The new Galaxy Alpha from Samsung just got a teardown from iFixit. It actually looks like a stretched out iPhone 5s, although a slimmer 6.7mm version.
(Photo : Samsung)
(Photo : Samsung)
The Galaxy Alpha gives out a solid feel, even though it is surprisingly thin. At 6.7mm, the Alpha is slimmer than the iPhone 6, the Alcatel One Touch Idol X and the Oppo Finder.
In addition to its thin profile, the device is also designed with a 1.4mm display. This measurement is less than half of iPhone 6's own panel display. Since it is so thin and is purported to keep a generous amount of adhesive under the hood, it gives the Alpha a certain level of difficulty when it comes to replacing its screen.
The Alpha is built with 4.7" Super AMOLED display. It runs on the Exynos 5 Octa 5430 system and has a RAM of 2GB coupled with a 32GB of internal storage. Other features include a rear camera of 12 MP, front camera of 2.1 MP, a battery of 1860 mAh, and a slew of sensor features such as Light Sensor, Gyro Sensor, Hall Sensor, Fingerprint Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Proximity Sensor and HR Sensor.
Probing further, one would also find that the device has a visible heart rate monitor found right above the rear camera. This makes it very useful as a health-monitoring device.
One feature akin to the 4th and 5th generation models of the iPhone is the Alpha's straight and smooth metal bezel, which is coupled with a chamfered edge. However, the rear is covered in a rubberized plastic panel, which is where the team from iFixit began when they were tearing down the phone.
After dispatching the cover, the iFixit team was amazed to find out how easy it was to remove the device's battery. It doesn't even require one to use a tool to pull it out of the device. The Alpha is equipped with a lithium ion battery, which rates at 1860 mAh and 3.85 V, enough to achieve a power of 7.17 Wh. This is notably lower than the 10.7 Wh battery found in the Galaxy S5. However, the Alpha's battery feature almost matches the iPhone 6's, which runs at 1810 mAh and 3.82 V.
In contrast to the ease in removing the battery, the iFixit team found it rather difficult to get to the phone's innerparts. They complained that they had to go through all the trouble of starting everything from the display in order to get to the motherboard and other internal parts.
If the user had to seek some servicing on the speakers, buttons, vibrator, and camera, it may become quite an ordeal to the service person since all of these components are found on the far side of the device. That person would need a lot of patience and expertise in applying heat in order to soften the device's front panel adhesive just to sneak in an opening pick in the gap.
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