Samsung is reportedly gearing up to launch a new smartphone with a metal body — a first for a company that has relied heavily on plastic backings for its smartphones.
A new report from South Korea's ETnews.com, citing unnamed "industry sources," claims that Samsung is planning to debut the "premium" metal handset on Aug. 13, ahead of Apple's expected fall launch for its next iPhone. Samsung is tentatively calling its first all-metal smartphone the Galaxy Alpha, the report notes.
Details of the handset are unknown, but it will reportedly target Apple's iPhone 6 and boast specs that are better than the Galaxy S5 .
Rumors about a metal Galaxy smartphone have been making the rounds for a while now, with some referring to it as the Galaxy F. Samsung, however, trademarked the Galaxy Alpha name earlier this year, potentially giving some weight to the latest rumors.
Meanwhile, a separate report by the Korea Herald also discusses the rumored metal Galaxy. That report claims the handset will either be named the Galaxy S5 F or Galaxy S5 Alpha, and will feature Samsung's Exynos 5 Octa chipset and a 4.7-inch Super AMOLED display. The handset will reportedly be just 6mm thick (about 0.24 inches).
Samsung has historically used plastic for all its top smartphones while rivals like Apple, HTC, and Sony have embraced more premium materials like metal and glass. PCMag's Sascha Segan spoke to the designers behind the S5, and they declared its plastic form to be "modern glam" with a "warmth and softness" (as well as a removable battery) that isn't available on glass-and-metal phones. But as we note in our review, the handset just doesn't feel expensive compared to phones like the HTC One (M8).
For more, see PCMag's full review of the Samsung Galaxy S5.