Became the most successful Samsung smartphone for the entire time of the Korean company's presence in the telecommunications market. The Galaxy brand has become well recognized among users, but the presence of the letter S followed by a number in the name adds even more attractiveness to the model.
Samsung's desire to exploit the Galaxy S III brand is understandable. Just think - the word mini has appeared. The main thing is that a potential buyer sees the same flagship, only more compact and cheaper. Is it really a full-fledged modification of the older model with a minimum amount of changes, or is it still a mid-range device with a set of functions familiar to such devices?
Of course, the photomodule of the smartphone under review is not up to the quality of the Galaxy S III. The usual matrix found in many mid-range phones is not surprising and offers what you expect from it.
The camera can shoot HD video, an example of which can be seen below.
Interface
The smartphone runs Android 4.1 with a proprietary TouchWiz shell. The interface of the device is very similar to that of the Galaxy S III. Many "chips" of the older model have migrated to the younger one. For example, it also has an eye tracking feature to prevent the screen from locking. It is possible to change the scale of the image by tilting the smartphone, you can pause the playback of the track by putting your hand on the screen, etc.
There are few built-in applications, the most useful of which is the Chrome browser. This web browser is much more convenient to work with than the standard Android browser. The work with tabs, navigation on the page is organized more logically, there is the possibility of synchronization with the desktop application.
There is nothing new in the software functionality of the Galaxy S III mini. The main thing is the very fact that the smartphone is initially running Jelly Bean, while many competitors will have to wait a long time for the official update. The system interface works noticeably faster, without the annoying slowdowns typical for previous versions of Android.
Performance and battery life
Déjà vu again: Galaxy S III mini is built on the NovaThor U8420 platform with a 2-gigahertz processor, Mali-400MP graphics and 1 GB of RAM. We saw something similar during the preparation of the Galaxy S Advance. There was also a NovaThor chip, though with the U8500 marking. The differences between the two models are minimal, except that the new product has more RAM. Judging by the tests, the U8420, despite the lower numeric index, slightly outperforms its “colleague” in performance. The difference, however, is minimal.
conclusions
As you can see, throughout the review, we gradually moved away from comparing mini to Galaxy S III. In fact, the "new" smartphone is a familiar one, only in the case from and with Android 4.1 "out of the box".
When the first rumors about the Galaxy S III mini appeared on the web, many thought it was a scaled-down version of the flagship with similar specifications. Everything turned out to be even simpler. This is a regular mid-range model with older sibling design. In addition to the brand and appearance, both devices have nothing in common. Why did Samsung need to name the top model for the smartphone? The calculation of the Korean manufacturer is clear and simple: the power of marketing and a well-known brand will help not only sell outdated components, but also make good money on it.
In mid-October, it announced a new smartphone Galaxy S III mini, which has the i-8190 index. This model is outwardly a reduced copy of the flagship device Galaxy S III - the same design, body materials, location of the control keys. But this is where the similarities end, the characteristics of smartphones differ dramatically.
Samsung Galaxy S III mini has dimensions - 121.55x63x9.85 mm, which resemble the dimensions of the original Galaxy S. As we already mentioned, the new model will have a design similar to the Galaxy S III. Thus, the South Korean company decided that the consumers of this gadget will be those who need more compact dimensions and a lower price.
As in the flagship model, almost the entire front surface of the device is occupied by a display, above which there are a front camera, light and proximity sensors, a speaker and a company logo, and below it is a control key. On the back cover you can see the main camera with LED flash. Speaker and logo slots.
The assembly of the device is done very well: there are no squeaks and backlash during operation.
Galaxy S III mini weighs 111.5 grams.
Performance and software
Samsung Galaxy S III mini is based on a 2-core ST-Ericsson NovaThor ModAp processor of the U8500 / U8520 family with a clock speed of 1 GHz, a Mali-400MP graphics accelerator and 1 GB of RAM.
