Samsung is ditching plastic in favor of metal on its new smartphone, abandoning what some critics have called a cheap aesthetic. The tech company’s new high-end smartphone, the Galaxy Alpha, will go on sale in September. It has a metal frame on the four edges of the phone, Samsung said Wednesday, and will launch in five colors including black, white, gold, silver and blue. Samsung said in a statement it was taking “a fresh approach” to its hardware design, “based on the specific desires of consumer markets.”
Samsung has announced a new Galaxy Alpha smartphone with a metal body, signalling that it has recognised consumer disgruntlement with flimsy plastic phone parts. Galaxy Alpha, which runs on Android software, replaces the characteristic chromed plastic seen on previous high-end Samsung smartphones with a metal frame with chamfered edges, reminiscent of the iPhone and metal band Vapor smartphone cases from Element Case. “The Galaxy Alpha was built and designed based on the specific desires of the consumer market,” said JK Shin, Samsung’s CEO and head of IT & mobile communication. It is likely to compete directly with Apple’s iPhone. The Galaxy Alpha joins the Galaxy S5, which first released in April at the top end of Samsung’s line. It has a smaller 4.7in HD screen with lower resolution compared to the S5, but is thinner, at 6.7mm thick compared to 8.1mm, and at 115g is lighter than the 145g Galaxy S5.
