Samsung is readying a non-plastic phone following a 24 percent year-over-year drop in Q2 profits, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Kim Hyun-joon, senior vice president of Samsung Mobile, recently told analysts and investors that a large-screened phone would be arriving in the coming months, along with another phone made "of new materials," WSJ reports. The "large-screened" device is believed to be the Galaxy Note 4, which could launch at IFA 2014, while the second phone could very well be the "Galaxy Alpha" we've been hearing about lately.
Recent rumors suggest device will not be coming with high-end hardware, as a Samsung developer console has reportedly confirmed it will only feature a 720p display - disappointing news for Sammy fans hoping for a top of the line iPhone 6 competitor. The display actually would be on-par with the one packed into the Galaxy S III.
Unlike the LTE-A model consumers may have hoped it would emulate, the Alpha reportedly packs a 720p screen, a fingerprint scanner, 32GB of storage (non-removable) and either an Exynos 5 Octa or a Snapdragon 800 processor. These specs, of course, are not flagship quality, to say the least. The Alpha will reportedly, however, arrive with the metallic design some have been pining for.
Release date rumors have tipped the device for Aug. 13.
The Korean tech giant is also reportedly preparing a metal-clad Galaxy Note 4 that will take aim at the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 "phablet," according to ET News.
Android Origin reports that the Note 4 that will also ditch the plastic for metal casing - but just for a premium version. The leak also suggests that the device will feature a flexible display and a 16-megapixel rear facing camera.
Specs that have been mentioned in earlier leaks include a 5.7-inch screen (like its predecessor) with a QHD display (which would be about 520 pixels per inch), a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 CPU clocked in at 2.7GHz, a fingerprint scanner and either 3GB or 4GB of RAM. Color options for the device have also been tipped to be gold, black, blue and white.
In comparison, the Galaxy Note 3 features a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen (386 ppi), 3GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel primary camera and 2-megapixel secondary camera and a 1.9GHz processor.
