Samsung Galaxy Alpha

Available now
16th August 2014

If for some reason you have been thinking about buying a Galaxy S5 Mini then stop right now. The S5 Mini was always a marketing gimmick rather than a mini version of the S5, and the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Alpha manages to do everything the S5 Mini does, but better.

The Galaxy Alpha has about the same footprint as the S5 Mini, but comes with a 4.7" 720p display rather than a 4.5" one. The primary camera is a 12 megapixel unit, unlike the 8 megapixel one on the S5 Mini, and inside is an octa-core processor with 2GB of RAM which is significantly better than the pedestrian offering in the S5 Mini. The Alpha can also capture UHD 2160p video, has a fingerprint sensor and is a lot thinner than the S5 Mini at just 6.7mm thick.

It's an elegant looking device compared to the dull S5 Mini, with a combination of metal and soft finishes, a design that looks like it is likely to be competing with Apple's next-generation devices due to be announced soon.

One critical downside to the slim frame is the smaller battery - the Alpha has an 1860 mAh cell, the S5 Mini 2100 mAh. But other than that, this is a pretty desirable piece of kit with LTE support, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of non-expandable flash storage, NFC plus everything you'd expect in a reasonably high-end Samsung, apart from an FM radio.

Due to hit the market in September in a variety of colours depending on market (black, white, gold, silver and blue) the Galaxy Alpha looks like a much better complement to the full-size S5 than the disappointing Mini. No guidance was given on price, but we would expect this to retail for about €450 for a SIM-free model