The Samsung Galaxy S3 was in 2012 one of the hottest selling handsets in the market.
Following the South Korean Tech Giant strategy of targeting every corner of the Smartphone market, the Samsung Galaxy S3 mini has become yet another interesting addition to the Samsung Galaxy Smartphones lineup.
Here is a comprehensive review of the Samsung Galaxy SIII Mini handset.
![[image] Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini Price in Kenya](https://mobitrends.co.ke/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/image-Samsung-Galaxy-S3-Mini-Price-in-Kenya.jpg)
Display
The Samsung Galaxy S3 mini comes with a 4.0 inches Super AMOLED capacitive touch screen. The 480 x 800 pixels screen has a ~233 ppi pixel density but lacks corning gorilla glass protection.
Related: How to minimize battery drain on AMOLED displays
Screen brightness on the device is average but you will experience some poor visibility especially under direct sunlight.
However, the AMOLED screen works up the device display to produce some nice vibrant colors especially while viewing images and video clips.
![[image] Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini Best Price in Kenya](https://mobitrends.co.ke/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/image-Samsung-Galaxy-S3-Mini-Best-Price-in-Kenya.jpg)
Body and Design
The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini looks almost identical to the Samsung Galaxy S3. Apart from the smaller 121.6 x 63 x 9.9 mm frame, everything else points close to its bigger brother.
The smaller body size has made the handset have some nice curved edges and more rounded corners.
The smaller size makes one handed operations quite simplified and unlike the larger Samsung Galaxy S3, you can have a firm grip on the device.
The flipside of the design is the flimsy back cover. This works against the device and gives it a poor build quality design.
Technical Specifications
A 1 GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 powers the device backed by 1GB of RAM. This is a far cry from the Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A9 CPU found in its older brother.
Nevertheless, the performance of the phone is satisfactory, this is despite it being a scaled down version of the Samsung Galaxy S3.
Transition between open applications is smooth. However, users experience occasional lag when running resource intensive apps on the device.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 mini will be available in 8/16 GB variants.
On the connectivity aspect, the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini, supports up to HSDPA 14.4 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps data speed and has a Bluetooth v4. 0 chip.
Additionally, the phone comes with NFC, but the feature is market dependent.
Multimedia
The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini has a 5MP camera, which is a stripped down version of the 8 MP snapper found in the Samsung Galaxy S3.
Nonetheless, the image quality is quite decent but users will experience a tiny bit of washed out colors especially while shooting in low light scenes.
Video taking in the outdoors is striking, with the snapper capturing 720p videos at a 30fps frame rate.
Battery Life
With a 1500mAh battery, the phone delivers some satisfactory juice to take you through at least a day or two of prudent usage.
Tech Trends Diary Verdict
A ‘mini’ tag on a handset often gives an impression of a stripped down version of an awesome flagship device. However, the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini has definitely set itself apart from the rest.
Although not the best phone in its range i.e. in terms of technical prowess, the phone offers an interesting alternative to consumers on a budget.
It is fair enough to say that the handset has a spot in the four star league.
Tech Trends Diary Rating
Samsung Galaxy SIII Mini [usr 9.1]
Competitors
Competitors for the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini include, the Samsung Ace Plus, Techno Phantom A and for those willing to jump ship to the Windows Phone OS, the Huawei Ascend W1.
Pricing In Kenya
The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini has a suggested retail price of Ksh 23,500
Kevin is a tech enthusiast and the lead writer at MobiTrends.co.ke. He has been writing about smartphones and tech related topics since October 2012. About Us | Contact Us