These specs are, of course, inferior to those of the original Galaxy S III, but still provide good performance and keep costs down. Below are some tests that will help you evaluate the capabilities of your new smartphone.
The Benchmark Pi test allows you to determine the performance of the CPU (the lower the points, the better), here the gadget outperformed such smartphones as Xperia go, Sony Xperia sola and Samsung Galaxy S Duos.
In the rest of the benchmarks Vellamo, NenaMark 2, AnTuTu and Quadrant, the new device also showed average results.
The Samsung Galaxy S III mini has 16 GB of permanent memory, which can be expanded using cards.
Out of the box, the smartphone will run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which, of course, is a big plus.
Galaxy S3 mini comes with the following pre-installed applications: browser, audio player, video player, Play Market, integration with, navigation software, email client, other programs and games.
The gadget supports Wi-Fi (hotspot + Direct), GPS / A-GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, FM radio, and 3G networks.
Screen
The pixel density is 233 ppi, but since the generation uses a PenTile matrix, you will be able to detect the familiar dot. While it doesn't really matter, it's one of those things that you just notice and it won't leave your head. The Samsung Galaxy S 3 mini uses a 4-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 800x480 pixels and a color reproduction of 16 million shades. It is identical to the screen used in the Galaxy S and Galaxy S Advance smartphones, so the image quality is the same.
With all this in mind, the display can be said to have more than decent image quality for a mid-range device. Colors are rich, blacks are as deep as other AMOLED screens, and viewing angles are very wide.
Camera
Galaxy S III mini is equipped with a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and autofocus function. The novelty allows you to take pictures with a maximum resolution of 2592x1944 pixels.
The photos look good enough, especially considering that this device is not camera-oriented.
You can see examples of photos below.
The camera can record HD video at 30 frames per second, which makes motion smooth during playback.
An example of a video captured with a Samsung Galaxy S3 mini camera.
The smartphone also has a 0.3-megapixel front camera for video calling.
Battery
The device has a 1500 mAh lithium-ion battery, which will last for 6-7 hours of intensive use (games, Wi-Fi and 3G networks, videos, music and conversations).
Price
Samsung Galaxy S III mini video review:
Samsung has decided to take full advantage of the Galaxy S III brand. In this regard, a large number of mobile phones with this name appear in store shelves. True, in technical terms, they all have nothing to do with the original. Here is our test Samsung Galaxy S III mini from the same number. Why is it interesting and is it worth the attention of buyers?
Samsung Galaxy S III mini is presented to us as a scaled-down version of the most popular smartphone of 2012. In fact, apart from the design, the device has nothing to do with. In technical terms, we have a completely different apparatus. Processor, chip, memory - everything is much lower here.
Compensation for such a pseudo can only be the price, but the novelty is only 4,000 cheaper than the original.
Dimensions. Contents of delivery
id = "sub0">The dimensions of the Samsung GS III mini do not look excessive, and it cannot be called miniature either. They are rather optimal: 121.55x63.00x9.9 mm. Weight - 120 grams. The device fits well in the hand, it does not tend to fall out or slip out. You can easily carry your smartphone in a pocket of trousers, jeans, a shirt or a bag.
The delivery set includes:
- Phone Samsung i8190 Galaxy S III mini
- Battery 1500 mAh, Li-Ion
- Charger (microUSB)
- Stereo headset with 3.5mm mini-jack
- Computer sync cable
- Instructions
Design, construction
id = "sub1">The appearance of the smartphone is fully consistent with the design. Here you can see the rounded corners of the case. The decor is minimalist. There is a lot of gloss on the front, as well as on the back. The back cover is plastic. It can be easily removed.
Samsung i8190 comes in two flavors: sea pebbles and white marble.
Almost the entire front part of the device is occupied by a touchscreen display. Above it is the speaker hole. To the left is a camera for video calls and all kinds of sensors and sensors: motion sensor, light sensor, G-sensor.
Below the screen there is a menu button - in the center and two touch keys for the context menu and return one level. Everything is standard here. In terms of ease of use, the controls do not differ from those in other Samsung smartphones.
