Flashback: Samsung's Galaxy S minis were small but hardly deserving of the S-branding

08 October 2023
The Galaxy S III mini started an interesting experiment - is there are market for a smaller phone that looks just like the pricey new flagship? We think you know the answer.

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Sony was the only brand who knew how to make a mini without ripping everything from the flagship. All other brands just gave low end hardware, because the screen and phone was more pocket friendly than the flagship.

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    • Anonymous
    • Tsr
    • 08 Oct 2023

    The only company that did a proper mini variant of the bigger phone was Apple.

    And not because the Android world (or Samsung) are not able to do it, Samsung could do a true mini phone but they refuse to.

    Even now they could make a smaller Ultra phone, but they don’t want it.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • gJ4
      • 08 Oct 2023

      Fun fact: S23 FE is hardly deserving S-branding either!

        Hemedans, 08 Oct 2023Funny thing most mini phones from Sony and Asus has excelle... moreIt is at the size of a 6.5" phone, literally.

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          • Anonymous
          • vaS
          • 08 Oct 2023

          justasmile, 08 Oct 2023Mini phones are useless. There's too small space for b... moreGood news. You have 19372982829402027 non mini phones to choose from so you aren't forced to buy them.

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • vaS
            • 08 Oct 2023

            The overused the Galaxy branding. Should've been exclusive to Flagship tier products like the S and Note line ups (phones and Tabs).

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              • Anonymous
              • 7Xd
              • 08 Oct 2023

              The s minis were like the a series version of its flagship counterpart but not with the a series price tag 😬

                " To be fair, few modern smartphones are as small as the S23"

                To be fair, there's only *one* modern android phone comparable and that's Zenfone

                  Ah, so these were the precursor to the S23 FE, interesting!

                    justasmile, 08 Oct 2023Mini phones are useless. There's too small space for b... moreFunny thing most mini phones from Sony and Asus has excellent battery life. Xperia 5 V lead Gsmarena battery life among all sd 8 gen 2 phones. So was earlier compacts like Xz1C

                      Big screens then are small now. The same could be in the near future with multiple folding/scrolling phones with 8+" screens, seeing 6.8" 18:9 it will be quite small to use.
                      Then AR/VR devices will bring next lvl of big screen - while the body will stay relatively small.
                      Old phones were great in bringing new technology, quite sad there is a battle of specs only now.
                      What about special sensors and features to make this device smart...

                        The Galaxy S10e is the last Galaxy S mini.

                          I had the S5 mini. Liked it except it was not very fast but not slow enough to be frustrating. Fun fact is you didn't need any case because it was plastic and not slippery at all.

                            Last (mini) device which were good and i remember was Z3 and Z5 mini from Sony.
                            Samsung werent that great to be honest.

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                              • swap
                              • X%J
                              • 08 Oct 2023

                              The only company to do proper mini variants of its flagships was Sony. Sony always retained the core hardware of the flagship but just shrunk the display.

                                Mini phones are useless. There's too small space for battery (poor battery life) and less components.

                                While one-handed mode is not a good replacement, I'd rather have that than much more compromised specs.

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