There has been much excitement over the Galaxy S3 Mini when word came out that it was going to be launched yesterday. After all, the Galaxy S3 might be composed of pure awesomeness, but the 4.8 inch screen is seen as being too big to handle for Asians with smaller hands, which is why the possibility of the Galaxy S3’s internals in a more pocketable body seemed like a perfect idea. Unfortunately, while the Galaxy S3 Mini shares its looks with its big brother, albeit in a smaller frame, the specs appear to have been watered down as well.
Galaxy-S3-Mini

Rather than the powerhouse quad-core Exynos that runs its big brother, the Galaxy S3 Mini only has an anemic 1GHz dual core ST-Ericsson NovaThor CPU. Also, the screen might be a Super AMOLED unit that displays vivid colors and is capable of true black, it only has a resolution of 800×480 (WVGA). As if the resolution wasn’t bad enough, the display also uses a PenTile matrix, which lowers its perceivable sharpness.

The 5mp rear-facing shooter on the Galaxy S3 is also a bit of a disappointment, not because it doesn’t take respectable shots, but because it’s another thing that doesn’t deserve the Galaxy S3 moniker. Heck, even the Galaxy S2 had an 8 megapixel shooter.

Here’s a demo video of the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini courtesy of Mobile Geeks.

To be honest, I’m not really disappointed in the phone itself, but rather, in Samsung’s approach in marketing it. The Mini’s specifications are actually quite respectable, and miraculously enough, it does launch with lag-free Jelly Bean 4.1 out of the box. If it’s priced just right, I wouldn’t have a problem recommending it to anyone purely because I love Super AMOLED screens, but if you’re going to attach the Galaxy S3 brand to another phone, the specs better bring it. And with exception to the Super AMOLED display and Jelly Bean out of the box, the Galaxy S3 Mini just doesn’t.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini Specifications

  • Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
  • 4-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen at 800×480 resolution (WVGA)
  • 1Ghz dual core ST-Ericsson NovaThor CPU
  • Mali-400 GPU
  • 1GB RAM
  • 8/16GB Internal Storage, expandable up to 32Gb via MicroSD
  • 5MP autofocus rear-facing camera
  • VGA front-facing camera
  • 3G, HSDPA
  • Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA
  • Bluetooth v4.0, microUSB v2.0
  • GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS
  • NFC
  • Dimensions: 121.55 x 63 x 9.85 mm at 111.5 grams
  • Battery: 1500mAh

The price of Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini is still unknown but we could expect it to be within the Php20,000. The release date in the Philippines is still not announced but hopefully it will reach our country before the year ends.

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