Samsung Galaxy S III mini preview: First look

Introduction

The Samsung I8190 Galaxy S III mini is like a nostalgic return to the roots for the highly successful Galaxy S franchise. Quite similar to the original Galaxy S specs-wise, the new SIII mini aims to get as much of the Galaxy S III's personality into a smaller package that's easy on the thumb - and pocket.

The original Samsung Galaxy S III is currently the smartphone to beat, but to many it's too large of a slab to handle. A strong point can be made that a large screen is a must for a great browsing experience or video watching on the go, but not everyone is willing to put up a with the body size such a screen implies.

Samsung Galaxy S III mini official photos

The Galaxy SIII mini is ready to deal a serious blow to the competition in the midrange, by offering a more compact (and cheaper!) way to get the premium smartphone experience. An ambitious goal it is, but Samsung isn't afraid of a challenge.

Samsung I8190 Galaxy S III mini at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 14.4 Mbps
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar
• Dimensions: 121.55 x 63 x 9.85 mm, 111.5 g
• Display: 4" 16M-color WVGA (480 x 800 pixels) Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
• Chipset: 1GHz dual-core processor, Mali-400MP GPU, 1GB RAM
• OS: Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean); TouchWiz UX
• Memory: 16 GB of inbuilt storage, microSD card slot (up to 32 GB)
• Camera: 5 megapixel auto-focus, face and smile detection; 720p (1280 x 720) video recording at 30fps
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, stereo Bluetooth 4.0, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS, 3.5mm audio jack, stereo FM radio with RDS, NFC
• Misc: built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor, Swype text input

Actually, the spec sheet is not even half as exciting as the SIII's. The mini version has the unmistakable styling of the flagship but that's about where it stops. At first glance, it's much closer to the original Galaxy S. In fact, it looks like Samsung is merely publishing a remastered version of their 2010 hit single.

Well, we hate to jump to conclusions. Perhaps, there's more than meets the eye.

The Samsung Galaxy S III mini studio shots

We'll only know whether Samsung managed to get enough bang out of the middling specs when we are done with this preview, so let's waste no more time and get going. The hardware inspection starts right after the break.