We first heard news last week of a rumored Samsung Galaxy SIII Mini smartphone purported have all the flashy features of the flagship device in smaller package. Today, Samsung officially debuted the device at an event in Germany, to announce its new device. But, while it's certainly going to excite some users, others may find it's not quite what they'd hoped for.
"The Galaxy S III introduced a new concept of smartphone that has proven hugely popular around the world. We're now delighted to bring its revolutionary design, intuitive usability and intelligence to the GALAXY S III mini in a more compact form," said JK Shin, President and Head of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics in a statement. "We continue to make every effort to provide extraordinary mobile experiences to meet a wide variety of user needs."
While the smartphone doesn't pack in everything we'd hoped for, the Galaxy S III Mini could still be a great buy for the right price. Android and Me notes that if Samsung can offer this device below $299, it would be very competitive with some of the best unlocked phones. Samsung didn't disclose price information, but, according to MobileGeeks, the phone will go on sale at €399 ($513) unlocked and SIM-free.
Samsung began sending out invitations for an event last week to be held in Frankfurt, Germany on Oct. 11 at a Samsung Mobile retail store. The invites didn't explicitly say "Galaxy S III Mini," but there was a very big "S" in the middle of the graphic, and SlashGear translated the slogan to something like "something small that will be big ..."
The Galaxy S III Mini will clearly be going against the grain with many of its specs: Most other high-end Android smartphones offer larger screens.
With the SIII Mini's smaller size, you might wonder why many are saying it could be an iPhone 5 competing device. And that view is certainly arguable. The iPhone 5's specs clearly trump the SIII Mini in certain areas - screen size, resolution, cameras. But, we're guessing Samsung's new device will still take a sizable chunk out of Apple's market share just by offering a few things Apple's device lacks like NFC, and by appealing to people who might have been happier with the size of the iPhone 4S.
Samsung Galaxy S III Mini Features:
Network
HSPA 14.4/5.76 900/1900/2100
EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900
Display
4.0" WVGA Super AMOLED
Chipset
Dual Core 1GHz
OS
AndroidTM 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
Camera
5MP AF ＋ LED Flash / VGA Front
Video
H.264, MPEG-4, H.263, VC-1, SorensonSpark, WMV7, WMV8
Recording/ Playback : 720p
Audio
MP3, AMR-NB, AAC/AAC＋/eAAC＋, WMA, OGG(Vorbis), FLAC
Additional features
Game/Video/ Readers/Music Hub, Kies, KiesAir, FM Radio (RDS), TouchWiz
Google Mobile Services
Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Latitude, Google Play Store, Google Play Books, Google Play Movies, Google Plus, YouTube, Google Talk,Google Places, Google Navigation, Google Downloads
Connectivity
WiFi a/b/g/n, WiFi HT40
GPS/GLONASS
NFC
Bluetooth 4.0(LE)
Sensor
Accelerometer, Digital compass, Proximity, Gyro
Memory
8/16GB ROM＋ 8Gb RAM, microSDup to 32GB
Dimension
121.55 x 63 x 9.85 mm, 111.5 g
Battery
1,500 mAh
Apple iPhone 5 Features
Height: 4.87 inches, Width: 2.31 inches, Depth: 0.30 inch, Weight: 3.95 ounces.
4-inch (diagonal) Retina display, 1136x640 resolution, 326 ppi, GSM model: GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSPA+, DC-HSDPA, CDMA model: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n; 802.11n on 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and GLONASS, 1GB RAM, SoC: A6 Chip, Nano-SIM, three-axis gyro, dual-mic noise suppression, assisted GPS and GLONASS.
Front and back facing cameras:
Front: 1.2MP photos, 720p HD video, Backside illumination sensor;
Back: 8 megapixel Autofocus Tap to focus, LED flash, Backside illumination sensor, Five-element lens, Face detection, Hybrid IR filter, ƒ/2.4 aperture, Panorama,
Video: 1080p HD video recording, 30 fps, Tap to focus while recording, LED light, Improved video stabilization, Take still photos while recording video, Face detection.