What is the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini?
The Galaxy S4 Mini is the equivalent of the HTC One Mini. It is a scaled down version of the Galaxy S4. It loses the 1080p display, quad-core processor and the 4.3-inch display but keeps NFC, Android 4.2.2 and a removable battery. The design is the same but fits more comfortably in the pocket.
The Galaxy S4 Mini ranks against the Sony Xperia SP and the Nokia Lumia 820 and is a viable alternative to the iPhone5. The goal of the Galaxy S4 Mini is the best of the mid-range phones. Let’s see how it stacks up.
Style, Design & Build Quality
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini is the Galaxy S4. Virtually everything matches: the glossy, plastic body, thin bezel and metal band separating the screen from the battery cover. This is the Galaxy S4 – just smaller and a bit lighter. This is the same as the smartphone side of the camera-heavy Galaxy S4 Zoom in screen size and specs. The buttons and ports are the same. Home key has capacitive buttons below the screen on each side. Volume is on the left; on/off on the right and headphone jack on top. The LED flash and 8-megapixel camera sensor are above one another like on the S4. Air gesture sensor is absent, so no keeping the finger over the screen.
The Galaxy S4 Mini weighs 107g. This is lighter than the S4 (130g) and the HTC One Mini (122g). It is 8.94mm thick; slimmer than the One Mini but is a full mm thicker than the S4. White Frost and Black Mist colours round out the frame and the black takes some of the cheap looks out of the phone. The battery cover snaps off easily with a fingernail via the gap above the on/off button. The cover feels flimsy. Beneath the cover is the 1,900 mAh battery, micro-SIM card slot and microSD card slot.
The Galaxy S4 Mini is comfortable in the hand. The back is a bit slippery but the Mini rests well and is easy to maneuver with one hand. It is strong enough to take the dings and knocks of daily usage.
Samsung loves plastic and this makes it fall behind other competition like the iPhone 5, the HTC One and the Nokia Lumia 925. For a mid-level phone this is okay, but for the price and quality of the device, something more is desired.
Display & Screen Quality
The S4 Mini has a 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display minus the Gorilla Glass. This is the main difference between it and the Galaxy S4. 960 x 540 screen resolution drops the ppi to 255 from 441 – a huge difference in quality.
The HD display is missing, but the qHD is bright and colourful for movies and games.
Typing works well on the virtual keyboard. The quality drop does not hurt daily use.
Software & Mobile Operating System
Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Samsung TouchWiz UI power the Mini. The Zoom review pretty much covers everything in the Mini. The Android UI is nicer than the TouchWizUI.
Here, in the software, are the shortcomings. No notification LED, Air View and Multi-Window support are also absent. S-Health is gone too.
Group Play, S Travel, S Translator, Story Album, ChatOn, Samsung Video and the improving, Siri rival S-Voice are all standard on the Mini.
8GB and 16GB versions are available. The apps take up 3GB, so there is 5GB to play with on the phone. A microSD card slot and free Dropbox.com storage make pleasant additions.
Speed & Performance
1.7GHz dual-core CPU with 1.5GB of RAM powers the device. It is faster than the S4 Zoom and is smooth in general use.
Homescreens and apps work flawlessly. Only the quad-core bunch will see lag; no one else will have issue.
Apps open and run fast. Web is similar to the Zoom and 4G LTE. The 4G LTE will speed things up for the contracted service.
Real Racing 3, the game by which we test the phones, is smooth until the screen has a bunch of cars on it. The S4 Mini runs other Android games well – even pushing the Adreno GPU.
There is nothing really to note about the audio. The speaker is low on the battery cover. Sound is clear but well behind the HTC BoomSound. Put in headphones for a better listening experience.
Camera & Picture Quality
8-megapixel rear-facing camera, autofocus and a Power LED Flash is down a bit from the 13-megapixel camera on the S4.
Those who know the S4 and S4 Zoom will know this camera.
10 smart modes, down from the 25 on the S4 Zoom, include Smart Mode Suggest and Animated Photo mode.
The S4 Mini shoots Full HD 1080p video at 30fps. This is decent for what you are getting out of the Mini.
1.9-megapixel front-facing camera found on the S4 and S4 Zoom lies on the front. This is as good as front-facing cameras get.
Call Quality
This is one place that the Mini and S4 match. Calls are loud and clear with no muffling. An in-call equalizer helps refine quality, but many will not need it.
Battery Life
The S4 Mini has a 1,900 mAh capacity battery; the S3 Mini has a 1,500 mAh battery. Heavy usage, Wi-Fi, Real Racing 3 dropped the battery charge 20 percent in an hour.
Daily use, however, makes it through the day with time to spare. Expect around seven hours before the battery takes a beating.
Should I buy the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini?
Those who want a smaller version of the S4; yes. It is a good phone.
If size is not a problem, think it over carefully. The Nexus 4 is better with a quad-core and the Galaxy S3 has a bigger screen and is cheaper. If size is not an issue, go with one of these.
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