Samsung has launched the Galaxy S III Mini, a smaller version of the S III that debuted in May and is now available on five carriers in the United States. The S III mini has a smaller 4” screen and appears less robust in its build than its big brother from the outset but it also packs a smaller processor and lower specs to make it a mid-range device. While the S III continues to be Samsung’s flagship device, this one will give the Korean giant better headway in emerging markets, particularly in the middle tier. Samsung has not revealed details about this phone’s pricing but it will definitely be cheaper than the SIII.
Though the phone is smaller than the S III, it has a considerably large 4” screen that features an 800×480 resolution and according to Samsung, has a curved design. Its pixel density comes to 233ppi against the 306ppi of the larger S III. The phone measures in at 4.8×2.5×0.9 inches and weighs 111.5 grams; dimensions and weight that are comfortable for regular handling. The Mini looks similar to the larger version, which is good for Samsung to push its brand ahead in the market. As of now, color variants haven’t been announced but white is obvious and there will probably be the Pebble Blue version too.
On the inside, the S III mini has a less powerful processor; a 1GHz dual core against the 1.5GHz quad core that runs the SIII. This processor is still quite powerful for a phone labeled ‘mini’. The cameras in the mini version are a 5 megapixel primary and a VGA secondary, against the 8 and 1.9 megapixel ones respectively in the larger phone. Samsung has a good history with 5 megapixel sensors so it is possible that this one will live up to expectations. Connectivity wise, the phone is not going to run on LTE networks and it appears to be aimed at 3G networks across the world.
Samsung is going to offer the S III mini with Android 4.1 Jellybean, the latest version of the open source OS from Google and will feature Samsung’s TouchWiz layered on top. The phone is also going to have support for NFC technology and comes in 8GB and 16GB variants and has a 1600mAh batter, against the 2100mAh in the larger phone.
