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Samsung has announced the Galaxy Alpha, a phone it describes as having a “new design approach,” separating it from previous entries into the Galaxy smartphone range.

Updated on 08-13-2014 by Andy Boxall: Added in early pricing information.

It’s the first Samsung Galaxy phone to feature a metal frame, but from the pictures, it appears the back is covered in the same soft-touch, perforated material used on the Galaxy S5. The design is certainly eye-catching, thanks to its rounded corners, curvy side plates, and super slim chassis. It measures just 6.7mm thick, which drops it below the iPhone 5S, and weighs only 115 grams – which is surprisingly lightweight for a modern smartphone. For comparison, the all-metal HTC One M8 weighs 160 grams, and even the similarly sized Huawei Ascend P7 comes in at 124 grams.

For all its visual impact, the Galaxy Alpha’s spec sheet doesn’t quite live up to expectations, but does match most of the last-minute rumors surrounding the phone. Samsung has given it a 4.7-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen with a 720p resolution, which is perfectly acceptable, but means the Galaxy Alpha won’t be competing with flagship phones from Sony, LG, and HTC.

The processor is listed only as an octa-core chip, which we assume is an Exynos branded model, and it stands out due to the inclusion of LTE Advanced connectivity. Whether we’ll see another version of the Galaxy Alpha with a Snapdragon processor inside isn’t mentioned in Samsung’s early press material.

The specification continues with a 12-megapixel camera on the rear, a 2.1-megapixel selfie cam above the screen, plus 32GB of internal storage space, and 2GB of RAM. There’s no microSD card slot though. Samsung has fitted a fingerprint sensor to the Galaxy Alpha, and Android 4.4.4 KitKat comes loaded from the factory.

Related: Read all the rumors surrounding Samsung’s long-discussed metal phone

We’ve been hearing about a metal-bodied Samsung Galaxy phone for at least a year. The Galaxy Alpha name has only recently become known, where previously we were expecting the mystery device to be called either the Galaxy F, or the Galaxy S5 Prime. The Alpha could be the first in a line of premium-style Galaxy phones, which may continue with the Galaxy Note 4, expected early next month.

Samsung will put the Galaxy Alpha on sale in September, when it’ll be sold in black, white, silver, gold, and blue colors. The exact date, price, and where it’ll go on sale, has yet to be revealed. However, Clove Technology in the UK has put up a pre-order page with an estimate the Galaxy Alpha will cost £500 without a contract, which is around $840. According to PhoneArena.com, the Russian price will be less than that, equating to $680 instead.