The back surface is made of plastic, stylized as brushed metal. Thanks to this, fingerprints, scuffs and cuts are not visible. It houses a 5 megapixel camera, an LED flash that can be used as a flashlight, and a speaker for external calls and music playback.
On the right side there is a button for turning on, off and locking the phone, and on the left - the volume keys. There are no camera buttons here, the camera application for shooting can only be launched from the menu.
At the top there is a 3.5 mm headphone jack. A standard microUSB connector is on the bottom. There is also a microphone.
The lithium-ion battery is located under the battery cover. We also have a SIM card holder and a microSD card slot.
The build quality of the Samsung i8190 is good. During the test, no external defects were found. The impressions are extremely positive. Galaxy S III mini is assembled at a factory in South Korea.
Screen. Graphics capabilities
id = "sub2">Samsung Galaxy S III has an excellent Super AMOLED 4-inch display with a resolution of 480x800 pixels (233 ppi). However, for the relatively low resolution, the device is harshly criticized. However, the display is characterized by high contrast, brightness and color reproduction.
The available matrix provides viewing angles close to maximum. When exposed to direct sunlight, the screen fades a little, but remains easy to read.
The Samsung Galaxy S III mini display supports multi-touch.
In fact, we are dealing with a screen that was installed in the top models of the Korean company a couple of years ago, but today it has dropped into the segment of mid-range devices.
Keypad and information input
id = "sub3">Entering information, as well as writing texts and dialing numbers is done using the touch screen.
There are two options for typing text in the Samsung Galaxy S III mini: a vertical and horizontal QWERTY keyboard. In the first version, the buttons are small, and therefore it is not very convenient to type text.
But in the horizontal orientation, the buttons are large and allow you to type text without problems. Changing the language is done by pressing the "space" key, only in the settings you must first select the main languages.
Menu. Interface and navigation
id = "sub4">Samsung Galaxy S III mini runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system. The software can be updated over the Internet.
In standby mode, up to seven desktops are available to the user. In order to remove or add them, you need to press the context button and select the "Change" item. After that, you can work with desktops. In addition, there are "live" wallpapers.
In turn, the user can add additional program shortcuts, bookmarks or widgets to any of the desktops. To do this, just press the context button and select the "Add" item. In the future, individual programs can be grouped by meaning, for example, photos, videos and YouTube in one screen, and calendar and notes in another. At the same time, the speed of access to these services increases several times.
A long continuous press on the top of the screen activates the notification panel. It displays the current date, operator name and other supporting information. The notification panel on the Samsung Galaxy S III mini informs you of new voice messages, emails, Gmail, and more. There is also an opportunity to quickly enable such functions as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, sound, auto-rotate.
The menu can be accessed by clicking on the "Applications" item at the bottom right of the screen. The menu of the tested phone is represented by default with three screens that can be scrolled. These are all diverse applications. Long press on an application shortcut will move it to the desktop. To remove a shortcut from the desktop, you need to do the opposite. There is also a "Widgets" tab, from where you can add useful information directly to your smartphone's desktop.
The lock screen in the Galaxy S III mini is implemented in the same way as in the SGS III. To unlock the device, you just need to slide your finger across the screen. In addition, there are intelligent control functions.
If you activate them, the device will not go into "sleep" mode as long as the user is looking at it. The front camera is used for face recognition. The manufacturer honestly warns that Smart Standby may not work in the dark. However, under normal conditions, the function also does not always work correctly. It seems that an eye icon appears on the notification panel (that is, the camera recognizes that they are looking at the screen at the moment), but sometimes the display backlight still turns off after a specified period of time.
Telephone functions
id = "sub5">First of all, these include "Phone", "Contacts", "Messages". They are all located at the bottom of the Galaxy S III mini home screen.
