yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] Adelm2013x:
Hi all :D

suppose that you didn't buy Galaxy Alpha yet ... would you buy it now ???

please explain why for both answers yes/no ....

don't tell me that the battery is too small because I don't care about this thing at all

------------

I can't see enough support for this phone on the internet especially on xda :( i love rooting & changing my system & play with my phone :3

please give some attention to my question .......

thanks
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] ipred:
Yes.

The reasons :

+Beautiful design and nice feel

+Excellent 8core processor

+No problems in functionality ( no lags, freezes, restarts, shutdowns)

+I like super amoled screens, the blacks are amazing.

+Good camera in day light (not good in low light conditions though)

+I like powerful compact phones.

+ Priced at 300€ in my country ( one of the most top selling smartphones when the priced dropped) , which makes it the top value for money compact smartphone.

As for your needs , there is a problem and you already know it . The support from devs is little so you will not be able to "play" with custom roms.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] Juoin1001:
No

Now that the S6 is out I would probably have gotten that.

The small battery may be a non-issue for you but for most people, it is a real annoyance. So I would chalk up the battery life to be the top reason I would not get this phone if I hadn't.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] line____:
yes ... this phone is better than eny other phones.....even better than s6 becuse the s6 has a 2k screen and in the games is not that good...alpha is the best i install cm 12.1 that was awesome and in cm 12.1 battry life was verry good much better than ferench android 5.0 i get 54000 antutu and 1.50 free ram but still cm in the nightly :D...im going to keep it for next 4 yers .. i love it ;)
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] mhsn7:
maybe. I would go for the s6 if I had the money :D
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] Adelm2013x:
is there cyanogenmod support for galaxy alpha !! it is unofficial as i see on the internet :\ ..

what about the performance of the memory (RAM) & the white colour problem with the camera like these photos & the focus speed of the camera??

6 in the images=iphone 6...

s6 is costs more than the doubled price of alpha in my country

anyone dropped his phone ? .. as in youtube videos , in drop test, this phone fails & break the glass of the screen by the first drop !
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] kepiro:
+1. sunscribe to ipred post

this is really the best phone of 2014 in my opinion!

compact and powerfull and no issues

as a minus, only battery but you dont care about

not to forget a big minus for me is that damn gorilla glass 4 display - after 2 weeks of use i saw 3 superficial scratches and i dont know how they appeared.

i use my phone with the ringke fusion case and alone in my pocket...

for me this is a dillema -how the hell gorilla glass 4 get scratched knowing that no heavy materials pocked the phone...

youtube is full of videos with gorilla glass 4 being resistant to scissors, cutter, keys, etc

my old lg g2 was used with keys in my pocket and display is still untouched, not even a microscratch!

and of course that will not be changed on guarantee, i have talked to customer service of the shop.

i should talk with gorillas peoduction service, but i have no hopes.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] Adelm2013x:
thanks bro. :D

anyone would talk about the camera or the memory ?? :'(
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] line____:
camera wasent that good it bad verry bad :D....memory was the best 1.530 mb free ram
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] chong67:
I buy it now cause it is $250 unlock n new. It is a nice phone for this price. It has metallic edges and removable battery. I use this tiny phone when I go jogging instead of the bigger phone which I also have.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] arabicjew420:
Yes. But only the octacore version. Att one not only dies in 3-4 hours. It lags real bad. If ur in america get the 850m. Best fone I've had. And I've had em all. I do wish there was more development. Tho. But the one Rom we got is great tho
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] SmokeyTech1:
I just got my alpha 2 days ago. Mines the att version, the 850m was $100 more, but for the price it was at its a very good phone, I think the camera is very good, the battery life is ok, but you can turn on power save mode if you're going to be away from a charger, I wish Samsung wouldn't have discontinued the alpha line. It's a very good phone, my favorite part is the metal build and the display, the display is very good even at 720p
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] genewildersfunnybone:
Where for 250? Cheapest I've found is through target (can't post link since new account).
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] arabicjew420:
Amazon has em for 250 new

---------- Post added at 10:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:55 AM ----------

850a tho

---------- Post added at 10:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:55 AM ----------

I'd rather have an s4 than the 850a
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] chong67:
Go find it on fleabay.

