Much attention was paid to the
minimized version of the well-known Galaxy S III. Galaxy S III Mini aims at
middle segment, pricing around $400, released in Jan 2013.
Galaxy S III accomplished its mission
successfully when being stealing the crown of iPhone to become the best-selling
smartphone in the quarter. After dominating the classy market with S III and
Note II, Samsung wanted to make something for lower segment where Nokia have
been dominant. That was the reason why Galaxy S III Mini was introduced. The
model looks like its predecessor yet has mid-class specs to meet the low price.
S III Mini can be described as being
“sufficient”. The price of $400 is quite enough, either cheap or expensive. The
device is equipped with a dual-core 1GHz processor, owning similar clock rate
like quad-core models do, quite enough to serve daily use.
Ten years ago, phone manufacturers were on
the race of releasing mobiles that was as small as possible. Now, they are
fighting with large-sized models. Though the large screen gives people better
experience on movie-watching, web-browsing…, Galaxy S III Mini’s 4in display is
still the standard for both men and women.
Design
The model looks simple. As named, the
product share similar appearance with Galaxy S III but it is smaller
(122.55x63x9.9mm, 111.5g), along with some inconsiderable changes: jack’s
position and Home button (raised a bit).
Galaxy S III was once criticized for having
rounded corners that eliminated manly features. This feature is quite
appropriate for the Mini version. Some people considered it was irrational to call
this 4in device “Mini”, but in fact the product looks quite small and pretty. The
white colored version best suits women.
Mini shares common things with S III: plastic
case, removable back lid, right power button and left volume keys. User can
easily adjust these with single hand, regardless anything difficulty.
Screen
As stated, Samsung not only shrink down the
size but also the specs to lower the price. Unlike S III with HD screen, the
new model comes with an 800x480pixel screen which display doesn’t much sharp
and pixels are visible.
However, 233ppi density is supported by
Super AMOLED color technology. Though not as blazing attractive as from other
higher-resolution phones, this phone still has contents displayed clearly and
brightly. The AMOLED is also appreciated for its liveliness.
Although
the display is not smooth at all, image looks vibrant.
There’s no auto-brightness, thus user has
to enter Setting to select a suitable brightness level for existing conditions.
Features
S III Mini retains a lot of appealing
features from its predecessor but user can call the onscreen number by leaning
the phone on ear or shake the phone for update…
Pop-up Play allows for doing stuff
concurrently: watching video, playing game, browsing Facebook… Although it is
not much efficient in 4in space, this feature is still useful in some specific
tasks; for example, when user wants to checks info about playing videos. Especially,
the most favorable, Best Photo (shooting 8 continuous photos then choosing the
best one), is also integrated. However, Mini is not equipped with NFC, thus
user is unable to share file instantly with other Samsung device via S Beam.
It’s an upside that Mini has Android 4.1
Jelly Bean installed by default. Maybe some people don’t like the customized interface;
this differentiates each brand’s product. Negatively, Samsung’s TouchWiz UI looks
untidy with a lot of options whereas it is designed nice, visual and fluent. Plus,
keyboard is a downside. Buttons are placed too close so mistyping is
unavoidable, slowing user’s input.
Camera
interface
The Mini version uses front 5MP camera and
back 0.3MP camera; they are commonly seen in the segment. Focusing was a little
slow and noise existed in low-lit conditions. In normal condition, result was quite
good (even better than some rivals), quality was sharp while colors were fairly
accurate yet a little faded. Panorama, Burst, HDR modes are also included. Overall,
the camera meets common demand for capturing and sharing photos. Besides, the
device also supports 720p video recording at 30fps, resulting in steady clips
and satisfying user to some extent.
Samsung S III Mini is also a good music
player thanks to clear sound and loud stereo. Apps are friendly. User is able
to customize tabs or sound effects.
Performance
Inside the device, there are 1GHz dual-core
processor, 1GB of RAM and other stuff like those from mid-segment models such
as Sony Xperia J, HTC Desire X… Once used to hi-class models you may find a
little lagging when pressing Home button to return to home screen or to switch
between apps. But this is acceptable for a mid-segment model. S III Mini still
meets multitasking demands. Concurrent operations, like game, email, photo,
video, web…, were all performed fluently and steadily. Not as fast as Galaxy S
III, the phone is quite enough for such a price which is half as much as Galaxy
S III’s one.
Performance
test
In Quadrant Benchmark Standard test of
overall performance, Galaxy S III Mini got 2,420, on par with HTC Desire X
(2,421) and twice as much as Sony Xperia J (1,299) yet lower than LG Optimus L9
(2,690). Meanwhile, AnTuTU BenchMark gave the model the result of 5,969 while
Xperia only got 3,127.
Regarding graphic performance, S III Mint
obtained 38.8fps, given by Nenamark 2, twice as much as from Xepria J
(19.2fps).
Graphic
test
Thanks to a 1,500mAH battery, S III Mini
can deal with a common 2-day usage including: call, message, e-mail, web, Facebook…
However, video-playing and frequent web browsing may consume power much,
reducing runtime down to around 1 day.
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General info
§ 2G
network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
§ 3G
network: 3G: HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100
Body
§ Size:
121.6x63x9.9mm
§ Weight:
111,5g
Screen
§ Type:
Super AMOLED touchscreen
§ Size:
800x480pixel, 4in display
§ Multi-pointing:
Yes
Sound
§ Notification:
Vibration, MP3 ringtones
§ Stereo:
Yes
§ 3.5mm
jack: Yes
Memory
§ Card
slot: Yes
§ Storage:
8 GB
§ RAM:
1GB
Data
§ GPRS:
Yes
§ EDGE:
Yes
§ Speed:
HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps
§ WLAN:
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot
§ Bluetooth:
Yes
§ USB:
Yes
Camera
§ Primary:
5MP, 2592х1944 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
§ Features:
Geo-tagging, touch-to-focus, anit-shaking, HDR
§ Video:
Yes, 720p
§ Sub-camera:
Yes
Features
§ OS:
Android OS, v4.1, Jelly Bean
§ Chipset:
NovaThor
§ CPU:
Dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9
§ GPU:
Mali-400
§ Sensor:
Image; accelerator; compass
§ Messaging:
SMS (conversation), MMS, Email, IM, Push Email
§ Browser:
HTML5
§ Radio:
Stereo FM radio with RDS
§ GPS:
Yes, A-GPS support
§ Java:
Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
§ Colors:
White, blue
Battery
§ Type:
Li-Ion 1.500mAh
§ Standby
time: Up to 450h (2G) / up to 430h (3G)
§ Talk
time: Up to 14h10min (2G) / up to 7h10h (3G)
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