones. Even in tablets where its poor power efficiency is less of an issue, Qualcomm Kraits have been dominating.

big.LITTLE helps a bit here, but the truth is - at peak performance, Krait is far more power efficient than the A15, which means that it takes longer for a Krait to hit thermal throttling limits and can run for longer on battery. What's the point of having that insane peak performance if you can't sustain it without overheating or killing the battery?

Snapdragons didn't have such a clear advantage when it came to Scorpion vs. Cortex-A9, or even dual-Krait vs. quad-A9 which is why Exynos 4210 and 4412 dominated Samsung's handset lineup in their heyday - but the A15 has been a failure outside of the tablet and Chromebook market.

Samsung will claim the reason for Krait dominating their handset lineup is LTE in public documentation, but the Note 2 and international LTE GS3 (I9305) proved that Samsung can hang a Qualcomm LTE modem off of an Exynos CPU.

Specs are the same

The Cpu, Gpu destroys the S805, let alone S801.

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 11:38 2

15. Berzerk000 (Posts: 4275; Member since: 26 Jun 2011)

How is the Alpha a joke? The Exynos 5430 is actually more powerful than the S801 the Z3 Compact is supposed to have, and it has the same resolution display the Z3 Compact is supposed to have. And I bet it'll probably be around the same price of it too.

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 11:18

14. Taters (banned) (Posts: 6474; Member since: 28 Jan 2013)

This is a perfect example of the lack of intelligence and double standards on phone arena. The alpha is pretty much comparable to the Z3 compact and most likely the iPhone 6 in specs, including size, yet one is mid range garbage from Samsung, and the other two are true mini flagships.

Okay there buddies.... You either need to get your head checked or at least attempt to research before you post anything.

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 12:13 1

16. vuyonc (Posts: 1059; Member since: 24 Feb 2014)

It's not mid-range. It's overpriced. THAT is why everyone is upset. You're basically getting a lower resolution, non-water resistant GS5 without expandable storage. At nearly the same price.

The Z3C has expandable storage, is waterproof and likely has stereo speakers, maybe DNC earphones, and improved camera software. You know, stuff that actually justifies its premium price.

You should get your head checked.

posted on 13 Aug 2014, 23:58

22. Taters (banned) (Posts: 6474; Member since: 28 Jan 2013)

Actually this has the most important advantage. The gpu/cpu is as good as it gets and it's way thinner than the fat 10.5 mm compact.

No one really cares about the so called premium things you mentioned. Lol