If battery is a concern, get another OEM battery for $6.

I love this phone. I dont know why Samsung discount this phone. I wish they make it for every carrier here.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] cqdiep:
Do you use your 850M with ATT? If so, do you have trouble connecting to LTE?
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] cobola:
I've just bought my brand new Galaxy Alpha (850F), 330€ (with 23% vat).

It came with Lollipop installed (v5.0.2).

I found it the best choice for this prize target considering the specs and screen size (4,7'' was the limit).

My last device was the heroic Galaxy S - still perfectly working, but 5 years of difference is quite something...
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] tileeq:
Haha 5 years, so how does the alpha feel now?

Sent from my SM-G850F
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] mykeldg:
Without a doubt yes. The only phone i'd switch to is an s6 or ip6.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] robertkoa:
Camera is very good but not excellent or great.

Camera is like a Galaxy S5 if S5 is in 12 megapixel mode.

Because Alpha IS the S5 Sensor restricted to 12 megapixels in Firmware. Samsung intentionally held back the Camera to be BELOW quality of S5 ¿!

Note 4 , S6, LG G4 Cameras are a major step up from Alpha but in good light you can get very good results.

If you get a Tempered Glass Screen Protector Alpha is one of the most durable Phones extremely rigid.

I had the Alpha charging on someones Patio and when sliding door was opened the USB Cable metal end into Phone got bent to perfect 90 degree angle ( ouch) with NO damage to Alpha USB Port or Frame etc. Case was a Casemate Naked Tough but it was the metal frame that absorbed the force.

USB Cords still fit snugly.

That is a rugged metal frame !

The Exynos Alphas have the Wolfson Audio Chip which gives a great speakerphone almost as loud as S6 but less distortion so you can hear an Internet Broadcast clearly 20 or 30 feet away in quiet room or quiet Patio etc on Tune In or Iheart and hear what they are saying.

Spare battery for heavy users 3 to 4.5 hours SOT at low brightness per battery charge on one battery.

Very good loud call quality- again Speaker is as loud and full as HTC One Mini (not the big HTC) and on a way different level than S4 S5 etc.

The AT&T Version does not have this

Speaker volume or fullness- AT&T has decent but tinny speaker.

Alpha is very good at $250 to $350

IF you like a smaller rugged phone.

IF you like very high res screens obviously you won't like 720p but I like it.

Agree to get Exynos version faster more efficient CPU and much better Audio.

As discontinued less popular phone not much Development.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] body150165:
Right now, I still have a Galaxy S4. I am about to cut a new phone soon and seriously consider the Alpha.

Beautiful, small in hand, lightweight, decent battery life, great performance, office in Thailand is now around 250€. Tempting.

There are competitors, though.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] axhng:
I recently got the Alpha like less than a week ago, and really enjoying the form factor. I am a fan of compact devices though so the Alpha was a great fit. 4.7" to me is the sweet spot. I had the Moto x 1st gen, and Z3 compact previously as well.

I was intrigued by this device when it launched, but never got around to buying it due to the price and battery capacity, but recently I found a used one going for cheap and grabbed it. I'm happy to say my battery concerns are overblown. for my usage, it's better than the Moto X 1st gen that I had, and lasts me close to a day of use. If i turn on power saving mode to restrict performance and brightness, I get through a day just fine.

I'm really impressed by the device, and really liking it. Though I am keeping a close eye on the rumour S6 mini, to see whether it will be the same watered-down "Mini" like in the past, or whether it will be a compact smartphone with high end specs as well. :D
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] ixon2001:
Bought a Alpha in Silver only last week. it still has 4.4.4 no update to lollipop just yet in the UK for simfree, not that I'm bothered as lollipop 5.0.2 for most part is a disaster, hopefully 5.1.1 will see the light of day and maybe Android M sometime next year.

For the price it going for now it's well worth buying while you can still get hold of one.

Coming from a QHD screen on my Note 4 which was sold to a 720p screen on the Alpha took some getting use to, but after a few days screen now looks superb just as long as i keep away from anything with a QHD display.

