Did you know that the Galaxy Alpha is actually not the first metal smartphone by Samsung?

posted by Victor H. / Aug 24, 2014, 1:39 PM

Did you know that the Galaxy Alpha is actually not the first metal smartphone by Samsung?

After years of Apple smartphones with comparatively small displays, the company - by all looks - is to aim at Samsung’s bread and butter: large-screen smartphones. And if Apple can do this, Samsung seems to have thought that it should strike back and the unthinkable happened: the Samsung Galaxy Alpha.

The Galaxy Alpha caused a stir in the smartphone world as all hell broke loose and the world’s largest phone maker decided to use a metal frame rather than the usual Samsung plastic. The wink in Apple’s direction becomes more obvious when you see that the Alpha has a nano SIM card, and no memory expansion slot.

We can’t say that the Galaxy Alpha surprised us - there were too many leaks and rumors about a fashionable, premium Samsung gadget. However, amidst all the oohs and aahs surrounding the Alpha, many (us included) claimed the Galaxy Alpha is Samsung’s first metal phone.

Technically, though, it’s not. Remember the bada (as in bada, the operating system) series of smartphones? Don’t worry if you don’t - bada smartphones were only available in select markets (and most popular in Asia) a couple of years ago, but matter-of-factly, the Samsung Wave flagships were made of beautiful and sturdy metal. And lo and behold, they also featured a unique Samsung design!

And for those of you who’d say that bada does not count, how about we told you that there is metal used even in Samsung’s Android smartphones! Surprised? That’s because there is in fact very little of it in the Samsung Galaxy Active - only the screws were made of metal (we’re not kidding). Does this count? We don’t know, but we felt obliged to mention it. So now that you know all about the history of Samsung metal-made smartphones, you can go on a holy crusade against less educated and more obsessed with brands people. But you shouldn’t really do it and you wouldn’t. Right?

The bada-running and metal-made Samsung Wave

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53 Comments

1. AJagtiani

Posts: 466; Member since: Apr 24, 2014

The Galaxy Alpha and the Samsung Captivate are the two best looking phones by Samsung ever!

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 1:42 PM 6

4. Ashoaib

Posts: 3285; Member since: Nov 15, 2013

I am not agree... Alpha is nice looking but this samsung wave is so beautiful... captivate was also very nice looking... even Omnia Hd was also way better looking than galaxy series... Omnia Hd was one of the best camera phone of that time, inov8 was too... suddenly samsung changed their direction and galaxy series was borned, the era of unappealing designs started then

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 1:56 PM 3

23. GalaxyS5

Posts: 430; Member since: Aug 05, 2014

I do wonder, when Samsung changed their design to the way it is now it became the most powerful brand in the world

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 2:56 PM 2

26. Ashoaib

Posts: 3285; Member since: Nov 15, 2013

this is the reason mostly for recent critism as well and may be declined sales volume as well(may be), they became the most powerful brand due to beastly specs they offer and vast availability in every corner of the world... they have a disticntion of SAmoled, while all others are mostly on more or less same type of LCDs

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 3:06 PM 0

33. GalaxyS5

Posts: 430; Member since: Aug 05, 2014

declined sales as we all know it is mostly due to cheap chinese companies rising, as companies like sony htc and lg are not causing damage with market shares less than 5% the problem comes from chinese brands starting to dominate certain markets and the low end

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 3:29 PM 1

45. JakeLee

Posts: 1021; Member since: Nov 02, 2013

It was not only declined sales, but more the operating profit, caused by GS5's fail. And GS5 didn't compete against cheap Chinese ones. The reality is : people don't want to pay for Android phones better than probably GS3 or GS4. The situation looks really grim for all Android OEMs facing this kind of cannibalism, and iPhone6 will go rampage very soon. I wonder what excuses Androtakus will invent on the GN4's inevitable fail. Androtakus may praise GN4 as much as they desire, GN4 will fail worse than GS5.

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 5:57 PM 0

46. willard12 unregistered

Apple should definitely rampage to 16% of the world-wide market when iphone 6 is released.

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 6:55 PM 3

47. AfterShock

Posts: 4146; Member since: Nov 02, 2012

lol +1

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 7:40 PM 0

51. tedkord

Posts: 17357; Member since: Jun 17, 2009

And next year, when Android is not only still number one by a huge margin, but will have most likely increased it's share, you'll still be predicting the same doom that you have been for years. And still no one will care what you say.

posted on Aug 25, 2014, 12:42 AM 2

54. GalaxyS5

Posts: 430; Member since: Aug 05, 2014

GS5 did not fail at all in fact it's doing better than GS4, where I live I swear you cannot get yourself a GS5, my friend went to get one for his girlfriend, she wanted the blue version, we ended up searching everywhere until he finally bought her a white one. the Note? oh no brother stop the drama. it's gonna be even more beastly than the GS5.

