The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini shares more than a passing resemblance to its flagship older brother, the Samsung Galaxy S3. But it's not simply a smaller version of the company's hero handset. It's a completely different proposition – one that's aimed squarely at the middle of the market and a different type of user entirely.
Powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor and packing in 1GB of RAM, the Galaxy S3 Mini is a mid-tier handset through and through. At least it is until you consider the price, which at around £300 SIM-free is very high given current levels of competition from the likes of HTC, LG, and Motorola.
It does feature Android Jelly Bean (version 4.1), which is sort of a USP at this price-point, at least for the time being anyway, and the use of a smaller 4-inch (480x800 pixel) Super AMOLED display will definitely appeal to users who prefer smaller-proportioned handsets more inline with the iPhone.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini review – Design
The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini looks a lot like the Galaxy S3. It has the same overall shape though is a touch stouter. It's constructed from the same plastic build materials, measures 121.6 x 63 x 9.9mm and weighs in at 111.5g.
Samsung has kept all the hardware keys – home button, volume rocker, and power button – in the same arrangement as its Galaxy S3 flagship, with the only disparity being where the headphone jack is positioned – it's now off to the right-hand side.
And yet despite all this design uniformity, the difference between the two handsets is huge. With the Galaxy S3 the weight is distributed evenly throughout the chassis, creating a lightweight feel that runs contrary to its larger proportions. With the Mini it's the exact opposite. It's like a dying star, smaller but infinitely denser.
On the plus side it does feel pretty robust in the hand and it is also a lot better suited for one-handed use than the Galaxy S3, even more so when you activate continuous input through the settings. It's also lighter than Apple's iPhone 5, although build is no way near as premium – but that's to be expected given the price difference.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini review – Screen
The 4-inch (480x800 pixel) Super AMOLED display is bright and colourful, with excellent colour reproduction and expansive viewing angles. Clocking in with a pixel density of 233ppi, the Galaxy S3 Mini's display is identical to the one used on Samsung's original Galaxy S handset, which launched back in 2010.
By 2012 standards it's not the best. Pixels are clearly visible thanks to the display's PenTile matrix setup and compared to the quality of the Nexus 4 and Samsung Galaxy Note 2, the prior being available for less direct from Google.
Performance in direct sunlight isn't great, as is the case with 99.9 per cent of handsets. But colours do look bright and the blacks are extremely deep. All in all the display isn't perfect but considering the pitch of the handset – it's aimed at the middle of the market – this could hardly be used against it.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini review – OS and Interface
You'd be hard-pressed to find a mid-range handset running Android Jelly Bean in today's marketplace, but that is just what you have here. And while the Mini doesn't yet run the latest build of Jelly Bean (4.2) it's still pretty bang up to date compared to most Androids out there.
With Jelly Bean (version 4.1.1) you get Google Now, the search giant's new and improved Butter UI, increased stability and security, as well as expandable notifications, and improved app and widget icon arrangement abilities.
But because it's Samsung you'll have to contend with the TouchWiz Nature UX interface, the company's custom UI that sits atop Google's Android OS. It's not quite as slick as Google's stock UI requiring more from your device's processor and GPU but, thanks to the inclusion of a dual core CPU and 1GB of RAM, everything flies along nicely with zero lag, at least in our time with the handset.
Customisation is simple and there are plenty of TouchWiz Nature UX widgets that you can put to use for aggregating content and information on your homescreens. Our favourite is Samsung's TouchWiz Calendar, S Planner, which provides instant details of everything you've got planned for the next month. This thing is a godsend for anyone with a hectic schedule.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini – Camera
The 'Honey I Shrunk the [phone]" approach Samsung has taken with regards to the Galaxy S3 Mini doesn't just extend to the design and processor - the phone also packs a smaller 5-megapixel camera sensor than its 8-megapixel laden bigger brother.
Results are also accordingly humbler. There are a few modes missing for starters such as HDR and best face, and the burst mode frame rate is slower than that of either the S3 or Note 2.
Pictures do still manage to look good, the f/2.6 aperture ensures well-lit outdoor shots pull off balanced exposure, unlike some wide-open camera phone sensors. Focus is ok, not as on-point as on the S3 and colours are a little subdued, especially indoors.