The "Contacts" application stores detailed information about phone numbers and subscribers. A specific record can have two dozen fields, be it last name, first name, patronymic, mobile number, home phone number, email address, date of birth or personal ID, Skype, etc. The search in contacts occurs at once in all fields of the client, that is, you can dial the number, first name, last name, etc. The profile of each subscriber can now be linked to his social media accounts.
During an incoming call, the screen displays a photo and the number of the subscriber from the phone book, or, if the subscriber is not known, a picture of a green man.
Text and multimedia messages are grouped by subscriber. By clicking on a specific contact, you can view the history of correspondence with this person.
Internet and Google services
id = "sub6">The default browser uses updated Webkit and JavaScript. In addition, the browser supports Adobe Flash and does everything a progressive browser is supposed to do.
The device is fully integrated with Google services such as Gmail, Picasa, Google Talk, Google Maps, YouTube and of course Google search. The user just needs to specify the details of his Google account and that's it.
Work tools include Google Calendar. It allows you to view events by date, time and action. The service is a high-quality planner-organizer, all in one. All events can be divided into groups with corresponding fields. All information is stored on a Google server.
Multimedia capabilities
id = "sub7">Item "Music" - music audio player. You can view and listen to audio tracks. The following file formats are supported: MP3, AMR, AAC, AAC +, e-AAC +. There is support for OMA DRM. There is a sorting by artist, album, genre, composer.
A regular headset is included in the package. Thanks to the 3.5 mm jack, you can pick up any headphones.
The "Video" item displays videos taken both by the camera of the device and downloaded from the Internet.
A kind of thematic browser of photo and video files is the item "Gallery". All files are divided into folders: photo and video clips, music.
The settings for ease of management are divided into several sections: "Wireless networks" (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, mobile network and data network), "Device" (setting up applications, power, personalization), "Personal data" (setting up social services and accounts ), "System".
Camera. Photo and video capabilities
id = "sub8">The main camera allows you to take pictures up to 2592x1944 resolution and record HD video at 30 frames per second.
The camera has a standard set of settings. Volume buttons are responsible for zooming in / out of the image. In comparison with the previous models, there are also improvements. They mainly touched on the color reproduction of images, as well as the ability to select the focus point on the screen with a touch.
Auto contrast allows you to get good picture quality on a bright sunny day. Manual ISO settings are 50, 100, 200, 400, 800. The following shooting modes are available: single shot, smile detection, continuous, panorama, vintage, portrait, landscape, night mode, sports, indoor, beach / snow, sunset, dawn, autumn colors, fireworks, text, dusk, against the light.
The quality of the images is quite average. It loses much to SGS III.
The settings also have special shooting effects a la crooked mirror, which are applied directly in the process. That is, the picture is processed in real time, and the smartphone thereby demonstrates its computing power.
The phone supports video recording in mpeg4 format for maximum resolution, and in the settings you can specify whether the video will be recorded with or without sound. All settings are comparable to those for photos, but the resolution of the clips is different, plus the effects are supported. The camera can shoot videos with a resolution of 1280x720, 720x480 pixels (30 frames), or a resolution of 640x480 pixels (30 frames). Two additional resolutions - 320x240 and 176x144 pixels.
The video recorded is not bad. It looks adequate on a phone screen, and it looks more or less on a computer.
Photos and videos can be viewed from the Multimedia menu. Photos and videos are displayed in the form of thumbnails, the list opens very quickly, there are no delays even with a large number of pictures or images. In the gallery, you can flip through photos by tilting the phone in one direction or another. All this became thanks to the built-in accelerometer.
Memory and speed
id = "sub9">A version of the smartphone with 8 GB memory is still available in stores. This volume can be expanded by using microSD memory cards.
The performance of the Galaxy S III mini is quite comfortable. The device runs on the NovaThor U8420 platform with a 2-gigahertz processor, Mali-400MP graphics and 1 GB of RAM. There is enough RAM to ensure that no application feels left out. In addition, multitasking is supported for all applications.
Communication capabilities
id = "sub10">In addition to the standard connection to a computer via microUSB, the Galaxy S III mini has Bluetooth 3.0 support. Bluetooth enables wireless connection of peripheral devices such as A2DP / AVRCP stereo headsets.
