Samsung SM-A500 Tip: Full Metal Unibody, Mid Range Specs

We've already heard speculation that the Galaxy Alpha was just the opening salvo of Samsung's new metal clad line. In typical Samsung fashion, it seems that the company will once again mix it up, outing various variations of the same theme, including one that might have rather disappointing specs housed in a more metal chassis of this rumored SM-A500.

Although the Galaxy Alpha was hailed as Samsung's premium-looking device, it still had some traces of Samsung's fondness for plastic. This SM-A500, however, is said to be totally metal. That might make it indeed look more premium, but there's a catch. The back is also said to be non-removable, which means no swapping out of batteries when the need arises. Full metal body plus non-removable battery would also call to mind designs from Samsung's bitter rival.

That said, the SM-A500 might be a case of putting old wine into new wineskins. Compared to the Galaxy Alpha, it will have less than premium specs. The larger 5-inch screen keeps the same 720p resolution, but the processor inside has been considerably downgraded to a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400. 16 GB makes up the internal storage with no RAM size given in this leak. 8 megapixel and 5 megapixel team up for the smartphone's rear and front cameras, respectively. Curiously, there is said to be a microSD card slot this time around, found in a hybrid kind of slot together with nano SIM card slot.

The emergence of the SM-A500, if these specs be true, shows how Samsung seems to be toying around with different metal-based designs for its Galaxy lineup. Does this mean an eventual shift away from plastic? Perhaps, at least for the high-end models, as cheaper ones will necessarily dictate cheaper materials. That said, if the Galaxy Note 4, which sports metal edges as well, is any indication, we could eventually see Samsung injecting more metal and removing more plastic from its future flagships.

VIA: SamMobile