Speaking of indoors, noise becomes an issue readily on the S3 Mini as soon as you take away the natural light. Fortunately this is helped along nicely by the LED flash which does a decent job in close quarters. All in all, a good camera phone but it's not great with both the HTC Desire X and Google Nexus 4 costing less and offering more.
Video is recorded at 720p on the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini and results once again aren't spectacular. The lack of continuous focus is a total let down given the fact it's present in Stock Android Jelly Bean. That said, core quality is sharp enough for playback on the phone and exporting to YouTube, even if it can't do macro video.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini – Multimedia and Storage
All of Google's usual video and multimedia features are included inside the Galaxy Mini S3, granting you access, via Google Play, to a world of film, apps, games, TV, magazines and books.
Samsung has also included some of its own services – Game Hub, Video Hub, and Music Hub (this one has to be downloaded via Samsung Apps) – but compared to Google's they really do pale costing too much and offering too little
Audio playback is decent, either via Samsung's bespoke media player or downloaded applications like DoubleTwist and WinAmp. MP3, WAV, eAAC+, AC3, and FLAC files are all supported aboard the S3 Mini alongside a variety of video codecs (MP4, DivX, XviD, WMV, H.264, H.263), so you shouldn't struggle getting the majority of your music and video collection onto the device.
The handset comes in two versions – 8GB and 16GB – although Android and Samsung's TouchWiz will eat into around 4GB of memory. Should you opt for the lower-end model it means you're only left with around 4GB of mass memory for your data, which isn't much.
You can free up some room on the device via the inclusion of an SD card – up to 32GB – but this additional storage comes at a premium on top of the cost of the handset. If you're the type of user that consumes a lot of media or stores a lot of pictures and music on their phone, then the only option for you is the 16GB version. The other will just leave you wanting.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini review – Connections and web
All the usual bells and whistles are supported here, meaning you get Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, and the ability to tether you handset's web connection via a built in Wi-Fi hotspot creation tool. Bluetooth 4.0 is also present, as is NFC in some regions, though it wasn't present on our handset here in the UK.
HSPA+ is not supported, however, meaning you're stuck with HSPA connectivity, which typically tops out at 12mbps at best. For £300 we were expecting more.
Google's Chrome browser is supported out the box and should be your first port of call browsing. Samsung's stock browser does perform adequately in practice but it cannot match Google's for general performance, features and cross platform synchronisation.
The Galaxy S3 Mini scored a fair than respectable 1351 in our Vellamo benchmarking tests, placing it above the Galaxy Nexus and even Transformer Prime, but helow the S3 and other flagships.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini review – Performance and Battery
With a 1GHz CPU and 1GB of RAM everything ticks along nicely aboard the Galaxy S3 Mini. Gaming is generally handled well, we tested Dead Trigger pretty extensively, and you will have zero issues with lag.
The Galaxy S3 Mini clocked a score of 2946 in our Quadrant benchmark tests, which is pretty decent being higher than Samsung's Galaxy Nexus and the Motorola Atrix 4G. This wasn't a surprise though: performance here is generally excellent, well beyond your usual mid-range handset.
Battery life is also positive, with the S3 Mini's 1500 mAh battery lasting a full working day with ease from a single charge. Real world results may vary, but in our tests the handset performed well, making our Galaxy Nexus look practically remedial in this context.
Extensive gaming and video viewing does drain the battery somewhat, however, but this is the case with most handsets regardless of market positioning. We did notice some pretty intense heating issues present on the handset as well during prolonged gaming sessions.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini review – Conclusion
It's a bizarre handset, this one. Usually with mid-range phones performance is an issue, with UIs falling victim to stutter and lag. But here that's not the case – the Galaxy S3 Mini will handle pretty much anything you throw at it. And best of all it'll last all day, too.
The display is also perfectly adequate and we do quite like the way it looks, despite its dense nature. But even with all these factors considered the device, at around £300 SIM-free, is far too expensive, with there being plenty of other handsets out there – Samsung Galaxy S Advance (now also on Android Jelly Bean), Sony Xperia S, Motorola Razr i, and LG's Optimus 4X – that can be had for cheaper and offer more.
Should the price get slashed down to a more respectable level, say £200, then Samsung would have quite a proposition on its hands. Until then, the Galaxy S3 Mini is just an over-priced mid-range handset with decent(ish) but by no means market-defining performance.
It's clone of Samsung Galaxy S3 and it will be much famous like S3.!!!
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