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We’ve seen Samsung’s plans to finally include aluminum in their handsets with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Alpha being just the tip of the iceberg. Word on the street is Samsung could be planning for a new series of “Galaxy A” handsets — the Galaxy A3, A5, A7 — with the Galaxy A5 pictured in the flesh only few weeks ago.
Today, we’re getting yet another possible glimpse at these upcoming smartphones and their (unique to Samsung) unibody-like design, this time in leaked press renders, as well as video and shots of the device in the wild. According to sources, these phones will feature a nearly all-metal construction, different from the Galaxy Alpha or Note 4 which only have an aluminum frame, but feature Samsung’s now trademark soft-touch plastic back covers.
Pricing varies according to model, but it’s being said the mid-range A5 could retail for around $400 off contract and feature a 5-inch 720p display, Snapdragon 410 processor, 2GB RAM, 13MP shooter, 2,300mAh battery, 16GB internal storage with micro SD expandable storage. Because aluminum is a little harder to come by, expect limited availability depending on region — there’s no indication we’ll see a launch stateside although we wouldn’t giving these new devices a shot.
With Samsung reportedly expecting a massive drop in earnings this quarter (a 60% drop during the same time a year ago), it’s clear they’re going to have to do something different. The big question is whether or not a new premium line of mid-range handsets will be enough to address criticism that their devices have, traditionally, felt anything but premium.
[PhoneArena | Android Mexico | Samsung Tomorrow]
Sammy, stop making new phones and simply give us the products you’ve already announced without having to wait months to get it, or to go through hoops to get an unlocked model. It’s like your pouring gallons of water through a funnel with a pinhole at the bottom!
Saturation and more saturation.
There is no need for a galaxy s5, galaxy s5 zoom, galaxy s5 active, galaxy s5 mini…
Quite simply…you just need probably the
Galaxy S line…Galaxy Note line….Galaxy Alpha line…the zoom and mini and actives do not need the “galaxy” branding..better yet..they don’t even need to exist !!!!
Start a separate product line like:
Galaxy s5 zoom > Samsung Focus
Galaxy s5 Active > Samsung Sport
Galaxy s5 mini > Samsung Pinto..lol
This is what happened to HTC. Too many devices with minimal differences becomes noise and customer confusion.
No HTC just creates a bunch of features no one cares for. Boom sounds cool but it makes the phone look bulky/ugly. “Ultra pixel” camera sucks (only 4mp) it only offered slightly better lowlight but at half the resolution. And their new feature is that 13mp front cam. They should also move their release date to fall so they could incorporate a better chip set.
Sorry, I should have clarified. I meant pre One series line up changes. Before the One series, HTC made a lot of phones with very little to differentiate them.
Well, even then lg was a lot less popular than HTC, yet they are the only other OEM to actually make a profit from Android now. LGs turning point was the Optimus G and it was mostly due to the Snapdragon S4 pro which was the first high end snapdragon(TI had the Android market before 2012), HTC settled for the S4 in the first quarter. Every single one of LGs devices from back then looked alike even less of a difference than HTC devices.
Still too much lol, there’s like 3 phones in the galaxy s line, now theirs two phones in the galaxy note line, and theirs supposedly 3 in the alpha lineup. 3 great phones would do.
Buy “premium” device. Cover with cheap plastic for protection. This isn’t going to fix the problem. The problem with Samsung is that device specifications have essentially plateaued. they need to find more compelling reasons to sell their devices. We’ve gone from 1280 × 720 to 1920 × 1080 to 2,560 x 1,440 and the average layman can’t really tell the difference. Any thoughts?
Most end users don’t care about specs, only we do. They just see shiny on these devices and go for it.
The nest area needs to be storage,…
16GB + (up to64GB) SD Card
32GB + (up to64GB) SD Card
64GB + (up to64GB) SD Card
The days of low internal storage and no expansion need to end. Seriously. Esecially with memory prices dropping back down to inexpensive levels.
Those bezels though…
Quite large compared to Moto and LG
Did they not learn from Apple’s iPhone 6 mistake? Say no to protruding camera lenses!
Did anyone really care?
Apparently. I know I certainly did when my gf’s One X inadvertently got knocked off a desk because it didn’t sit flat and busted the screen.
And what mistake would that be? Since almost every phone I see has a camera lens that extends to some extent.
Aye? What phones would they be? Not the M7/M8, G2/G3, Xperia Z1/2/3, iPhone 4/5, OnePlus One…ah you get the idea. “Almost every phone” does not have a protruding camera. Only phones I can think of that do would be the One X, N5 and iP6.
whatever…yet another gimmicky feature.
Im going to hold off buying any devices in the near future. The higher res screens completely diminish performance, all the 2k displays are pushing like 11fps which is horrible. If they up it to 4k next year I’m not buying. Should have stopped at 1080p.
The 2K display was one of the reasons I preordered the Note 4. Now I am just wondering if 2K is really viable. I cant seem to find many videos in 2K resolution. It has me really wondering if a 1080p video will look better in its native resolution on a 1080p display instead of being upconverted to 2K.
Theirs very little difference between 2k and 1080p, you would need a close up look with a magnifying glass to see it. So 1080p video on a 2k display still looks the same. 2k video looks slightly sharper. Not worth the 15fps drop.
I agree. I hate giving apple credit, but the original “retina” iPhone pixel density was around 300ppi, which is really plenty for most people. The 1080p on my G2 is noticeably better than 720p on my old GS3, but if the specs were right, I’d go back to 720p in a heartbeat.
You know the retina display is made by Samsung, don’t you?
Agreed. When battery tech catches up to the rest of tech,.. then I’ll be worried about what’s the latest and greatest. Until then, my ‘old’ 5″ 720p works just fine and does everything I need it to and more with nice all day battery life.
Well the battery life has already caught up, the galaxy s5 and a bunch of other devices in the range are getting 9+ hours browsing and video playback. The problem with battery life came from early adoption of LTE. Its probably why devices became bigger, to fit a larger battery. I liked the ARM race more though, at least they pushed the boundary on what a smartphone could do and it also improved battery life with big little architecture even if it only was like 10% more efficient. this whole screen resolution thing is taking us backwards with less battery life, less performance and the worse part is that their is little to no difference after 1080p on a smartphone due to the pixels already being so compact.
Samsung just hasn’t been the same company since Steve Jobs died.
“Use the Force, Harry.”
-Gandalf
Samsung just hasn’t been the same company since Steve Jobs died three years ago.
as Chris said in the roar when note edge was announced. “Samsung is samsunging again”
Premium look, mediocre specs, premium price. Does not compute.
What do you mean? It works great for Apple.
Give me this design with 1080p screen, snap 805 and you’ve got me back Samsung.
I fail to see what’s so sexy about it.
Agree. Sexy and Samsung are polar opposites.
The GNex was (and still is 3 years later) their best looking phone IMO.
Wow.. I’d totally bite if they have an aluminium unibody design.. Spec this up and I’d totally buy their ‘A’ (beast mode) phone off contract!
Yea, they really should make the next S6 look like this.
Looks ugly and uninspiring.
Just like their modifications to Android.
Look’s the same as the plastic phones really, somewhat concerned about scratches on the back if it’s all metal.. .
I suppose it’s better they test with a mid range device first, gives us some idea of what to expect from the Galaxy S6.
samsung diluted their brand with to many variations of “galaxy” devices. It is ridiculous how many phones they put out with the word galaxy in it. The s5 was nothing special and little thought was put into it. Get rid of that god awful UI that is touchwiz and start from scratch