The Camera is as good as the S5, so have no problems with it as most of my snapshots are taken during the day, one of the big pluses is audio quality though my headphones it just sounds superb, beating my past Note 4 thanks to the Wolfson DAC.

The only downside i would say about this phone is not having Micro SD expansion, I have a 128GB Micro SD card sat around doing nothing now.

I'll shall keep this phone now until around the end of 2016, as my phone buying days are coming to an end while I'm in the process of buying a new home.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] rp3:
I have an S6 edge. My only issue with the phone is it's size as it's larger than a LG G2. I totally would get a exynos version (850m) at the right price and stick a larger battery in it. It's a small android phone running 2014 flagship specs. The only comparable phones are the Nexus 5 and the Z3 Compact (and only the Z3c has microSD). Overall, I wish Samsung would make a smaller S6 with full power a la Alpha vs S5.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] exaflare:
I agree, and I think moving to 4k resolution is like going backwards it kills the performance rather than improving it.

That is why Galaxy Alpha with 720P resolution is much smoother than Note 3 full HD resolution even with same exynos 5430 and Mali-T628MP6.

Im more on gaming and love compact phones so I rather have an 720P with better performance rather than having a 4k with lower performance.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] anosis:
I am still torn -

I am really tired of the new trend of bigger is better and all the flagship phones these days are 5in and over. When this phone came out in the US I jumped on it only to find out two weeks after that Samsung pulled the plug on making it and eventually supporting it.

I love the form factor and the grace this phone brings to light... simply put, it is gorgeous. The fingerprint reader is a nice feature and so is the heard beat monitor (gimmick, yes, but it does get your pulse within a few beats).

What I hate and about 90% of the community that has this phone is the sub par battery live. It was the reason that I swiched to it's closest rival the Sony Z3 Compact, but after using that phone for about 6 weeks I simply could not stand the lackluster design and the inferior screen compared to the GA. Now I am back on the Alpha, gladly seeing that some DEV's are out there to take on this phone and bring us some new Android magic.

One other feature that I do miss is an expansion micro SD slot, but so far I had no issues with the built in RAM
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] hensk:
definitely alpha,after my son change his S4 with my Alpha than I see difference between this phones

in meantime I change 9505 with S5 also I was not satisfied,than changed with new Alpha 850 F

& now I `m good to go ,this was happening in time for almost 1 month

ps look what happend on antutu ,maybe is fake but it`s on GSMarena right now
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] exaflare:
hehe! I think this is possible if Galaxy S6 edge's chipset will put into Galaxy Alpha hehe.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] hensk:
even S6 cant do it ,maybe Alpha 2 or fakeed screenshot
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] djo165:
I'm very satisfied with my AT&T Galaxy Alpha. If buying new, I might consider a GS6, but I really prefer the smaller form factor of the Alpha. Samsung needs to keep making a premium small phone like this.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] tileeq:
The at&t version of the alpha is a bit weaker than the other versions so if you could try one of them you could see the diference. Just saying this because yoy could go to one of those instead of giving a silly amount of money for the s6.

Sent from my SM-G850F
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] bowen1506:
definitely not. Hated my at&t G850A. It's a piece if shlt that cannot be rooted and has limitations that at&t put on to screw ppl over. eg, mobile hot spot feature blocked. Really man...FK at&t and their locked bootloader and other bull****. I so fking regret buying this.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] ipred:
I have the exynos version of Alpha 8 months now and i would definitely buy it again ! :) Excellent performance without any issue all these months, very good design, very good camera in daylight, good sound from the earphones, good gps receiver. I don't need larger battery and i do not need lollipop or root or customs roms. The screen is not full HD but the 300+ ppi and the super amoled technology is what i want.

Conclusion 1 : A great device for those who want a beautiful compact device with great performance and nice camera.

Conclusion 2 : Not a good device for those who like to root and install customs roms or for those who play games all the time ( bigger battery needed for this kind of use)
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] rp3:
I just took the jump. Target (USA large box department store) has the phone on sale for $299. At that price, I decided to sell my S6 Edge.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] Andraxo:
No this phone is a piece of crap

Trying to sell mine but none buying

This phone is garbage no roms no root no SD card and same price as s5 lol

I regret not buying s5 instead
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] Gray44:
Have you seen a S5 in real life? It's UGLY! :) Alpha is good looking, I still get compliments from note 4, S6 owners and even from iPhone users about the back and edges of my phone.

