More and more it looks like Samsung’s Galaxy Alpha was exactly what it sounds like: the first device in a new lineup of metal-framed devices. Something odd about the Galaxy Alpha was that even though it features a premium build, it only features mid-range specs for the most part, and the rest of the Galaxy A series seems to follow in that suit. Creating a more affordable line of well-built devices, the Galaxy A series looks to combine the metal frame and build quality of the Alpha with the mid-range specs and price of Samsung’s cheaper lineup around the world. The Galaxy A3 has just passed China’s TENAA certification, meaning its release is pretty imminent.
This certification process obviously includes a whole slew of specs since the phone has to get tested to work with China’s mobile networks, and as such we’ve got what should be the final specs for the whole device. Among the slew of specs can be found mid-range items like the 4.52-inch qHD AMOLED display; that’s 960 x 540 pixels not quad-HD as is found in the LG G3 and Galaxy Note 4. A 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 powers the little beast, and an Adreno 306 will be providing the graphics prowess. Because of the lower resolution and the fact that it’s running Android 4.4.4 KitKat, Samsung has packed this baby with a pretty small 1GB of RAM, which shouldn’t pose much of a problem with the rest of the specs.
Those looking to shoot photos should be able to get by just fine with the 8 megapixel rear camera, and selfies should be great with the 5 megapixel front camera. 8GB of storage is packed in but you’ll be able to expand that up to an extra 64GB via microSD cards. It’s also an incredibly slim frame at 130.1mm high by 65.5mm wide by 6.9mm thick, and extraordinarily light at 112 grams. We’re expecting the Galaxy A3 to launch in Q4 2014 with a price tag somewhere around $350-400.