Samsung Galaxy Alpha will have lower specs than initially thought

A report from the Samsung-tracking site Sammobile indicates that the specifications for the company’s upcoming flagship smartphone may not be as high-end as previously thought. The smartphone, which will be known as the Samsung Galaxy Alpha, will only have a 4.8-inch display screen that supports a maximum of 720p resolution. This will put it behind other top smartphones that allow for a full HD resolution. Earlier reports had suggested that it would have much higher specs, such as a 5-inch screen and a Snapdragon 805 processor.

The Samsung developer console from which the information was revealed also confirms that the phone will have a number of other rumoured features. It is set to have at least a partially metal outer shell, unlike the Galaxy S5’s plastic casing. This will no doubt please customers who have complained about the less premium feel of other Samsung smartphones. It is also likely to have 32GB of internal storage, though will not support external storage. This brings it into line with Apple’s iPhone smartphones where the memory cannot be upgraded.  The alpha will also feature a nano SIM slot and a fingerprint scanner.

The information suggests that the Galaxy Alpha will not be marketed as the flagship of Samsung’s smartphone range. Instead, Samsung will likely sell the phone as a lite version of the Galaxy S5 at a smaller overall price. Many current flagship smartphones already support higher resolutions. Both the HC One (M8) and the Samsung Galaxy S5 are full 1080p HD. They also each have screens over 5-inches, with the Galaxy S5 sporting a 5.1-inch display and the One (M8) a 5-inch screen. The Galaxy Alpha would not be the only high-profile smartphone without a full HD resolution. Apple’s iPhone 6 is rumoured to only support up to 1704×960, somewhat short of 1080p.