Alpha is not garbage, and for at least the exynos version I can say it's better than the S5. It's rootable and for me there are sufficient roms.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] Andraxo:
Who cares about ugly or not I'm ugly in real life so iIdon't give a crap about Ugly or not vrott
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] cqdiep:
I used to have the A version (S801) and that is a piece of crap (function wise, not design). Now I have the M version (Exynos) and it's awesome, but only after root and de-bloating.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] Andraxo:
>galaxy alpha

>awesome

sure buddy thats why samsung sstopped producing it :)

kek stopped reading there
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] sunnyandtony:
I like the phone. It is better than most phones in the price range while maintaining a name brand that my wife trusts (she is Korean). But in reality, I don't think I would choose this phone again. This phone is excellent for my wife, but for myself, the screen is a bit small. I don't care a lot about performance or tons of features. There are really just a few things I want:

1. A battery that lasts

2. Qi wireless charging

3. Memory expansion

4. A large enough screen for me to type on

My previous phone was an LG R3 from Korea. I would have used it here in the US when I returned, but it doesn't have the right bands to do so. That phone was a bit heavy, and the battery wasn't so great, but the screen was big enough for typing. I do have the Qi wireless plate on my phone, and I like it a lot, but I wish it was just standard. Right now, it is hard to find a good case for my phone. I have to use the Spigen Neo Hybrid one. It is a solid case, but I would prefer something that didn't have plastic around it.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] exaflare:
Well sadly no matter how many roms or any kinds of rom or custom kernel installed on the LG Nexus 5 with lots of developers it can't match the performance of galaxy alpha exynos version in stock rom (facepalm) :D
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] hensk:
I`m pleased with my AlphaN,I like it ,already have 2 at home

first i like 4.7 " screen ,fast CPU now when battery & memory liek habe sorted out on

KK 502 always get more than 3,5 hours on SOT,

camera is excellent ,metal frame with slim design weight only 115gr

I have make a change from Alpha (when my son take my Alpha & leve me on SGS4) & have short experience with Samsung galaxy S4 ...difference with this both phones are so big in advantage to Alpha F.

I decide to change Samsung S4 with AlphaF because is smaller,faster cpu or more over for that ****y SGS4 screen frame & after 1 monath of use you have phone with milion bracks on screen frame.

I have offer for Galaxy s4 + 70 Euro to get new Alpha F & I do it

& now I`m very pleased
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] rp3:
I finally took the jump back (running an 850m in the US). I have had alot of phones in the last year (S6, S6 edge, z3 compact, Nexus 5, LG G2, 850a. Here are my initial thoughts:

Battery life is mediocre... but that is now a samsung trait (Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Tab S2 both traded battery life to be thinner than apples).

Compared to G850a, root makes so much difference. Visually, I was able to install Ozcam's rom giving me most of the S6 versions of Samsung's apps. I changed the DPI to 240 (I do this on every device). I used Xposed based tools to fix some samsung apps's DPI issues, give a circle battery, fix lollipop's memory leaks, remove a dozen warnings/popups and limit battery drain. I used Titanium Backup to delete some bloat. I turned tether on (G850a didn't tether on T-mobile) and was quite happy.

Compared to S6, it is similarly comfortable to hold but the smaller size, weight and non-glass back makes it easier to use. Dropping the DPI by 45% is noticeable. The camera also isn't as good. I had a very customized S6 rom (Note 5 ported + very updated kernel fixing most memory issues). The S6 was faster (not by a huge amount) but also ran hotter.

I wish Samsung would take the Galaxy alpha and update it from S5 specs to S6 specs (7420, camera, 1080p, 64 GB version). Call it either the Alpha 2 or the Beta. Until then, I'll likely keep the Alpha until the Z5 Compact premium (unannounced flying unicorn phone) hits the states.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] sasank360:
Hello everyone. I am S4 Mini user and am planning to upgrade to alpha within the next month. Or maybe S6 at the end of year .

