Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini in the flesh

Samsung Philippines officially launched the Galaxy S3 Mini last night, along with Globe which is exclusively selling it for the first month. Let’s delve deeper in to the SGS3’s little brother with our first impression after the break.

Design and Construction

The S3 Mini, as you might expect, is almost the exact replica of Sammy’s current flagship handset in terms of design. It bears the same Nature-inspired design with rounded edges and metallic lining on the sides. Like it or not, the halfling’s body is also made of plastic with a so-called Hyperglazed coating which is similar to its bigger sibling’s build.

Differences between the two are scarce and a bit tricky to spot, especially if you don’t have an S3 with you to compare. During our brief time with the phone, we were only able to notice a pair of minor design dissimilarities between this device and its flagship brother:

• Placement of the front-mounted VGA camera and the sensors beside it. (Top Left for the S3 Mini and Top right for the S3.)

• Placement of the built-in flash and speaker beside the 5MP camera at the back.

Display

The handset features a 4-inch WVGA display similar to the first Galaxy S. This kind of display configuration may not be as popular as it was back then, but people who don’t have a taste for big-ass smartphones should be well at home with the S3 Mini’s modest screen.

OS, UI and Performance

Concealed underneath the glass and Hyperglazed plastic is the S3 Mini’s meek hardware configuration. This comprises of a dual-core 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. It’s not gonna wow any onlookers, but should be enough to handle most of your basic smartphone needs in a satisfactory manner.

This phone shares the same Nature UX-laden version of Android Jelly bean version (4.1.2) with the SGS3 and SGN2, minus some of the tasking features such as the Multi-Windows view. Given the phone’s mid-ranged specs, it was still able to handle Samsung’s UI quite impressively. It was fluid and responsive for the most part with only minor hiccups in the multitasking aspect.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini (i8190) specs:

4-inch Super AMOLED display @ 800×480 pixels
1GHz dual-core processor
Mali-400 GPU
1GB RAM
8GB/16GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD
3G/HSPA 14.4Mbps
NFC
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth v4.0
5-megapixel (rear) camera w/ AF and LED flash
VGA front camera
Video recording/playback: 720p
GPS w/ aGPS support
FM Radio (RDS)
TouchWiz UI 4.0 (Nature UX)
Android Jellybean (4.1.2)
Li-Ion 1500mAh battery
Dimension: 121.55 x 63 x 9.85 mm
Weight: 111.5g

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini is, in every aspect, a smaller and modest version of the South Korean firm’s current flagship handset. It has the same look and feel as the SGS3 but with a smaller screen and a mid-range specification. It may not be the best in class in terms of bang for the buck, but it’s there to provide a more affordable alternative to the company’s high-end offering.

This Android smartphone can be had for Php14,990USD 255INR 21,655EUR 243CNY 1,860 or get it free under Globe’s UnliSurf 999 plan. The plan includes unlimited surfing and an option to choose 1 of the four Plan Freebies. At the time of writing, the S3 Mini is still not available on Globe’s website but we were informed that they are on the process of including it on their handset offerings.