posted on Aug 25, 2014, 1:37 AM 1

55. JakeLee

Posts: 1021; Member since: Nov 02, 2013

Sammy sold their brand new GS5 less than the 8 months old 5s back in May. That tells a lot along with their Q2 earning report.

posted on Aug 25, 2014, 1:50 AM 0

27. geordie8t1 unregistered

the original galaxy phone sold remarkably well with very powerful specs and a cheap price was much more powerful then anything else on the market at that time, then the s2 was born doubling the sales and huge availability world wide and so on, marketing and advertising will always catapult a company if it is done right it is very effective, but samsung spends billions on this, along with offering devices for almost every market and range possible, = maximising sales in every corner of the market

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 3:09 PM 8

36. Ashoaib

Posts: 3285; Member since: Nov 15, 2013

exactly

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 3:31 PM 0

43. CanYouSeeTheLight

Posts: 1122; Member since: Jul 05, 2012

Don't forget Android. And the S2 IMO was Samsung's greatest phone of all times, it was just that much faster, slicker and better than anything that came out on that year. The Exynos chip was blazing fast, the camera was great, the Super Amoled plus screen was amazing too, good battery and much more thinner than the main opponents, i remember being stunned seeing the S2 for the first time as it was for the time incredibly thin. I still love that design nowadays.

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 5:11 PM 1

49. SuperMaoriBro

Posts: 533; Member since: Jun 23, 2012

I owned the Wave, it also featured curved gorilla glass and a dedicated camera shutter, and the metal back was removeable to access the replaceable battery and microSD slot. Was so disappointed when I upgraded from this to the Galaxy S2 in terms of feel in the hand. Wish Samsung would build something as premium as this again.

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 10:18 PM 0

2. techspace

Posts: 1037; Member since: Sep 03, 2012

galaxy alpha is a semi metallic smartphone

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 1:54 PM 2

5. tedkord

Posts: 17357; Member since: Jun 17, 2009

No smartphone is totally metallic.

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 1:57 PM 15

9. techspace

Posts: 1037; Member since: Sep 03, 2012

i am talking about the plastic back.

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 2:06 PM 2

11. tech2

Posts: 3487; Member since: Oct 26, 2012

Then add Xperia Z2 in the list of semi-metal phone too. A complete metal phone suffer from poor signal reception. Many users of M8 and iP5s are suffering from the same problem. Still if you're so concerned about the plastic back then just one from ebay. They cost like $10-15.

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 2:12 PM 9

13. techspace

Posts: 1037; Member since: Sep 03, 2012

technically it is and even the m8 has some plastic....so let's call it the galaxy alpha a premium 'Plastic back' smartphone :D .

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 2:16 PM 1

14. techspace

Posts: 1037; Member since: Sep 03, 2012

i don't want metallic cases...i am not dying for metal, i said so because everyone is calling the alpha a metallic smartphone just because it has a metallic frame.

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 2:19 PM 1

16. 0xFFFF

Posts: 3806; Member since: Apr 16, 2014

"A complete metal phone suffer from poor signal reception." And delivers a lot more radiation into your head or body.

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 2:32 PM 1

32. techspace

Posts: 1037; Member since: Sep 03, 2012

Even a plastic phone with a metal frame(like the galaxy alpha) can deliver a lot more radiation than an all plastic smartphone :D

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 3:24 PM 1

50. ecmedic4

Posts: 520; Member since: May 02, 2013

I have an iPhone 5S and a 5 before that and have no signal problems what so ever. Only time my signal drops is in areas with poor service. I live in a rural area, and everyone's signal drops in certain areas here, no matter what phone or provider they have.

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 10:27 PM 0

3. 0xFFFF

Posts: 3806; Member since: Apr 16, 2014

"That’s because there is in fact very little of it in the Samsung Galaxy Active - only the screws were made of metal (we’re not kidding)." Seems like quite a few little metal pieces in the S5. I would guess the S5 Active is largely the same. RF shields, for example. https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Samsung+Galaxy+S5+Teardown/24016

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 1:56 PM 1

6. Ashoaib

Posts: 3285; Member since: Nov 15, 2013

screws are always made of metal... what about circuit board? by this definition, mother board ram cpu cam all contains metal

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 2:03 PM 2

20. techspace

Posts: 1037; Member since: Sep 03, 2012

Then it is also a golden phone because smart phones contain traces of gold ;)

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 2:48 PM 1

22. 0xFFFF

Posts: 3806; Member since: Apr 16, 2014

Uh oh... does this mean PA will have to write dozens of articles about who made the first "golden" phone? ;-)

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 2:54 PM 1

31. techspace

Posts: 1037; Member since: Sep 03, 2012

If we start talking more about it, they will....and in order to stop them from doing it, we should block their ads lol.

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 3:18 PM 1

7. tango_charlie

Posts: 347; Member since: Nov 16, 2011

If you call a Bada OS running phone a "smartphone", then you have to accept that it's definitely not Sammys first metal smartphone. What about Symbian running SGH-G810 (year 2008)?

posted on Aug 24, 2014, 2:05 PM 0

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