Samsung I8190 Galaxy S III mini review: The Halfling

Display

The Samsung Galaxy S III mini uses a 4" Super AMOLED screen of WVGA resolution (800 x 480 pixels). It's identical to the screens used in the original Samsung I9000 Galaxy S and the Galaxy S Advance and the image quality is about the same.

The pixel density clocks in at 233 ppi, but since the AMOLEDs of that generation use a PenTile matrix, you can spot the familiar dottiness. It's not a big deal, but it's one of those things that once you spot, you can't get out of your head.

All things considered, the Galaxy S III display offers more than decent image quality for a mid-range device. Colors a punchy, blacks are as deep as on other AMOLEDs and the viewing angles are extremely wide. There's some color shift when looking from an extreme angle, but the screen remains perfectly legible.

Sunlight legibility is also quite good, as testified by the Galaxy S III mini performance in our dedicated test.

Contrast ratio

• Nokia 808 PureView
  4.698
• Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
  3.419
• Samsung Omnia W
  3.301
• Samsung Galaxy S
  3.155
• Nokia N9
  3.069
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  2.970
• HTC One S
  2.901
• Samsung Galaxy S II
  2.832
• Huawei Ascend P1
  2.655
• Nokia Lumia 900
  2.562
• Samsung Galaxy S III mini
  2.422
• Motorola RAZR i
  2.366
• Apple iPhone 4S
  2.269
• HTC One X
  2.158
• Nokia N8
  2.144
• Apple iPhone 4
  2.016
• Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
  1.955
• Sony Xperia U
  1.758
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  1.691
• HTC One V
  1.685
• LG Optimus Vu
  1.680
• HTC Desire V
  1.646
• LG Optimus 3D
  1.542
• Nokia Asha 302
  1.537
• Nokia Lumia 610
  1.432
• Gigabyte GSmart G1355
  1.361
• HTC Desire C
  1.300
• LG Optimus L7
  1.269
• Meizu MX
  1.221
• Samsung Galaxy Pocket
  1.180
• Sony Xperia tipo
  1.166
• Samsung Galaxy mini 2
  1.114

You can find more information on our display test here.

We also put the Samsung Galaxy S III mini screen under our microscope to show you its display matrix.

Handling

The Samsung Galaxy S III mini is really easy to handle with its curved back fitting nicely in the palm of your hand. Single-handed operation is also always an option - one of the few areas, where the Galaxy S III mini beats the original Galaxy S III.

The Samsung Galaxy S III mini held in hand