Samsung to unveil 4-inch Galaxy S III mini tomorrow in Germany

10 October, 2012
Samsung's president broke the news, confirming earlier rumors. Photos from S III mini are already on Picasa.

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  • S
  • Somebody
  • 45A
  • 16 Oct 2012

Ok, lots of comments here indicating severe worry about things that are just numbers or labelling games. "Galaxy" never meant anything. That only thing that matters about a phone are its specifications.

This phone looks like a fairly solid mid-level smartphone poised to approximately match the fruit company in overall clueless consumer perception... no doubt it will be for a lower price.

The CPU that this phone will ship with is a dual core 1.0 GHz Cortex A9. Its not a bad chip, but it isn't a powerhouse. Its a nice middle-of-the-road performer that will get the job done.

The display is a SAMOLED 800x480. Realistically, how high does the screen resolution have to be? My current phone is an 800x480, and it looks pretty darned good to me. You see, its really when you start getting into the super BIG screens that you need to increase the overall resolution to maintain pixel density. In a 4-inch display, anything higher than 800x480 won't actually accomplish anything - it will just reduce graphical performance. More pixels takes more computational power to fill in the same amount of time.

The camera. 5 MP. That's great. With the configuration of a phone camera, you realistically hit a wall at about 3 or 4 MP. Go higher than that and you don't have the physical size needed to actually make use of it. You suffer from excessive sensor density with pixels actually bleeding into each other. So going to 8 MP... cute, but pointless.

The key in purchasing a phone is in understanding the full set of specifications. Not getting hung up in places where the specs are just a numbers game, and understanding the specs that are truly meaningful. This phone is a solid mid-level smartphone.

Now if you are interested in something similar to this that is a true high-end phone, you should consider instead, the Samsung Relay (you see what I did there? I left out all the meaningless extra cruft in the model name... "Galaxy", "S", and "4G"). What raises the Relay up from mid to high end is its SoC, which is also a dual-core, but is a 1.5 GHz Cortex A15 (compared to a 1.0 GHz Cortex A9). Think of it as approximately equal (performance) to the 4-core cortex A9 of the full sized GS3, but consuming only half the battery power.

    • s
    • silly phone
    • GF4
    • 16 Oct 2012

    silly move from Samsung. they already have 150 devices with the name Galaxy. another one does nothing. and it is nothing new to speak of. Till now there was some distinction for the Galaxy S brand. but wtih a mid tier phone in that space, gone is the brand

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • IaH
      • 12 Oct 2012

      they already earning a lot in the large-screen phones, why not let other phone manufactuererss have a chance to earn in small screen phones?

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • jBu
        • 11 Oct 2012

        Anonymous, 10 Oct 2012This phone called galaxy s3 mini because mini people will g... moreGood one! XD

          • V
          • Vinay
          • vIp
          • 11 Oct 2012

          Waiting for S3 mini..... just to compare with i phone 5

            • C
            • Cute
            • NvS
            • 11 Oct 2012

            Anonymous, 11 Oct 2012I dont understand some people here...this is Samsung Galaxy... moreAgreed.
            But i don't think the projected price reflects the same, so lets just wait 4 the unveiling for an accurate price tag.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • N7A
              • 11 Oct 2012

              I dont understand some people here...this is Samsung Galaxy S3 mini..Helloooo, it says "mini" not super or something else, so dont expect super high specs...it's the half version of S3 so stop complaining.

                • 4
                • 4 inch lame iphone5
                • ucr
                • 11 Oct 2012

                sammy is insulting iphone5 mini 4inch screen LOL

                  • Z
                  • Zabuza
                  • JF5
                  • 11 Oct 2012

                  It looks like samsung duos ..

                    • z
                    • zugumania
                    • fuN
                    • 11 Oct 2012

                    Anonymous, 10 Oct 2012A Galaxy S3 with a mini size for a mini price???"driven by an increased interest in smaller high-end phones in Europe"

                      • D
                      • AnonD-75284
                      • 3iS
                      • 10 Oct 2012

                      4" mini's..Samsung is trying to set a trend of bigger screens, therefore rendering iPhone screens obsolete. smart move? naah, they need to come with better idea's to beat Apple.

                      #1 Sammy fan.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • v0q
                        • 10 Oct 2012

                        HiT, 10 Oct 2012Galaxy Mini??? with 4"????? Where is "mini"... moreThis phone called galaxy s3 mini because mini people will get angry.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • IV%
                          • 10 Oct 2012

                          A Galaxy S3 with a mini size for a mini price???

                            • P
                            • Pinocchio
                            • PFx
                            • 10 Oct 2012

                            4inch display is pocket friendly, unlike sgs3 with it's oversized diplay
                            that's what i'm looking for (not a samsung fan though)
                            1ghz dual core, 1gb ram & external memory, that would be nice
                            hopefully it's affordable, if it cost $300 surely i'll replace my xperia mini with 3 inch display :)

                            "size does matter, especially when it comes to mobile phones"

                              • j
                              • jay
                              • SYf
                              • 10 Oct 2012

                              4.0" is not mini

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • Kxu
                                • 10 Oct 2012

                                They should've kept the specs of the S3, and leave it untouched! But, with a repackaged 4". Otherwise, it doesn't seem to have a point for this product, and people are better off buying a Galaxy R or something with much cheaper price.

                                  • D
                                  • AnonD-55045
                                  • N9x
                                  • 10 Oct 2012

                                  Matt, 10 Oct 2012I am sure all the fanboys will praise Samsung is innovative... moreOf course not. I like Samsung but this is the third time they launch the exact same phone (this one has Galaxy R and Galaxy S Advance specs, save for the bump in RAM). Not innovaative at all.

                                  And please don't release this POS carrying the Galaxy S name. If you wanna call it Galaxy S3 mini make the thing woth of the name Sammy.

                                    • D
                                    • AnonD-72449
                                    • kQm
                                    • 10 Oct 2012

                                    4 inch mini S3? haha it kind of seems like their crapping on apple! With this release the Iphone's screen will now be considered to small... again! lol
                                    I believe 1080p displays will be on new phones in 2013! Apple really needs to step their game up if they want to continue in this highly competitive market.

                                      • M
                                      • Matt
                                      • uH%
                                      • 10 Oct 2012

                                      I am sure all the fanboys will praise Samsung is innovative to come out with a mini S3. haha

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • ANm
                                        • 10 Oct 2012

                                        WVGA!?!? 2010 much?? PASS!!!!!!