I read a lot about battery endurance of this phone. Some say it is bad, while others say it is just better than average.

Can anyone tell me what is average screen on time with moderate-heavy use ? I do not need a phone that lasts 2-3 days.

But 1 solid day of usage is my need. I root everything that is in my hand :D So any custom ROM/kernel combo can be mentioned

with battery stats I request.

I am from india. We have the G850Y variant here. However there are no custom ROMs for

that variant. So i searched a lot and found some sellers offering the G850F model. So please recommend which model to buy.

I am personally hinging on the "F" model as custom rom support is good.

Anyway thanks for reading this lengthy post. Waiting for reply . :)

Cheers
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] Gray44:
I'm pretty sure Samsung won't make an alpha 2.

This was a test-phone to see if a good looking phone also sells. The 1st one with aluminum chassis.

They continued with the A-series.

Personally I love this phone, I can't say anything bad about the Alpha (850f) except that really heavy users won't make the day on one battery load. It happened to me once.

Even today it's still Samsungs best looking phone.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] sasank360:
Hello guys. I just bought a galaxy alpha G850F variant. Got a good deal (250$) and went ahead.

Charging it now.. Already downloaded a firmware (russia 5.0.2), ozcan rom and twrp. Just waiting

for battery to reach 100%. Looking forward to a good custom rom junky life.. in this forum :D
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] mildj84ns:
Probably not...diamond-shaped matrix doesn't look that well at this ppi, especially red sub-pixels, battery life is poor, stock 5.02 firmware is not as near as polished as 4.4.4, weak support from developer community...

It's a very capable phone with beautiful design and today it has a very good value for the price, i bought it when it was released and the price was insane, it was more expensive then S5, but even though it's very cheap today i think i still wouldn't buy it now.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] ixon2001:
Most people won't see or be bothered about the pixels, I've come from a Note 4 & have gotten use to the 720p display on this phone, it still a very good display when all said & done.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] Andraxo:
youre an idiot for buying it , samsung cut the suport off it , u wont find any good roms arround if not any , the only rom here is buggest and cant be used as a daily driver , u just wasted200$

---------- Post added at 03:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:41 PM ----------

>weak support from dev community

i can say that the usdpport is almost 0% i recomonned to veryone to avoid this phone like the plague , stick with the s series (s5 has same price nd much better)
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] mildj84ns:
I'm using edge+ and iPhone 6 as my daily drivers, S5 for playing around, flashing roms...etc...while Alpha...well...it's just there :) It was first Samsung phone that had nice, premium design but i never thought that Samsung would forget it so soon and discontinue the series after initial release, it was like a test phone for them, a cornerstone for future design, and like i stated previously, i would never buy it today for ton of reasons.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] Gray44:
Man, what BS...

Certainly for only 250$ this is a damn good phone!

It's faster than a S5 and it's better looking than any other phone.

Yes, if you want the best custom rom support you should stick with the S-series.

But I'm not so sure if Samsung abandoned the support, on every Marshmallow update-list, the Galaxy alpha is present.
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] kktkaran:
Not everyone in this world want to waste his/her quality time/life with stupid custom roms , Roots etc. etc. ,

I bought this phone 10 months ago at 37,000 INR (around 590 $ ) , and i am still very much happy with it
[Samsung Galaxy Alpha] sasank360:
[MENTION=4930201]Andraxo[/MENTION]

I think you are a paid samsung hater. Only battery drain is the primary issue of this phone.

As I said in my post, all i need is a phone that lasts one solid day. So far this phone is living up

to that. As for custom rom support, i have oneplus one which has warranty even after rooting

and doing all crazy stuff on it. This phone is really good. Just because you had a terrible experience

with it does not make it just as bad for others.
[Galaxy Note 3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dwl99:
I trashed my rooted Lollipop ROM by renaming a system file & now it gets stuck in a bootloop. I was hoping to restore the old filename using adb. I can boot into stock recovery adb but it's stuck at sideload. Is there a way to change it to adb shell? Will renaming the system files back to their original names trip Knox?

EDIT - never mind, I just went for a reinstall