When connected to a USB port, there are several connection options: Media, Charge only, Storage, Samsung Keis. In the Storage mode, the device is perfectly picked up without additional drivers, you can copy the necessary data.
As for Kies, this is an analogue of iTunes only very, very raw. The program is inconvenient, and most importantly, it often crashes due to errors, or simply refuses to perform this or that action. In general, Kies is something that you don't need to install on your computer.
Returning to communication capabilities, it is worth noting support for packet data transmission using GPRS and EDGE class 32 technologies, as well as third-generation networks with HSPA + support. The phone can be used as a modem with up to 21 Mbps downstream traffic.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini first appeared in Frankfurt, Germany earlier this month. Samsung showed off the continuation of the Galaxy S line, or rather a scaled-down version of this year's most popular smartphone. The Korean manufacturer showed a more convenient and more affordable version of its flagship, which already sounds attractive enough. True, they reduced not only its proportions, but also cut characteristics. For some, the announcement of Samsung's head of public relations, JK Shin, came as a very unpleasant surprise.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini - Design
The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini received not only its big brother's big name, but also sporty design and construction. In general, the Galaxy S3 Mini seems to be just a smaller version of the SGS3, with a recognizable Home button and body lines.
However, the similarities between the two smartphones end there, since the Samsung Galaxy S3 is not a mirror image of the flagship in terms of other characteristics.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini - Display
The Galaxy S3 Mini has a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, but don't get the idea that this is a complete disappointment. HD images at 480 x 800 are not the worst, but certainly not the best.
Nevertheless, it is enough for comfortable viewing of films and games without any remarks to the image quality.
The Galaxy S2's 4.3-inch AMOLED + display has a similar resolution, and the new smartphone takes over when it comes to color reproduction and overall sharpness.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini - Operating System
Good news for Android fans: The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini will go on sale right out of the box with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean preinstalled for a smooth, lag-free interface.
This is a trump card over the Galaxy S3, which currently ships with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and the update is only available in a few countries and is still not available in major Western markets.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini - Power
There is no quad-core Exynos here. The SGS Mini received only a dual-core 1GHz processor that will work without problems with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, but it still far behind the big brother Galaxy S3 in terms of power.
Also in Mini 1GB of RAM, which will allow you to work freely, run any applications. In fact, the smartphone can compare with the Galaxy S2 and its 1.2GHz dual-core processor and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini - Specifications
The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a 5MP camera with LED flash and 720p video recording, as well as a front-facing VGA camera for video chat.
The rest of the set is more than standard: Wi-Fi b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA and NFC chip, as well as a choice between 8GB and 16GB of memory, which can be easily expanded with a microSD card up to 32GB.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini - Price
It looks like the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini will be sold independently for £ 300, or pick it up for free and pay £ 25 a month for 2 years.
The cost of contracts with operators allows the Galaxy S3 Mini to be competitive, although operators will still raise the price due to the demand for the new product and it will partly lose to competitors in the price category.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini - Release Date
Samsung has yet to announce an official launch date, but the Galaxy S3 Mini is expected to hit stores in early November.
According to Phones4U, the Galaxy S3 Mini will go on sale on November 2, while another site, Unlocked Mobiles, thinks it will be possible to make a purchase during the first week of November.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini - First Look
If you want to know more information about the Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini, you can watch the following video:
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini - Competitors
Even in the middle segment of the mobile market, a serious competition continues. The Galaxy S3 Mini will compete with the HTC One S, Sony Xperia S and Samsung Galaxy Nexus for leadership.
Will buyers choose the Galaxy S3 Mini among all the offers? Only time will tell, and it will be much easier for us to judge when we already have a new model from the Galaxy S family on hand.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini - Bottom Line
We hope to have a more detailed review of the smaller Galaxy S3 in the near future, so stay tuned to our news.
