When word first started trickling out that Samsung planned to make a mini version of the Galaxy S III, it had the air of plausibility -- we've heard from many a person about the too-large size of that phone for their hands. Then, a press invitation confirmed that "something small" was in the works, and finally mobile chief JK Shin confirmed that a smartphone of that name would be announced today in Frankfurt, Germany.
Now Samsung's spilled all the beans, and revealed the new Galaxy S III mini, a slightly paler version of its bigger brother in specs as well as screen size. Our own short time with the phone certainly revealed that its pushing all the same "inspired by nature" buttons of the original Galaxy S III (and the Galaxy Note II), with the same exact rounded pebble shape and layout. The German marketing rep we spoke to said his company's research found that users wanted the same phone design as the 4.8-inch Galaxy S III, but in a smaller form factor -- to more easily fit smaller hands and pockets. Samsung said those folks don't necessarily need or want the most powerful phone they can get their hands on and are content to have mid-level specs -- so the mini carries a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, a 4-inch, WVGA AMOLED screen and 32GB max of memory.
It remains to be seen if those specs will dilute the Galaxy S brand, but in any event, we found the phone certainly doesn't cramp our regular-sized hands like its older brother can (let alone the Note II), and the comfortable shape of the original works even better in a mini size. The button placement is identical to the larger handset, and the phone will come out of the box with nearly identical Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean functionality -- with the added Samsung TouchWiz twist, of course. That includes new niceties like the multi-screen option, and a brief play with the phone shows the same butter factor, even with the lesser dual-core processor. So might this mini-me Galaxy S III model sway you over to the Samsung Galaxy family if you disdain the giant screen of its predecessor?
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
GENERAL | 2G Network | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 |
---|---|---|
3G Network | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 | |
4G Network | LTE (regional) | |
SIM | Micro-SIM | |
Announced | 2012, May | |
Status | Available. Released 2012, May |
BODY | Dimensions | 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm (5.38 x 2.78 x 0.34 in) |
---|---|---|
Weight | 133 g (4.69 oz) | |
- Touch-sensitive controls |
DISPLAY | Type | Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
---|---|---|
Size | 720 x 1280 pixels, 4.8 inches (~306 ppi pixel density) | |
Multitouch | Yes | |
Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 2 | |
- TouchWiz UI |
SOUND | Alert types | Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones |
---|---|---|
Loudspeaker | Yes | |
3.5mm jack | Yes |
MEMORY | Card slot | microSD, up to 64 GB |
---|---|---|
Internal | 16/32/64 GB storage, 1 GB RAM |
DATA | GPRS | Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 - 48 kbps |
---|---|---|
EDGE | Class 12 | |
Speed | HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps | |
WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot | |
Bluetooth | Yes, v4.0 with A2DP, EDR | |
NFC | Yes | |
USB | Yes, microUSB v2.0 (MHL), USB On-the-go |
CAMERA | Primary | 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, check quality |
---|---|---|
Features | Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization | |
Video | Yes, 1080p@30fps, check quality | |
Secondary | Yes, 1.9 MP, 720p@30fps |
FEATURES | OS | Android OS, v4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich), upgradeable to 4.1 (Jelly Bean) |
---|---|---|
Chipset | Exynos 4412 Quad | |
CPU | Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A9 | |
GPU | Mali-400MP | |
Sensors | Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer | |
Messaging | SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS | |
Browser | HTML, Adobe Flash | |
Radio | Stereo FM radio with RDS | |
GPS | Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS | |
Java | Yes, via Java MIDP emulator | |
Colors | Pebble blue, Marble white, Amber brown, Garnet red, Sapphire black, Titanium grey | |
- S-Voice natural language commands and dictation - Smart Stay eye tracking - Dropbox (50 GB storage) - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - TV-out (via MHL A/V link) - SNS integration - MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player - Organizer - Image/video editor - Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF) - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration - Voice memo/dial/commands - Predictive text input (Swype) |
BATTERY | Standard battery, Li-Ion 2100 mAh | |
---|---|---|
Stand-by | Up to 590 h (2G) / Up to 790 h (3G) | |
Talk time | Up to 21 h 40 min (2G) / Up to 11 h 40 min (3G) |
MISC | SAR US | 0.55 W/kg (head) 1.49 W/kg (body) |
---|---|---|
SAR EU | 0.21 W/kg (head) | |
Price group |
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